The year's best TV

Listener entertainment editor RUSSELL BAILLIE names his picks of the best shows on the small screen in 2022.

ANDOR

The first Star Wars spin-off TV show without a nostalgia hook took its intergalactic politics very seriously in its story of Cassian Andor and how a thief became the rebel hero of the film Rogue One. It was a slow-burner of a show, but a payroll heist, a prison escape and a civilian uprising on Andor’s home planet Ferrix offered plenty of Jedi-free excitement. (Disney+)

BAD SISTERS

This tale of Irish sisterly revenge against one sibling’s absolute monster of a husband was a deft blend of black comedy, family drama and thriller. It was helped by a terrific cast led by co-writer Sharon Horgan, whose reworking of a 2016 Belgian series made this one of 2022’s most addictive shows. (Apple TV+)

BORGEN: POWER AND GLORY 

The Danish political saga made a welcome, topical return after nearly 10 years away with a conundrum-heavy scenario that had former PM and now foreign minister Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) dealing with the ramifications of oil being found in the dependency of Greenland. (Netflix)

DOCUMENTARY NEW ZEALAND

While there was a paucity of new local television drama in 2022, the many one-off docos in this series delivered much great, provocative storytelling, especially in the likes of No Māori Allowed, Web of Chaos, and the Robyn Malcolm-fronted You, Me & Anxiety. (TVNZ+)

KAREN PIRIE