A few Sundays ago, Channel 4's haunting drama Southcliffe ended. It has left a mark with me ever since. To me it is a beautifully poignant tale of loss, figuratively and literally. Set in the titular fictional town on the North Kent Marshes, it analyses the foreshadowing, the event and the fall-out of a Hungerford-type shooting spree that leaves fifteen dead. Penned by Tony Grisoni, co-writter of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and adapter of David Peace's Red Riding Quartet (Red Riding), and directed by 31 year-old director Sean Durkin, winner of the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for Martha Marcy May Marlene, it is a masterpiece of the exploration of grief, loneliness, tragedy and repair through the eyes of several of the townsfolk, the victims of loss and even the eventual gunman. For me, Southcliffe is the best British programme I have seen in a long time, it is daring, dark and artistic in a way that many writers would fear to replicate or even endure for their screenplays, and with a week still left on 4od it is worth a watch...scratch that it is a must watch for connoisseurs of British drama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Qyi3yyBHNEw What follows are the reasons why It Is the best British Programme of the Year. Obviously spoilers from the series will follow