Best TV shows of the year 2022, 50-41: The Crown, Wednesday and more
Read our guide to the very best of 2022's small-screen entertainment.
It's been a transformative year for television, with more streaming services than ever battling for our attention and vying to knock the industry leaders off their perch, while linear broadcasters look for new and innovative ways to capture audiences. The upside of all of this? Lots and lots of great series to watch.
Over the next five days, RadioTimes.com will be revealing its top 50 shows of the year, as selected by our team of editorial experts. Today (26th December), we kick off with 50-41 – expect personal stories of grief and anxiety, plus escapist romance, true crime... and puppets.
Be sure to join us again tomorrow and throughout the week as we disclose our full list, including the show that's landed this year's much-coveted no. 1 spot.
50. From Scratch
Available on Netflix
Grab the tissues, because you’re going to need it for Netflix’s From Scratch. Based on actress Tembi Locke’s true story, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home, the eight-part series tells the heart-wrenching tale of Amahle 'Amy' Wheeler (Zoe Saldana), an American student who travels to Italy and ends up falling in love with a Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea). However, when Lino faces life-threatening health issues, their lives are turned upside down and their families are brought together. A story of love, loss, resilience, and hope across cultures, From Scratch truly captures the beauty of community and family. – Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
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49. Love Is Blind
Available on Netflix
The most explosive Love Is Blind scenes since Giannina turned runaway bride in season 1, the latest batch of episodes of Netflix's deliciously deranged dating show (or "social experiment") was the perfect viewing for hunkering down this past autumn. From Andrew's fake tears to Bartise's victim-to-villain arc, and not to mention Cole's overall existence, Love Is Blind doubled down on its remit to provide mouthwateringly juicy drama this year. Come for the baffling experience of watching people get engaged within days of meeting (but never actually meeting), stay for the blistering dissection of modern masculinity in the reunion episode. – Minnie Wright, News Editor
48. The Thief, His Wife, and the Canoe
The bizarre true story of John and Anne Darwin from Seaton Carew had to be seen to be believed - and ITV offered a unique and fun take starring Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan in the lead roles. Much more than just another true crime series, Marsan and Dolan undercut the at times comedic nature of the story with chilling and very real performances, showing the true human cost of John’s terrible actions. It was impossible to take your eyes off either of them, with their captivating portrayals fit for the big screen let alone the small screen. And as a Teessider writing this, their accents were quite good - no easy feat.
Visually, the miniseries is stunning, contrasting the beautiful Panama with cold and drab Hartlepool, often accompanied by a jingly and quirky soundtrack. Unforgotten’s Chris Lang showed just what a fantastic writer he is, pairing the bizarre nature of this story with light comedy and a dark coercive control understory and, perhaps most impressively, portraying it all without judgement. – Helen Daly, Associate Editor
47. Love Island
Available on BritBox
Our summer evenings were booming this year, as Love Island season 8 kicked off on ITV2. A whole two months of coupling up, mugging off and heads turning, the latest season wasn’t short of dramatic moments – many of which we have to thank Ekin-Su and Davide for! It feels like just yesterday when she was crawling around the balcony with Jay...
As Casa Amor returned, things only got hotter on the island - cue an influx of residents to the main villa, as contestants chose to twist rather than stick with their original partners (Ahem, Dami!). It was a summer of love and non-stop banter (which is what we really tune in for anyway!) – Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
46. The Rehearsal
Nathan for You star Nathan Fielder’s high-concept, high-budget comedy explores what life would be like if you could rehearse its most important moments down to the tiniest details. What starts off as a relatively simple premise gradually builds into its own mini world in which real people become actors, actors become real people, and Fielder straddles the line between both, as he gets increasingly tangled up in the spiralling project.
