TOP 5 SHOWS OF 2018

1. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Warner Bros): blending the perfume commercial aesthetics of 'Riverdale' with a compelling story about adolescence, change and identity, this unexpectedly captivated me to the point of binge-watching the entire show in a couple of days. Kiernan Shipka is great.
2. Titans (Warner Bros / DC): for the first time, DC gets Gotham City completely right with a Christopher Nolan-esque tale of frustrated teenagers, jaded superheroes and supernatural doom and gloom. Mixing genres (horror, thriller and superhero movies, to name but a few), this flawed cocktail is often effective and addictive. Let's hope they make more. It reminded me of the first two X-Men movies, you know - the good ones.
3. Riverdale (Warner Bros / CBS): Netflix's prodigal child returns with more of the same, which is fine. After a long and exhausting second season that didn't quite hit the mark in terms of storytelling, this third season shows promise. I'm confident the second half which debuts this Wednesday will hit the ground running.
4. Killing Eve (BBC): James Bond meets psychopathic blonde.  Based on Luke Jennings's Codename Villanelle novella series, the show successfully puts the viewer in the shoes of the bad girl, who roams the earth hunting her next target. It's alluring, dangerous and well made.
5. Altered Carbon (Skydance): how do I even start to describe this show? It's Blade Runner on TV, a dystopian science fiction cyberpunk muder mystery. Watch it now.
6. Honourable mention for Love (Legendary): the most honest and accurate depiction of being in love in your mid to late 20s - hopeless, lost, monotonous and riddled with passive-aggressive friends and foes. After two strong seasons, the series ends in a satisfactory if predictable way.