As is tradition, this will be the final post on Geektown before we take a few days off over Christmas.
It feels like a good moment to pause, take stock, and look back at the year that was. Not just for the industry, but for all of us who spend an unreasonable amount of time watching, discussing, arguing about, and occasionally shouting at television.
So, before we shut the site for a few days, here’s our annual Christmas round-up.
TV Highlights from 2025
Despite everything else going on behind the scenes, 2025 turned out to be a genuinely strong year for television. New shows arrived with confidence, returning favourites proved they still had something to say, and a few long-running series actually knew when to stop, which still feels like a minor miracle.
Among the new arrivals, Murderbot on Apple TV was always going to be one to watch. Sharp, dryly funny, and unexpectedly thoughtful, it nailed the tone of Martha Wells’ books and showed how effective genre television can be when it trusts both its material and its audience. Apple TV also continued its strong run with The Studio, a smart, very funny look at Hollywood ego and creative compromise.
It was also genuinely heartening to see sketch comedy back on television. Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping reminded everyone that well-written sketches, performed by people who understand timing and restraint, still work perfectly well without needing to shout for attention. Over on Netflix, Black Doves arrived from Joe Barton, who previously gave us The Lazarus Project (a cancellation many of us still haven’t forgiven Sky for), carrying the same assured sense of pace, tension, and character-driven stakes, and felt like a writer continuing a strong run.
Disney+ had a quietly solid year for new shows too. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew offered a refreshing change of pace for the franchise, lighter and more adventurous, and happy to explore a different corner of the galaxy. Paradise was one of those series that built momentum steadily over its run and lingered in the memory far longer than expected. MGM+ also made a decent impression with Robin Hood, which avoided the usual traps and settled comfortably into its own lane.
2025 was also a year of things returning in new forms. Dexter: Resurrection managed to justify yet another revival, carefully positioned to finally make peace with the show’s past. Daredevil: Born Again proved Marvel can still get this right when it slows down and focuses on character rather than spectacle, while 9-1-1: Nashville landed as a robust new addition to a franchise that shows no interest in slowing down.
Returning shows had a particularly strong year. The Last of Us Season 2 continued to set the gold standard for video game to TV adaptations. Challenging, divisive, and completely confident in its choices. Hacks remained one of the sharpest and most emotionally intelligent comedies on television, while Black Mirror finally found its footing again by leaning back into unsettling ideas rather than chasing relevance for relevance’s sake.
Apple TV quietly dominated once more with Slow Horses, which continues to be consistently excellent without ever demanding attention, alongside ambitious sci-fi returns like Foundation and Severance, both of which deepened their worlds rather than diluting them. On Netflix, Stranger Things returned to close out its run with a huge, emotional final season.
Some farewells were handled with care. Andor wrapped up its planned two-season run with confidence and restraint, while The Handmaid’s Tale bowed out with a mostly solid final season, even if it occasionally felt constrained by future franchise plans.
Some cancellations genuinely hurt, though. Doctor Odyssey, FBI: International, and FBI: Most Wanted, among them. Meanwhile, S.W.A.T. was cancelled again after eight seasons, only to be revived once more as S.W.A.T.: Exiles. At this point, the show feels functionally immortal.
The biggest “wait… WHAT?” moment of the year belonged to Doctor Who. Russell T Davies returned, Ncuti Gatwa shone as the Fifteenth Doctor, and then the season ended with a regeneration into Billie Piper. The Disney deal ends, the internet melts, and we’re now waiting until Christmas 2026 to find out what on earth is going on.
And… there was King & Conqueror on the BBC… a glossy, expensive drama about 1066 that treated historical accuracy as an optional extra. It looked great, but if you cared even slightly about the real history of the Norman Conquest, it was deeply frustrating.
But if there’s one series that towers over the year, though, it’s Adolescence. Bold, harrowing, technically astonishing, and emotionally brutal, this wasn’t just good television. It was unforgettable. The single-take episodes were never a gimmick, but a fundamental part of the storytelling. This is the show people will still be talking about years from now.
All told, 2025 may have been turbulent behind the scenes, but it still delivered a remarkable amount of great television.
