“They made audiences forget they were actually watching an episode of an apocalyptic zombie series”

I must admit to being a little surprised to find myself deciding, after much thought, that my show of the year is The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog, PlayStation Productions, Sony Pictures Television, and Word Games production for HBO & Sky Atlantic).

Along with many others, I thought it would be hard to top The Walking Dead after it took the zombie thriller genre to a new level when it landed on our screens over 10 years ago.

As someone who did not play the video game, I had my doubts that the …. series would be a success if it was just going to be nine hour-long episodes of hidden Easter eggs that could only be spotted by players of the game. This definitely was not the case as the series added new story lines and characters that audiences on both sides could engage with.

One of those was the third episode titled Long, Long Time which is worthy of a special recommendation in itself as it chronicled the love story between two men, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. They made audiences forget they were actually watching an episode of an apocalyptic zombie series.

Last but by no means least, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are an incredible double act who understood each other’s characters just as much their own and used it to their advantage.

Special mentions for: The Sixth Commandment - I couldn’t be more impressed with Eanna Hardwicke who played Ben Field and perfectly embodied his ability to charm his victims before slowly killing them.

Squid Game: The Challenge - A very close second as my show of the year. The set design was incredible, especially for the bridge! The whole competition itself was so dramatic and with loads of twists-and-turns that it would’ve stood up as the scripted version.

  • Tom Williams is a senior researcher, Broadcast Intelligence

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Broadcast’s shows of the year