It was the best of telly, it was the worst of telly

1. Cranford
Who knew retrieving lace collars from inside cats and chasing running ladies in sedan chairs could be so much fun? Her Majesty’s BBC did us proud this autumn, bringing Dame Judi, Julia Sawalha (off Ab Fab) and a galaxy of old-lady-actresses-what-we-love to Sunday nights.

2. Spooks
Totally shat on 24 (better writing, less un-realistic if you know what we mean) AND Rupert Penry-Jones in various states of undress. Tuesday nights will never be the same. Until the next series. RPJ? J’adore slash RIP.

3. Ugly Betty
Brought us two new telly gays (including baby-gay Justin), some wonderfully bitchy girls and the really very loveable character of Betty herself all set in a Devil-Wears-Prada world of fashion fashion fashion. And we guessed the mysterious lady was the brother.

4. The Street
Quite apart from the horny Brokeback Mountain episode set among the builders of t’ North and starring the boppable Will Mellor, this second series by Jimmy McGovern was flawless pocket-size drama with a smorgasbord of the finest actors in the kingdom. Oh, and Timothy Spall.

5. Hollyoaks
We are obviously not referring to the godawful Sunday re-runs that go on for hours and have a deaf signing kind of person taking up half the screen (what? The deaf audience can’t press Ceefax?) but to the homo love story featuring the j’adorable John Paul.

Special Mention: Janice Dickinson
Generally. Whether it was showing off on Jonathan Ross, showing off on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here or showing off (and getting hot models to take their pants off!) on Model Agency, we were all about Big J. Why don’t you read our fabulous exclusive interview while we’re on the subject?

And the worst…
Christopher Biggins winning I’m A Celebrity…
The stupid phoney fat fake somehow hoodwinked a nation into thinking he was adorable. We’ve met him. He’s vile. Mind you, it was a bad year for reality winners: Leon and not Rhydian, Brian and not Samanda, Shilpa and not Cleo…