The top 10 TV shows of 2023 REVEALED

The UK’s top 10 TV shows of 2023 have been revealed.

Taking the number one spot is Bruce Straley’s The Last Of Us, which sees a world that’s been ravaged by a pandemic caused by a zombie-inducing fungus.

Its runner-up was Succession, a five-year show that tells the tale of a media magnate family and the battle to take over the company when their father steps down.

Following closely behind is Happy Valley, which is about a police sergeant who is trying to recover from her daughter’s suicide while looking after her grandson.

BBC One soap EastEnders has also found its way onto the RadioTimes.com list for the first time ever. 

The annual list is compiled by the TV bible’s panel of expert critics, who cover every genre, from sci-fi and sports to drama and soaps.

Topping the charts with first place is The Last of Us.

The nine-part HBO show has been raved about since January as many branded the show ‘a masterpiece’.

After 10 years since the PlayStation game debuted, HBO’s post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us premiered at the start of 2023 and has garnered a slew of positive reviews from fans who have dubbed it the ‘best video game-inspired content ever created.’

The show is centred around the parasitic Cordyceps fungus – which tends to infect insects – evolving to control the human race and turn them into zombies.

Based on the video game, it follows the same characters Joel – played by Pedro Pascal – and Ellie – played by Bella Ramsey – as they cross the country after the fungus takes over society.

The Last Of Us defied the odds, amassing a 99 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 9.6 out of 10 rating on IMDB.

A close second, Succession solidified its place as the runner-up.

The Jesse Armstrong-helmed masterpiece, starring Brian Cox, Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen and Jeremy Strong, concluded in its fourth season with a shock twist, garnering millions of viewers and becoming the most-watched episode of the whole show.

It sees the Roy family, known controlling the biggest media and entertainment company in the world, have their lives change when their father steps down. 

The final episode of Succession saw the fate and future of the Roy children and the company their late father, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), created hanging in the balance.

The entire series had been building up to the last few episodes as all of Logan’s children get ready for the final Waystar Royco board vote on the merger with Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgard) GoJo.

Logan’s children are Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Connor (Alan Ruck). 

Mark Mylod directs the 90-minute series finale and after many twists and turns, it is Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) who ultimately takes over as Waystar CEO, under new owner Matsson.

The drama has so far streamed 39 episodes across four seasons which can be streamed on NowTV. 

Its first episode aired on June, 3, 2018. 

Securing third place is Happy Valley.

Happy Valley was the most-watched drama of the year, with an average of 11.9million viewers watching across 28 days, according to the BBC.

Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is a divorced police sergeant with to children living in Halifax.

She is desperately trying to recover from her daughter’s suicide, which happened eight years ago, while trying to look after her grandson, who was born due to  Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) raping her daughter. 

Its heart-stopping finale, aired in December, when Catherine and Tommy finally came face to face, had viewers on the edge of their seats.

Around 7.5 million viewers watched the climax to the BBC1 drama, which saw James Norton’s escaped convict Royce set himself ablaze in the kitchen of the embattled officer played by Sarah Lancashire – making it one of the most-watched single shows of the year.

The show ended this year after 18 episodes aired across three season after it aired for the first time on April, 29, 2014. 

In fourth place is The Bear.

The hit FX and Hulu comedy-drama series stars Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri.

The critically acclaimed show, which will return in 2024, garnered 13 Emmy nominations for season one.

The series, which has so far spanned 18 episodes in two seasons, centres around Jeremy’s character, Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto, who is a fine-dining chef who inherits his family’s sandwich shop.

Carmy, an award-winning chef, inherited the Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother died by suicide.

The program follows chef ditching his Michelin star restaurant job and attempt to run a successful business of his own.

Season two dropped in June on Hulu, with a ten-episode run and will return to UK screens for a third season in 2024.

It first aired on June, 23, 2022 and has since become a popular hit across UK homes. 

Sitting comfortably in fifth place is Beef.

Netflix’s 10-episode comedy series Beef took the internet by storm since its release in April.

The ten-episode black comedy series was hailed as the ‘perfect example’ of an emerging media genre currently being branded as ‘millennial rage.’

It tells the story of two strangers who get involved in a road rage incident and the aftermath.

Beef stars Steven Yeun as Danny Cho, a failing contractor with a chip on his shoulder,  goes head-to-head with Amy Lau (Ali Wong), a person living a far different, picturesque life as a self-made entrepreneur.

