Last week we shared our review of 2023, a truly bountiful year for culture. Despite our best efforts we couldn’t quite squeeze in everything we wanted – but thankfully readers have grabbed the baton and raced towards the finishing line. Here are your favourites from the past 12 months, across music, film, TV, podcasts and books. Some of these are familiar favourites, others are overlooked (until now, at least) gems.
Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions, and sorry that we couldn’t fit in every last one. Have a great end-of-year break, and keep an eye out for the Guide’s big 2024 preview, landing in your inboxes next Friday.
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TV
“2023 will go down as the year I was utterly mesmerised by Daisy Jones and the Six. I loved the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid: sassy characters full of raging sexual tension, all sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Then the TV adaptation was beautifully produced and – dare I say the words – better than the book! To top it all off, there was even the album Aurora performed by the actors in the fictional band. Fingers crossed 2024 is the year of the tour!” Emma Russell
”How could you not mention I’m a Virgo (pictured above)? The strangest, funniest, most surprising series of the year. It was impossible to know where any episode might end up.” Marcus Evans
“Bridget Christie’s The Change was the standout show of 2023 for me. A joy from the first scene to the last, its wry humour hit all the right notes. With a stellar cast doing Christie’s material maximum justice, this is the kind of show that can be watched again and again, with more rewards for the viewer with each repeated visit. Thanks to all involved for making me laugh my way through what has been a tough year.” Alison Owen
“Slow Horses series three (to fit your 2023 release criteria), but start at the beginning to really fall in love with these people – and you will! Except maybe Gary Oldman, who really does come across as, erm, grubby and rude. Genius TV though.” Maggie Chute
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Music
“Please mention Hak Baker’s fantastic debut album, Worlds End FM. Great use of the London vernacular and an all-round fantastic bloke (above). His show at Koko was awesome too.” Yvonne Gustard
“The Aces’ I’ve Loved You For So Long was Haim meets the Big Moon. What’s not to love?” Geoff Dixon
“Let’s face it, releasing live albums can kill your recall of a favourite gig because they don’t sound great. Live at the Hollywood by Dimmer, once of Flying Nun fame, finally turned it around for me! Original from the second you are playing it.” Elaine Mcnee
“One of my favourite albums was the self-titled debut by Agriculture, the best post-black metal outing since Deafheaven’s Sunbather.” Malko Solf
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Film
“Past Lives was a semi-foreign language film out of South Korea – thoughtful, contemplative and beautifully judged.” Rob Mansfield
“This one comes in right under the wire, but I’ve just seen Godzilla Minus One and … wow! What an amazing way of injecting freshness into an old franchise. I loved the post-second world war backdrop, and the monster was actually scary.” Kev Johannsen
“By giving a queer interpretation to the neo-noir crime thriller, Femme (pictured above) stood out. The leads sparkled in a tale filled with revenge, regret, hate and love, ensuring a consistently edgy and absorbing watch.” Poppy W
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Radio and podcasts
“Saturday and Sunday mornings listening to The Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC 6 Music. Top music and chat covering such weighty issues as ‘how to butter your toast’ and ‘where to get a bolt-cutter at short notice’, plus the ever popular Crisps on the Radio, which needs to be commissioned as a TV show.” Lee Jackson
“I was a bit late to the party with Diary of a CEO hosted by Steven Bartlett from Dragons’ Den. But earlier this year I accidentally stumbled across the series when scrolling for something to listen to. The episode with the comedian Romesh Ranganathan on dealing with the dark voices in his head was so honest and thought-provoking that I went on to listen to many more episodes with other celebrities and entrepreneurs.” Jennifer Grayson
“Vishal from BBC Sounds was my pod of the year. True crime shows are everywhere now, but this stood out because of the shocking nature of the case; the dogged reporting of Colin Campbell; and co-host Suchin Mehrotra’s personal connection.” Jordan Smith
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Books
“Watford Forever by John Preston and Elton John is fabulous for us Watford fans to wallow in, and on a related note, Scattershot by Bernie Taupin is a great read, too.” Geoff Hall
“Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (above): the delicious tale of Sally, a writer at a Saturday Night Live-type show, encountering Noah, a singer-songwriter. Does what it says on the tin, but more than justifies both words of the title. And when it’s written this well, who cares that it follows the conventions of the genre as much as it comments on them?” Richard Hamilton
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