Media supplement: Monk and Game of Thrones

MONK

Here's the thing: Adrian Monk is a failed detective in San Francisco. A sufferer of OCD since childhood, the death of his wife in a car bombing has sent him over the edge into a severe grief reaction which has only exacerbated his bizarre and disabling obsessional tendencies. However, his extraordinary skills in police work cause him to be used constantly (well, throughout five highly successful series shown on Universal television) as a "consultant". In order to remain functional he requires the assistance of a "helper girl" who is always on hand to provide wet wipes should he have to touch anything, or even shake hands (Monk has a thing about germs). So there we have it. A flawed, dysfunctional genius who has all the ideas, while those around him wallow in their own brand of incompetence. Each programme climaxes with Monk's incisive overview of the case, which always opens with the immortal words: "Here's what happened".

His "team" includes lieutenant Randy Discher, a rock star manque, who seems continually distracted by thoughts that have little or nothing to do with the job for which he is paid a living wage. What he is doing there, and how he ever rose to the rank of lieutenant, is never explained.Then there's his boss, captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Devine) a man with such deep anger management issues he is as likely to trash his office or beat on his juniors as he is to solve a case- something he will never do without Monk's help. Again we wonder, how did he make it to captain?

Monk was part of a rash of amazingly talented, if slightly odd detectives that emerged from American TV in the early years of the Millennium, but who are faithful to a tradition that goes back as far as inspector Poirot, or even to the original genius with a problem, Sherlock Holmes. We have had Dr Calvin Lightman (Tim Roth) in Lie to Me; a man able to detect falsehoods by analysing the slightest micro-expressions on suspect's faces, and Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) in The Mentalist, a former fake psychic who uses his skills as a cold reader to solve murder after murder. I should mention as an aside that although the series uses the term "mentalist" in its correct meaning, ie one who by artifice is able to give the impression of being able to read minds, for me, the term has come to denote an insane person ever since Alan Partridge used the term to imply that some twenty years ago. But I digress.

Back to Monk. My wife and I have become somewhat addicted to it in recent months, for reasons that remain slightly hazy. Sure, Tony Shalhoub has brought the character to life in a quite marvellous way, but I think part of the attraction is just how divorced from reality the shows are. Sometimes they take the form of pure farce: the murderer is almost the first cocky character that appears; we know that and it's only a question of time before Monk, who has spotted the perp immediately and simply needs a little time to gather the evidence. This he manages to do without any assistance whatever from the team of cops around him, who are willing to accept the first explanation on offer, and who as I have already stated are handicapped by their own issues.

One of the show's other highlights is the regular sessions Monk has with his psychiatrist (elegantly played by Stanley Kamel). In fact these are the only authentic-looking parts of the show's design. The rest is a kind of crazy, but highly entertaining fantasy world. And just occasionally, we are treated to a "Monk moment", one in which we see that our hero is not simply a talented detective, but also a kind of preternatural savant, not at all like you and I. There was one of these just recently. Monk sees a middle-aged woman in the street who for reasons even he doesn't understand, becomes obsessed with finding. He stops sleeping and loses his customary flair for work. Who is this woman and why is she so important to Monk? Finally he tracks her down and the reason is revealed. She received a corneal transplant the same day his wife was murdered, and is now seeing the world through the eyes of Monk's late wife. So that's why Monk became obsessed!

Monk (Universal Television), created by Andy Breckman

GAME OF THRONES

In a land, or even a planet, far, far away, there are seven warring kingdoms. Sort of think the Wars of the Roses, the Hundred Years War and then stretch your horizons even further, to Ghengis Khan or Attila the Hun and you've got an idea of what goes on in this remarkable TV series. HBO has been responsible for some truly great television in the last few years: The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men, and I think with GOT it has produced a series to stand confidently with them.

To me I think it is the imaginative sweep of the series that really grabs the attention. Based on George R.R. Martin's series of fantasy novels A Tale of Ice and Fire, we are transported into a brutal medieval world which at once seems astonishingly authentic and totally other-worldly at the same time. In the far north of this land lies The Wall. Is it in fact the southernmost reach of a vast glacier? We're not sure, but we do know that terrible, mythical (or not) beasts inhabit the region and a permanent garrison exists at the base of the wall to protect the rest of the realm against any incursion. Further south we have a number of rich and powerful families, each with their own fiefdoms, and who vie amongst themselves to be overall king. Their methods, murder, betrayal, outright war, are ones that are familiar to us today. Other things are not. There is talk of summers that last several years, and winters that may last even longer. Are we on a planet that has some sort of elliptical orbit, which swings them closer to, then further away from, their life-giving sun? We are not told. The imaginative power emanates from the pen of George Martin, but the greatness of this series is the translation of his plots to the screen into a superbly atmospheric tableau. Rarely if ever have I seen the grim and vicious life of the Middle Ages brought to life so vividly.

Further south again, we come across a realm of savages (at least by the standards of the north) who are content to war among themselves, until they hear that untold riches lie across the Poison Sea (where have I hear that phrase before? Oh yes, The Vikings). Only problem there, they're afraid to cross the sea. Or at least they are until one of the families from the north marries one of its daughters off to a savage potentate. Thing about her: she's said to have the blood of dragons flowing in her veins, and maybe that isn't just a myth...

With its huge sweep of characters and interconnecting plots, the series has threatened to become absolutely the best thing on television at the moment, though as series two begins to progress, I am beginning to wonder if it isn't getting a bit too complicated. Nonetheless, I can see myself watching it for quite a while longer, you know, just to find out what happens. You could do worse yourself...

Game of Thrones, HBO TV and Sky Atlantic TV, created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss