Your favourite TV shows of 2005

So here it is, MediaGuardian readers' top 20 favourite TV shows of 2005.

The list was compiled using a fiendishly complex formula, which involved totting up the points score for each show (five points if it was placed 1st, down to one for 5th), and then if programmes had the same points tally, ordering them according to the number of people who voted for each.

1. Doctor Who, BBC1 2. Lost, Channel 4/E4 3. Extras, BBC2 4. Bleak House, BBC1 5. Spooks, BBC1 6. The West Wing, More4 7. Peep Show, Channel 4 8. Rome, BBC2 9. The Thick of It, BBC4 10. Top Gear, BBC2 11. QI, BBC2/BBC4 12. Battlestar Galactica, Sky One 13. Desperate Housewives, Channel 4/E4 14. The Apprentice (UK), BBC2 15. Curb Your Enthusiasm, More4 16. House, Five 17. Have I Got News For You, BBC1 18. Casanova, BBC3 19. Dragon's Den, BBC2 20. Arrested Development, BBC2

Bubbling under: Strictly Come Dancing, CSI, Jamie's School Dinners, Veronica Mars, The X Factor, Life in the Undergrowth, The Wire, Never Mind the Buzzcocks

There was also the odd vote for Firefly, Oz and The Sopranos - if I'm not mistaken, no new episodes of these shows were broadcast for the first time on UK TV last year. But this just highlights the increasing trend for people to watch programmes on DVD or via download. One poster, renaissance moron, even selected as their five favourites shows watched exclusively on DVD. And if we conduct the same exercise in 12 months time, there will no doubt be more people downloading their favourite shows and not bothering with fuddy duddy old TV at all.

Judging from the list, you Organ Grinder voters watch a lot of BBC2, Channel 4 and multi channel, but not so much ITV. You like comedy and drama, UK or US - but not the soaps. And are probably predominantly male. Exhibit A: Top Gear. And Battlestar Galactica above Desperate Housewives? I rest my case.

Doctor Who and Lost were runaway winners, attracting significantly more points/votes than any other shows - although a vocal minority were baffled by the popularity of BBC1's sci-fi revival.

Little Britain fielded just a couple of votes and got nowhere near the top 20 – interesting, given that it was by a country mile the most popular UK TV comedy of 2005 with viewers.

Desperate Housewives possibly suffered - along with shows such as Casanova and Shameless - from being broadcast early in the year and slipping from people's memories.

A top 20 placing for Sky One's Battlestar Galactica catches the eye. Some avid fans out there of a revival that knocks spots off the original, and is a much darker and more grown-up drama than the cheesy 70s version. Or maybe you're just a bunch of sci-fi geeks. Or Sky One press officers.

The West Wing appears to retain its dedicated band of supporters, despite years of criminal neglect by the Channel 4 scheduling department. Thank goodness for More4, eh?

Some shows only to be found in the darker recesses of multi channel - including Veronica Mars and The Wire - also had small but vocal backing.

Several users commented on 2005 being a good year for TV and what a hard task it was choosing just five favourites - let's hope for more of the same in 2006. And remember - no flipping. Unless you're watching on DVD or downloading, of course.

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