It all concludes with a stomach-churningly uncomfortable final episode that shines a light on the off-screen consequences of a reality TV culture where the product is more important than the participants. Did it go too far? Was any of it even real? Whatever conclusions viewers came to, one thing was beyond doubt – you couldn’t take your eyes off it. – Christian Tobin, Production Editor
45. Bridgerton
Available on Netflix
Shondaland’s Bridgerton returned to Netflix for season 2 and it didn’t disappoint. With the first season focusing on Daphne Bridgerton’s (Phoebe Dynevor) marriage to Simon, the Duke of Hastings, during the Regency era of London’s ton, the second instalment turned its attention to Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) – as explored in Julia Quinn’s novel The Viscount Who Loved Me.
And despite the absence of Regé-Jean Page’s charming Simon, season 2 proved to be almost as popular as the first as Simone Ashley (Kate Sharma) and Jonathan Bailey’s exhilarating chemistry took centre stage in this tantalising enemies-to-lovers tale. – Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
44. The Crown
Available on Netflix
Has there been a series this year which created quite as much conversation and controversy as The Crown? With the arrival of its fifth season, the royal Netflix drama brought up a slew of complaints about its historical veracity and status as a “fictional dramatization” of real events. However, when you cut past the noise, let’s face it – this season was just as strong as the others, with a phenomenal new cast, a gripping central storyline buoyed up with intriguing off-shoot historical stories, and the soap opera dialled up to 11. Sure, it may not be particularly subtle with its metaphors, but when was this show ever?
The Crown is, and always has been, a visually sumptuous character drama first and foremost, and with performers such as Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West bringing their A game, those characters really do come alive on screen, making this an utterly addictive watch. – James Hibbs, Drama Writer
43. Wednesday
Available on Netflix
With revamps, reboots and revivals in vogue at the moment, it was only a matter of time before The Addams Family IP was resurrected and repackaged by a mad scientist streamer. While critics were divided over whether Wednesday was a spooky success or a Riverdale rip-off in black, no one can deny that the highlight of this hugely popular comedy horror was the gothic gift of Jenna Ortega’s performance.
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, Wednesday crept into CW drama territory at times, but overall delivered a quirky murder mystery that stayed faithful to the Addams Family brand (Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia was inspired casting) with a Tim Burton-esque feel thanks to the director’s executive producer role. However, it was ultimately Ortega’s deadpan expressions and commitment to not blinking that made Wednesday a success – as well as that dance scene taking TikTok by storm. – Lauren Morris, Entertainment and Factual Writer
42. Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
Available on Netflix
You need only look at a project like Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared to see the true value of Channel 4; our publicly-owned reveller in all things offbeat is the natural home for this adaptation of the viral web series. Here, it continues to thrill a dedicated fanbase with its creepy and mysterious spin on vintage children’s television, brought vividly to life through inventive crafts and puppetry. The original creative team of Becky Sloan, Joe Pelling and Baker Terry reunite for this brand new run, capturing the spirit of their earlier shorts while pushing the concept further with bold new characters and ideas. This ensures plenty of material to fill the expanded runtime, which has grown by 20 minutes, as Red Guy, Yellow Guy and Duck’s relentless torment continues. – David Craig, Drama Writer
41. Breeders
"When we were pitching the show to broadcasters, my thing was always 'it’s a comedy, but only just'," Martin Freeman told RadioTimes.com earlier this year and, indeed, he wasn't kidding. Breeders – co-created by The Responder star with The Thick of It's Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell – is fronted by two of the best comic performers of their generation in Freeman and Daisy Haggard, cast as wearied parents Paul and Ally.
A superb supporting cast including Alun Armstrong, Joanna Bacon and Patrick Baladi all help bring the humour, but the show is also so unflinchingly honest, so absolutely brutal about the realities of parenting that episodes can often leave you feeling short of breath... and not just because you've been laughing so hard.
Never was that more true than with this year's exemplary third season, which saw Ally struggle with the menopause and growing distant from daughter Ava (Eve Prenelle), while Paul sought to repair his relationship with son Luke (Alex Eastwood), while continuing to combat his anger issues. – Morgan Jeffery, Executive Editor
If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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