The Greatest TV Drama Series Accurately Ranked

I remember first watching Breaking Bad with my flat mates at University, we locked ourselves in the living room night after night because we simply couldn't stop ourselves bingeing. I neglected my revision, and when one of our lowly band had to go away for the weekend requesting that we wait for him to return before watching the next episode, we couldn't help but betray his wishes and we watched the entirety of Season 4 in the 48 hours he was absent. At the end of each episode there would be an audible exhaling of breath as everyone collected themselves. It's just that tense all of the time. I can recall scene after scene which was flawlessly executed and carefully constructed in such a way as to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. From the violent, to the philosophical, to the just plain emotional, this creative team were masterful.

'Breaking Bad' rids itself of the usual segregated season to season storytelling. Instead, it plays a much longer game by keeping plot strands up in the air year after year and delaying the story's climax until the very end. As such, it is less like a traditional TV series, which can be dipped in and out of at will, and more like a 62 hour long epic western movie or a grand novel ('Dostoevsky in the desert', as one critic put it). Creator Vince Gilligan used his gift for measured pacing to create a story in massive Shakespearean 5 act form. This is what makes it so addictive and powerful, as well as what sets it aside as my personal favorite show.

Because the story hooks you with its peddle to the metal twisty turny style and regularly pulls viewers through entire seasons in just a couple of days, I think people often don't notice how impressive the more subtle aspects of it are. On repeat viewings you'll realise that it had some of the most profound writing and directing in TV history, and you'll be reminded that even the quieter episodes like 'Fly' or 'Fifty-One' (which often upset the more testosterone fueled of viewers) are incredible works of character-centric writing in their own right.

This is a series which can boast a genuinely astounding cast, top notch cinematography reminiscent of 'The Godfather' and sergio leone films, and inspired music choices. Furthermore, the series climax, 'Ozymandias', is clearly the best hour of television ever (fight me). Never have all the components of a TV series come together to give quite such a spectacular pay-off as they did there. However, all 59 episodes which built to that point, and the 2 episodes which tie the story up after it, are similarly mesmerizing.

Call me a super fan if you must, but I think any sane individual would struggle to argue that 'Breaking Bad' isn't the most complete and perfect series of all time.

Spoilers in this excellent tribute video by Alexandre Gasulla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4ag8zVOjN4

The Leftovers is a very different take on the post-apocalypse genre. Usually these shows are focused on survival in a world so far gone that society has crumbled. However, the apocalypse in The Leftovers is more subtle. Superficially, society carries on as normal but the disappearance of 2% of the human population can be explained by neither science nor faith and has thrown a spanner in the works of every culture and philosophy on Earth. In that sense the world is just as broken as the world of 'The Walking Dead', except that it is an emotional and intellectual death.

The Leftovers focuses itself on emotional turmoil and human grief rather than trying to explain the inexplicable. Given the rate at which our world is changing and the absurdity of life, The Leftovers exploration of what it's like to live in an inexplicable world feels very much like a document reflecting the 2010's. Like all great art, it is a mirror reflecting the times and the people that made it.

Sadly, nobody watched it (literally nobody except me and a handful of ecstatic TV critics). However, if you can get through the somewhat dour 1st season, you'll be rewarded by the best run of episodes ever produced by HBO. 'The Leftovers' may only be 28 episodes long, but flippy Michael Phelps does it pack a punch! Hours of television like 'International Assassin', and 'Certified' could stand up to the best of cinema on their own, but placed in the context of an ongoing TV series they become even more powerful. What's more, The Leftovers gave us one of the best series finale's ever made.

It might seem ridiculous to rank it higher than well established shows like the formidable 'Sopranos', or the intellects dream, 'The Wire', but neither of those got under my skin quite as much as The Leftovers, despite its comparative brevity.

The Wire is so universally acclaimed that I feel I have to really justify it not being my top pick. Yes, it's definitely the most intelligent TV series of all time. In that regard there's not too much I can say about it which hasn't been said a hundred times before. However, my few thoughts would be that in order to promote a sense of hyper-realism the writers (for the most part) did away with pathos and artful presentation (worst of all the production is almost entirely without musical cues!!). The resulting experience leaves my brain full of thoughts, but my heart just a little too cold for me to place The Wire above my two favourite shows. Having said that, it's not as if 'The Wire' doesn't have moments of incredible power, it is my third choice after all. The last couple of episodes of each season can feel a bit like being hit by a ton of bricks.

