A lot of the evidence in the case against Bates, the valet, was based on remarks he had made to, or in the hearing of, various members of the Downton household. As one was given the impression that the witnesses had not previously co-operated with the prosecution, how did the latter know who to call or what questions to ask? Perhaps I missed something.

I am currently enjoying more high quality television drama than ever before.  Admittedly not all of it is new and, regretfully, very little of it is British.

At present, I am watching no less than six series. Each is mentioned below. The first three of these are being shown on Sky Atlantic and I have written about them earlier this year in my blogs of 13th March and 17th May.

Six Feet Under is certainly not new drama, the five series having been released between 2001 and 2005. There are five series comprising a total of 63 episodes. The Sky Atlantic repeats are very close to the end of Season 3. They are very moving yet darkly humorous and, as far as I am concerned, addictive. The calibre of the writing and acting are consistently high.

The Prohibition gangster drama, Boardwalk Empire, is now in its second series and is proving just as enjoyable as the first.  As I have warned previously, however, it is not likely to appeal to those of a sensitive disposition.

Treme, set in New Orleans following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, is also in its second series and involves nearly all of the principal characters who featured in the first. There has been no reduction in quality. I do, however, need to watch it with subtitles as it is difficult to pick up all of the dialogue.

I missed the next two series when they were shown on television but am now watching them on DVD.

Mad Men was first shown in the United States in 2007. It has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for each of its first four seasons. A fifth series is, I understand, currently being produced. As I am nearing the end of season 4, this will be very welcome. The drama is set in a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the 1960s. It is authentic, stylish and simply oozes quality.

The Killing is a Danish series originally shown in Denmark in 2007. I missed it when it was first shown on BBC4 earlier this year but the critical acclaim was such that I bought a box set of all 20 one-hour episodes. It relates to the police investigation of the brutal murder of a teenage girl and the effect of the murder on the victim’s family and on local politics. There is also an American remake of the series but the Danish original is generally regarded as superior. It deservedly won a BAFTA.

The final programme is Downton Abbey, now in its second series. Unlike several of the others mentioned here, this is unlikely to become a TV classic but is, nevertheless, enjoyable in an undemanding way. The comments I made in my blog of 30th November 2010 on the first series hold good for the second.

The DVDs of these series could make great Christmas presents.

Click on titles for links to Amazon UK.

Boardwalk Empire continued to impress through to the end. My only reservation was that the actual conclusion was somewhat inconclusive. The reason was apparent: there is to be another series. If you missed the first series, I don’t know whether Sky Atlantic will repeat it. In any event, it will become available on DVD.

When writing my earlier blog, I had only watched three episodes of Treme and I was unsure whether I would stick with it. Fortunately, I did. After episode four I was hooked and now regret my earlier lack of enthusiasm. Although the various story-lines were developed at a leisurely pace, this was balanced by the comparative brevity of the scenes and the way in which the action was switched between those story-lines. I found Treme to be realistic, touching and, ultimately, life-affirming. The DVD is due to be released in the UK on 31st May. I understand that a second series  is currently being shown in the US.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I intend to watch all 63 episodes of Six Feet Under. Series 1 has ended and we are now into series 2. I remain an avid fan.

I am not currently watching anything on Sky Atlantic other than Six Feet Under. I tried The Pacific, about Second World War battles in that region, but gave up after two episodes. It failed to grip me and I found the battle scenes confusing, often being unable to distinguish between the Americans and the Japanese. Having seen numerous adverts for other new series, none appealed to me. I did, however, watch an HBO film, Temple Grandin, based on the true life story of a young autistic woman who became an expert in animal behaviour and also a prominent writer and speaker on autism. This is an inspiring film that won no less than seven Emmies, including one for Claire Danes who was compelling in the title role. It is not yet available in the UK on DVD.

Click on titles for links to Amazon UK.

Sky Atlantic was launched on 1st February and is included in the Sky Variety package. It is the result of a deal between BSkyB and the American TV subscription network, HBO. The latter have produced some of the best television drama series of the past 12 years or so, including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and The Wire. All of these have already been shown on terrestrial television over here, although I had not seen the first two. As is apparent from my blog of 7th October 2009, I am a huge fan of  The Wire, having seen all 60 episodes.

