The 100 Greatest TV Show Characters Of All Time

100: Friends: Janice (Maggie Wheeler)
We start the list with one of the supporting cast from the most popular comedy series of all time. Introduced early on, Janice was a recurring girlfriend for Chandler, who was nice in all regards except for her voice. And her laugh. She is the one who is single-handedly responsible for the popularity of the phrase “Oh. My. God”. She wasn’t around as often as the other characters, which may be why we loved her so much; and it was a cool payoff at the end when we found out her eventual husband, who had seemed strangely tolerant of her horsey laugh, was actually partially deaf. Genius.

99: Father Ted: Noel Furlong (Graham Norton)
Another recurring character, the fact that we only ever saw Noel three times in the entirety of the series proves just how memorable he was. Played by the gay Graham Norton with a knowing wink, Noel was a hopelessly energetic soul, ever optimistic and always happy to sing campfire songs. He was so upbeat he would drive anyone in close contact with him into insanity – so where did Ted meet him? In a caravan, or in a cave, in which he was eventually trapped after causing a cave-in from shouting too excitedly. A fitting end, for such a manic character.

98: Mr Bean: Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson)
Rowan Atkinson is a master at pronouncing words in special ways so that they sound funny. So what could have been more natural than taking on a new character who never spoke? Although it seemed a stretch, Atkinson managed to take on this new challenge, playing a man who was essentially a babbling idiot, and make it funny. Highly accident-prone, Bean was able to cause chaos in whatever situation he was in, whether he was in a nursing home or a theme-park or anywhere, you knew that come the end of the episode, Bean would have wormed his way into an impossible situation with no way out. And due to Atkinson’s rubber face, you’d know that it was going to be funny.

97: The American Office: Jim Halpert (John Krazinski)
The first of two characters from the American Office to make the list, it’s interesting to note that there are no characters from the English Office, which this show was based on, present in the list. So how come Jim makes it whilst Tim does not? Because Jim is much more likeable as a person, funnier, and more personable. Ricky Gervais writes excruciating comedy like no other, but the American Office took the central conceit of the show and made it honestly FUNNY. And Jim is probably the funniest character of the bunch, with his incessant pranks on office nerd Dwight, including sticking his stationary and wallet in a vending machine and handing him a bag of pennies to buy them back. However it was his relationship with Pam which most struck audiences, a genuine will they/won’t they situation where they really could end up apart at the end.

96: Extras: Darren Lamb (Stephen Merchant)
Speaking of Ricky Gervais, this is the only character from either of his shows to make it onto the list, and it’s the one played by Stephen Merchant. Bad luck Ricky, but Merchant plays the role of seedy yet useless Showbiz Agent Darren Lamb with relish, leaping headfirst into situations and showing time and time again how inept he is for the job; whether it be consistently failing to see anything his actors had been in, to booking poor guest spots for his people to work in. When he brings in “Barry”, every scene they have together is comedic gold, as Lamb is totally unable to realise that the character and the actor are separate people. It's a shame he wasn't in The Office more often.

Who Will Replace Terry?

Terry Wogan has had enough of Eurovision, and you can’t blame the guy. For the past ten years or so he’s sat by and watched as the British entry has failed miserably (with the exception of HAWTNESS Jessica Garlick, who came third), and has had countless attacks aimed at him because he realises, as does most of Britain, that Eurovision is a popularity contest and not based on the music. Actually, it’s probably because he has noticed this that Britain has. And he’s not just a passive bystander, remember. Terry picks and befriends and promotes the entrant each year, appearing on TV shows and doing interviews and doing his best to boost the profile of these bands and singers, only to see them fail. It must be a little heartbreaking, and you could hear at the end of Eurovision this year the despair and aggravation in his voice as he debated whether we should bother with it anymore.

Terry’s better than Eurovision now, and he deserves his break from it, should he choose to pass on the baton. But the Eurovision will remain, and the only question is: who will take over? A lot of people have been pushing Jonathan Ross to do it, because he does everything else so nobody will notice, but that’d be a mistake, as would Jimmy Carr, that other guy who presents TV in Britain. You need someone who isn’t a one-trick pony, who can do more than that. So I’ve compiled a list of people who I think would be great for Eurovision, and I urge you, should you agree with any of them, to form petitions and start chaining yourself to BBC headquarters in order to get your person into the job.

Graham Norton: The cheeky Irishman would be just the ticket for guiding us through the camp joys of Eurovision, and could poke joyous offensive fun at proceedings. He could also, though – and this is the key thing – do so whilst still being in awe of the whole event. It’s tailor-made for his personality.

Mark Radcliffe: The Radio 2 DJ has a wry eye for details, and if anyone would be able to tell us that the Romanian entrant looks like a broken TV set with green mouse ears, it would be him. At the very least, he should take over if Ken Bruce moves over from the Radio 2 programme to the TV broadcast, which is possible.

Rob Brydon: My personal favourite choice. Brydon can do pretty much anything, having an astonishingly wide repertoire. He also has a superb voice for the event, and a wicked sense of humour. He could make fun of something and then pull himself back and tell us off for agreeing with him.

Jools Holland: Imagine the awkwardness of any interview Jools has ever done on his show, but stretched out for three hours or so. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?

Claudia Winkleman: Three hours of listening to the delightful Claudia Winkleman would be fine by me! I love you, Claudia Winkleman.

Ronnie Corbett: The great thing about Ronnie is that he would be reminded of a story by seeing someone from Armenia or something, and would go off on a long-winded joke about things, paying no attention to what is happening on screen, making for a superb night of calming television.

Brian Blessed: Admittedly, I’m pushing it a little here.


Who would you like to see?