The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any genre that had been screened up to that time.
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
The play tells the story of a young couple, Cathy (played by Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks (actor)), and their descent into poverty and homelessness. At the start of the film, Cathy leaves her parents' overcrowded rural home and hitchhiking to the city, where she finds work and meets Reg, a well-paid truck driver. They fall in love, marry, and rent a modern flat in a building that does not allow children. Cathy soon becomes pregnant and must stop working, and Reg is injured on the job and becomes unemployed. The loss of income and birth of the baby force them to leave their flat, and they are unable to find another affordable place to live that permits children.
The Doctor, a mysterious traveller in space and time, travels in his ship, the TARDIS. The TARDIS can take him and his companions anywhere in time and space. Inevitably he finds evil at work wherever he goes...
The life and times of Quentin Crisp, an outrageous and flamboyant homosexual, coming of age and growing into old age in conservative England.
And now for something completely different: Monty Python's Flying Circus was simply the most influential comedy program television has ever seen. Five Englishmen, all working under the constraints of conventional TV shows such as The Frost Report (for which the five Englishmen wrote), gathered together with an expatriate American in the spring of 1969 to break the rules. The result, first airing on BBC-1 on October 5, 1969, has influenced countless future men and women in the media and comedy since.
Ever since the world's longest running live children's programme began on the 16th October 1958 it has grown from strength to strength! With new viewers in each generation, the show is rapidly becoming more and more popular, with CBBC presenters coming and going, new ideas and skills are added to the mix of the current presenters.
Alan Bleasdale's five-part series relates the further experiences of unemployed Liverpudlian tarmac layers Dixie, Chrissie, Loggo and Yosser, and their revered older friend, retired longshoreman and union leader, George Malone. As they struggle to make ends meet in a depressed economy, and to hold together their financially battered families, they are harrassed by the petty bureaucrats of the DHSS. But the lumbering investigational juggernaut is, both comically and tragically, guided by drivers with only a provisional license.
Michael Parkinson interviews the famous people of the day, from Hollywood stars to politicians.
This is the story of the endless battles between the Government in the form of Jim Hacker, a brand new Cabinet Minister and the Civil Service of his department run by Sir Humphrey Appleby. Stuck in the middle of it all is civil servant Bernard Woolley.
Yes, Prime Minister is the sequel to the popular British series Yes Minister. It aired from 1986 to 1988 and is the story of the continuing battles between Jim Hacker, who is now Prime Minister, and Sir Humphrey, who has been promoted to Cabinet Secretary.
At Oxford, Charles Ryder becomes friend with Sebastian Flyte while he's throwing up in his college room through an open window. He then invites Charles to lunch after his teddy bear Aloysius 'refuses to talk to him' unless he is forgiven. Charles becomes involved with Sebastian's family, Catholic peers of the realm in Protestant England.
Based on Robert Graves' epic novels about the decline of Roman civilisation in the first century AD, this award-winning drama redefined the boundaries of television when it was broadcast in 1976. Jack Pulman's brilliant script conveys the unrelenting depravity during the reigns of the four Emperors who succeeded Julius Caesar: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. The star-studded cast includes Derek Jacobi as Claudius, John Hurt as Caligula and Brian Blessed as Augustus.
Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard, a bunch of hapless old and young men who have kept people all over the world very amused for the past thirty seven years. Creator/Writers David Croft and Jimmy Perry made each episode of Dad's Army as funny as the previous one, with an element of humour which has survived decades. It has the most memorable catch phrases of any sitcom and due to our fondness of it, it's probably the most re-run show ever. The BBC keep an episode of it queued up in case of a fault at TV centre and it even successfully invaded the big screen with a memorable, well loved Dad's Army feature film made by Columbia pictures.
Morecambe and Wise, described as 'the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double act that Britain has ever produced', first achieved their phenomenal television success in the early 1960s with this long-running hit series for ATV. Showcasing their mildly anarchic humour, impeccable sense of timing and keen eye for the absurd in a feast of uproarious sketches and lampoonery. Each half-hour extravaganza features fast-moving skits and musical parodies, with Eric and Ernie giving us their very own Telstar and inimitable versions of television favourites Supercar, Face to Face and Candid Camera - turning to crime with a satirical take on some of the most popular police series of the '60s. But that’s not all. They reveal their keen appreciation of Shakespeare by enacting Brutus and Cassius' quarrel in Julius Caesar and, in a nod to contemporary theatrical trends, Cleopatra's death scene is played in modern dress. To clear up any possible confusion, there’s even a sketch to help viewers remember which one is which... The series was billed on-screen as Two Of A Kind until 1963 and The Morecambe and Wise Show from 1964 onwards. However, for its entire run it was referred to by its stars and in TV listings as The Morecambe and Wise Show.
