Radio Times Top 40 TV Shows of 2016: 10 to 1
The votes have been counted and the results are in: here's our critics' countdown of the year's best telly. And the winner is...
1. The Night Manager (BBC1)
The year’s silkiest, sexiest thriller sent Tom Hiddleston fans into meltdown, though he wasn’t even the best thing in it. His concierge-turned-Bond act was very smooth indeed, but the show was stolen by Hugh Laurie as the arms dealer Hiddleston was sent to topple. Suave billionaire Dickie Roper epitomised a world of wealth and wickedness, and the series romped around in his super-rich playground while never letting us forget it was a luxuriously appointed hell. Yes, the plot had holes you could drive a rocket launcher through but it scarcely mattered because the cast (Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Debicki, Tom Hollander) were knockout and so was the scenery. Adaptations of John Le Carré have a chequered record, but from now on, this is the yardstick. David Butcher
