TV shows you should have seen in 2022

Virgin Radio

20 Dec 2022, 11:05

What a year it’s been for telly. There’s been so much good stuff on the box that we’ve struggled to fit it all in. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

There’s been a cracking series of Strictly and another Great British Bake Off. I’m A Celeb went back to the jungle, and we tried our best to work out who the Masked singers were. House of the Dragon took us back into the Game of Thrones universe, This Is Us came to an end, and The Crown returned.

But which other shows were, frankly, unmissable? Here - in no particular order - are a few more that you should have seen, and if you haven’t then you’d better get on them before the likes of Happy Valley start up again in 2023.

The White Lotus

If you thought season one was wild, then it was nothing compared to the second outing of the hit Sky show. This time set in Sicily, we saw the return of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, who, safe to say, gets herself in a right old pickle. 

New characters include Will Sharpe’s Ethan Spiller and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza), who aren’t having the best time on their hols. When Sharpe joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, he explained: “They tell themselves that they're in a good place. They're honest with each other about everything but actually, you start to feel the cracks in their relationship as the series goes on.”

And how much of an absolute banger is the theme tune, by the way?

Better Call Saul

After six seasons and 63 episodes, the Breaking Bad prequel finally came to an end, and we got to learn what became of Jimmy and, equally importantly, Kim Wexler. 

We won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it, but it was a typically tense final season - and featured a couple of very familiar faces from Breaking Bad. And as for the finale? What a fittingly emotional and beautiful piece of television it was. 

Bad Wives

What a show! What a baddie! Sharon Horgan’s comedy-drama follows the tight-knit Garvey sisters, who have always looked out for each other. When their brother-in-law (the baddie) winds up dead, his life insurers launch an investigation to prove malicious intent - and set their sights on the sisters, all of whom had ample reason to kill him.

When Sharon joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, she said: “The four sisters decide that they're going to take him out. They're going to kill him. But they're just really bad at murder!”

This Is Going to Hurt

Based on Adam Kay’s best-selling non-fiction memoir of the same name, the series follows a junior doctor in his chaotic job in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 

As well as attempting to navigate his incredibly exhausting job, the lead character, played by Ben Wishaw, has to manage his own personal relationships. It makes for gripping, funny, devastating and very honest television.

Wednesday

If you haven’t seen this yet, then you need to remedy that, asap. The Tim Burton Addams Family revival has been absolutely massive on Netflix. 

It follows Jenna Ortega in the gothic titular role, and also features Luiz Guzmán as Gomez Addams, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, and Christina Ricci - who played Wednesday in the 1990s film adaptations - as one of the lead character’s teachers. 

Taskmaster / The Horne Section TV Show

If, like us, you love Little Alex Horne, then you’ve been in luck this year. Not only has another superb series of Taskmaster recently ended, but Mr Rachel Horne’s very own sitcom also aired.

In Taskmaster, Dara Ó Briain, Fern Brady, John Kearns, Munya Chawawa and Sarah Millican battled it out, while Alex tried to hold everything together against the odds in his lovely comedy, The Horne Section TV Show. 

When Alex joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, he told Chris that The Horne Section TV Show is “a very silly show.”

Upright / The Tourist

Musician, comedian, actor and writer Tim Minchin joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about season two of his award-winning drama and the return of Lucky and Meg for another adventure. 

“It’s a sort of odd couple thing. And they both have really problematic pasts, and they both have a lot of damage, but it’s one of those ‘they save each other’ kind of stories. It’s really funny, and a bit of an action-adventure, and it makes people cry," he said.

Meanwhile, The Tourist also took us on a road trip in Australia, and was equally unmissable, so we’re looking forward to season two dropping in 2023.

Ozark

Just like Better Call Saul, another epic US drama came to an end, as Marty and Wendy Byrde were back for the Netflix show’s final outing.

The couple were in all kinds of mess with the Navarro cartel, and seemed to always be painfully close to getting out, yet somehow were pulled back in. And as for Ruth, well she was hellbent on revenge.

As the series came hurtling towards an end, there were deaths, betrayals, and a whole lot of tension. What a series.

Slow Horses

The Apple TV+ series stars Gary Oldman, who plays a world-weary but very funny character in charge of a somewhat dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents whose careers have basically been left to rot. Season two started in December. 

When Gary joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about Slow Horses, he told Chris: “It's a spy genre, which is familiar to us, but [writer] Mick Herron has turned it upside down. I mean, you never see spies in a movie leaving work and doing their laundry and going off to the pub. It's a character piece.

“It's like The Office set in the world of espionage.”

Stranger Things

Season four of The Duffer Brothers’ hit sci-fi drama was memorable for so many reasons, not least because it catapulted Kate Bush and Metallica back into the charts.

And as for its finale, with Eleven and the gang battling Vecna? Wow! 

Everything is set up for a thrilling fifth and final season, where we will see what becomes of Max, who was left in a coma. And will Eddie Munson be back? 

Derry Girls

The much-loved Channel 4 sitcom came to an end after three brilliant seasons. 

Show creator Lisa McGee said: “I’m so proud of this show and of our incredible cast and crew and everything we’ve achieved over the past 5 years. What a journey it’s been.”

After Life

The third and final season of Ricky Gervais’ emotional series aired on Netflix in January, and saw Tony (played by Gervais) doing some good deeds and finally finding a semblance of hope and purpose.

The tear-jerker of a show also starred David Earl, Diane Morgan, Mandeep Dhillon and Tom Basden.

So, there you go. The above list is either a reminder of the great telly you’ve watched this year, or a selection of shows to get stuck into right now!