This award-winning drama focuses on Yorkshire detective Ronald Craven investigating the murder of his daughter. From there the story spirals into a gripping eco-thriller of political conspiracy, secret service machinations and even shady medieval societies. As he draws closer to the dangerous inner sanctums of organised environmental protests and nuclear power interests, he discovers the ultimate truths at the heart of society.
Cunning plans and cutting comedy as the Blackadder dynasty plot their way through British history.
In this satirical British sitcom, which became a cult hit on American cable, a grotesquely self-centered fashion victim chain-smokes, swills champagne, abuses drugs, munches caviar, terrorizes her daughter, and tries in vain to mingle with the beautiful people -- all in the company of her sleek, slutty, boozed-up best friend.
Wallace lets out his spare room to a penguin. The penguin and Gromit, Wallace's dog, immediately don't see eye-to-eye. Meanwhile, Wallace has invented a giant pair of robotic trousers, designed to take Gromit for walks.
A groundbreaking documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history: World War II.
Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
Arthur Parker is a sheet music salesman in the England of the nineteen thirties. He is also a romantic dreamer who finds his own personal reality in the lyrics of the songs which he hawks from town to town. Arthur expects life to be one long song, with none of the reality which gives life its contrasting dark side and ultimate richness and depth of purpose. But the dark side of life is waiting out there for Arthur Parker, just around the next corner. One of Dennis Potter's finest dramatic achievements in which he utilises the popular songs of the nineteen thirties and the techniques of lip-synchronisation to present this remarkable multi-layered story of the frustrations, joys and sorrows of ordinary every-day living. "A long time ago, a million years BC - The best things in life were absolutely free; But no-one appreciated a sky that was always blue, And no-one congratulated a moon that was a
The Jewel in the Crown is a brilliant adaptation of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet. This award winning mini-series tells the epic story of men and women caught up in a struggle of race and class during the last five years of British rule in India.
Contestants take on multiple-choice questions based on general knowledge, winning a cash prize for each question they answer correctly, with the amount offered increasing as they take on more difficult questions. To assist in the quiz, contestants are given a series of lifelines to help them answer questions for a chance to win £1,000,000.
You want a misunderstood, self-proclaimed genius whose lofty ambitions in life are thwarted either by a boorish sidekick or, more often than not, his own painful shortcomings? A man trapped by circumstance? A, let's face it, pompous prig? Tony Hancock is the archetype. The show came along during an era when comedy was steeped in the fast-talking knockabout antics of the music hall. With its character and situation-based humour, Hancock's Half-Hour sounded shockingly naturalistic: almost Pinter-esque by comparison.
Our Friends in the North is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC2 in early 1996. Telling the story of four friends from the city of Newcastle in North East England over 31 years from 1964 to 1995, it also brought in real political and social events specific to Newcastle and Britain as a whole during the era portrayed, including general elections, police corruption, the Miners' Strike and the 1987 'hurricane'.
The Up Series is a series of documentary films that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future. Every seven years, the director, Michael Apted, films new material from as many of the fourteen as he can get to participate.
"Tournicoti Tournicoton !" C’est par cette formule que Margote est transportée au pays magique de Bois Joli par Zébulon, un drôle de personnage à ressorts. Elle y rencontre Pollux, le chien à l’accent anglais qui ferait tout pour un morceau de sucre, et ses amis : Azalée la vache, Ambroise l’escargot, Flappy le lapin, etc.
Satirical sketch show. The first such show in the UK. It ran for two seasons before being pulled just before the 1964 general election.
Sitcom about a working-class family from Manchester, focusing on Mam and Dad - Barbara and Jim - as parents of children Denise and late-teen Antony.
