With the arrival of Drag Race UK, the return of Line Of Duty and Love Island’s biggest series yet, it’s been a bumper year for
British TV.
And whether it has been drama or reality TV or primetime shows you’ve been into, there have been moments that have truly made us gasp in all of them
As we ready ourselves for another year of settling down in front of the telly, we’re taking a look back on some of 2019′s most jaw-dropping TV moments...1. Kelvin Fletcher’s hypnotic Samba on Strictly After joining the line-up as a late-minute replacement for an injured Jamie Laing, no Strictly fan knew what to expect as the former Emmerdale star prepared to take to the floor for the first time.
Then he came out and did this.
And then he did it again in the final allowing us to relive the highlight of the series, and we’d say it comes close to rivalling Danny Mac’s Samba as one of Strictly’s best routines ever. 2. Love Island’s Amber discovers Michael has re-coupled with Joanna
Casa Amor never fails to deliver on the drama front on
Love Island, and this year was certainly no different.
After watching how then-favourite Michael grew close to newbie Joanna as Amber remained loyal to him over in the second villa, we saw her world come crashing down as she discovered his infidelity during the show’s most dramatic recoupling ever.
Nearly six months on and we’re still not over it – although, having walked out of the villa as the winner and now having various lucrative endorsement deals to her name, Amber probably is. 3. Gemma Collins takes a tumble on Dancing On Ice
A collective gasp could be heard up and down the country back in January, as Gemma Collins came a cropper live on Dancing On Ice.
There’s obviously no need to remind you what happened as, if you’re anything like us, you will have undoubtedly watched the clip a thousand times over. But here it is again in all its glory. 4. Villanelle snaps a child’s neck in Killing Eve
Villanelle was on even more murderous form when Killing Eve returned for a second series earlier this year, bumping off more people in increasingly grisly ways.
However, the most shocking of her crimes came in the first episode, when, during a stay in hospital, she snapped the neck of a child patient she had been comforting. 5. Danny’s death in Years And Years
Russell T. Davies’ latest
BBC drama may not have got the attention it deserved when it aired over the summer, but that was by no means a marker of its quality.
The writer delivered an emotional sucker punch at the end of the fourth episode, when Russell Tovey’s character Danny was killed off, after he and boyfriend Viktor boarded a migrant boat.
The plot had seen them attempt to smuggle the Ukrainian refugee back into the
UK after the authorities sent him home, but in scenes that echoed real-life tragedies, their over-crowded boat hit stormy waters, and Danny’s body was seen as one of the many that had washed up on the shore. 6. Luther’s bus murder scene
Fans of the Idris Elba-fronted drama were left in fear of ever getting the bus again after watching this chilling scene from the first episode of the fifth series.
A masked killer was seen claiming a female victim by hiding at the back of the top deck of a night bus and waiting until the woman was alone to pounce on her, popping up from behind the back row of seats and crawling along the bus floor like a ninja.
But if that wasn’t enough, the following episode left everyone too scared to ever sell anything online again, in similarly brutal scenes.7. Drag Race UK’s Frock Destroyers
The queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK became the
music stars we never knew we needed after their flawless performance during a challenge to form two rival girlbands.
The Frock Destroyers – formed of Blu Hydrangea, Baga Chipz and Divina Di Campo – surprised judges and viewers alike with their version of Break Up (Bye Bye), which went on to become a top 40 hit.
All together now, “Baga Chipz is stunning, Baga Chipz is class...”8. Dev Griffin is voted off Strictly This year’s
Strictly Come Dancing was full of surprise exits (no, we’re still not over Michelle Visage being booted out before the final), but undoubtedly the biggest shock of them all came when Dev was shown the door.
Dev had been going from strength to strength, most notably with his Aladdin-inspired Movie Week performance, which bagged an impressive 36 from the judges.
But just a week later he ended up in the dance-off with Viscountess Emma Weymouth, with the judges’ decision to send home Dev and his partner Dianne sparking a huge backlash, ending in the professional dancer urging her fans to stop sending death threats to Shirley Ballas.9. Character rips own scalp off in MotherFatherSonIf you watched episode one of BBC Two’s new drama MotherFatherSon, you’ll have known to expect some uncomfortable scenes – but that did not prepare viewers for the second.
In disturbing scenes, lead character Caben Finch ripped his own scalp off after suffering a massive stroke. Having become increasingly frustrated with the slow progress of his recovery, he attempted to take his own life by tearing at the stitches in his scalp, which had been operated on, exposing the metal plate in his head.
But it then (somehow) managed to get even worse, as Caben attempted to feed from his mother’s breast.10. Alfie Solomons is still alive in Peaky BlindersThe last time we saw Alfie Solomons in the final episode of series four of Peaky Blinders, he’d just been shot in the face by Tommy Shelby.