'The Sopranos' is a behemoth of a TV series. Running for 86 episodes, it may not be quite as long as the likes of 'Mad Men', 'The West Wing' or 'Lost', but there is a heaviness to it. Each episode is like a stand alone film which is just a small piece of a huge catalogue. Bit by bit 'The Sopranos' creates one of the deepest, darkest, and most defiantly nihilistic explorations of modern middle class suburbia in all literature. Nothing else can match it for its breadth of existential themes, from love, loyalty, legacy, and depression, to crime and morality. It's like the bible of TV drama. Throw in James Gandolfini's iconic central performance as charismatic and possibly sociopathic mob boss 'Tony Soprano', and it becomes really not difficult to understand why people hold 'The Sopranos' in such high esteem.

To remind yourself of its greatness I recommend my personal favourite episodes 'Kennedy and Heidi' and 'Long Term Parking' or the classic 'Pine Barrens'. However, there are plenty of other super options to choose from.

“In Greek, nostalgia literally means, ‘the pain from an old wound.’ It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship. It’s a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the Wheel. It’s called a Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around, and back home again to a place where we know we are loved.” - Don Draper, episode 1.13 - 'The Wheel'

Much like Don Draper's Carousel, Mad Men is a time machine. Tracing the sixties from their conservative beginnings and through the cultural explosions which followed, this iconic series takes a subtle look at how such social and technological upheavals would have affected the individual. Few TV series go into the dark depths of their characters as perfectly as this one and fewer still have found such a unique way of telling a story. Mad Men could be philosophical, funny and emotional all at once.

If I had to pick one episode from this very long series it would be a toss up between the season 1 finale 'The Wheel' and season 4's deeply touching testament to friendship, 'The Suitcase'.

I watched this twice in the space of two days. But, in fairness to me, that’s only because I do genuinely think it’s some of the best TV I’ve seen in my life. Both times I finished it I came away feeling slightly shaken, blinking back tears, but still not really knowing whether the more appropriate reaction would not be to weep like Stephen Graham but instead to retch like Erin Doherty. While it certainly is true that the immersive realism of Barantini’s playscript-like “oners” makes Adolescence scarier than any horror film and sadder than any outright weepy, to zero in on any one of the series’ facets would be to do it a disservice. It is, in fact, a creation greater than any short explainer can adequately describe (particularly in its final two episodes), so I won’t try. It should be enough to say that everything about it — the innovative style, the perfectly judged ambiguity of Jack Thorne’s writing, the half a dozen awards-worthy performances, the perfect marriage between method and intent, the way the camera eventually lands on a closing shot so magnificently dreamy and sad that it takes the breath away... — combines to create something sublime. A quality exceedingly rare in TV. Anyway, I’ve been so busy climbing aboard this bandwagon, being spun out by this excoriating dive into the ways our society — from the individual to the state, and despite everyone involved’s very greatest efforts — can fail its children, that I've barely noticed the world going by in a handbasket. Even so, Adolescence made me wonder where that handbasket is being taken.

To the uninitiated Deadwood might appear to be harsh, profane, and grubby, but in reality it's an incredibly heartfelt exploration of community and humanity in a setting where the usual layers of social etiquette have been peeled away. Creator David Milch's dialogue is something to behold. Had it not been canceled after its third season leaving most story lines hanging in the air, Deadwood may have landed right up with the top 3 or 4 series ever.

Arriving soon after HBO's success with The Sopranos, Six Feet Under was one of the first great TV dramas. It is surprising therefore that it was so unconventional. Who would have thought that, after a very 'genre' premise for its mafia show, HBO would veer so far left of center with a morbid, surrealist series about an eccentric family who run a funeral home? On paper it all sounds fairly dismal, but it's not. Six Feet Under is one of the funniest shows on this list as well as easily being one of the most moving. It does have a few weak spots: the stories occasionally turn a little soapy and the plot has a tendency to on hiatus for a few episodes every once in a while. However, rarely have I cared about fictional characters so much, and the good bits are so good that I'm willing to let the weaker aspects slide a little. Furthermore, Six Feet Under would land a spot very near the top a very short list of shows which ended on an undisputed series high point. It feels like everything has been priming you for the last 4 or 5 episodes so that they're some of the most emotional in the TV repertoire.

Although 'Six Feet Under' can't really compete with the likes of 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire' for shear quality of writing, there is no denying its visceral impact. It dealt with deep human emotions in a way that was never matched until 'The Leftovers' arrived.