Sky Atlantic are showing some of the outstanding HBO series again right from the beginning, as well as series that are new to British TV. I have had to impose some self-discipline to avoid over-indulging. Thus I have limited myself to three programmes a week: Six Feet Under, which is shown on Thursdays, Treme (Fridays) and Boardwalk Empire (Saturdays). Fortunately, I have a  Sky+ box to record programmes.

A brief word on each.

Six Feet Under has been acclaimed as one of the best television drama series ever made and I can certainly see why. It is a family drama but is, nevertheless, highly original, the family in question being funeral directors. Although much concerned with aspects of death, it is prevented from being depressing by a large dose of humour, mainly of the dark variety. The production, writing and acting are of the highest calibre as is evidenced by the substantial number of Emmies and Golden Globes it has collected. There were five series (or seasons) of the programme, running between 2001 and 2005 in the United States, comprising a total of 63 episodes. I am hooked and intend to watch all 63.

Treme is based in New Orleans following the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina and is concerned with the ways in which the residents try to get their lives back in order. The creators are two of the men behind The Wire, so the pedigree is good. As with The Wire, the dialogue is difficult to understand for English ears and I am having to use subtitles. So far I have watched three episodes. The various storylines are being developed at an over-leisurely pace and none of the characters are particularly interesting. The New Orleans music, however, is a major plus. I am currently unsure whether I am in for the long haul.  

Boardwalk Empire is another series with a good pedigree. It was created by Terence Winter, the writer of The Sopranos, and the first episode was directed by Martin Scorsese, who has also co-produced the series. It is set principally in Atlantic City at the time of Prohibition. The central character is “Nucky” Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, a corrupt local politician whose nefarious activities include the supply of bootleg liquor. It has been a huge success in the States, where it recently won Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Series and Best Actor in a TV Series (Buscemi). As far as I am concerned, Scorsese plus gangsters is a magic formula and there was no way I was going to miss this. It has undoubtedly lived up to the hype. Even my wife, who does not share my love of gangster movies, is enjoying this. It should, however, come with a health warning. There is a lot of nudity, sex, violence and strong language, so it is not for those of an especially sensitive disposition.

My only complaint so far about Sky Atlantic is the wretched adverts, which I find intrusive. I understand that in the States HBO, as a subscription network, does not interrupt its dramas with adverts. Why can’t Sky do the same? At least, if I use my Sky Box, I can use the fast forward button.

For anyone who has not seen it, all five series of  Six Feet Under are available in this country on DVD. For an Amazon UK link, click here.

Although Nielsen began as a serious actor, he will be best remembered for his comedy roles in  Airplane and, particularly,  the Naked Gun trilogy, in which he played the incompetent police officer, Lieutenant Frank Drebin. The Naked Gun films are among my favourite comedies and, although they are admittedly silly, the occasional viewing still makes me laugh. Indeed, it is hard to think of Leslie Nielsen deadpanning his way through the chaos going on around him without a smile coming to my face.

Click on the film titles for Amazon links.

I am not, in general, a fan of period dramas (an exception being some of the serializations of classic novels), and was therefore a little surprised that I so enjoyed the recent ITV series Downton Abbey, created and written by Julian Fellowes. It was certainly not original, the format having been employed in the series Upstairs, Downstairs in the early 1970s, and there were also echoes of Gosford Park, the BAFTA-winning film for which Fellowes won a best screenplay Oscar. But I think that the clichés were outweighed by the virtues which included high production values, good acting overall (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Lord and Lady Grantham, and Maggie Smith as the dowager countess, all deserving special mention) and an entertaining script.

Although Downton Abbey may not have been original or challenging, it was consistently enjoyable. It was not the drama equivalent of haute cuisine but it was good comfort food.

A second series is due next year. For those who missed the first one, it is now available on DVD and that could make a good Christmas present. For an Amazon UK link, click here.

I Am Slave was impressively written and made; the acting was first-rate, particularly that of Wunmi Mosaku in the central role. She must be a very strong contender for a BAFTA. If you missed it, I expect it will be repeated so look out for it second time around.

Whilst I appreciate that Channel 4 is reliant upon advertising revenue, I felt that the advertising was excessive. The production ran from 8:30 until 10:00 pm and I counted no less than five advertising breaks during the course of the drama, not including the adverts shown immediately before and after. They not only irritate but they seriously interrupt the narrative. Thank goodness for the BBC.

