We’re a ratty bunch us writer types. Thing is, while you probably thing our Top 50 was decided with great ease, it actually only comes to be if we’re fobbed off with our own little vent about telly. We’re needy, see? Fact is, if our long suffering editor didn’t let us have our own moment in the the round-up spotlight, then we’d never agree on anything. I’d be arguing that some seldom heard of comedy show get the top spot and to hell with what is actually more representative of The Best TV Show Of 2008. I mean, if you’ve ever read Anna’s stuff, you’d probably think she’s pretty sweet in real life… but when it comes to the Top 50, man, we had to pin her down and sedate her before she cut off our John’s ear with a switchblade. Anyway, here’s my pay-off where I get to harp on about a load of stuff that I really liked this year.

Related: Our Top 50 Shows of 2008

This year, despite airing the worst show in the history of television (Coming of Age) has been a weird and wonderful place. For starters, back in March, it was me chosen to undergo a ‘social experiment’ (that probably should read ‘anti-social experiment’) which saw me watching nothing but ITV1 for a whole week, from the moment I woke up, to the moment I went to bed (have a look at the whole thing here). Never before had I received such pitying looks and words of condolence from people that I knew. They were right of course, because the whole experience was pretty brain frying. However, in that, I discovered two great programmes in The Fixer and Dexter.

Elsewhere, the big TV events for me personally, were Louis Theroux’s recent look at crime, the ever brilliant Match of the Day 2, Heroes (as ever) and Charlie Brooker’s wonderful Screenwipe. Add to that list, the hugely enjoyable Stephen Fry show where he travelled around America in a black cab, Chinese Food Made Easy, Saturday Kitchen and anything involving the Hairy Bikers and Top Gear.

However, as brilliant as these shows were, the ones that really made my eyes pop out on stalks were the ones that stirred my brain like a cat in a blender. The Restaurant once again, left me agog and continually falling off my seat with tension. On the same channel (BBC Two), House of Saddam really drew me in and slapped me stupid. I’ve still no idea whether it was historically correct or not, but I don’t care. I wanted to be entertained and entertained I was, with a big-budget, posh looking thing that made me glad to own a TV set.

That said, for my Best Thing On Telly All Year, it’s a straight gunfight between two things. Do You Know What Time It Is?, which starred Prof Cox, was a sensational bit of TV. It completely wrecked my head with a mix of science and philosophy. As I’m no scientist, these shows usually confuse the shit outta me, but this one managed to help me cling on to the weird far-flung ideas, leaving me completely reassessing absolutely everything in the entire universe. Not many shows can do that can they?

Despite all the brilliant stuff, 2008 was all about one thing for me… and that’s Barack Obama. His campaign is probably the most fascinating and wonderful thing to happen in my adult life. While my colleagues gunned for The Olympics, for me, Obama’s campaigning and ultimate victory was life-changing television. Sure, a bunch of people running around in their vests is cool and all, but seriously, it amounts to nothing compared with America’s First Black President.

The whole presidential race, without doubt, is the finest TV I’ve seen. Thanks to the huge media interest in politics, we now got every single angle, every single development, every single scandal of the whole shebang… and I was completely gripped. I even stayed up for the count-in. Apart from the huge cultural impact of a Black Prez, the story gave us Sarah Palin, who is a comedian’s dream. While everything else was good, great and gripping, it’s this story that captured my TV heart of 2008.