Top 10 TV moments of 2010

1. Strictly Come Dancing

Ann Widdecombe’s paso doble, BBC One

Frankly we could have plumped for any of Ann Widdecombe’s judge-dismaying ballroom fiascos, but her paso doble edges it, thanks to the exquisite splendour of the section in which Anton du Beke dragged her around the dance floor on her backside as if she were a Hoover. Was it cruel to laugh at her? Oh, come off it – Widdecombe’s a tough old bird and plainly found it as funny as anyone. Did her survival, thanks to viewers’ votes, demean Strictly as a serious dance competition? Nonsense – Strictly never has been a serious dance competition. If it were, it wouldn’t have celebrities on it in the first place. Strictly, above all else, is meant to entertain – and, after a dismal 2009 series with forgettable contestants and poor ratings, wondrous Widdy gave it back its glitz. For a celibate, 63‑year-old former Minister of State for Prisons, that’s pretty good going.

2. Downton Abbey

A shocking rejection, ITV1

Amid all the dizzying highs and lows on the Sunday night roller-coaster that was Downton Abbey, viewers thought they could be certain of one thing: a happy ending. Then, in a finale watched by more than 10 million people, nice Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) rejected Lady Mary’s acceptance of his own marriage proposal, a twist so brilliantly unexpected it practically won Julian Fellowes a peerage.

3. The First Leaders’ Debate

“I agree with Nick”, ITV1

Before this televised debate between the leaders of the three main parties – the first of its kind in Britain – Nick Clegg was a political nobody. The morning after, he was a political superstar. A couple of months later, of course, he was a political punchbag, but you can’t have everything.

4. This is England ‘86

Comedy and tragedy, Channel 4

Shane Meadows took a bold gamble in moving his acclaimed film to the small screen for a follow up, but it paid off. As well as moments of brilliant farce, there was a painful but powerful denouement as Lol took revenge on her abusive father.

5. The Apprentice

Introducing the Brand, BBC One

The list of corporate clowns on The Apprentice is a long one: Raef Bjayou, Paul Tulip, Tre Azam. This year, the man with a monopoly on self-aggrandising gush was Stuart Baggs, who stunned viewers in the first episode with the bombastic boast: “Everything I touch turns to sold.”

6. Any Human Heart

Logan’s tragedy, Channel 4

The year’s most moving television moment: Logan Mountstuart (Matthew Macfadyen) excitedly returns home to England at the end of the War, after a year as a POW, only to find his house has new owners. His wife and daughter, they tell him, were killed months ago by a flying bomb.

7. Getting On

Bedpans with deadpan, BBC Four

From the opening moments, when Jo Brand’s Nurse Kim Wilde began removing the shoe of an unconscious and extremely pungent tramp, it was clear that the second series of the hospital comedy was going to be even darker and funnier than the first.

8. Requiem for Detroit

The American nightmare, BBC four

The almost post-apocalyptic images of a great American city falling into dereliction and being reclaimed by the prairies will live long in the memory. Julien Temple’s documentary set the decay of Detroit after the collapse of the US car industry against a soundtrack from its rich musical past.

9. The Inbetweeners

Bit of a balls-up, E4

If you thought this teenage sitcom couldn’t get any more puerile, you were proven wrong by the school fashion show scene, in which Simon, thanks to the skimpiness of his outfit, unwittingly exposed (how to put this delicately?) an intimate part of his anatomy. Hideous, juvenile – and hilarious.

10. In Their Own Words

Waugh on Joyce BBC Four

This archive of little-seen interviews with authors (Forster, Huxley, Wodehouse) was a treat throughout, but perhaps the most treasurable moment was the footage of Evelyn Waugh cheerfully dismissing the entire oeuvre of James Joyce as “absolute rot”.