The Guardian's top 50 television dramas of all time
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/12/guardian-50-television-dramas
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50 titles
- CreatorDavid ChaseStarsJames GandolfiniLorraine BraccoEdie FalcoNew Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.
- StarsJeremy IronsDiana QuickRoger MilnerThe life, friendships and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder-including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle.
- StarsChristopher EcclestonMark StrongGina McKeeDrama examining the politics and change across Britain from the Sixties to the Nineties seen through the varying fortunes of four friends.
- CreatorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
- StarsPeter DavisonGraham CrowdenBarbara FlynnThe various misadventures of Stephen Daker, a young doctor who works for the health centre of a modern British university.
- StarsMaggie SmithJulie WaltersPatricia RoutledgeSix monologues tell the stories of six different repressed souls: a man dominated by his mother, a vicar's wife, an inveterate letter writer, a hopeful actress, a recently widowed woman, and an elderly shut-in.
- StarsMichael GambonPatrick MalahideJoanne WhalleyTormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
- StarsGeraldine McEwanElizabeth SpriggsFreda DowieJessica, raised in a fanatical cult, endures brainwashing until her forbidden relationship with Melanie opens her eyes. They face cruel treatment for their 'unnatural' bond, but Jessica's spirit overcomes the oppressive teachings.
- StarsJohn SimmDavid MorrisseyKelly MacdonaldJournalists uncover a government conspiracy when a young politician's assistant and mistress is killed.
- StarsMichael AngelisBernard HillAlan IgbonFive unemployed men would do anything just to have a job in Thatcher's Britain.
- CreatorAaron SorkinStarsMartin SheenRob LoweAllison JanneyInside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael OntkeanMädchen AmickAn idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
- CreatorRon CowenDaniel LipmanRussell T. DaviesStarsGale HaroldHal SparksRandy HarrisonBrash humor and genuine emotion make up this series revolving around the lives, loves, ambitions, careers and friendships of a group of gay men and women living on Liberty Avenue in contemporary Pittsburgh, PA.
- CreatorDavid SimonStarsDominic WestLance ReddickSonja SohnThe Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.
- CreatorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA chronicle of the lives of a dysfunctional family who run an independent funeral home in Los Angeles.
- StarsDylan MoranCharlotte ColemanEmma ChambersIan has recently eloped with country girl Lisa. The have moved from London back to her hometown Snowle, and comedy ensues.
- StarsAlec GuinnessEileen AtkinsBill PatersonThe murder of a Soviet defector forces his old handler, British spymaster George Smiley, out of retirement. His investigation leads to an old nemesis, the Soviet spymaster known only as "Karla". This will be their final dance.
- StarsIan RichardsonSusannah HarkerMiles AndersonThe schemes of a ruthlessly ambitious British politician who will stop at nothing to get to the top.
- StarsHelen MirrenJohn BenfieldTom BellA female police detective investigates a series of serial murders while dealing with sexist hostility from her male comrades.
- CreatorJed MercurioStarsTamzin MallesonMax BeesleyKeith AllenDark medical drama series following a junior doctor as he unearths the negligent practice of a senior obstetrician.
- StarsAlec GuinnessMichael JaystonAnthony BateIn the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced out of semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.
- CreatorJoss WhedonStarsSarah Michelle GellarNicholas BrendonAlyson HanniganA young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
- CreatorJimmy McGovernStarsRobbie ColtraneGeraldine SomervilleKieran O'BrienDr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald is a criminal psychologist. He is rather anti-social and obnoxious but he has a gift for solving crimes. Thus he is employed as a consultant by the Manchester Police.
- StarsCheryl CampbellBob HoskinsGemma CravenA travelling sheet music salesman with an uptight wife throws everything away for the love of an innocent school teacher in the romantic spirit of the music he loves, that bursts into his life in full song-and-dance numbers.
