20 Best TV Episodes Of 2016
5. Battle Of The Bastards - Game Of Thrones
Season 6 was one of the very best of Game of Thrones, a triumphant return to form after a weaker (by its own high standards) fifth season, and a major shift towards the endgame.
It speaks volumes that Battle of the Bastards, the always-anticipated 9th episode, is a top 10 Game of Thrones episode, but not even the best of the Season 6 (which is why I'm breaking my self-enforced 'one episode per show' rule).
Directed by Miguel 'Hardhome' Sapochnik, it's a stunning, suffocating episode of television.
We actually get two battles for the price of one, with the show opening with the conflict at Meereen. It gives us some of the best, most thrilling dragon action on the series to-date, and it's not even the episode's highlight.
That belongs to the titular battle, which is one of the very best ever put on the small screen. It's not afraid to get right into the thick of the action, full of dirt and grime and the horrors the war. It's intense, frenzied stuff, that'll leave you gasping for breath as much as Jon Snow does.