My TV Heaven

Hi – here as promised is a wee rundown in no particular order of preference or rating a wee list of what’s I think is good to watch on DVD, online and if you must, the idiot lantern. You can’t say “there’s nothing good on TV anymore” if you give them a shot.

1) Leverage
Leverage is a what Hustle (the BBC show, not the jizzmag) could have been if it was much slicker and funnier in its writing and performance. It tells the story of former insurance investigator Nate Ford (Tim Hutton, who I fancied rotten in Ordinary People in 1981) and his band of thieves who act as modern-day Robin Hood and merry men (and women). It also has Christian Kane in it, so it scores high on the male tottie points too.
2) The Wire
The Wire is a 5-season story arc centred around Baltimore’s Major Crimes Unit. Written by David Simon and starring some of the finest actors of recent years including Wendell Pierce, Clark Peters, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Idris Elba and Wood Harris among others. Look out for fantastic performances from Andre Royo as Bubbles and Michael K. Williams as Omar. And of course, it has Dominic West in it as the dirty drunken man-whore Jimmy McNulty, which is always a bonus *wink*.
3) Firefly
From the pen of Joss Whedon who brought us Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel comes the story of the sci-fi guys who didn’t win. A fine mix of cowboys and space, it has an amazing cast featuring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and Rona Glass. Follow it up with the film Serenity and the comic books.
4) Boardwalk Empire
Produced by Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) and Martin Scorcese and starring the brilliant Steve Buscemi as Prohibition-era Treasurer of Atalantic City Enoch “Nucky” Thompson. I’m only a few episodes into the first season and I’m hooked. It also sees the return of Michael K. Williams from The Wire plus Kelly Macdonald who is maturing into a fine actor.
5) True Blood
The sweariest and bloodiest show on the tube. Earthy and also sexy and very funny. Plus the sex-god that is Alexander Skarsgard who is often naked. What’s not to love?
6) Nurse Jackie
Starring the fantastic Edie Falco as the eponymous nurse who pops pills to get her through the day. A fine supporting cast including the lovely Eve Best and Gbenga Akinnagbe, who is also Chris Partlow in The Wire and is easy on the old eye full of Viscotears.
7) The Big C
Telling the story of Cathy Jamison (played fantastically by Laura Linney from Tales Of The City) and her cancer diagnosis, this is not as morbid as it sounds but is instead funny and well-written. Also starring Oliver Platt and Idris Elba, who was Stringer Bell in The Wire (do you see a pattern emerging? Quality programmes with quality people in them!)
8) Doctor Who
Matt Smith has brought a breath of fresh air into what was becoming a grinning idiot under David Tennant and is ably supported by Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and my girl-crush, the beautiful Alex Kingston.

Also honourable mentions to Luther, again starring Idris Elba, The Hour with Ramola Gari and Ben Whishaw (plus some bloke called Dominic West) and Body of Proof with Dana Delaney, Jeri Ryan and Sonja Sohn.
I would have mentioned Torchwood but frankly this new Miracle Day series has dragged on and on and should have been much more tightly written into 3 or 4 episodes. Were it not for the feisty Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper I’d probably have given up on it.

And that’s your lot. Happy watching in moderation x