Life on Earth (1979) is an epic 13-programme series, presented by David Attenborough, offering a chronological account of the flora and fauna of planet Earth over a period of 3,500 million years. Whether recounting the first journey from the sea to the land, the development of insects and flowers, or "The First Forests" and "The Lords of the Air", Attenborough's enthusiasm is infectious. He guides us through The Infinite Variety of life from microbes to marsupials, via an unforgettable meeting with mountain gorillas, to conclude with The Compulsive Communicators, mankind itself. Three years in the making, involving 1.5 million miles of travel and featuring some of the most beautiful, breathtaking and ambitious photography then seen on television, Life on Earth was the first natural history blockbuster. It redefined TV by showing that an epic, serious wildlife documentary could be a massive success. As such, it remains a true television landmark and paved the way for further entries in what became known as his Life series.
The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970 while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers. According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys - doormen in grey suits. The songs they could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test.
Academic quiz show where teams of students from UK universities answer questions on all manner of subjects
"Fletch", sentenced to a five year stretch at HM Prison Slade in darkest Cumbria, is determined to keep his head down, do his time and not let the b******s grind him down. But it's not so simple when you're an old lag. His naive cell-mate Lenny Godber needs to learn the ropes, skives and scams; evil Prison Officer Mackay can't be allowed to run things his own way and warden Barrowclough is just too weak-willed not to have his good-nature exploited... Starring Ronnie Barker, Fulton Mackay, Richard Beckinsdale and Brian Wilde.
Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness.
This classic BBC comedy comes courtesy of Steve Coogan. Alan is a fictional self-obsessed DJ who has had several TV jobs in the past (including chat show 'Knowing Me Knowing You') and has failed to bounce back from his long dead career. Each episode normally sees Alan resorting to embarrassing anecdotes, insulting someone without noticing and failing to revive his career.
Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald (Robbie Coltrane) is an alcoholic, chain-smoking, womanizer who just happens to be an expert psychologist. In spite of marital and family problems, he is often called to assist the police in difficult cases that cannot be easily solved.
Follows the lives of the residents of the fictional Coronation Street, located in Greater Manchester, which is made up mainly of working-class people.
Weekly pop-music show mixing live performances with pop videos, counting down the UK Singles Chart to the week's Number One record. The show began in 1964 and ran year-round for over 40 years and more than 2200 editions, making it the longest-running music show in the world. After the show ended in 2006, the annual Christmas Special - a review of the year's biggest sellers - continued.
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.
Grange Hill is a British children's soap opera television series originally made by the BBC and portraying life in a typical secondary school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running programmes on British television when it ended its run on 15 September 2008.
After creating the supreme comedy that was Hancock's Half Hour, many wondered where else writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson could go when the eponymous Mr H dispensed with their services. Their answer was another sitcom tour-de-force, Steptoe & Son. Steptoe was born from a one-off comic play, "The Offer" commissioned by the BBC in 1962 as part of Comedy Playhouse, a series of short plays all written by Galton and Simpson. From the outset it broke the mould of British comedy. Where previous sitcoms relied on slapstick, gags and farce, Steptoe and Son introduced a note of gritty realism: its characters were resolutely working-class, down-at-heel rag-and-bone men scraping a living by spotting gems among other people's junk. Father and son used earthy language and swore like troopers (at least as much as the BBC would allow them to) and both were given an added reality by being played by "straight" actors (Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett) rather than comedians. Where other comedies revolved around interfering mothers-in-law and the sudden failure of the hero's braces the moment his boss came round, Steptoe's focus was on the inter-generational conflict that marked out the 60s. While father Albert Steptoe was - as his son often reminded him - a "dirty old man", set in his grimy and grasping ways, middle-aged son Harold was filled with social aspirations, not to say pretensions. Many episodes saw Harold attempting to attract a posh "bird" (this was still the sixties and early seventies) with his literary erudition, love of classical music or amateur dramatic skills, only to have a single leer from his gargoyle-like dad put the kybosh on the whole affair. Despite the advantage of Harold's relative youth, the audience always knew who was master in the Steptoe household. Albert, convinced his work in years (long) gone by entitled him to live off his son's hard graft, used every weapon from blood-curdling threats to pathetic wheedling to kee
Comedy that follows two brothers from London's rough Peckham estate as they wheel and deal through a number of dodgy deals and search for the big score that'll make them millionaires.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a story of the rise and fall of seven very different people. There are three Geordies, one Scouser, one Brummie, one Cockney and one from Bristol. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet shows what life was really like for self - employed workers in the 1980's. And after 20 years they are reunited and begin working together again.
