You might have heard that there's going to be a big death on Desperate Housewives soon. Now, we don't want to give away who's going to kick the bucket (though if you want to know - and only if you want to know - you can click here to find out).
Call us morbid, but the news got us thinking about some of the other spectacular television deaths we've seen on our screens... and after some serious arguments, we've narrowed it down to five.
Now, it was an almost impossible task so there are lots that we love that didn't make it (LA Law's amazing elevator shaft demise, for one) - let us know your favourite television tragedies below!
Joyce Summers - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 'The Body' (Aired February 27, 2001)
The demise of Buffy's mother was classic Joss Whedon. The final moments of the really quite silly 'I Was Made to Love You' led directly into the devastating 'The Body' - 45 minutes of raw emotion, intense performances and painfully long, quiet scenes. Stripped up of all music and with the usual vampire activity at an absolute minimum, this critically-acclaimed episode examined in frank detail the impact of a natural death - a bold step for a show used to treating the subject in a fantastical fashion.
Edgar Stiles - 24 - 'Day 5, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM' (Aired March 6, 2006)
Of course, 24 was never shy when it came to killing off its central characters - fan favourites that bit the dust included Dennis Haysbert's David Palmer, Reiko Aylesworth's Michelle Dessler, Roger Cross's Curtis Manning and even Carlos Bernard's faithful Tony Almeida (albeit briefly). But there's perhaps no death more poignant than that of Edgar (Louis Lombardi) - when CTU comes under attack from a deadly nerve agent, the sweet, hapless analyst is trapped in the gas cloud and cut off from his safely-isolated friends...
Ianto Jones - Torchwood: Children of Earth - 'Day Four' (Aired July 9, 2009)
What made the demise of Gareth David-Lloyd's Torchwood tea-boy so shocking was not so much his actual on-screen exit, but rather the fan reaction to it. Torchwood viewers across the globe were up in arms, calling for Ianto's resurrection, and Welsh fans even set up a memorial at Mermaid Quay in Cardiff. The character did eventually return to life, in a comic strip penned by David-Lloyd himself, but Torchwood's creator Russell T Davies, Doctor Who exec Steven Moffat and Captain Jack himself John Barrowman have all insisted that an on-screen return is off the cards.
Ned Stark - Game of Thrones - 'Baelor' (Aired June 12, 2011)
Now, we had a bit of a tussle over this one - could it top the amazing death suffered by nasty Viserys, meeting his end thanks to some rather hot molten gold? That was one of the best television slayings we've seen, just for pure inventiveness. But ultimately we had to go with Ned, who really had the shock factor. Everyone (well, everyone who hadn't read the book) thought Ned was surely safe - he was the main character! He was Sean Bean! But the surprise we felt was truly something special, and sparked all sorts of outrage and hilarious YouTube reactions. Now we know that no-one's safe, the upcoming second season will be very tense indeed!
Edie Britt - Desperate Housewives - 'A Spark. To Pierce The Dark.' (Aired March 22, 2009)
Who would have thought this would have turned out to be so controversial? Nicollette Sheridan - who played the ill-fated Edie - is at this very moment locked in a legal battle about whether she was wrongfully sacked after complaining about alleged assault by the Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry. But aside from all the off-screen controversy, Edie Britt's final moments make our list because they are so wonderfully over the top. She realises her evil husband Dave is up to no good and he strangles her. But that's not it! She escapes and gets into her car, then swerves to avoid Orson (also up to no good, incidentally) and crashes into a telegraph pole. But that's not it either! Finally, she gets out of the car and steps into a now-electrically-charged puddle, which does for her. Poor Edie - but what a way to go.
