Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. They are, in order: the illegal drug trade, the port system, the city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. But The Wire is much deeper than that: intelligent, shocking, well-crafted and superbly written, The Wire is, as has been said before, The Greatest Television Programme Ever Made.

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The Shield is about an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department set up in the fictional Farmington district ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, using a converted church ("the Barn") as their police station, and featuring a group of detectives called the Strike Team who will stop at nothing to bring their version of justice to the streets. Ruthless, violent, but oddly moral Vic Makey redefined TV cops.

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The series follows the day to day events of Dexter Morgan's life, a forensic blood splatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, who also happens to be a serial killer in his free time. He was taught by his adoptive father, Harry, only to kill those "who deserve it"; mainly, other killers who have escaped the traditional legal system or were never suspected in the first place. Awesome.

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Self-centered, misanthropic and regularly difficult, Larry David creates awkwardness and discomfort in social situations. His problems are often caused by his neuroses and obstinate faith in his understanding of ethics and etiquette. He usually has good intentions but often finds himself a victim of circumstance and social convention. The end result: some of the funniest TV ever created.

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The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their pet dog Brian. The show uses frequent cutaway gags, often in the form of tangential vignettes which parody American culture. Shortly after the third season of Family Guy aired in 2001, Fox cancelled the series. However, favourable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns convinced the network to renew the show in 2004. Thank God.

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Documentary making at its very, very best. This 26-episode documentary on World War II and the events immediately prior to and after it was, and remains, essential viewing. It was produced by Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Laurence Olivier and its score composed by Carl Davis. Make every school kid watch this instead of poncing about with silly modules.

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So very much better than its mainstream bastard son Little Britain. Royston Vasey. Tubbs and Edward Tattsyrup run the local shop, despite the fact it is far away from the actual centre of the town. However, they believe themselves to be local and will protect their localness by any means. Hilary Briss, "The Demon Butcher of Royston Vasey" known for serving his "Special Stuff" to a select few customers . . . and so much more.

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To think The Sopranos all started from a simple sell: that a New Jersey mob boss falls into depression, and seeks out counselling to help him cope. And while early episodes followed Tony Soprano’s balancing act as he sought to keep this from his mobster friends, The Sopranos took this foundation and built upon it a collection of layered, intriguing characters from both Tony’s ‘work’ and ‘home’ families.

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Each episode begins with a death - anything from drowning or heart attack to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - and that death usually sets the tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also has a strong dosage of dark humour and surrealism running throughout.

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From the Saul Bass-inspired opening credits to the meticulous attention to period detail, Mad Men, now three-series strong, is a joy. Set in the heady days of New York City’s Madison Avenue advertising world in the early 1960s, the shows centres on ad man Don Draper. There’s whisky at noon, back-stabbing aplenty, social mobility, infidelity, smoking all hours and a taut, smart script which keeps you hanging on.

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The series follows The Gang, a group of five alcoholic, unethical underachievers who run Paddy's Pub, a run-down bar in Philadelphia. They are dishonest, selfish, egotistical, and antagonistic, and are often embroiled in controversial issues. They are also very fucking funny.

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A troubled novelist whose move to California coupled with his writer's block complicate his relationships with his long time girlfriend Karen and daughter Becca, and was based on the life of legendary chronicler of low-life Charles Bukowski. Often overlooked, it’s very good.

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Hugely controversial "factional drama" originally shown in 1978, in four parts; each from a different point of view - the Metropolitan Police, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system. Unseen on TV since its original transmission, this cult drama has now been beautifully restored and is available to buy on DVD for the first time in 30 years.

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Superb crime drama following gangster Frank Ross, a convicted armed robber who gets out of prison and wants to find out who stitched him up in the first place. Hard hitting and gritty, this little gem is now almost totally forgotten, having gone out originally in 1978.

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The drama was centred on the fictional comprehensive school of Grange Hill in the (equally fictitious) borough of North London called "Northam" and follows the lives of the students as they progress through school. Did you know the series was to have originally been called Grange Park?

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Utterly brilliant: Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series revolves around Walter Whit), a struggling high school chemistry teacher with many family ‘issues’. When White is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he breaks down and turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine to secure a financial future for his family.

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Based on Evan Wright's book about his experiences as an embedded reporter with the United States Marine Corps' 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the Iraq War's first phase in 2003, the show was David Simon and Ed Burn’s first TV work since The Wire.