Tiswas, an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. It was originally produced as a Midlands regional programme by ATV, and was first broadcast live on 5 January 1974. The then federal structure of ITV, with its independent regional companies, meant that not all of these stations broadcast the show when it became available for networked transmission. Over time most ITV regions chose to broadcast it, with Granada Television and Southern Television being among the last to pick up the show, in 1979. Tyne Tees and Ulster eventually decided to take Tiswas for its final series in 1981. The smallest broadcaster in the network, Channel Television, did not carry the programme.
Father Ted is an Irish comedy about 3 parish priests living on Craggy Island - a remote island, off the Irish west coast. The main four characters are Father Ted Crilly (Dermot Morgan), Father Dougal Maguire (Ardal O'Hanlan) and Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly) and their housekeeper (who just can't stop making tea) Mrs. Doyle (Pauline McLynn). Ted was put on the island as a punishment for going on holiday to Las Vegas with money intended for a sick child - of course..."The money was just resting in his account"!
"Always keep your bowler on in time of stress, and watch out for diabolical masterminds." [Mrs Peel] The Avengers is one of the most popular and beloved television series of all time. Its outrageous blend of wit and style and its unique mix of the fantasy and spy genres, coupled with the marvellous characters of John Steed and Emma Peel make it one of television's great classics.
Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief. George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
The Forsyte Saga so captured the imagination of end of the decade TV viewers that it inspired what is today known as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to create a series called Masterpiece Theater. Originally broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1967, the Forsyte Saga crossed the "pond" in 1969, airing on Sunday nights. It not only inaugurated the arrival of the British drama to the US but also the dramatic form of the mini-series. Although sharing some qualities with the soap opera format, The Forsyte Saga had a beginning and an end and was never intended for more than one season. The story, roughly, is that of a large family in Victorian England. We see three generations of Forsytes struggle with love, money, and family secrets that will hang over them. The series can be safely divided into two sections thematically.
On the eve of his Bar Mitzvah, young Elliot finds that all the grown men in his life are somewhat wanting.
The biggest benefit concert in history. Taking place simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London (UK) and the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (USA), many of the top contemporary rock music acts play many of their most popular songs to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. In addition, short films illustrating the crisis in Africa are run with the appeal for aid.
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often unorthodox, some said left-wing, approach. Cabinet ministers fell victim to its probings. Numerous innocent victims of the British criminal justice system, including the Birmingham Six, were released from jail. Honouring the programme in its fiftieth anniversary awards, the Political Studies Association, said: "World in Action thrived on unveiling corruption and highlighting underhand dealings. World in Action came to be seen as hard-hitting investigative journalism at its best."
Thunderbirds are Go!! The year is 2065, and a secret organization called International Rescue has been created by multi-millionaire Jeff Tracy. The team consists of his five sons and brilliant engineer Brains. From their headquarters on Tracy Island somewhere in the South Pacific, International Rescue helps people in danger all over the world. Scott flies Thunderbird 1, a fast rocket often first on the scene. Virgil pilots Thunderbird 2, a heavy transport able to choose one of several pods of equipment. Thunderbird 3, a space rocket, is usually piloted by Alan. Gordon steers Thunderbird 4, an underwater rescue craft, and space station Thunderbird 5 is home to John, who listens to broadcasts from around the world looking for people in peril
Six monologues tell the stories of six different repressed souls: a man dominated by his mother, a vicar's wife, an inveterate letter writer, a hopeful actress, a recently widowed woman, and an elderly shut-in.
Popular music shows that showcased the up-and-coming stars of the day were nothing new in 1963, indeed the BBC had led the way nearly six years earlier with 'Six-Five Special,' and ATV had countered that in 1958 with 'Oh Boy.' What made 'RSG' special was that it arrived at the same time as the British beat boom, when groups such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who were on the verge of taking the music world by storm, a time when 60's youth culture hit the streets running and swept aside all that stood in its way, a time that was fresh and exciting. The show finished in 1966 at the height of its popularity and has since gone on to attain cult status.
