#60 Watch the entire series of Deadwood

Status: Enthralled

In a time when the idiot box is living up to its name, it seems impossible to switch on the telly without being clobbered over the head by some patronising drivel. From Farmer Wants A Wife, a show as clumsily-conceived as its name, to Surprise, Surprise, Gotcha, a programme as redundant as two-thirds of its own title, it really is a rum state of affairs in TV land. I suppose it has some mercies, such as the fact the 1.068 million gawping plebs who watch two and a half freaking hours of So You Think You Can Dance each week are kept out of my face on a Thursday night.

Anyway, as fate would have it, the best stuff's not even on the box at all. Enter Deadwood, a show I'm increasingly convinced may be television's finest (series of) hour(s). On the surface, it's a western, but it's all a façade as the programme quickly reveals itself to be a glorious character study set in a town without law. Based partly in reality, the series opens with righteous sheriff Seth Bullock leaving Montana to set up a hardware store with his friend, Sol Star, in Deadwood. There, they encounter a myriad of characters, each with their own motives for coming to the town. There's famous gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock, drunkard Calamity Jane, scheming saloon owner Cy Tolliver, jittery innkeeper E.B. Farnum, sympathetic prostitute Trixie, elegant Alma Garret, put-upon Doc Cochran and plenty more fantastically-realised characters. However, all are shown up by Ian McShane's incredible portrayal of Gem Saloon owner, Al Swearengen, who must have the most commanding screen presence of any character to ever appear on television. Every word he utters and every movement he makes is delivered with such conviction. Deadwood's entire cast embody their characters like none I've ever seen, but McShane is Swearengen.

The programme received the most publicity for its no-holds-barred depiction of swearing, violence and sex, which are all fair comments. However, everything about the show is perfectly conceived and executed. The direction, casting, cinematography and acting is phenomenal. Best of all are the scripts. Each episode takes place over a single day in the town, allowing for slow burn plotting that truly fleshes out the large cast of characters, all of whom deliver anything from a cutting jibe to a Shakespearean monologue.

The only downside is that the series was cut short after just three seasons, while the telemovies planned to wrap up the show's loose ends look increasingly unlikely to happen.

It's superb stuff, though admittedly not to everyone's taste. But if I find out even one of you tuned into National Bingo Night...