January is not traditionally the cheeriest of months, but in 2021 it somehow outdid itself, delivering not only post-Christmas blues and a biting chill, but a Covid-19 hangover, too. Stuck indoors (still) and glued to our screens, how grateful we were, then, to be belatedly gifted Pretend It’s A City, a seven-part docuseries starring Manhattan institution Ms Fran Lebowitz. Revered for her inimitable wit and effortless knack for public speaking, the social critic and proud Luddite was kind enough to share with the Netflix-subscribing masses her endless list of pet peeves and pointed observations on everything from wellness culture to the New York City Subway. A special shout-out goes to director and moderator Mr Martin Scorsese, whose rip-roaring laughter lifted our spirits almost as much as Lebowitz’s one-liners.

February was tough. One remedy for our lockdown exasperation came in the form of season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, which turned out to be one of the globe-spanning show’s greatest. For those not in the know, the charms were manifold: a cast of ridiculously funny drag queens, a distinctly British sense of humour and, in one contestant, “gender-bender” and “cis-tem offender” Mx Bimini Bon Boulash, the birth of a breakout star. The east London queen began proceedings in a swimsuit knocked up from their hometown’s football club Norwich City’s kit, before tearing up the stage while channelling the spirit of tabloid fixture Ms Katie Price and The Prodigy’s late, great Mr Keith Flint. The fan favourite might not have taken home the trophy, but, through their spiky spirit, they made us feel like we were all winners.

There was a time in the early, dark days of 2021 when it felt like we might never dance again. By this stage in lockdown, shuffling around the living room listening to some trance just didn’t cut it any more. We wanted lights, we wanted music, we wanted some bloke’s sweaty armpits in our face (just us?). Cue Bicep, the Northern Irish producers who marked the release of their second album, Isles, with a live stream from the Saatchi Gallery in London. The sound was all theirs, a vibey, earwormy take on 1990s rave that soundtracked the rest of 2021. The visuals, meanwhile, took an extremely pleasurable 90-minute trip through organic imagery and psychedelic pastures. It was just two blokes in an art gallery and yet somehow, for an evening, it felt like the past, the present and a promise of a neon-bright future.

Our friends in the US like to talk about The Moment, a shorthand for the person or topic that is most of the present time. In April, they might reasonably have argued that Mr Bowen Yang, the first Chinese-American comedian to star in Saturday Night Live and the first openly gay man to make it beyond one season, was The Moment. In his second run at the sketch show, Yang courageously took advantage of the platform afforded him to address anti-Asian hate in the Weekend Update slot. A couple of weeks later, he was back in the same seat, playing the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, but wanting only to promote his EDM album, for serious laughs. Since that exploded all over Twitter, the smart, queer comedy has kept coming. Once you’ve watched the Iceberg skit, may we suggest checking out the rather sexually charged daddy longlegs gag and his proud gay Oompa Loompa?

We could have slotted Lil Nas X into any month of the year because, let’s face it, the 22-year-old musician owned 2021. He stole every red carpet. On every magazine shoot, he deployed the kind of elaborate, full-scale reinvention usually reserved for female popstars. And then there was the small matter of his long-awaited debut studio album, Montero, which broke Billboard records and new ground in terms of what young, gay, black talent looks and sounds like. In between, he found time to own the trolls, expertly baiting them with explicit gay content and outrageous religious iconography last seen in Madonna’s heyday. In a way, May was a quiet month for Lil Nas X, what with release of his sublime “Sun Goes Down” single, a handful of magazine covers and a viral moment on Saturday Night Live. He also finally got his driving licence and hasn’t left the driving seat since.

Most football fans will admit that much of the drama takes place off the pitch. Punditry, gossip, sackings – the beautiful game is at times like a Real Housewives franchise and the Euros and World Cups its reunion shows. This year, however, England’s campaign felt different. The only clashes in the training camp seemed to be about whose turn it was on the inflatable unicorn. That this sense of unity came as the nation was divided says much about manager Mr Gareth Southgate, who not only guided his team to the final with a modern pressing game, but also enshrined progressive ideas that spilled beyond the allotted 90 minutes. For so long, the complaint has been that the players don’t have the passion to wear the shirt, when what was really required was compassion.

