Viola Davis is phenomenal as How to Get Away with Murder’s Annalise Keating.

A lecturer and lawyer, Annalise is roped in to help five of her students with covering up the murder of her own husband Sam, while helping to fix the many cases of her clients. But behind her dominant, public presence lies a fragile character, who is a victim of sexual abuse, has suffered a tragic miscarriage, and continues to battle with alcoholism.

Keating’s bisexuality is also touched upon, as viewers learn that she had a long-term relationship with her friend Eve Rothlo (Famke Janssen) while at law school, which is rekindled later in the series. Grace Henry.

Bette Porter – The L Word

The TV landscape looked strikingly different when The L Word first landed in 2004, certainly in terms of lesbian representation.

Picking one favourite out of the extraordinary cast isn’t easy, as all the characters were radical and ground-breaking by the standards of the time. But if we had to choose someone, our vote goes to Bette Porter, a firecracker of a lesbian with so much wit, passion and power.

An art curator and partner to Tina Kennard, Bette subverted TV stereotypes, showing audiences that lesbians can be happy and successful (the bar was low, right?) – and arguably paved the way for the nuanced portrayal of lesbian characters we’re seeing more of today.

Bette and Tina also provided a rare – and powerful – portrayal of lesbian parenting, pushing audiences to rethink motherhood, but in a way that remained relatable. Molly Moss.

Anne Lister – Gentleman Jack

Capitalising on the remarkable story of Anne Lister – a diarist, a rule-breaking and astute businesswoman, and a landowner often attributed to being ‘the first modern lesbian’ – Sally Wainwright’s BBC drama Gentleman Jack unpacked gender, sexuality and female desire through its brilliant titular character played by Suranne Jones.

Complicated, entitled, selfish and often unpleasant, Jones’ character was unapologetically focused on what she wanted from the world, whether that be in the bedroom or in business, and her unwavering sense of self was a breath of fresh air for queer female representation on TV.

Furthermore, Lister was something that queer people on TV are so rarely allowed to be: unlikeable. And yet audiences still found themselves drawn to – and rooting for – the character. In other words, Lister was the queer antihero TV needed.

If you’re in doubt of the impact that Jones’ character has had in the real world, you need only watch the BBC documentary Gentleman Jack Changed My Life, which follows six British women rediscovering their sexuality, coming out and rekindling long-lost love after watching Wainwright’s drama. Molly Moss.

Pray Tell – Pose

FX/Eric Liebowitz

Another Pose fave is ballroom emcee Pray Tell, played by actor Billy Porter. A panellist and judge in the ball scene, a member of the Master of Ceremony Council, and a much-loved father figure to the children of the ballroom, Pray Tell is such a powerful character in the FX series.

After seeing many of his loved ones and friends suffer at the hands of the HIV epidemic, he learned that he too is HIV-positive. From here, he had to work out how to adjust to his life as a gay man battling the virus, during a time when patients were treated very scornfully.

Despite his health, Pray Tell continued to offer hope to those who looked up to him, showing his strength and dedication to his people. Grace Henry.

Sophia Burset – Orange Is the New Black

Myles Aronowitz/Netflix

If there’s any story in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black that’s worth following, it’s Sophia Burset’s. Based on Vanessa Robinson from Piper Kerman’s memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, Burset was thrown in prison for committing credit card fraud to pay for gender reassignment surgery.

During her time in the women’s prison, Sophia faced physical and verbal abuse due to her gender identity and was wrongfully thrown into solitary confinement as a means to protect her, rather than give her the real help she needed.

With the help of her wife Krystal, Burset managed to fight her case, resulting in an early release and a six-figure payout, allowing for Burset to completely transform her life and open a salon. Played by Laverne Cox,  who became the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category, Burset is one of the true stars of OITNB. Grace Henry.

Charity Dingle and Vanessa Woodfield – Emmerdale

Well, no one can say that Emmerdale pairing Vanity has been without its issues but they’re made for each other really.

Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) is the epitome of chaos, the village schemer and hopeless mum who is always trying to be better. Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) is the neurotic but warm and motherly vet who travelled a long, bumpy road to accepting her own sexuality.