Their simple bout of road rage transpires into a prolonged feud.  

After its first season airing on Netflix on March 18, there are talks of a second season for next year but director Lee Sung has not confirmed anything as of yet. 

Just missing out on the top five is the BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, which crept in at sixth place.

The show dramatizes the real-life murder of retired teacher and novelist Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall) and the death of his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin (Anne Reid).

Both were deeply religious but fell in love with charismatic student Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), who drugged and murdered Peter and preyed on Ann for her cash.

It explores how Ben manipulated both victims and captured the gaslighting he carried out on them both, as well as the police investigation into his crimes and his high-profile trial.

The four-part crime drama was written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Saul Dibb.

It first aired on BBC One on July 17 and viewers will not see another episode in 2024. 

Coming in at seventh place is Stephen Graham’s Boiling Point.

It is the sequel to the award-winning 2021 independent film of the same name which saw Stephen’s character, chef Andy Jones, endure the night from hell.

Boiling Point invited viewers behind the swing doors of a high-class eatery for a serving of nerve-jangling tension.

Stephen starred as Andy, who, having had a heart attack and lost his restaurant, sat at home swigging beer and brooding, while Vinette Robinson took on the role of Carly.

Carly, Andy’s former number two, is now head chef of her London restaurant, Point North, where the tension-filled kitchen action took place, with viewers branding the drama ‘stressful’.

The four-part series is the sequel to the award-winning 2021 independent film of the same name, which saw Stephen’s character endure the night from hell.

Stephen and his wife Hannah Walters, who plays pastry chef Emily, were executive producers on both the film and the TV series.

The first episode aired on BBC One on October 1 and the release of a second season is yet to be confirmed.

Doctor Who earned eighth place on the list.

The cult show made history in 2023 as the 15th Doctor was played for the first time by a black actor – Ncuti Gatwa.

It shows the Doctor travelling the universe and in time using his time-travelling spaceship, dubbed the TARDIS. 

While exploring, the Time Lord works to save lives and liberate oppressed lives by combating foes with his companions.  

For the third and final special to mark the sci-fi series’ 60th Anniversary saw David Tennant’s brief return to the role end when he regenerated into Sex Education star Ncuti, 31.

However, all was not as it seemed. A huge twist saw both versions of the Doctor remain on screen, in a massive move away from tradition on the long-running show.

The much-anticipated episode pulled in around 4.5million average viewers with a peak of just more than 6million, according to overnight ratings.

Ncuti’s first full episode will air on Christmas Day, with an eight-episode 14th series starting in spring 2024.

Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story was crowned ninth on this year’s best TV show list.

The prequel spin-off miniseries of Bridgerton saw Charlotte’s rise to power and pivotal marriage to the king.

She was the young German princess married off to the King of England through an arrange marriage. 

But their coupling turns into a tumultuous and then passionate meeting of the minds and true love match.  

Queen Charlotte was played by India Amarteifio, with Golda Rosheuvel continuing to play the adult queen.

Viewers witness her intense marriage to King George III, meet her delinquent children and come to better understand her motivations. 

Michelle Fairley also joins the cast as Princess Augusta, with Arsema Thomas playing the young Agatha Danbury.

The show is a six-part limited series, which Tom Verica directed and first aired on the platform on May 4.

Another season is not on the cards at this time. 

EastEnders managed to sneak into the list this year, as it sits safely at number 10.

The iconic show is the first ever soap that has managed to secure itself a place in the top rankings.

EastEnders is built on the strong foundations of friends and family who all prey to upsets and conflict but pull together in times of need. 

Viewers have been led on a glorious 10-month journey ahead of their Christmas Special episode.

Soap fans are counting down the days until The Six storyline reaches its epic conclusion, and the identity of the male character killed in the Queen Vic is revealed.

Over the past 10 months, fans have been given small clues hinting at the identity of the mystery male character, with one telling sign being a pair of cufflinks glimpsed on the body.

Already, the shortlist has been narrowed down to seven – Phil Mitchell, Keanu Taylor, Ravi Gulati, Dean Wicks, Nish Panesar, Rocky Cotton and Jack Branning.

The storylines have been praised by many viewers for reinvigorating the soap this year, and the fallout is set to continue well into 2024.