We still get some good stuff on TV. Not as much as we used to, but it's still there.
Last year the BBC put out a series over five nights called Criminal Justice - excellent and compelling. It also has another series of linked dramas called The Street, which is sometimes good, sometimes so-so and sometimes astonishing, the final episode of the second series which starred Johdi May was genuinely edge of the seat stuff for most of its hour running time and a large part of it was two people having a conversation through an almost closed door. It was almost to the standard of Dekalog (for those that know their Kieslowski).
Channel 4 put out a four part drama set during the Civil war called The devil's whore, again excellent.
I haven't even mentioned Dr Who. Despite the Saturday teatime "scare the children" slot giving an indication of the target audience there have been some superb episodes - The girl in the fireplace, Silence in the library and particularly Blink.
There are other examples. I agree that overall standard of terrestrial televison has definitely declined but the gems are still out there, at least on the BBC and C4. I can't see ITV in its current form ever producing something to rival Jewel in the Crown or Harry's Game again though.
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