Aaron Sorkin made his name as the writer of beloved political series The West Wing. He is also the man who made statistics and whiteboards thrilling in Moneyball and The Social Network. So in the summer of 2012 it was surprising to see quite a mixed reaction to his next project, The Newsroom. The show is about news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels). His life changes when his ex-girlfriend is hired as the executive producer of his show. As he and Mackenzie (Emily Mortimer) begin to work together they develop a new way to present the news where the focus is on journalism, real people and real issues rather than gossip and rumour. The difficulty they find is balancing this with the wishes of television bosses and maintaining ratings without pop culture pieces and gossip. For many critics, the first series was flawed because the idealistic tone made the show feel indulgent and come across as morally superior. Almost all of the strong characters are ideologically liberal and moral whereas the more right wing characters are depicted as the villains. This is nothing new for Sorkin. Strong characters with this viewpoint are a Sorkin trope that was one of the biggest criticisms of the The West Wing but did not stop it becoming one of the most popular television series of all time, alongside the likes of The Sopranos. For me 'The Newsroom' was one of the best new shows of 2012 regardless of all the criticism and debates it caused. The first series evolved as it went on, reducing the length and speed of the dialogue and tightening the key relationships. This is not a show for everybody but for fans of political drama, long conversations in corridors, dry humour and the video clip form the pilot episode (above) I cannot recommend it enough. With the new series starting on Sky Atlantic in August, here are the reasons I cant wait: