The Remnants Of 2008

Best Show (UK): Doctor Who. Because apparently I’m easy that way and this show really did deserve it.

Worst Show (UK): Rock Rivals. Because whoever came up with this deserves a swift kick in the back side. TV at its most pointless.

Best Show (US): Dexter. Because the second season really went above and beyond the levels of excellence I wasn’t expecting.

Worst Show (US): Gossip Girl. Because it continued a trend of bad US teen shows that doesn’t seem to be letting up.

Best Villain: Benjamin Linus in Lost. Seriously this guy just ruins you by being in his company or by being related to him.

Worst Villain: Eden Lord in Nip/Tuck. Poorly written character played by a very weak actress and that’s me being nice.

Best Spin-Off Series: Ashes To Ashes. I know some might strongly disagree but I had fun watching this series unfold.

Best TV Death: Chris Miles in Skins. Top marks to Joe Dempsie throughout the second season for his consistently brilliant performances as the pill popping teen.

Worst TV Death: Elle Bishop in Heroes. Poorly realised in my opinion. Surely the girl could’ve been kept around for Fugitives at least.

Shocking TV Moment: David Tennant announcing his Doctor Who departure and now, the casting of Matt Smith as his successor. Both surprising, neither bad.

Sexiest Male On TV: Gareth David-Lloyd in Torchwood. What can I say – I love Ianto like everyone else. Sometimes it’s good to heed the majority.

Sexiest Female On TV: Kristin Bell in Heroes. She’s just got that certain something I can’t put my finger on.

Excellent Use Of Flashback: The Torchwood episode “Fragments”. Everything you wanted to know about Jack, Owen, Ianto and Toshiko joining Torchwood got nicely explained here.

Best Finale: Doctor Who’s “The Stolen Earth”/“Journey’s End”. Yes, it reeked of fan fiction but I still adored both episodes. Lost and Brothers And Sisters came a close second/third.

Yes, Kids Are Annoying: The Scavo twins in Desperate Housewives. Less really is more if you catch my drift.

Neither Use, Nor Ornament: Holly Harper in Brothers And Sisters. Get rid, get rid, get rid and did I mention – get rid!

Good Reality TV: The Apprentice. Still amusing as far as I’m concerned and even the Irish version was fun to watch.

Bad Reality TV: Big Brother 9. Just plain abysmal.

Best Gay Couple: Kevin Walker/Scotty Wandall in Brothers And Sisters. And this is coming from someone who originally wasn’t that keen on the latter.

Worst Gay Couple: Julia McNamara/Olivia Lord in Nip/Tuck. Every couple on this show is bad nowadays and these two continued the trend.

Best Straight Couple: Dexter Morgan/Rita Bennett in Dexter. The second year certainly went further in giving them depth as a union.

Worst Straight Couple: Julia McNamara/Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck. Again, every single couple on this show is bad nowadays and these two did even more than any other pairing.

Best Guest Appearance: Julian Bleach in Doctor Who. Davros might have been overshadowed by his creations but Bleach made for an excellent presence in the season finale.

Worst Guest Appearance: Victoria Beckham in Ugly Betty. I know she didn’t exactly have a demanding role but she could’ve at least made the effort.

Industrious Character: Maria LaGuerta in Dexter. Who else would play on a co-worker’s paranoia in order to get their job back?

Lax Character: Tommy Walker in Brothers And Sisters. Not a criticism on Balthazar Getty but Tommy does seem to do damn all on the show.

Killed Too Soon: Danielle and Alex in Lost. Their deaths might have made more of an impact if they had been fleshed out better as characters.

Difficult Season: Heroes. Season Two was literally in some places a chore to watch and Season Three has been pretty hit and miss in certain places.

Best Revamp: Lost and its use of flash forwards. Who would’ve thought this would have worked as well as it did?

Worst Revamp: Nip/Tuck moving to LA. Less interesting patients and some irritating moments from our main players.

Good Show Producer: Bryan Fuller. Apparently he’s going to fix Heroes.

Bad Show Producer: Tim Kring. You’ll never make friends if you refer to your audiences as halfwits.

Best Male Character: Dexter Morgan in Dexter. Because of him, I can no longer criticise people who find the likes of Tony Soprano appealing.

Worst Male Character: Peter Petrelli in Heroes. Only because there’s so much whinging I can take from this character.

Best Female Character: Donna Noble in Doctor Who. I was stupid, Donna rocks, end of story.

Worst Female Character: Lana Lang in Smallville. How not to write a female character on a sci-fi show.

Most Improved Show: Torchwood. Season Two went above and beyond in silencing critics.

Least Improved Show: Nip/Tuck. Season Five was a hot mess and I’m not sure the remaining eight episodes will fix it. Then again, I hope I’m wrong.

Best TV Partnership: The Doctor/Donna Noble in Doctor Who. Alex Drake/Gene Hunt come a close second though.

Worst TV Partnership: Gabriel ‘Sylar’ Gray/Elle Bishop in Heroes. Clearly Sylar doesn’t play well with others, even with ones he sleeps with and then murders.

Best Use Of Music: Skins. Some pretty excellent choices throughout the second year, especially in the last few episodes.

Best Cancellation: Moonlight. Bland, boring vampire show deservedly got staked.

Worst Cancellation: Pushing Daisies. Surely ABC could’ve given this another chance.

HoYay Award: Merlin/Arthur in Merlin. Undoubtedly inspiring a lot of seedy fan fiction in its wake as well.

Good Use Of Retcon: Sara not being dead in Prison Break. I like her and she’s been good in the fourth season.

Bad Use Of Retcon: Rebecca not being a Walker in Brothers And Sisters. Poor judgement on the writers’ part.

2009 Hopeful: Dollhouse, which will hopefully not have the same fate as Firefly when it premieres in February.