And when series five returned this year without Tom Hardy reprising his role, we (very fairly) assumed Alfie had met his maker.
But cut to the final episode of this year’s series and Alfie made a stunning return from the dead, having survived Tommy’s attack. 11. Steph doesn’t win Bake Off
Steph was the firm favourite going into the final of this year’s Great British Bake Off, having been crowned Star Baker four times.
However, it all fell apart for her in the final episode, as everything that could possibly go wrong, did.
After being left in tears by an unserviceable soufflé, she later faced disappointment when her showstopper was badly received.
She then had to watch on as David Atherton won, despite only having been named Star Baker once previously. 12. Gemma Collins redefines the term “oversharing”
Look up “oversharing” in the dictionary and you’ll find the definition has now been replaced with a picture of Gemma Collins thanks to a particularly unsavoury moment in her reality show, Diva Forever.
The GC left viewers horrified when she proclaimed her “vagina was on
fire, man”, before scratching her nether regions and urging her stylist to then sniff her hand.
“It stinks doesn’t it? It just smells of bread,” she said. “Can we get a runner to go out and get me some Canesten?” 13. Hot Priest tells Fleabag to “kneel”
Sexual tension between Fleabag and the Hot Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s hit BBC sitcom had been building, but tipped over during her tearful visit to his confessional.
After listening to her woes, he instructed her to kneel down as if to pray, only to appear in front of her.
It’s no wonder there was a rise in searches for religious porn shortly after the episode aired. 14. John Corbett is killed in Line Of DutyWhile writer Jed Mercurio has a reputation for unexpectedly finishing off characters, no-one saw the moment AC-12 adversary John Corbett was brutally killed off in the fourth episode.
At the time, it left fans with more questions than ever, as the order to kill had seemingly come from Superidentant Hastings, who was believed to be mysterious crime boss ‘H’.
Luckily, answers came in the series finale – albeit with some questions remaining. 15. The Circle players meet “Sammie” for the first time All's fair in love, war and catfishing as a woman to win a reality show! #TheCircleFinal#TheCirclepic.twitter.com/4fRj4CNtlI— The Circle (@C4TheCircle) October 18, 2019Admittedly, The Circle did not exactly set ratings alight, but for those that did watch, it proved to be compelling reality TV.
The moment of the series came in the final episode as the remaining players all met face-to-face for the first time, and finally learned catfish Sammie’s true identity.
Cue some brilliant reactions from the contestants as the person who had spent three weeks playing a single mum was revealed to be a young man called James. 16. Mel dies in EastEnders
It’s not very often EastEnders kills off one of their biggest names on the soap, so when they do, you can be sure they’ll be going in spectacular style.
And that was certainly the case for Tamzin Outhwaite’s character, Mel Owen, who after surviving a car crash (which happened during a dash to the airport to inform Phil Mitchell of his wife Sharon’s infidelity) walked into the road believing she’d seen her dead son, only to be hit by an on-coming lorry.
What a soap exit. 17. Candy’s funeral in Pose
There’s no other show quite like Pose that can make your heart burst one minute and make you weep the next, and that could not be better exemplified than Candy’s funeral.
After the character was killed while working at a motel, the gang threw her an emotional funeral, which was attended by her estranged parents. We saw them finally accept her as a woman in a heart-breaking coffin-side monologue, before the character then rose from the dead to perform one fabulous final lip sync in the ballroom. 18. Anna explodes at Jordan on Love Island
Love Island’s Jordan Hames found himself embroiled in a huge row with Anna Vakili, just days after asking her to be his girlfriend, when he admitted his head had been turned by
India Reynolds.
Anna did not take the betrayal lying down, leading to a huge showdown that divided the villa (and viewers) right down the middle. And if their row wasn’t uncomfortable enough, their later reunion on Aftersun certainly was. 19. The fall of The Night King in Game Of Thrones
The standout moment of an otherwise disappointing final series of Game Of Thrones has to be when Arya Stark appeared out of nowhere and killed The Night King. All of those many (many) scenes spent training with the Faceless Men actually paid off, as she expertly manoeuvred her dagger, plunging it into his chest.
The jaw-dropping twist (of Arya’s knife) ended the epic Battle Of Winterfell, causing the army of seemingly unbeatable White Walkers to shatter and leave the living in peace – ready to face the final hurdle: who would end up on the Iron Throne?20. Nessa gets down on one kneeA late addition to our list, but still a truly brilliant moment. The whole nation gasped in unison during the Gavin & Stacey reunion when Nessa not only professed her love for Smithy, but then took off one of her rings and proposed marriage to him.
Every bit as jaw-dropping was the moment Stephen Fretwell’s Run kicked in and it became clear the episode was over, and we weren’t going to find out what his answer was. Come on, James and Ruth – give us what we want!21. Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview
We don’t know where to even start with this one, so we’re not going to.