BFI TV 100

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.

Selection and criteria

The British Film Institute television programme poll was conducted in the year 2000, and its results are reflected in the list that appears in a following section. Initially, a 'big list' of 650 programmes was drawn up by BFI personnel. Television programmes no longer extant in the archives were excluded from consideration. The provisional list was split into six categories: Single Dramas, Drama Series and Serials, Comedy and Variety, Factual, Children's/Youth, and Lifestyle & Light Entertainment. Some programmes were represented in the list by an entire series; however, for some series—e.g., the anthology The Wednesday Play and the current affairs programme This Week—individual episodes were listed. News stories were mostly excluded, with exceptions such as the coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (on the basis that it would be impossible to determine whether it was the coverage or the news itself that made them important). Sport was excluded for similar reasons, and also because many events such as the 1966 World Cup, while important to those in England, would not necessarily matter to those in other areas of the UK.

The provisional list of 650 was then distributed to 1,600 television industry professionals in the UK, who were each given 30 votes. Each voter was required to cast a minimum of three votes in every category. The judges were also asked to name their top overseas programme (where the U.S. sitcom Frasier was chosen).

List

The following are the results of the poll, as reported by the BFI and other sources. Because the list reports decisions made in the year 2000, programmes and series are presented as they were perceived in that year; as such, ones not yet having concluded by the year 2000 are presented as having an open-ended date span in the "Year(s)" column, even if they have subsequently ended. The Genre column, added to the original table, may have a lot of crossover genres and is intended as guide to the "main" genre of each programme. No. Title Broadcast on Year(s) Genre </tr> 1 Fawlty Towers BBC2 1975, 1979 Comedy and Variety </tr> 2 "Cathy Come Home" (The Wednesday Play) BBC1 1966 Single Dramas </tr> 3 Doctor Who 1963–1989, 1996 Children's/Youth </tr> 4 The Naked Civil Servant ITV (Thames Television) 1975 Single Dramas </tr> 5 Monty Python's Flying Circus BBC1 / BBC2 1969–1974 Comedy and Variety </tr> 6 Blue Peter BBC1 1958– Children's/Youth </tr> 7 Boys from the Blackstuff BBC2 1982 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 8 Parkinson BBC1 1971–1982, 1987–1988, 1998– Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 9 Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister BBC2 1980–1988 Comedy and Variety </tr> 10 Brideshead Revisited ITV (Granada) 1981 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 11 Abigail's Party (Play for Today) BBC1 1977 Single Dramas </tr> 12 I, Claudius BBC2 1976 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 13 Dad's Army BBC1 1968–1977 Comedy and Variety </tr> 14 The Morecambe & Wise Show BBC2 / BBC1 / ITV (Thames) 1961–1983 </tr> 15 Edge of Darkness BBC2 1985 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 16 Blackadder Goes Forth BBC1 1989 Comedy and Variety </tr> 17 Absolutely Fabulous BBC2 / BBC1 1992–1996 </tr> 18 The Wrong Trousers BBC2 1993 Children's/Youth </tr> 19 The World at War ITV (Thames) 1973–1974 Factual </tr> 20 The Singing Detective <td rowspan="2"> BBC1 1986 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 21 Pennies from Heaven <td> 1978 </tr> 22 The Jewel in the Crown ITV (Granada) 1984 </tr> 23 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ITV 1998– Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 24 Hancock's Half Hour BBC 1956–1961 Comedy and Variety </tr> 25 Our Friends in the North BBC2 1996 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 26 28 Up ITV (Granada) 1985 Factual </tr> 27 The War Game BBC1 1965 Single Dramas </tr> 28 The Magic Roundabout 1965–1977 Children's/Youth </tr> 29 That Was the Week That Was BBC 1962–1963 Comedy and Variety </tr> 30 An Englishman Abroad BBC1 1983 Single Dramas </tr> 31 The Royle Family BBC2/BBC1 1998–2012 Comedy and Variety </tr> 32 Life on Earth BBC2 1979 Factual </tr> 33 The Old Grey Whistle Test 1971–1987 Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 34 University Challenge ITV (Granada) / BBC2 1961–1987, 1994– </tr> 35 Porridge BBC1 1974–1977 Comedy and Variety </tr> 36 "Blue Remembered Hills" (Play for Today) 1979 Single Dramas </tr> 37 Mastermind (original format) BBC1 / BBC2 1972–1997 Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 