Trust is a delicate quality, which is difficult to regain if it is lost. This has been a year in which many people, as well as losing their faith in banks and the government (if they had any in the first place), also lost their trust in television. The scandals about misleading editing and phoney phone-ins undermined the credibility of many TV channels.

The broadcasters were already under threat from the proliferation of new channels and competing forms of entertainment, especially on the internet. ITV was in difficulties with diminishing advertising revenues, while the BBC was threatened with massive staff cuts which are bound to affect its service. Private Eye was only expressing a widespread disillusionment with the BBC when it summarised the BBC cuts as: "(1) Loss of 2,000 jobs in TV production; and (2) creation of 4,000 senior management posts to facilitate the loss of those 2,000 jobs."

It is symptomatic that the phrase 'dumbing down' is so often used about television. The Radio Times underlined this trend with its Review of the Year, which hailed such dubious memorabilia as Little Britain's Lou and Andy making a cameo appearance in Neighbours.

Certainly my Review of the Year could include many moments which I (and possibly you) would rather forget (or have already forgotten), such as The Verdict (BBC2) - using a jury that included Jeffrey Archer and Stan Collymore - and Strictly Baby Ballroom (Channel 4), in which pushy parents pressurised their young children to succeed in ballroom dance contests. Or there was Jekyll (BBC1), which modernised R.L.Stevenson's classic story as an incomprehensible vehicle for the overacting James Nesbitt. I could criticise the continuing plethora of programmes about cookery, antiques and property. Or I could remind you of all those dire series in which celebrities like David Dimbleby, Lenny Henry, Robbie Coltrane and Alan Titchmarsh travelled around Britain, skimming every available surface.

But I would prefer to remember the year's successes, which included several costume dramas. ITV1's three adaptations of Jane Austen novels were patchy, with Northanger Abbey the most impressive. Other novels respectably adapted included A Room With a View (ITV1), Fanny Hill (BBC4 and BBC2), and Cranford (BBC1).

The 60th anniversary of India's independence brought us a slew of programmes, of which India with Sanjeev Bhaskar (BBC2) was the most user-friendly and Michael Wood's The Story of India (BBC2) adopted an educative historical approach.

Stephen Fry is ten years younger than independent India but his 50th birthday was marked by some worthwhile programmes, especially Stephen Fry: HIV and Me (BBC2).

Several programmes dealt usefully with the subject of old age - among them Bus Pass Workaholics (Channel 4), The Zimmers Go to Hollywood (BBC2) and The Oldest People in the World (Channel 4). The most memorable such programme was Malcolm and Barbara: Love's Farewell (ITV1) which, despite director Paul Watson's economy with the truth, poignantly depicted the tragic degeneration caused by Alzheimer's Disease.

In fact, documentaries gave us many of the finest programmes this year. The Children of Helen House (BBC2) showed the work of an institution that Oxford can be proud of. Beautiful Young Minds BBC2) was a surprisingly gripping documentary about young mathematical geniuses. The Invasion of Islington (BBC2) revealed how villages are being impoverished by the closure of their schools, post offices and pubs. Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale (BBC1) and The Not Dead (Channel 4) laid bare the grim reality of warfare.

Channel 4 deserved particular commendation for its ambitious series The Iraq Commission, which devoted two weeks of two-hour programmes to examining the truth about a war whose blunders continued to resonate throughout the year, particularly in their effects on an outgoing and incoming British Prime Minister. There was an absolute deluge of programmes about the former this year. If I have an overriding hope for 2008, it is that we shall not be subjected to any more programmes about Tony Blair and his 'legacy'. One day, people of Britain, all this mess will be yours . . .