There’s something of Mr Bean about Mr Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-Italian content creator who took TikTok by storm this year. As was the case with Mr Rowan Atkinson’s legendary comic creation, his humour needs no translation. Now the second most-followed account on the platform with a mind-boggling 123.5 million followers, what’s even more remarkable about Lame’s meteoric rise to internet celebrity status is that he achieved it with a single joke. Hands presented forward, palms turned to the sky and an exasperated look on his face as he mocks the overcomplicated life hacks that blight TikTok and other video-sharing platforms, Lame played a central role in shaping the internet culture of 2021. His shtick may be wearing a little thin now, but he deserves credit for riding this runaway train all the way to the top.

If mental health had a sports moment this year – England footballer Mr Tyrone Mings and tennis stars Mses Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu all laid themselves bare – then record-breaking gymnast Ms Simone Biles was its most striking and influential symbol, for two reasons. First, she works in a field where, more than most, participants are seen, but rarely heard. Second, she cited it as the reason she pulled out of the US gymnastics team final in Tokyo. It was a courageous move, given her status as a four-time Olympic gold medallist. Expectations were sky-high, but, in making that difficult choice, she demonstrated that physical and mental health can’t be separated and that one is no more important than the other.

Mr Lee Jung-jae, the star of Netflix’s Squid Game, may have already been a successful actor in his native South Korea, but after the show aired and went viral, he rose to international stardom faster than we could sing that terrifying jingle. His exemplary portrayal of hapless protagonist Seong Gi-hun in the year’s biggest streaming hit managed to convey a quality that was at once pitiful, endearing and intensely infuriating. Never have so many of us rooted for a man willing to toss his mother’s money away on the dogs and ruin his daughter’s birthday. Likewise, watching him wrestle with his morals when tricking an old man made for harrowing, excellent television. The playground games wouldn’t have been quite the same without him and whatever Lee does next, we’re sure to be watching.

When real-life fashion weeks returned (albeit temporarily) in autumn 2021, Mr Demna Gvasalia realised that the tonic we needed to blow away the Corona cobwebs was a touch of good-natured humour. So, for the climax to the SS22 Paris show, the Balenciaga creative director collaborated with the creators of The Simpsons in a couture coup d’état for Springfield’s first family. From Homer’s pronunciation of “Balenciagaga” to Gvasalia’s animated baiting the residents of Springfield to walk in his runway show with the news of a KFC opening on the Champs-Élysées, the 10-minute film poked fun at an industry often accused of being a tad pretentious. The message was clear. Don’t take any of it too seriously because, at the end of the day, it’s just fashion and sometimes that can be simply creative and fun.

It’s ironic that actor Mr Brett Goldstein accused us of tricking him into smiling for his photo shoot last month when it is he and the rest of the Ted Lasso crew who have had us beaming (or, in some cases, bawling) with their special brand of feel-good comedy. The Apple TV+ series has a hugely talented ensemble cast, but Emmy Award-winning Goldstein stood out, not just for his starring role as Roy Kent, but also for his work behind the scenes as a writer and producer. Roy’s transition from grumpy football player to grumpy pundit to grumpy coach and bona fide member of the Diamond Dogs has been a highlight of the second season, which debuted in the summer, but by November had become the slow-burn hit of the year. Now, after long overdue recognition (not least that Emmy win), Goldstein is, much like Roy Kent, here, there and “every-fucking-where”.

In January 2021, Mr Jonah Hill adopted a rescue dog, a magnanimous move that came to foreshadow the good vibes radiating from the film star throughout 2021. Since then, his socials have been a mix of similarly heart-warming announcements, whether it’s him proudly cheerleading his equally talented sibling (actress Ms Beanie Feldstein), paying tribute to his dearly departed granny or leading honest conversations about body image in the face of tabloid shaming. Sure, there are the great career notices, too – a raft of projects in the works at Netflix, including blockbuster release of the season Don’t Look Up – but, through his body positivity, his daily surfing habit and his easygoing vibe, Hill has most of all been a beacon of self-love, something we can all do with a little more of in 2022.