23. Shameless (2004-2013)
Channel Channel 4, Starring David Threlfall, Annabelle Apsion, Anne-Marie Duff, James McAvoy, Jody Latham, Elliott Tittensor, Aaron McCusker, Rebecca Atkinson, Tina Malone, Michael Taylor, Nicky Evans, Sally Carman, Dean Lennox Kelly, Karen Bryson, Kira Martin, Jack Deam, Kelli Hollis, Alice Barry. The lives of council estate delinquents might not be everybodys cup of tea, but Channel 4s Shameless has been a whirlwind success throughout its ten years on the air. Focusing on the modern issue of family dysfunction, the series was initially based around Frank Gallagher (David Threlfall), a benefit-abusing alcoholic, and his children, though the emphasis of the series has extended to other characters over the years as the actors portraying Franks offspring have gradually left the production. Showcasing inner-city depravity and the trials and tribulations of the modern British working class, the show is highly representative of the current era, being grounded in reality in comparison to many of its counterparts, whose characters often live in a world wholly unrealistic in comparison to our own. A lack of consistency has hampered the series somewhat, given the regular stream of new characters required to replace outgoing ones, but in the years following the airing of its eleventh and final series in 2013, Shameless will be looked upon as a pioneering programme of the new Millennium, as well as being the show responsible for the emergence of James McAvoy, now a Hollywood heavyweight.
22. Green Wing (2004-2007)
Channel Channel 4 Starring Sarah Alexander, Sally Bretton, Oliver Chris, Olivia Colman, Tamsin Grieg, Michelle Gomez, Pippa Haywood, Mark Heap, Katie Lyons, Stephen Mangan, Lucinda Raikes, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Karl Theobold. Earlier in this article, I stated that workplace comedies can be hampered by their need to include the workplace in storylines, but Green Wing throws this presumption out of the window. Yes it is set in a hospital, but it never actually features anything to do with medicine whatsoever. Instead, the setting merely serves as a backdrop for a show that is hard to describe as anything other than insane. Featuring a bizarre assortment of characters who find themselves in stories with crazier plot twists than most major soap operas combined, the action is innovative, surreal and often dark, with laughs sourced from murder, amongst other controversial subjects that only Channel 4, the network responsible for divisive late 90s great Brass Eye, would dare to broadcast. There was a sharp dip in quality between the two main series of the programme, which contributed to its downfall, but all eighteen episodes that were made during its three years on air make for highly enjoyable fare.