Long running BBC series dealing with the goings on of the Newtown police and their Ford Zephyr squad cars or "Z Cars". Emphasis on personal drama and day to day lives of the characters, the series was almost a mix of "kitchen sink" drama and police procedure. Influential towards such later dramas as Hill Street Blues. Like a who's who of UK talent, many important UK actors, writers and directors worked on the show including Ridley Scott, Tom Baker (Dr. Who), Brian Blessed, Tom Conti, Judi Dench, Arthur Lowe, Malcolm McDowell and Leonard Rossiter and both future Professionals (Lewis Collins and Martin Shaw).
Dr Bronowski's magnificent thirteen-part BBC television series The Ascent of Man traces our rise both as a species and as moulders of our own environment and future. It covers the history of science, but of science in the broadest terms. Invention from the flint tool to geometry, from the arch to the theory of relativity, are shown to be expressions of man's specific ability to understand nature, to control it, not to be controlled by it.
Harry Perkins, Labour MP and self-confessed third generation socialist, is elected Prime Minister of the UK. With stated policies of unilateral nuclear disarmament, neutrality and open government, his enemies quickly accumulate, from the US administration, to those much closer to home, such as the right-wing press and the security services. It is this disparate group who will unite in the hopes of ousting a democratically-elected leader in a very British coup...
Kenneth Clark's 13-part series produced by British Broadcasting Corporation's Channel 2 (BBC-2) in 1969 and released in the United States in 1970 on public television, remains a milestone in the history of arts television, the Public Broadcasting System, and the explication of high culture to interested laypeople. The series offers an extended definition of the essential qualities of Western civilization through an examination of its chief monuments and important locations. While such a task may seem both arrogant and impossible, Clark's views are always stimulating and frequently entertaining. Civilization, he suggests, is energetic, confident, humane, and compassionate, based on a belief in permanence and in the necessity of self-doubt.
Oscar winner Helen Mirren is Det. Jane Tennison, rising through the ranks, solving horrific crimes while battling office sexism and her own demons
The Likely Lads was a black and white British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty-one episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only eight of these shows have survived.
Following on from The Likely Lads (BBC, 1964-1966), after five years in the army, Terry returns to Newcastle to find that Bob is now a middle manager, engaged to librarian Thelma and living on a new suburban estate. Bob is torn between his new life and his old working-class pleasures, as represented by Terry.
Based on the week's news, Have I Got News For You is fronted by guest hosts and features two regular team captains, Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. Each week the show invites two guests to cast a jaundiced eye over the week's news, resulting in a fast flow of anarchic, spontaneous and hugely entertaining wit and humour. Guests typically represent the world of politics, comedy, show-business and journalism, and are often themselves particularly newsworthy participants. The final touches of Have I Got News For You are put together only hours before recording, allowing guests to comment on the late-breaking news stories of the day.
Combining fact and informed speculation with cutting-edge computer graphics and animatronics effects, the series set out to create the most accurate portrayal of prehistoric animals ever seen on the screen.
In a totalitarian future society, Winston Smith, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', he gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and in the second series has success with a chain of shops selling useless junk. That becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it. In the third and final series he has a dream of forming a commune which his long suffering colleagues help bring to reality. Unfortunately that also fails and he finds himself back in a job not unlike the one he originally had at Sunshine Desserts.
Andre Morell stars as Professor Bernard Quatermass in this landmark television classic. When a strange capsule is unearthed at an archaeological excavation in London, an unexploded bomb is initially suspected. However, with a history of supernatural events in the area going back many centuries and with events at the dig site about to take an unexpectedly alien turn, the origins of the capsule are soon revealed to be far more distant than anyone could have imagined. When the capsule is finally opened, something is unleashed upon the streets of London that nobody can control and mankind's past and future collide with devastating consequences.
CIB: the police for the police. Loathed by fellow officers and treated with suspicion by the public, their's is a grey world of corruption and one that leaves rising star Superintendent Tony Clark cold. Reluctantly involved in the beginning, he finds that now there is no going back. As the taste of his promotion turns sour, he finds himself well and truly caught between the lines...
British dating show in which a member of the public chooses who to date from a selection of three suitors, based solely on their answers to questions.
A grown-up brother and sister's visit to their parents home culminates in a shocking tragedy. The events of the weekend are told over four episodes, each focusing on the point of view of one family member: the daughter Terry; the father, Ted; the son, Alan and finally the mother, Sarah. The full story of the dysfunctional family plays out through the use of repeating scenes, flashback, and monologue.
