And behind door number 22... a guide to some music of the more traditional kind
Catherine Munn and Jacob Martin list their Top 5 programmes to watch over the festive period.
And behind door number nine... some dazzling musical delights
The complete arts guide, for week 9
It’s Valentine’s Day and we at The Yorker have decided to celebrate the best of small screen romances. Here are our picks for the 10 greatest of television’s couples:
In a show full of great relationships and friendships, Willow and Tara’s managed to be the most touching. What began as a sweet friendship developed into the most spellbindingly beautiful romance that I’ve witnessed on television. Both characters are personal favourites of mine, and their onscreen interactions together are a big part of the reason why I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Best episodes: ‘New Moon Rising’ (season 4), ‘Family’ (season 5), ‘Seeing Red’ (skip the ending, though - season 6)
Pretending to be a couple for your cover story is a lot easier when you have the kind of chemistry that Chuck and Sarah are blessed with. When they finally became a proper couple in season 3, their relationship gave the show a new lease of life and proved that ending a “will they/won’t they” doesn’t have to kill the chemistry or the show.
- Best episodes: ‘Chuck vs. the Colonel’ (season 2), ‘Chuck vs. the Other Guy’ (season 3), ‘Chuck vs. the Honeymooners’ (season 3)
“Turbulent” doesn't even begin to describe this Coronation Street couple's history! Both characters are Corrie legends - Ken is even the longest serving soap star in history - and it's given them chances to cheat on each other multiple times but always end up back together. Having been married twice, both weddings got higher ratings than the royal weddings they corresponded with. Sorry Charles - Ken Barlow wins every time.
- Best moments: Ken finds out about Deidre and Mike; any of their weddings
Niles’ secret love of Daphne went undiscovered by his beloved until Frasier spilled the beans in episode 154, six years after they first met. The sheer amount of time they spent apart made it all the more rewarding when they finally got together. In the later seasons their on-screen chemistry bubbled as their relationship bloomed, and they certainly deserve a place on this list.
- Moon Dance (season 3), Rooms With A View (season 10), Daphne Does Dinner (season 10)
Ross' love for Rachel was harboured through high school, only to be obstructed by orthodontists, Italian guys and then jeopardised by the Xerox girl. 10 seasons passed, with relationships, wrong names at the altar, a drunken marriage and a baby before the couple finally got their happy ending, as Rachel got off the plane.
- Best episodes: ‘The One Where Ross Finds Out’ (season 2), ‘The One with the Prom Video’ (season 2), ‘The Last One’ (season 10)
The fun flirtation between these two characters, where Luke pretends to be annoyed by Lorelai’s fast-talking nonsense but is clearly charmed by it, made for a brilliant on-screen dynamic. And after years of delays and break-ups and Dolly Parton songs, Luke’s quiet, scared declaration of “I just like to see you happy” in the finale finally brought them together in the most perfect fashion.
- Best episodes: ‘Raincoats and Recipes’ (season 4), ‘Written in the stars’ (season 5), ‘Bon Voyage’ (season 7) [Below is one of my favourite Luke & Lorelai moments]
Throughout, Lost was always a show about making connections, and unsurprisingly had many wonderful relationships. (I could just as easily be taking about Rose & Bernard, Sun & Jin, Sawyer & Juliet, etc.) However, one stands out amongst them all: Desmond and Penny. They share a truly epic love story that is one of the most compelling tales of television, and I don’t know of any Lost fan who didn’t get a little misty-eyed watching the scene where they reconnected after spending eight years apart.
- Best episodes: ‘The Constant’ (season 4), ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ (season 4)
From that sizzling interaction in the pilot (“Have you ever been in love?”; “Abso-f**kin-lutely”), Carrie and Big rode one heck of a relationship rollercoaster, overcoming a marriage, a torrid affair, a broken engagement, a heart operation and TWO moves to Paris. But these kids finally clocked on they were meant for each other - and we couldn’t be more satisfied.
- Best episodes: ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ (season 2), ‘The Big Journey’ (season 5), ‘An American Girl in Paris’ (season 6)
Television’s best antithesis of the romantic couple. So very typically British in their pious refusal to admit their everlasting desire for each other, Ruth’s request for Harry’s declaration of love to be “something wonderful, that was never said” leaves the watcher simultaneously aggravated and truly smitten with their unspoken devotion. When Ruth returns and is confronted with Harry’s stoic proposal of marriage, the impending terrorist attack is no longer the storyline that causes severe heart palpitations.
- Best episodes: ‘The Message’ (series 5), ‘Episode 1’ (series 8), ‘Episode 8’ (series 9)
From the 14 faultless episodes of The Office, two things are remembered above all else: David Brent’s dance, and the "will they/won’t they" relationship between Tim and Dawn. Martin Freeman and Lucy Davis were impeccably cast, and when they finally got together at the end of the last-ever episode, instead of being cloying and vomit-inducing, it was touching, memorable and, most of all, magical.
- Best episodes: ‘Training’ (series 1), ‘Charity’ (series 2), ‘Christmas Special’
- Susan and Steve, Coupling
- Monica and Chandler, Friends
- Lily and Marshall, How I Met Your Mother
- Naomi and Emily, Skins (as long as we’re forgetting about series 4!)
- Homer and Marge, The Simpsons
Agree/disagree with our choices? Sound off below.
Thank God someone had the good sense to include Luke and Lorelai.
Michael Scofield and Sara Tancredi from Prisonbreak.
Surely this has to be in here!?
Nah, they had all the passion of a wet dishcloth. House and Cuddy? JD and Elliot? Sooty and Sue? Rory and Jess? Raymond (from Everybody Loves Raymond) and his wife (whose name escapes me)?
^^Deborah. Really? I always thought they had the most dysfunctional marriage ever.
Sooty and Sue... 
LOL How's that? She tolerated his annoying voice, crap jokes and horrible family for however many years - that indicates true love.
One that I meant to suggest but forgot: Hugo and Alice from the Vicar of Dibley. He loves her as much as Romeo loves Juliet and as much as Richard loves Judy.
Fry and Leela? Ally McBeal and Billy? Sabrina and Harvey?
And I doubt Richard loves Judy *that* much.
How can you forget Karl and Susan from Neighbours?!
comment deleted by the author kevin and scotty guys kevin and scotty!!!!
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