Onibaba  Dir. Kaneto Shindo (Japan, 1964)
This film made a lasting impression on me when I first saw it at the cinema as a student. Having  revisited it on DVD fairly recently, I was not disappointed. Set in medieval Japan, at a time of civil war, this is a bleak, horrific and erotic tale that portrays mankind at its most base level. It is extraordinarily atmospheric and impressively filmed.

The Battle of Algiers  Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo (Italy/Algeria, 1966)
A impressively realistic depiction of the war of independence fought between the Algerians and the French between 1954 and 1962. The film was made in the style of a documentary and apparently no newsreel footage was used. As the film is concerned with urban terrorism, counter-insurgency and the use of torture, it is as relevant now as it has ever been.

Bonnie and Clyde  Dir. Arthur Penn (USA, 1967)
Based on the true story of the Barrow gang of bank robbers in the American Depression, this film had an enormous impact when first released and became a major influence on modern cinema. It had a memorable cast which included Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman. Although, by the standards of the day, it was undoubtedly amoral and violent,  it is nevertheless a film of great style.

The Graduate  Dir. Mike Nichols (USA, 1967)
A strong candidate for my all-time favourite. I saw it in London, shortly after its release in this country, and remember the audience breaking into applause at the famous scene near the end when Benjamin makes his dash for freedom. This is the only occasion that I have known this happen during the course of a film. Although The Graduate was very much a film of the Sixties, capturing the youthful rebellion of the times and featuring the wonderful Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack, it has stayed the course. This is because it is funny, cynical, brilliantly acted (Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft) and directed with originality and style by Mike Nichols, who won the Best Director Oscar.  

If…  Dir. Lindsay Anderson (UK, 1968)
This is another film that captured the rebelliousness of Sixties’ youth, although this was more revolution than rebellion. Malcolm McDowell stars as the leader of the teenage rebels against the repressive and corrupt system in their public school. I was at university when I first saw it and its raw power brought back to me how much I had disliked my own school. It is a complex film, moving between realism and surrealism, reality and fantasy, and monochrome and colour. Nevertheless, it is a classic; a genuinely subversive work, where the school can be seen as representative of British society as a whole.

Kes  Dir.  Ken Loach (UK, 1969)
Another film about a British schoolboy, but this is a far cry from If… Here the main protagonist is a teenager from a poor, working-class family in Barnsley. He manages to find freedom and fulfilment in his otherwise miserable and hopeless life by stealing a young kestrel and training it in secret. There is one hilarious scene, where the PE teacher lives out his fantasies by playing football with his pupils, but otherwise, this is sad little film of great humanity made by the wonderful Ken Loach who is still making good films in his mid-seventies.

L’Armée Des Ombres  Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville (France, 1969)
A tribute to the French Resistance to the German Occupation during the Second World War, written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville who was himself a member of the “Army of Shadows”. This is  a moving, sombre film which, although made in an understated way, is nevertheless full of suspense.

The Wild Bunch  Dir. Sam Peckinpah (USA, 1969)
Highly controversial when first released, on account of its violence, this has become a cinema classic. The violence is essential to the film and is not glorified. Of the three great Westerns contained in my selection for the sixties, this is, in my opinion, the best, possibly because it is far from typical of its genre. Like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, it is elegiac in tone. The central characters are a gang of outlaws, operating in America at about the time of the First World War, and can be viewed as the last of their breed. Sam Peckinpah directed with great style. 

Z  Dir. Costa-Gavras (Algeria/France, 1969)
Based on real events, this is about a political assassination that took place in Greece six years before the film was made and was then the subject of a cover-up by the authorities. A brilliant and moving thriller, it won a Best Foreign Film Oscar. I remember leaving the cinema, when I first saw it, seething with anger. The impact was not lessened when I saw it again several years later.

Midnight Cowboy  Dir. John Schlesinger (USA, 1969)
The British director, John Schlesinger’s take on the underbelly of New York. This is the story of a handsome, but dim, young Texan (played by Jon Voight), who thinks he is going to earn a fortune as a gigolo, and his friendship with a crippled and sickly con-man ( Dustin Hoffman). This is a buddy movie where the buddies are the dregs of society. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The acting of the two leads is memorable. This was Dustin Hoffman’s second film role and the contrast with the character he played in The Graduate could not have been greater.

Click on film titles for Amazon product links. (Z does not appear to be available in the appropriate DVD format in the UK.)