The Borrowers are small, 15cm high humans who live in the English hinterland. They live out their lives in mouse-hole sized nooks in human homes, and survive by 'borrowing' all they need from the house and its inhabitants. This series follows young girl Arriety, and her parents Pod and Homily, as they are displaced from their home and try to find a new home, with the help of a human boy, George.
Victor Meldrew, a man who, put simply, is annoyed by every one of life's 'challenges'!, has never been renowned for his patience and tolerance. When he's forced to take early retirement, he suddenly has plenty of time on his hands to rage against the petty annoyances of life and the people in it. His long-suffering wife Margaret just has to grin and bear it as her husband constantly moans and battles his way through his retirement years. Other regular characters are his neighbours, Patrick Trench and his wife Pippa, 'Family' friend Mrs Warboys and Nick Swainey, another neighbour.
Jools brings together hot, legendary and undiscovered artists for live studio performances, interviews and musical magic.
Tutti Frutti was a BBC Scotland six part drama series, transmitted in 1987 and written by John Byrne. It starred Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Maurice Roëves, Richard Wilson and Katy Murphy. It brought many of the cast to national prominence. The Majestics, a legendary Scots rock 'n' rollband, are on the eve of their 1986 "Silver Jubilee" tour, and find themselves in trouble when their lead singer, Big Jazza McGlone, is killed in a car crash. The group's devious and exploitative manager Eddie Clockerty (Wilson) talks Big Jazza's younger brother, Danny (Coltrane), home from New York for the funeral, into joining the band as their new lead singer. Suzi Kettles (Thompson), a sharp cookie and old classmate of Danny, picks up the guitar and also joins the band. From that moment the ill-fated tour and the band's fortunes appear to take a turn for the better.
Four out of work Londoners apply to do "The Knowledge" to become London taxi drivers. They have to contend with learning 20,000 streets and 500 set routes as well as Mr Burgess, a notoriously sadistic examiner from the Public Carriage Office.
The schemes of a ruthlessly ambitious British politician who will stop at nothing to get to the top.
This is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. In the show the host surprises a special guest, before taking them through their life with the assistance of the 'big red book'. Both celebrities and non-celebrities have been 'victims' of the show. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964 on the BBC, and then from 1969 on ITV until his death in 1987 aged 64. Michael Aspel then took up the role of host until the show ended in 2003. It returned in 2007 as a one-off special presented by Trevor McDonald
The Tube was a United Kingdom music television programme, which ran for five series, from 5 November 1982 to 26 April 1987. It was produced by Tyne Tees Television for Channel 4. The Tube was presented live by hosts including Jools Holland, Paula Yates, Leslie Ash, Muriel Gray, Gary James, Michel Cremona, Felix Howard, Tony Fletcher, Nick Laird-Clowes and Mike Everitt.
The Death of Yugoslavia is a BAFTA-award winning BBC documentary series first broadcast in 1995. It covers the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. It is notable in its combination of never-before-seen archive footage interspersed with interviews of most of the main players in the conflict, including Slobodan Milošević, the then President of Serbia. Norma Percy won the 1996 BAFTA TV Award for 'Best Factual Series' for the documentary. However, it has been argued that it presents a potentially slightly biased point-of-view; for instance during the trial of Milošević before the ICTY in The Hague, Judge Bonomy called the nature of much of the commentary "tendentious" (partisan).
Till Death Us Do Part is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1, first as a Comedy Playhouse play in July 1965, then in seven series from June 1966 to December 1975. Created by Johnny Speight, Till Death Us Do Part centred on the East End Garnett family, led by patriarch Alf (Warren Mitchell), a reactionary white working-class man who holds racist, bigoted and heavily nationalistic views. He was put up with by his gentle and long-suffering wife Else (Dandy Nichols), his daughter Rita (Una Stubbs) and her bright but layabout husband Mike (Anthony Booth) whose socialist views were always at odds with Alf's.
A young and idealistic Doctor Stephen Daker arrives at Lowlands University to work at the Health Centre, but has to cope with an eccentric set of colleagues.