Finally, no introduction to 'Six Feet Under' would be complete without a mention of its magnificent closing 6 minutes. I don't want to give anything away, so let's just suffice it by saying that the final sequence is among the most moving things I've seen on screen. It cast a spell over me which lasted for days!

Band of Brothers has its faults, but when the emotional wallops hit home there is nothing more devastating. 'Why We Fight' is perhaps the most upsetting episode of TV I've ever seen: for some reason I love that.

Lost has become synonymous with everything that's wrong with serialized drama - it goes on too long and the writers didn't plan an end point but piled enigma on top of enigma in a vain effort to extend it beyond its natural course. Despite its flaws however, I still think Lost contained some of the best characters in the history of television, and when it was on form it could be as powerful as anything on this list. Episodes like 'Walkabout', 'Through the Looking Glass' or 'The Constant' will have you convinced that, even though it had some fundamental issues, Lost was one of the best shows we ever watched.

Although still unfinished, it's safe to say that 'The Americans' is one of the all time great TV series. The writers are playing the same incredible season to season long game that earnt 'Breaking Bad' my top position. Each season builds on the last and tension has been steadily growing one season at a time so that now there is a sense that one tiny misstep could bring down the Jenga tower, and it's thrilling. Season 5 was perhaps slightly weaker than the 3 which came before it but that does not mean I'm not incredibly excited to see how the sixth and final season brings this heightened world to a close.

Also, this show has the best episode title names ever: 'The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears' is both an insanely great title and an insanely great episode.

When I first started watching the Shield I underestimated it. It's aesthetic is so rough and ready, and it's episodic pace so fast and unforgiving that I didn't fully expect it to be disciplined enough to pull off an epic, carefully constructed overall story. I thought it was just another procedural police show, albeit a dark and pretty good one. However, as I went further down the rabbit hole The Shield's masterplan was slowly revealed. This is the story of a self destructive man's world gradually collapsing around him set in motion from the Pilot, and gradually unraveling over 7 extraordinarily consistent seasons which culminate in one of the strongest final stretches of episodes I've ever seen. Despite how it may appear a glance, The Shield ranks among the best TV ever made.

I apologise to fans who think Game of Thrones should be higher on my list. I really do love it for its spectacle and fully realised fantasy world, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, I don't think we'll be remembering GoT for the integrity and artistic value of its literature in the same way that we do for something like 'The Wire'. That might sound pretentious, and maybe it is, but hey, what can I say? I just think of it as a syrupy, ultra high budget soap, and it's great.

Mr Robot is shaping up to be one of the most avant-garde programs on TV whilst also managing to be something of a popular hit (presumably mostly with millennials). Both seasons so far have been mind bending and deliciously weird, barreling through loads of twists and using some of the best cinematography you'll find on TV to make everything feel unique and new. It can sometimes feel a bit pretentious, and the narration cab be a bit annoying, but on the whole I recommend Mr Robot to any sci-fi fan, and anyone who likes racy, tense dramas.

Fargo is the true heir to Breaking Bad; the Coen-esque writing, pulpy plot lines and gorgeous directing are all here.

Rectify is another series which has somehow slipped under the popular radar. I seem to be the only person in the UK whose ever even heard of it. But let's be honest, this style of storytelling was never going to be a hit. Rectify perfected the art of producing episodes in which more or less absolutely nothing happens. Instead, moments of profound beauty are conjured from its stillness, the almost mystical Georgian setting and wonderful choices of music. Rectify could be saccharin and pretentious at times, but I personally struggle to care about it's flaws because when I think back on it, the moments I remember are the extremely powerful, beautiful ones. This was a series unlike any other, and I very much doubt we'll see anything of its like again for a long time.

At first 'Halt and Catch Fire' felt like it was a wannabe, a poor imitator of genuine quality dramas like Mad Men. The 1st series felt rehashed and just a touch uninspired. However, things kept getting better and better and more self assured throughout season 2 so that by the time season 3 begun the board was set for one of the most clever and distinctive runs of episodes I saw in 2016. 'Halt and Catch Fire' took its time finding its voice but Seasons 3 and 4 were pretty perfect and I sometimes find myself missing spending time with these characters. Sounds silly, but I think that's fairly high praise.

'Hannibal' was canceled after just 3 seasons meaning that we'll never see where the writing team was planning to take things. However, in my opinion, the de-facto series finale leaves everything perfectly making for a surprisingly neat and concise story. Hannibal is gorgeous and terrifying to watch, but beyond the gore and violence is a weirdly moving relationship between two outsiders who need each other very much.