Being in the midst of this so-called 'Golden Age of Television' would presumably make an impossible task of choosing the very best of 2016 - but somehow they did it.

The Radio Times has polled its critics, with The Night Manager coming up on top; the taut, sexy spy thriller directed by Susanne Bier, which saw Tom Hiddleston play soldier-turned-hotelier Jonathan Pine, recruited into the British intelligence services by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman).

Pine is tasked with an undercover infiltration of the inner circle of corrupt billionaire Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie); attempting to hold off both Roper's chief of staff Corkie (Tom Hollander), and control his affection for Roper's girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki).

An adaptation of John le Carré's 1993 novel, the joint production between the BBC and the US' AMC proved an international hit; launching Hiddleston into a front runner position to become the next James Bond, though the actor himself has attempt to keep his distance from the role.