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Starred Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centred on the running of his TV show, and the many people behind the scenes. It is notable for featuring celebrities playing exaggerated, self-parodying versions of themselves – much as Curb Your Enthusiasm did later.

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Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. A total of 220 shorts and one feature film, General Spanky, were eventually produced, featuring over forty-one child actors. And they are all bloody marvellous.

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The show follows the lives of several employees of Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced dialogue, slapstick, and surreal vignettes presented mostly as the daydreams of the central character, Dr. John "J.D." Dorian. But John C McGinley is the real star.

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The surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, becomes home to a strange young man of mysterious origin and document the effect he has on a dysfunctional family of professional surfers and their community. Sadly cancelled after one series, well worth seeking out.

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Set in the offices of Reynholm Industries, a fictional British corporation in central London The show focuses on the shenanigans of the three-strong IT support team located in a dingy, untidy and unkempt basement. The team consists of what Douglas Reynholm describes as "a dynamic go-getter, a genius and a man from Ireland".

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Presented as a mock news programme each episode rely on a combination of ludicrous fictitious news stories, covered with a serious, pseudo-professional attitude. In addition, the programme dips into other channels from time to time, presents clips of (fictitious) upcoming BBC programmes, and conducts street interviews with members of the public, in a segment named "Speak Your Brains". Genius.

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Pre-The Thick of It, political satire got no better than these two well-pitched series. Set principally in the private office of the fictional Department for Administrative Affairs in Whitehall (the sequel was set in the Prime Minister's offices at 10 Downing Street), the series follows the senior ministerial career of The Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP, played by Paul Eddington.

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The original show ran for ten series from 29 October 1979 to 10 March 1994, and starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likable bodyguard (minder in London slang), and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a well-dressed but unscrupulous importer-exporter. It was funny, original and had set locations of a lost London that make you weep.

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The Sweeney was the first really modern police-based series on British television. Previously, most dramas featuring the police had shied away from showing coppers as fallible human beings. The police in The Sweeney were brutal and violent in dealing with London's hardened criminals, and prone to cutting corners and bending laws. It was and is ace.

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Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Billing themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo", the series follows the two as they make their way in New York City.

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Kenny Powers is a former professional baseball pitcher, who, after a stellar but ultimately short and disappointing career is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina as a substitute physical education teacher. Crass humour produced by Will Ferrell that has its superlative moments.

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Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer on a variety series called 'The Girlie Show'. But the new Vice President of East Coast Television, Jack Donaghy (the superb Alec Baldwin), decides to shake up the show, adding eccentric actor Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) to the cast and changing the name . . . and things get funnier and funnier as the series goes on.

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A collection celebrating the true comic craftsmanship of Steve Coogan? Yes. Please. From Alan Partridge to Duncan Thicket and from Pauline Calf to Tommy Saxondale, the award-winning Coogan’s comic alter-egos have provided many of the funniest moments on British TV. This fantastic collection has them all – not just his iconic Partridge, Paul Calf and Tony Ferrino, but also cherished, one-off gems like Nathan Blaze, Gareth Cheeseman and Ernest Moss.

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The series charts the lives of the dysfunctional Gallagher family: Frank and his six children, widening the scope to other occupants of their Manchester estate as the series progresses. Central characters in the Gallagher family include eldest daughter Fiona eldest son Lip plus younger children Ian, Carl, Debbie and Liam who grow up as the series continues. Early series somewhat stronger, but still a good show.

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If ever there was a cult TV show, then this is it. The series follows a British former secret agent who is held prisoner in a mysterious seaside village where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. The 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general.

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The two comedians first worked together on the silent film The Lucky Dog. After a period appearing separately in several short films for the Hal Roach studio during the 1920s, they began appearing in movie shorts together in 1926, and officially became a team the following year. If you don’t know their work your life is lacking in something. Remedy that lack with a big dose of true comedy genius.

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Peep Show follows the often sexually-frustrated lives of two men in their early thirties (in their later twenties when the series started), Mark Corrigan (David Mitchell) and Jeremy Usbourne (Robert Webb). Having met while at the fictional Dartmouth University together - they occasionally refer to themselves as 'The El Dude Brothers' in reference to their student days - they now share a flat in Croydon, South London. And that’s it. But it is funny.

