The Best British Shows on PBS in 2023

Decades are never as neat as we would like them to be. The 2020s will have a cleaner beginning for the history books than most, in that the pandemic coincided with the proper year; however, the year 2023 is the one in which a lot of series from the 2010s finally drew to a close, from Happy Valley over on AMC and Acorn TV to Endeavour on PBS. Long-running series weren't the only ones that concluded. Sanditon, a show that technically debuted in 2019, only to be canceled, revived, and then canceled again, finally drew to a close this year, as did both The Great and Starstruck, two shows that probably only ever existed due to the streaming scramble for content.

But as shows ended, new shows arrived, with the debuts of Ridley, D.I. Ray, and Marie Antoinette across PBS platforms. Shows that launched during the pandemic returned for second seasons, including Hotel Portofino, World on Fire, Annika, and Professor T. And aging shows found new life with cast turnover, including Unforgotten with Sinead Keenan replacing Nicola Walker, and Granchester, which will introduce its third vicar in nine seasons when it returns in 2024.

But of the shows on PBS and PBS Passport, which were the ones that stood out the most? And which were the ones that will stand the test of time in the years? Here's a run down of the top five shows of 2023.