From Game of Thrones to House of Cards - the age of the TV heroine has arrived

With Mad Men finishing, the anti-hero has had his day - and complex women are in control

From left to right: Piper Chapman in Orange is the New Black, Olivia Pope in Scandal, Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones, Clare Underwood in House of Cards (Netflix; ABC; HBO)

Pour yourselves a stiff bourbon on the rocks, Mad Men fans; on Thursday, the seminal advertising drama returns for its final run. And, as its boozy, macho protagonist Don Draper strides off screen, so does a whole TV era: truly, the age of the anti-hero is over.

Since the “golden age of TV drama” began at the turn of millennium, we have collectively been in love with “difficult men” – leading males who are as charismatic as they are immoral, and alluring despite serious moral failings.

We were charmed by murderous gangster Tony Soprano’s schlubby vulnerability, knew that Jimmy McNulty’s flaws didn’t prevent him from being “good police” and thrilled as Don deceived, Boardwalk Empire’s Nucky Thompson prevaricated and Breaking Bad’s mild-mannered chemistry teacher Walt White became drugs kingpin Heisenberg. Meanwhile, women were mostly put-upon wives or wayward mistresses.

Yet, slowly but surely over the past few years, the alpha males have fallen away – and in their place has come a new wave of smart, equally complex TV heroines.

So while the occasional anti-hero still rages furiously against the dying of the light, like Matthew McConaughey in the macho first season of True Detective, it’s increasingly women who are both calling the shots and getting up to no good. What follows is our guide to the female archetypes taking over the small screen in 2015.

Entitled Anti-Heroines

The Girls: Hannah, Jessa, Shoshanna, Marni

Who:

Hannah Horvath in Girls, Piper Chapman in Orange is the New Black, Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones

What: The anti-hero hasn’t so much left us as had a sex-change: where TV used to be all about men behaving badly, these days the women are catching up. Yet in contrast to the male anti-hero, whose writers asked you to love him despite his flaws, the entitled female anti-heroine is written to be loathed, almost as though the writers are daring you to find something salvageable amid the self-obsession and greed.

Think of Girls’ Hannah Horvath wreaking a trail of destruction from Greenpoint to Iowa without ever growing any more self-aware, or Piper Chapman spending her time casually breaking hearts, pimping out naïve new prisoners and moaning about the lack of high-end beauty products in jail. Then there’s Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones’ Queen Bee, seemingly fuelled entirely by jealousy and red wine, propping herself up with bitter one-liners and the belief that Lannisters are born to rule.

Where to catch them: Girls has just finished its fourth season on Sky Atlantic. Game of Thrones’ season 5 begins on 13 April at 9pm. Orange is the New Black seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix; season 3 arrives in June.

Little Miss Sunshine

Who: Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, Kimmy Schmidt in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Jane Villanueva in Jane the Virgin, Jessica Day in New Girl

What: Conditioned always to look on the bright side and see only the good things in life, Little Miss Sunshine is perky and pretty and pleasant to everyone she meets. She ought also to be unbelievably irritating – and in the case of New Girl’s Jess can be – but, in fact, that joie de vivre works in her favour. We can’t help but warm to Leslie Knope’s can-do determination and optimistic streak. We root for Kimmy Schmidt to escape the “mole woman” tag and forge a bright new life. And we admire Miami twenty-something Jane’s refusal to let the small matter of an artificial insemination mix-up cum unplanned pregnancy get her down. Even Jess doesn’t seem so bad when instigating a few rounds of the drinking game True American, or sending up Schmidt.

Where to catch them: Parks and Recreation has been fitfully shown on BBC4 who are currently up to season 4; seasons 1-6 are available on DVD from Amazon. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is currently available on Netflix. Jane the Virgin comes to E4 on 22 April at 9pm. New Girl will return to E4 for a fourth season later this year.

Fabulous Divas

Ring the changes: Mindy Kaling (Fox/Getty Images)

Who:

Cookie Lyons in Empire, Olivia Pope in Scandal, Mindy Lahiri in The Mindy Project, Juliette Barnes in Nashville

What: In contrast to the entitled anti-heroines, these forces of nature are prone to taking what they know is theirs rather than whining about what should be. Most diva-ish of all is Cookie Lyons, the never-knowingly- under-dressed matriarch of smash hit hip opera soap Empire, who summed up her can-conquer attitude in the second episode when she said: “The streets ain’t made for everybody, that’s why they made sidewalks.” As the series progresses, so Cookie’s all-round awesomeness only continues to grow as she begins to build up a roster of artists refusing to let little things such as a broken bail bond or an angry ex-husband get in her way.

No UK channel has yet picked up Empire but British TV could really do with a shot of her take-no-prisoners brand of common sense. Elsewhere, from Nashville’s surprisingly sympathetic Juliette Barnes, the former teen singing queen determined not to lose her shot at the big time, to the indomitable Mindy Lahri, a woman who can utter the line “all I’ve wanted in my life is catch to abandon all my friends for a boyfriend” with a straight face, these fabulous divas think big and let other people pick up the pieces. Thus while Olivia Pope’s team scramble in her wake, she strides forward secure in the knowledge that she’ll always find some way to steal an election and save the day.

Where to catch them: Scandal’s fourth season is currently on Sky Living. The Mindy Project returns to E4 later this year. Nashville is expected back on More4 later this year. No UK channel has bought Empire so far.

Pragmatic Powerseekers

Robin Wright as Claire Underwood in House of Cards' Season 3 (Netflix)

Who:

Clare Underwood in House of Cards, Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones, Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder, Alex Vause from Orange is the New Black

What: Politics is a dirty game, as House of Cards’ ice-cool Claire Underwood could tell you, and these are the women who know how to play it. From Game of Thrones’ quietly scheming queen Margaery Tyrell to How to Get Away With Murder’s outwardly calm law professor Annalise Keating, the pragmatic power seekers always have one eye on the throne. To these women knowledge is power and every situation is a code to be cracked – just look at Orange is the New Black’s Alex Vause who astutely assessed the prison’s power relations and worked out who she needed to get onside to ensure that she was rarely isolated or alone, unlike former girlfriend Piper Chapman.

Where to catch them: How To Get Away with Murder is currently on The Universal Channel. House of Cards seasons 1-3 can be found on Netflix.

Go-Getting Dynamos

The vast of Masters of Sex

Who:

Virginia Johnson in Masters of Sex, Claire Randall in Outlander, Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley, Peggy Olson in Mad Men

What: These are the ladies you would turn to when the going gets tough. Pragmatic, practical and willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in, they’re largely calm under pressure and refreshingly able to put others first. And because of that you root for them, from effervescent single mother turned sex study pioneer Virginia Johnson to Mad Men’s high-achieving Peggy Olson, wishing them well through their many TV trials. For whether it’s time-traveller Claire Randall hitching up her skirts to go and rescue her Highland warrior lover Jamie from disaster on Outlander or Happy Valley’s no-nonsense PC Catherine Cawood doughtily pursuing psychopathic killer Tommy Lee Royce to the bitter, brutal end, these are television’s most rounded heroines. Best of all, they’re women you can imagine spending time with in real life.

Where to catch them: Outlander is currently available on Amazon prime instant video. Happy Valley season two returns later this year. Masters of Sex Season 1 is available on DVD from Amazon, and season 2 is out on DVD later this year. Mad Men returns to Sky Atlantic on Thursday at 10pm.