- CreatorGlen A. LarsonRonald D. MooreStarsEdward James OlmosMary McDonnellJamie BamberWhen an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
- CreatorTony WarrenStarsWilliam RoacheHelen WorthBarbara KnoxThe world's longest-running television soap, Coronation Street focuses on the everyday lives of working-class people in Manchester, England.
- StarsTim Pigott-SmithGeraldine JamesWendy MorganThe sweeping drama about the ruling and ruled classes of WWII India, trying amidst the turmoil to come to terms with the drastic changes taking place around them, knowing that their lives will never be the same again.
- StarsPaul McGannBill FellowsMatthew MarshDuring World War I, Percy Toplis, a deserter from the British Army, plays a major role in the Étaples Mutiny in September 1917.
- CreatorPaul AbbottStarsJack DeamTony MooneyJoan KempsonInterconnected dramas about the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the home life of a different character.
- StarsJohn ThawKevin WhatelyJames GroutChief Inspector Morse has an ear for Western classical music, a taste for beer, and a nose for crime. He and Detective Sergeant Robert Lewis solve intriguing cases in and around the Oxford area.
- CreatorAmy JenkinsStarsJack DavenportAmita DhiriAndrew LincolnA series following the lives of Miles, Milly, Warren, Egg and Anna, five young legal professionals.
- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
- CreatorSteven BochcoMichael KozollStarsDaniel J. TravantiMichael WarrenBruce WeitzThe lives and work of the staff of an inner city police precinct.
- CreatorPatrick McGoohanStarsPatrick McGoohanAngelo MuscatPeter SwanwickAfter he resigns, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is actually a bizarre prison. He refuses to give his warders information while attempting to escape.
- CreatorJoshua BrandJohn FalseyJohn MasiusStarsEd Begley Jr.Howie MandelDavid MorseThe lives and work of the staff of St. Eligius Hospital, an old and disrespected Boston teaching hospital.
- CreatorMichele AbbottIlene ChaikenKathy GreenbergStarsJennifer BealsLeisha HaileyLaurel HollomanFollows the lives and loves of a small, close-knit group of lesbian women living in Los Angeles as well as the friends and family members that either support or loathe them.
- CreatorShawn RyanStarsMichael ChiklisCatherine DentWalton GogginsDrama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the corrupt LAPD unit under his command.
- CreatorPhil RedmondColin McKeownStarsDean SullivanPaul ByattClaire SweeneyThe everyday life and times of the residents, friends and enemies who live in a suburban street in the city of Liverpool in the north of England.
- CreatorRobert CochranJoel SurnowStarsKiefer SutherlandMary Lynn RajskubCarlos BernardCounter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.
- StarsColin FirthJennifer EhleSusannah HarkerWhile the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsAndrew GarfieldDavid MorrisseyJohn HenshawRookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to find the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions.
- CreatorTom FontanaStarsErnie HudsonJ.K. SimmonsLee TergesenA series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.
- CreatorJimmy McGovernStarsTimothy SpallGer RyanLee InglebySeries of one-off dramas, each focusing on a different house within the same street.
- CreatorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonMitch PileggiTwo F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
- StarsAnna Maxwell MartinCarey MulliganDenis LawsonA suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system.
- CreatorIan Kennedy MartinStarsJohn ThawDennis WatermanGarfield MorganJack Regan and George Carter are hard-edged detectives in the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police. They pursue villains by methods which are underhanded and often illegal, frequently violent and - more often than not - successful.
- CreatorTony HollandJulia SmithTony JordanStarsAdam WoodyattSteve McFaddenLetitia DeanThe everyday lives of working-class inhabitants of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough. The square includes the Queen Vic pub and a street market.
- CreatorPaul AbbottStarsDavid ThrelfallRebecca AtkinsonAlice BarryThe lives and relationships of a group of siblings and their estranged father Frank Gallagher on a rough Manchester estate.
- StarsStuart OrganGwyneth PowellLee CornesThe long running television series of the Grange Hill Comprehensive School, and the children's everyday lives.