TV Nation, which first aired in the summer of 1994, in its own small way, made history. Michael Moore, director of the shambling working-class documentaries Roger & Me and The Big One and the subsequent Bravo! cable program The Awful Truth, persuaded NBC to give him a run of hour-long shows that would enlist the talents of pop-culture correspondents from Karen Duffy to Steven Wright in the name of confrontational TV. Opening with a jump-cutting montage of loaded images, to the alternating synthesized plucked strings and heavy-metal guitar of tomandandy, and punctuated by nonsensical polls conducted by Widgery & Associates, TV Nation took Moore and his colleagues up (inside skyscrapers), down (into bomb shelters), and around the globe--even to the Ukraine--to confront the exploiters, polluters, and hypocrites threatening Moore's peaceable and generally liberal-minded view of the world.
Cult drama series about a group of aspiring young lawyers sharing a shabby house in London, charting their careers and personal lives.
This documentary series exposes the popular myths surrounding the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Exploring how they came to power, how they ruled, how they treated their occupied territories and, above all, how a cultured nation could be responsible for such acts of inhumanity. Through compelling interviews and archive film and records, the series paints an astonishing and often unpalatable picture of the Nazi rule. Contemporaries recall the true extent of Hitler's power; eye-witnesses describe the horrors perpetrated on the Eastern Front; specially shot film in Lithuania reveals the development of the 'Final Solution' and ordinary Germans shed new light on the relationship between the party and the people.
Welcome to the Globelink News team, primed and ready to bring you the latest news...somehow. Under the ineffective management of Gus, the team bicker, fight, tease, gamble and mock their way through the day's news. Their professional rivalries and domestic traumas are laid bare on the floor of the newsroom. Episodes were recorded close to transmission, to make use of contemporary news events, thus giving the programme a greater sense of realism. Created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, the series had an ensemble cast, making stars of Haydn Gwynne, Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson.
Arena is the BBC's premier arts and culture documentary showcase. More than 600 films by some of the world's greatest directors have been featured—from profiles of cultural icons like Bob Dylan, Salman Rushdie, and Orson Welles to explorations of more esoteric topics like the Ford Cortina, New York's Chelsea Hotel, and subcultures from the Caribbean to China. Originally conceived as a weekly magazine-style show in 1975 with three "strands"—Art & Design, Theatre, and Cinema—it transitioned to feature-length movies in 1979.
This almost perfect cinematic rendition of Edith Nesbit's popular children's novel follows the lives of Roberta (Bobbie), Phyllis, and Peter, and their mother, after their father is unfairly accused of treason and sent to prison. They go to live in an almost uninhabitable house in the country which stands near a railway line – mum writes stories to make enough money for food and candles, while the children spend much of their time around the railway station and, specifically, waving to one particular train to 'send their love to father'. Always an involving and clever novel, the characters are here brought to life under the perceptive direction of Lionel Jeffries (better known as a fine character actor). Jenny Agutter plays Bobbie, while Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren are her sister and brother. Their mother is Dinah Sheridan, while the other memorable characters are played by Bernard Cribbins (Perks the railway-man) and William Mervyn (the old gentleman on the train). 'The Railway Children' is gentle entertainment from another age, but does its job beautifully. As we watch Bobbie grow up with the worries of an absent parent jostling against her own needs both to be alone and to have fun, we can only rejoice when events come together at the close of the picture. Throughout we have a sense of time and place – be it from the steam trains, the university paper chase, or the red flannelette petticoats worn by the girls (and used to avert disaster!).
In this television show for babies, the four colorful Teletubbies coo and play in idyllic Teletubbyland. They repeat fun, infant-pleasing activities such as rolling on the ground, laughing, running about, and watching real children on the televisions on their bellies. Mysterious pinwheels and telephones rise out of the meadow to loosely direct the day's activities. The Sun, featuring a baby's face, comments on the proceedings with baby noises, and it rises and sets to begin and end the show.
A satire show using puppets that are caricatures of contemporary celebrities and major public figures.
While the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
The play begins with a defiant Trevor being tried in court charged with throwing a brick through the window of a Pakistani man, Mr. Shahnawaz. He has also been charged with shoplifting from Harrods. Trevor's social worker, Harry Parker (Eric Richard) takes him to Hooper Street Residential Assessment Centre, where his punishment will be determined.<ref name="DVD Outsider: Made In Britain Synopsis and Review"/> The centre's deputy superintendent, Peter Clive (Bill Stewart (actor)), admits Trevor, and he's allocated a room with Errol (Terry Richards).
