2023 in television

I was out too much to watch television properly, but I set my timers for the second season of Annika and the eighth season of Shetland, both starring Jamie Sives, which is not a coincidence. Apparently I am a big fan of cosy Scottish murder that showcases middle-aged women, and OK yes I set my timers for Death in Paradise too, though that’s really starting to wear thin. I’ve only seen a few episodes of Bump and Colin from Accounts and need to watch more of both; who knew Australian TV romcoms were so good?

But most importantly I fell hopelessly in love with Warrior, starring some of the most extraordinarily gorgeous people who are also the best at beating the shit out of each other, Andrew Koji above all (the interview linked there with him and some other cast members is excellent, but you can also just admire the picture over the headline). He first properly came to my attention only earlier this year in Seneca, which I saw at the Berlinale, and though that movie enjoyed the most walkouts I’ve seen in a while it also ended with this gorgeous man in a toga, on horseback, dragging the corpse of John Malkovich behind him. 

I am prepared to embarrass myself a great deal in print talking about how great he is, without even getting into how well he did in a role Bruce Lee originally envisaged for himself. But the Warrior cast is a murderer’s row of talent and violent beauty, action-packed and visceral, sometimes unusually romantic, and I end up with a crush on somebody different after every episode. I managed to watch all three seasons at least twice before Sky pulled it from their line-up (five billion sobbing emojis here). It’s currently a homeless show, but will appear on Netflix from February, and I strongly encourage you to track it down. The first season is also available on physical media in the UK right now and it’s worth every penny.