19. Foyle's War (2002-)
Channel ITV1 Starring Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell ITV has gone downhill as a network in recent years, dominating its schedules with reality programming as opposed to the US imports and original dramas and comedies that its competitors predominantly focus on. As a result, the network has just two shows on this list, though both, fortunately, are excellent. The first of these is Foyles War, a detective drama set both during and after World War II. The period makes for a strong backdrop, with episodes written to both coincide with historical events and incorporate the likes of espionage, sabotage and the black market. Featuring just three main cast members in the form of Kitchen, Weeks and Howell allows for strong character development, whilst the predominant use of just one writer (series creator Anthony Horowitz, perhaps best known for the Alex Rider series of teen novels), gives the show a strong sense of continuity. An initial axing of the show in 2007 that forced Horowitz to rush through several years of the war in just a few episodes was somewhat detrimental to its quality, but its popularity and subsequent renewal has allowed things to slow down once more as an eighth series enters the final stages of development for airing later in the year.
18. Being Human (2008-2013)
Channel BBC3 Starring Lenora Crichlow, Russell Tovey, Aidan Turner, Sinead Keenan, Michael Socha. The supernatural is a popular theme in modern fiction, particularly in that which aimed at young adults, the core demographic of BBC3, which premiered Being Human, a show that centres on a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire who share a flat, in 2008. Focusing on their attempts to blend into the human world, the show mixes horror-drama and comedy. Struggling to live normal lives whilst avoiding detection, persecution and their urges to kill anybody, the show is highly creative and makes for entertaining viewing. The production of an American remake in 2011 coincided with the departure of original stars Crichlow, Tovey and Turner from the series. Though executives have tried to replace them, the show will end after five series in 2013, with the general consensus being that the first three are the best, even if the third did begin with an inexplicable relocation from Bristol to Barry as a result of BBC filming quotas.