Together the pair truly made each other’s lives better and they created an ideal family unit, and also helped Vanessa wrestle with losing her father and discovering her sister, along with Charity discovering a long-lost son and facing up to having been a victim of child sexual abuse.

Actresses Emma Atkins and Michelle Hardwick share easy and natural chemistry together and their recent scenes together prove that Charity and Vanessa should be back together soon. Sorry, Mackenzie. Lewis Knight.

Cameron Tucker – Modern Family

Bonnie Osborne/ABC via Getty Images

Eric Stonestreet is brilliant as Modern Family’s Cameron Tucker.

With an eclectic cast, including Sophia Vergara as Gloria and Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, the comedy isn’t short of comical characters.

Tucker just takes it to a whole new level with his campness and hilarious quips. A true multi-faceted gay man, Cam is a loving husband to his partner Mitchell Pritchard, a father to their adopted daughter Lily, an uncle and confidant, a football coach and headteacher and part-time clown, stealing any moment to dress up as his alter-ego Fizbo (yes, you read correctly). Grace Henry.

Adena El-Amin – The Bold Type

Freeform

Freeform’s The Bold Type was hailed for all of its badass and authentic female characters. But perhaps the boldest type was Adena El-Amin (Nikohl Boosheri), who represented something that is rarely seen on screen – a queer Muslim artist who just happened to be a lesbian, and who still had a deep connection to her faith.

Adena was a powerful character living her truth and being unapologetically herself, and her storyline avoided the stereotypes around terrorists and oppressed Muslim women that mainstream media tends to perpetuate.

When Kat, who Adena goes on to have a relationship with, asks her why she wears the hijab, Adena says: “It does not oppress me but liberates me from society’s expectations of what a woman should look like.” Molly Moss.

Clare Devlin – Derry Girls 

Derry Girls simply wouldn’t be the same without Clare Devlin – the permanently anxious ‘wee lesbian’ at Our Lady Immaculate College. Academically orientated and the most sensible out of her friends, Clare’s Type A personality tends to clash with Michelle’s impulsiveness, Erin’s tendency to romanticise everything, James’ cluelessness and Orla’s oddness.

While Clare’s coming out is an important plot point in the season 1 finale, her love life is only really explored in the show’s penultimate episode, with the regular worrier finally getting her first kiss at a Fatboy Slim concert – just before she finds out that her father has died.

That being said, Nicola Coughlan’s performance as the catastrophizing Clare has been key to the success of the show, with the character frequently providing essential comic relief against a backdrop of heavy political issues of the time period.  Lauren Morris.

Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch – Skins

Channel 4

Were you a British teen in the noughties if you didn’t love Skins? The raucous and gritty E4 teen drama had its fair share of memorable characters.

However, there was no romantic pairing more solid or emotionally charged than the sweet and shy Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) and the bold and political Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless).

The pair’s slow but steady developing love story is a highlight of the show’s entire run, bringing a believable portrayal of gay first love to a generation of teens.

Both Emily and Naomi grapple with their sexual identities and explore how they wish to define themselves in a manner rarely seen until this point, especially for young women.

It is a shame that the series’ final run Skins: Redux undid the hopeful and happy ending of the fourth run in favour of tragedy – something that often befalls many depictions of lesbian love – but we will choose to love and remember this pairing at their happiest and most vital. Lewis Knight.

Victor Salazar – Love, Victor

Kelsey McNeal/Hulu

While Love, Simon may have broken ground as a major studio rom-com/coming-of-age tale to be focused on a gay teenager, its spin-off Love, Victor also broke new ground.

The Disney/Hulu series offers a realistic but positive examination of a half Puerto Rican, half Colombian-American high school student named Victor Salazar, played with charm and naivety by Michael Cimino.

Across three seasons, Victor grapples with coming out on a journey to true acceptance and pride. This is often painful and Victor especially struggles in his relationship with his mother, Isabel (Ana Ortiz).

However, despite the hardships and heartache, Victor remains adamant in his desire to be true to himself after making the vital steps he needs to.

There is even time for Victor to check his own privilege among the members of the LGBTQ+ community, but he remains always keen to learn and eventually mentor.

Victor is the type of character that viewers want to see happy, and in the final season, they may just get their wish. Lewis Knight.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight. 

Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey. 

---