2008 has been a great year for gritty short dramas. We’ve had gore, intrigue, religious fervour and murders galore so let’s take a look back at which have kept us on the edge of our seats…

Recently we’ve had Apparitions and Survivors, both of which received a mixed reception of the marmite variety; we either loved or hated them, there didn’t seem to be much feeling in between. I loved both I have to say but for me, Apparitions won that battle. I think it was very much underrated in almost every aspect. The storylines were controversial and well thought out, the special effects remarkable and the acting understated and award-worthy.

Another drama that had me biting my nails until the next episode was The Children.

Featuring the theme of how an extended step-family could be destroyed by jealousy, it was a damning indictment about how children can become overlooked by adults who move in and out of relationships. However, the ending was a bit of a deflation in many ways; it simply didn’t pack the punch that the rest of the show had so it left me feeling robbed. Nonetheless, it was still a great drama that was vastly improved by the presence of Kevin Whatley in the role of murdered child Emily’s step-father.

Another of my favourites was on TV in late June; Criminal Justice was a disturbing drama about Ben Coulter, played by the marvellous Ben Whishaw, who was wrongly imprisoned for the rape and murder of a young woman with whom he’d spent the night. It was a horror story in that it seemed awfully believable and showed how an innocent person really could end up in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. It was truly frightening and posed some very real questions about the efficacy of our justice system.

September brought another fantastic drama, Place Of Execution. Adapted from Val McDermid’s novel, this gritty three-parter was about the suspected murder of Alison Carter, as investigated by journalist Catherine Heathcote.

Played by Juliet Stevenson, Catherine began looking into Alison’s disappearance and found she’d opened a Pandora’s Box of long hidden secrets that threatened the fabric of Catherine’s own life in a brilliant twist-in-the-tale ending. It was a real edge of your seat watch and for me, it’s definitely up in the top 5 best dramas this year.

Not so popular with me but certainly scoring a hit with millions of viewers was Wallender and earlier in the year, Messiah. I just couldn’t get into either of them and with Wallender, I found Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of the harried Detective unbelievable and tedious.

If I was pressed as to which was the best this year, I’d have to go for Criminal Justice. It really was a brilliant drama that I could relate to very easily because you could just see how it could really happen.

So which were your favourite short dramas this year? Let us know.