If television is some sort of mirror held up to the society from whence it springs, then 2018 was when the British developed an even deeper attraction for tales about spying, assassination, terrorism, conspiracies, preferably in combination.In what was a bit of a revivalist year for the thriller genre, the BBC’s Bodyguard was the defining drama. Starring Keeley Hawes as home secretary Julia Montague and Richard Madden as the eponymous police protection officer, David Budd, it was unusual in not being offered immediately in “box set” format ready for binge viewing, but rather through the traditional rationed weekly instalments.That would not by and of itself have been sufficient to secure its success, however, and the fine performances, taut writing, intriguing storylines and tight direction will no doubt ensure a fine crop of awards for those responsible. Bodyguard also broke an ancient TV convention by killing off the principal figure, Julia Montague, in the antepenultimate episode. That was smart, as it sparked a national debate about how the programme makers could reincarnate her after she has been blown to bits by a bomb. Only the ridiculously bad sex scenes let the show down, though they made Madden’s arse internationally famous for a while.For month Bodyguard was followed in due course by an accomplished dramatisation of John Le Carre’s novel The Little Drummer Girl (BBC1). Like Bodyguard , some viewers found the shifts in pace, from near glacial plot development to sudden extreme violence, a bit tricky to deal with, but on the whole the production deserved the critical acclaim it achieved, with Michael Shannon’s Israeli spymaster Kurtz and newcomer Florence Pugh’s “drummer girl” Charlie delivering in the best nuanced style of the Le Carre canon. Killing Eve (produced by BBC America) was a more outré variation on the theme, as you might expect from the keyboard of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (creator and lead in Fleabag ). This was more gladiatorial combat, almost for its own sake, between the two protagonists, Eve Polastri, bored spy, (Sandra Oh) and bored assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Much of the action took place inside their own deranged minds. Great fun.Fact, and history, can yield some pretty incredible stories too, and none more so than the Thorpe affair, as explored A Very English Scandal (BBC1). In case you missed it – the original scandal or this new series – the leader of the Liberal Party, the right honourable Jeremy Thorpe MP wound up being arraigned at the Old Bailey on a charge of conspiracy to murder, with a number of others.