‘It’s incredibly tense, very bingeable, and kept me on tenterhooks throughout its eight episodes’

TV throws up a lot of crime dramas where one can usually anticipate where the storyline is going: the action keeps us interested for long enough over the course of its run, and some of us have that desire to be proved right anyway. “Told you they did it” – is a familiar phrase in our house at the conclusion of a series.

I’ll also be honest, sometimes I will wait for a full series to play out and wait for feedback from family, friends and colleagues before I decide to dive in. This City is Ours was one such series. I didn’t watch this until the autumn, but boy was I glad I did.

Anticipating where the story line is going? Not a chance in Stephen Butchard’s cleverly written script about a criminal family and its associates. The city in question is Liverpool and, in some ways, it’s Succession but with a bit more murder and less biting wit. Actors James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow and Jack McMullen stand out in a series encompassing betrayal, secrets, romance and plenty of twists and turns.

It’s incredibly tense, very bingeable, and kept me on tenterhooks throughout its eight episodes. The concluding episode was particularly satisfying. Happily, production on a second series is underway and I’m really looking forward to seeing where Butchard takes the story next. Good lad.

STREAMING SHOW OF THE YEAR

Adolescence, Netflix

Every now and again, a programme comes along that has a profound impact on the world we live in. In 2024, that was ITV1’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office - this year it’s Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s exceptional Adolescence. Under Philip Barantini’s superb direction, in which each episode is filmed in a single uninterrupted take, the drama is utterly gripping as it tells the story of a young boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate.

Adolescence

Adolescence shines a light on teenage knife crime, the dangers of social media and toxic masculinity. It captures that sickening feeling we feel, as parents, of not knowing what goes on inside our children’s minds as they try to navigate the difficult years of their approaching adulthood; while simultaneously dealing with the influences and pressures, we didn’t have to worry about at their age.

The dialogue is engrossing, the long silences even more profound. It is a storytelling masterclass. There was phenomenal acting with Graham, Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty all rightly awarded Emmys. 15-year-old Cooper is simply astonishing.

Not long after its release in March, Keir Starmer hosted a roundtable meeting with charity leaders to discuss issues raised in the series, and Netflix made the drama available to secondary school students through charities Into Film+ and Tender. Many schools around the country changed their policies regarding mobile phones in the classrooms. Quite simply, we will be talking about Adolescence for years – that’s profound impact. 

 Top five UK broadcaster shows  Top five streamer shows
1 This City Is Ours, Left Bank Pictures for BBC1   1 Adolescence, Matriarch Productions, Plan B Entertainment and Warp Films for Netflix
2 SAS: Rogue Heroes, Kudos for BBC1   2 The Studio, Apple TV
3 The Newsreader, Werner Film Productions for BBC1   3 Last One Laughing, Zeppotron and Initial for Prime Video
4 The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Curio Pictures for BBC1   4 A Thousand Blows, Matriarch Productions, The Story Collective and Water & Power Productions for Disney+
5 Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire, Acme Films for BBC2   5 Toxic Town, Broke & Bones for Netflix

  • Paul Weatherley is the online content manager, Broadcast

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