What follows isn't a definitive list, but it is a list of five great heroic moments in genre TV that stir the soul.

A top secret organisation, a dimensional rift, aliens and science gone wrong, who ever thought Cardiff was that much of an interesting place. The first series of the Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood, has finished. What's the verdict on the Alien Escapades in Cardiff!

The first half the season saw two episodes stand out above the rest, School Reunion and The Girl in the Fireplace, and even The Girl in the Fireplace just fell short of being perfect. The rest of the season so far has just lacked a certain spark, verve and sense of grand adventure. Six more chances to improve.

At last, after a year of waiting, we have the second series of the new Doctor Who show.This diary is written as the shows air, to capture the moment, and to review the episodes as they are meant to be reviewed, in their Saturday slot, with only the trailer for the next episode as knowledge of what's to come.

It's incredibly hard to name your Top 5 anything, basically because the criteria of the list can change the five entrants, and so can time. In truth, this Top 5 list is only valid for a particular place and time, but it was an interesting process finalising the list.

Choose the best five shows in such a medium? Impossible. You could possibly choose the best five shows that are on right now, but that would be out of date in a year. My favourite show is ultimately, the one that's on right now.

Buffy season four runs head-on into another universal truth of TV drama: when shows set in high-school move to college, they inevitably begin to suck. I think the reason for this is that high school is inherently interesting because it's a living hell we can all identify with, whereas college is quite nice, in comparison.

There's a well-proven theory among TV aficionados that the second and third series of a show are always the best. Some lean towards the second, some prefer the third, but everyone agrees its one of the two. Buffy fits this model rather well.

Season Two marks the first full season for Buffy. The emotional stakes of the series are cranked up several notches as we watch characters make horrible mistakes.

A TV show's first season is a tricky thing, especially when the show is named Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the pitch is: 'A schoolgirl destined to fight vampires in her spare time'.