So it comes to this - the big one. All this week, Digital Spy has been listing off our favourite TV shows of the year - and now our 2015 telly retrospective reaches a dramatic finale of its own. As rock band Europe once sang: it's the final countdown.

But with more to choose from than ever before - across broadcast, cable, online - which show has been crowned our greatest of the past 12 months? There's only one way to find out...

5. MARVEL'S JESSICA JONES

Undoubtedly, 2015 was the year in which Marvel's small-screen output officially outstripped its movies. And shrewd, noirish character drama Jessica Jones was a triumphant note to end the year on.

A nuanced psychological thriller masquerading as a comic book adaptation, the series sees Krysten Ritter's hardened superhero-turned-PI Jessica trying to rebuild her life in the wake of a recent trauma.

Her former tormentor is Kilgrave (David Tennant), a sociopath with the power of mind control whose obsession with Jessica has grown more dangerous since she escaped from him.

Jessica Jones exceeded our already high expectations at every turn, balancing its wry hardboiled tone and pacy plotting with a remarkably rich exploration of rape, domestic violence and the meaning of consent.

Never mind Marvel's best show to date – this is one of the most daring and sophisticated dramas of the year.

4. HANNIBAL

Brooke Palmer

While it's perhaps fitting that Bryan Fuller's intoxicating take on the Hannibal Lecter story was slaughtered before its time, the loss of it still stings.

The show's third season was its most divided (and divisive) yet, devoting its first seven episodes to the manhunt for Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal in Italy, before jumping forward three years to pick up with Red Dragon.

While the loss of the FBI procedural in that first half made for an even more surreal and disjointed tone than usual, the show's visual language and grasp on its characters remained impeccable.

And if season finale 'The Wrath of the Lamb' is the last we ever see of Hannibal, it's hard to imagine a more perfect end.

Richard Armitage made a fragile and frightening Francis Dolarhyde. But his story was ultimately a means of reuniting Hannibal and Will (Hugh Dancy) - whose cycle of seduction and betrayal finally paid off in a tragic, blood-soaked and startlingly romantic climax.

3. FARGO

FX

Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Fargo's second season would jump back to 1979 and focus on a relatively minor character from the first season. But lo and behold, our second trip to Minnesota was even better than the first.

Sporting an even more impressive cast including Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson and Nick Offerman, Fargo was never a chore - constantly enthralling, shocking, hilarious and keeping us hooked until the very end.

Particular props go out to standout star Bokeem Woodbine as the wisecracking hitman Mike Milligan. To think that before this, one of his biggest roles was in the dodgy Total Recall remake. Where has he been all this time?

2. THIS IS ENGLAND '90

Expectations were high for the final chapter of Shane Meadow's searing saga, but he and co-writer Jack Thorne of course delivered. And then some - with the brutal, hilarious, bleak, heart-warming This is England '90.

The concluding chapter - arriving almost a decade after the original This Is England was released to cinemas - brought the whole thing full-circle, with Combo's vicious assault on Milky continuing to have tragic and far-reaching consequences.

The final scene at Lol and Woody's wedding reception was perfect. The whole gang reunited, joyous... all except Milky, who's doomed to linger on the fringes after opting for violent revenge over forgiveness.

And this is one gang you wouldn't want to be excluded from. From Joe Gilgun to Vicky McClure to Stephen Graham to Andrew Shim, a finer ensemble cast you will not find - breathing brilliant life into characters the audience had almost come to think of as friends.

1. HUMANS

The best, most surprising television of 2015 came courtesy of Channel 4 and AMC's Humans. Whereas the former's Utopia had been imaginative and innovative, it was perhaps too offbeat - too weird - to secure a broader audience. This series though effortlessly fused - no pun intended - human drama with a fresh twist on familiar science-fiction trappings.

A star-making turn from Gemma Chan as Anita - a human-like android known as a Synth, whose true identity has been suppressed - was but one of a roster of incredible performances.

William Hurt, Katherine Parkinson, Will Tudor and more did wonderful work with Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley's smart, stirring scripts - though special mention should be reserved for Emily Berrington as the cold yet somehow sympathetic Niska. That girl's going places.

Telling a broadly fantastic story for a mainstream audience, Humans' ambition was huge. But it was matched by the show's faultless execution, with the US co-production delivering a sheen and polish that set it apart from other UK series.

Though loosely inspired by a Swedish series, Vincent and Brackley took their show in enough new and interesting directions that even those familiar with the show's origins would have a reason to keep tuning in.

Humans managed to stand out as something totally different in a TV landscape awash with cop shows and crime thrillers. And its fearlessness, its creativity and its quality all deserve to be recognised.

Digital Spy's best TV shows of the year 2015: 25-21

Digital Spy's best TV shows of the year 2015: 20-16

Digital Spy's best TV shows of the year 2015: 15-11

Digital Spy's best TV shows of the year 2015: 10-6

Do you agree with our top 25 list? Were you a fan of our winning show? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter via @digitalspytv.

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