Radio Times Top 40 TV Shows of 2016: 10 to 1

5. War and Peace (BBC1)

For a while the BBC avoided big, old-fashioned literary adaptations and did quirkier period pieces (like Peaky Blinders and Dickensian) instead. But with War & Peace there was no modern twist, just a lavish, full-bore production number, scripted by old pro Andrew Davies. It was a gamble, but boy did it come off. With James Norton and Lily James as star-crossed lovers and a glorious turn from Paul Dano as questing Pierre, the story whisked us from ballroom to battlefield, dazzling us one minute, terrifying us the next. David Butcher