20 Best TV Shows Of 2017

3. Better Call Saul

Jimmy McGill might be on a downward spiral, but Better Call Saul keeps getting better and better with each passing season. Any comparisons with Breaking Bad are going to be unfavourable towards this prequel, and in truth the shows are very different beasts, but if it keeps up this level of storytelling and characterisation then we're going to be having those conversations more and more.

Like Breaking Bad it's about a person's fall, but this one is much more tragic than that of Walter White; not motivated so much by power as it is a sad, grim inevitability. Walt was a once good man who became corrupted; Jimmy is a person who tries to do good and constantly fails, played with subtlety, likeability, and sadness by Bob Odenkirk.

This year brought back Gus Fring and paired him off with Mike, adding a flavour more familiar to the parent show, but while that was entertaining, the heart of this story lies in the sibling rivalry of Jimmy and Chuck, and the former's relationship with Kim (Michael McKean and Rhea Seehorn were exceptional this year).

Both give Jimmy a very human grounding and reasons to try and be better, and yet also reasons to be 'bad' too. It's a slow-burn where every tiny detail matters, with the characters driving the story rather than the other way around, and when it explodes into life it's something really special.