The Geektown Awards
As always, the Geektown Awards are back, and voting is still open until Boxing Day!
This is one of our favourite things we do each year, because it’s entirely driven by you. No panels. No industry politics. Just Geektowners voting for the shows, films, and games that actually mattered to them in 2025.
You can also enter to win our massive box of geeky goodies, or the smaller runner-up prize, simply by taking part.
If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time.
You Are Loved. And You Are Not Alone
While we hope Christmas is a joyful and restful time, we also know that it isn’t like that for everyone. The cost of living is still biting, pressures haven’t magically disappeared just because it’s December, and for many people, this time of year can feel heavy.
On a personal level, I lost both my step-mother and my father this year, so I know first-hand that Christmas doesn’t always feel like a pause or a reset. Sometimes it just magnifies what you’re already carrying.
If you’re finding this time of year difficult, please know this:
You’re not doing it wrong, you’re not failing at Christmas, and you are not alone.
If you need support, please consider reaching out to someone you trust, or to one of the organisations that exist specifically to listen and help, such as The Samaritans, Off The Record, MIND, or other local support services.
You are loved, and people want to help.
Thank You
Finally, and most importantly, thank you.
Thank you to Matt and Robert from Entertainment Talk, who make a whole host of brilliant podcasts, produce a huge range of great content, and who I’m always delighted to work with, including on shows we co-host together. It’s been a pleasure working with you both this year, and I’m very much looking forward to doing more next year.
Thank you to Darryl from Hollywood North News, our Geektown Radio co-host, who keeps us up to speed on all those shows you love that are filmed in Canada. Your insight and enthusiasm are always hugely appreciated.
And thank you to Gray, Geektown Radio co-host and our resident (if somewhat occasional…) film reviewer. It’s always a pleasure doing the shows with you and chatting about TV and film.
I’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped make the site and podcasts possible behind the scenes this year.
That includes the fantastic press teams at Sky, BBC, ITV, Disney, UKTV, Channel 4, Netflix, Channel 5/Paramount/Skydance, Lionsgate, and Amazon, along with the many PR teams behind events and launches throughout the year. A special shout-out as well to MCM Comic Con, who put on some brilliant shows in 2025. I always love covering their events, and I’m already looking forward to doing even more in 2026.
And a genuinely massive thank you to all the PR agencies who made time, access, and conversations possible this year. Whether it was chatting with actors and stars, or sitting down with the people who so often don’t get the spotlight, like composers, game developers, production designers, cinematographers, costume designers, stunt performers, and makeup artists. Those conversations are always a highlight. Hearing how these shows, films, and games are actually made is one of the best parts of what I do, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who trusted me with their time and their stories. I’m very much looking forward to having many more of those conversations next year.
And thank you to everyone who reads the site, listens to the podcasts, shares articles, checks the air dates, votes in the awards, or emails in when something mysteriously vanishes from a streaming service again.
Geektown only exists because of you.
One Last Thing…
Instead of ending this post with a random festive YouTube clip, we’re doing something a little different this year.
Our Geekstorians Christmas special: The Hunt for the Star Wars Holiday Special, is out now, and it felt like the perfect thing to leave you with before we take a short break.
It’s ridiculous.
It’s infamous.
And it’s very much in the Christmas spirit… in its own deeply strange way.
If you enjoy this episode of Geekstorians, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you don’t miss future episodes.
If you want to listen to the latest episode of Geekstorians, just click the link above, and if you like it, you can click here to subscribe to Geekstorians on Apple Podcasts or click here for the RSS feed. If you’re searching for the latest TV reviews, UK air dates, and streaming news, don’t forget to subscribe to the Geektown Radio podcast too! If you want to support the show, you can now do that here via the Acast supporter’s link, and find us on Acast here.
The site will be taking a few days off over Christmas, but we’ll be back after Boxing Day with the Geektown Awards results, followed by plenty more news in January.
Until then, have a brilliant Christmas, take care of yourselves, and we’ll see you in the New Year.
1 comment
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all. Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas however you’re spending it. Same to everyone who’s a part of the group xx
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