38 I'm Alan Partridge BBC2 1997 Comedy and Variety </tr> 39 Cracker ITV (Granada) 1993–1996 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 40 Coronation Street 1960– </tr> 41 Top of the Pops BBC1 / BBC2 1964–2006 Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 42 Inspector Morse ITV (Central) 1987–2000 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 43 Grange Hill BBC1 1978–2008 Children's/Youth </tr> 44 Steptoe and Son 1962–1965, 1970–1974 Comedy and Variety </tr> 45 Only Fools and Horses 1981–1996 </tr> 46 Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (series 1) ITV (Central) 1983 </tr> 47 Tiswas ITV (ATV) 1974–1982 Children's/Youth </tr> 48 Elgar BBC 1962 Single Dramas </tr> 49 "Nuts in May" (Play for Today) BBC1 1976 </tr> 50 Father Ted Channel 4 1995–1998 Comedy and Variety </tr> 51 The Avengers ITV (ABC) 1961–1969 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 52 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy BBC2 1979 </tr> 53 The Forsyte Saga 1967 </tr> 54 Hillsborough ITV (Granada) 1996 Single Dramas </tr> 55 Dennis Potter: The Last Interview (Without Walls Special) Channel 4 1994 Factual </tr> 56 Bar Mitzvah Boy (Play for Today)) BBC1 1976 Single Dramas </tr> 57 "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" (Play for Today)) 1971 </tr> 58 Live Aid BBC1 / BBC2 1985 Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 59 World In Action ITV (Granada) 1963–1998 Factual </tr> 60 Thunderbirds ITV (ATV) 1965–1966 Children's/Youth </tr> 61 Talking Heads / Talking Heads 2 BBC1 / BBC2 1988 / 1998 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 62 Ready Steady Go! ITV (Rediffusion) 1963–1966 Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 63 Z-Cars BBC1 1962–1978 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 64 Culloden 1964 Single Dramas </tr> 65 The Ascent of Man BBC2 1973 Factual </tr> 66 A Very British Coup Channel 4 1988 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 67 Civilisation BBC2 1969 Factual </tr> 68 Prime Suspect ITV (Granada) 1991–2006 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 69 The Likely Lads / Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? BBC2 / BBC1 1964–1966 / 1973–1974 Comedy and Variety </tr> 70 Have I Got News for You 1990– </tr> 71 The Snowman Channel 4 1982 Children's/Youth </tr> 72 Walking with Dinosaurs BBC1 1999 Factual </tr> 73 Nineteen Eighty-Four BBC 1954 Single Dramas </tr> 74 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin BBC1 1976–1979 Comedy and Variety </tr> 75 Quatermass and the Pit BBC 1958–1959 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 76 Between the Lines BBC1 1992–1994 </tr> 77 Blind Date ITV (LWT) 1985– Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 78 Talking to a Stranger (Theatre 625) BBC2 1966 Single Dramas </tr> 79 The Borrowers BBC1 1992–1993 Children's/Youth </tr> 80 One Foot in the Grave 1990–2000 Comedy and Variety </tr> 81 Later... with Jools Holland BBC2 1992– Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 82 Tutti Frutti 1987 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 83 The Knowledge ITV (Thames) 1979 Single Dramas </tr> 84 House of Cards BBC1 1990 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 85 This Is Your Life BBC1 / ITV (Thames) 1955–1964, 1969– Lifestyle & Light Entertainment </tr> 86 The Tube Channel 4 1982–1987 </tr> 87 The Death of Yugoslavia BBC2 1995 Factual </tr> 88 Till Death Us Do Part BBC1 1966–1975 Comedy and Variety </tr> 89 A Very Peculiar Practice 1986–1992 </tr> 90 TV Nation BBC2 1995 Factual </tr> 91 This Life 1996–1997 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 92 "Death on the Rock" (This Week)) ITV (Thames) 1988 Factual </tr> 93 The Nazis: A Warning from History BBC2 1997 </tr> 94 Drop the Dead Donkey Channel 4 1990–1998 Comedy and Variety </tr> 95 Arena BBC2 1975– Factual </tr> 96 The Railway Children BBC1 1968 Children's/Youth </tr> 97 Teletubbies BBC2 1997– </tr> 98 Spitting Image ITV (Central) 1984–1996 Comedy and Variety </tr> 99 Pride and Prejudice BBC1 1995 Drama Series and Serials </tr> 100 Made in Britain ITV (Central) 1982 Single Dramas </tr>

BBC led broadcasters in terms of numbers of programmes/series produced, with 70. Granada Television was the second most represented with 7, and Thames Television and Channel 4 tied for third with 6 each. Central produced four of the listed titles, while ATV produced two, and London Weekend Television, ABC Weekend TV and Associated-Rediffusion produced one each.

See also Britain's Best Sitcom 100 Greatest BFI Top 100 British films

References

BFI TV 100

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