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Oh, the genius of Blackadder. All episodes star Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and his dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series is set in a different historical period with Blackadder and Baldrick as main characters. They are accompanied by different characters, though several persons reappear in one series or another - for example, Melchett and Lord Flashheart. Still, obviously, very funny.

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This definitive natural history of the world's oceans covers everything from popular shores and teeming shallows to the mysterious open depths. The series filmed things most of us had never seen before, advances in underwater photography opening the doors to unknown territories never before explored. Simply breathtaking.

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Tells the story of four friends from the city of Newcastle over 30 years from 1964 to 1995. it also brought in real political and social events s including general elections, police and local government corruption, the UK miners' strike (1984–1985) and the Great Storm of 1987. Awesome closing shot and tune we won’t spoil for you.

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In which prominent public figures were fooled into pledging onscreen support for fictitious, and often plainly absurd, charities and causes. The second episode was called "Drugs" n the opening scene, a voiceover tells viewers that there are so many drugs on the streets of Britain that "not even the dealers know them all". And so it continued in its own, genius-like way.

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Set mainly in an apartment block on Manhattan's Upper West Side the series features a host of comedian Jerry's Seinfeld friends and acquaintances, including George Costanza, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer. Written by Larry David, TV Guide named Seinfeld as The Greatest TV Show of All Time in 2002.

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The series details (if at times exaggerated or condensed) the real-life exploits of Easy Company during the Second World War over the course of ten episodes, starting with their training and ending with the capitulation of Germany. Intense, often bloody and distressing, Band of Brothers took TV war drama to a newer, more realistic level.

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Entourage revolves around young actor Vincent. His best friend and manager is Eric Murphy. Vincent's older brother Johnny "Drama" Chase is also Vince's personal chef and trainer and bodyguard. Rounding out the entourage of friends is Salvatore: official role driver and assistant. Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is Vince's abrasive but lovable agent. And it’s Piven who makes the show exceptional.

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Set over two series and a Christmas Special Extras charts the lives of Andy Millman, his friend Maggie Jacobs and Andy's substandard agent and part-time Carphone Warehouse employee Darren Lamb, as Millman rises to fame. Dozens of Guest stars all shone in unlikely roles: David Bowie, Robert De Niro and Ronnie Corbett. Bloody marvellous stuff.

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Set in a Slough paper merchant, it is easy to forget how revolutionary and refreshing mockumentary The Office was when first screened in 2001. Ricky Gervais’ David Brent everyboss thinks he’s cool and funny. He isn’t. All the characters are perfectly pitched, every episode is has classic scenes. Watch it all again. It’s still ace.

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Father Ted starred the late, great Dermot Morgan in the title role as the Irish Catholic priest Father Ted Crilly, and was set on the remote fictional Craggy Island parish off the west coast of Ireland. The show ran for three series, totalling 25 episodes, from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, and was written the wonderful Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. Classic original comedy.

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Lost follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles, United States, crashes somewhere in the South Pacific. Complex, brilliant and decidedly weird, Lost is unque. The sixth and final series will be screened in February this year.

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Damn fine telly, Diane. David Lynch’s seminal series follows the investigation, headed by Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), of the brutal murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Dark, witty and often confusing, this was viewing which lingered long after the TV had cooled down.

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The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before and after the area's annexation by the Dakota Territory. The series charts Deadwood's growth from camp to town, incorporating themes ranging from the formation of communities to western capitalism. Gritty, violent, funny and featuring a magnificent odd cast including Ian McShane, you need this in your life.

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Twenty years, over 450 episodes, The Simpsons carries on, often inspired, sometimes a bit lazy, but never dull. The family was conceived by Matt Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. Start at Season One and get busy.

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For twelve years NYPD Blue tracked the events around the 15 Precinct in New York City, with the lynchpin of the whole thing the epic character Sipowicz. In many ways NYPD is the greatest of the pre-Wire, pre-Shield HBO crime based dramas. Complex, intelligent and above all emotional, NYPD Blue stands tall. It ran from 1993 to 2006. Only series 1-4 currently available on DVD.

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The thriller series which is shown in ‘real time’, with each minute of the show matching a minute in the lives of the characters. The only constant over the seven seasons (eight is now filming) it has been running is Kiefer Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer, who works for the US government as it fights many, many terrorist threats. A cult has built up around spotting the many continuity errors the show makes each season.

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