BFI TV 100
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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.[1]
Selection and criteria
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/BBC_TV_Centre.jpg/220px-BBC_TV_Centre.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Granada_TV.jpg/220px-Granada_TV.jpg)
The British Film Institute television programme poll was conducted in the year 2000,[citation needed] 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.[2] Television programmes no longer extant in the archives were excluded from consideration.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
The provisional list of 650 was then distributed to 1,600 television industry professionals in the UK, who were each given 30 votes.[2] Each voter was required to cast a minimum of three votes in every category.[citation needed] The judges were also asked to name their top overseas programme (where the U.S. sitcom, Frasier, was chosen).[2]
Full list
The following are the results of the poll, as reported by the BFI and other sources.[clarification needed] 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.[verification needed]
No. | Title[3] | Broadcast on | Year(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Fawlty Towers | BBC2 | 1975–1979 |
2 | Cathy Come Home (The Wednesday Play)[4] | BBC1 | 1966 |
3 | Doctor Who | BBC1 | 1963–1989, 1996 |
4 | The Naked Civil Servant | ITV (Thames Television) | 1975 |
5 | Monty Python's Flying Circus | BBC1 / BBC2 | 1969–1974 |
6 | Blue Peter | BBC1 | 1958– |
7 | Boys from the Blackstuff | BBC2 | 1982 |
8 | Parkinson | BBC1 | 1971–1982, 1987–1988, 1998– |
9 | Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister | BBC2 | 1980–1988 |
10 | Brideshead Revisited | ITV (Granada) | 1981 |
11 | Abigail's Party (Play for Today) [5]) | BBC1 | 1977 |
12 | I, Claudius | BBC2 | 1976 |
13 | Dad's Army | BBC1 | 1968–1977 |
14 | The Morecambe & Wise Show | BBC2 / BBC1 / ITV (Thames) | 1961–1983 |
15 | Edge of Darkness | BBC2 | 1985 |
16 | Blackadder Goes Forth | BBC1 | 1989 |
17 | Absolutely Fabulous | BBC2 / BBC1 | 1992–1996 |
18 | The Wrong Trousers | BBC2 | 1993 |
19 | The World at War | ITV (Thames) | 1973–1974 |
20 | The Singing Detective | BBC1 | 1986 |
21 | Pennies from Heaven | BBC1 | 1978 |
22 | The Jewel in the Crown | ITV (Granada) | 1984 |
23 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | ITV | 1998– |
24 | Hancock's Half Hour | BBC | 1956–1961 |
25 | Our Friends in the North | BBC2 | 1996 |
26 | 28 Up | ITV (Granada) | 1985 |
27 | The War Game | BBC1 | 1965 |
28 | The Magic Roundabout | BBC1 | 1965–1977 |
29 | That Was the Week That Was | BBC | 1962–1963 |
30 | An Englishman Abroad | BBC1 | 1983 |
31 | The Royle Family | BBC2/BBC1 | 1998– |
32 | Life on Earth | BBC2 | 1979 |
33 | The Old Grey Whistle Test | BBC2 | 1971–1987 |
34 | University Challenge | ITV (Granada) / BBC2 | 1961–1987, 1994– |
35 | Porridge | BBC1 | 1974–1977 |
36 | Blue Remembered Hills (Play for Today)[6] | BBC1 | 1979 |
37 | Mastermind (original format) | BBC1 / BBC2 | 1972–1997 |
38 | I'm Alan Partridge | BBC2 | 1997 |
39 | Cracker | ITV (Granada) | 1993–1996 |
40 | Coronation Street | ITV (Granada) | 1960– |
41 | Top of the Pops | BBC1 / BBC2 | 1964–2006 |
42 | Inspector Morse | ITV (Central) | 1987–2000 |
43 | Grange Hill | BBC1 | 1978–2008 |
44 | Steptoe and Son | BBC1 | 1962–1965, 1970–1974 |
45 | Only Fools and Horses | BBC1 | 1981–1996 |
46 | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (series 1[citation needed]) | ITV (Central) | 1983 |
47 | Tiswas | ITV (ATV) | 1974–1982 |
48 | Elgar | BBC | 1962 |
49 | Nuts in May (Play for Today)[7] | BBC1 | 1976 |
50 | Father Ted | Channel 4 | 1995–1998 |
51 | The Avengers | ITV (ABC) | 1961–1969 |
52 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | BBC2 | 1979 |
53 | The Forsyte Saga | BBC2 | 1967 |
54 | Hillsborough | ITV (Granada) | 1996 |
55 | Dennis Potter: The Last Interview (Without Walls Special[citation needed]) | Channel 4 | 1994 |
56 | Bar Mitzvah Boy (Play for Today)[8] | BBC1 | 1976 |
57 | Edna, the Inebriate Woman (Play for Today)[9] | BBC1 | 1971 |
58 | Live Aid | BBC1 / BBC2 | 1985 |
59 | World In Action | ITV (Granada) | 1963–1998 |
60 | Thunderbirds | ITV (ATV) | 1965–1966 |
61 | Talking Heads / Talking Heads 2 | BBC1 / BBC2 | 1988 / 1998 |
62 | Ready Steady Go! | ITV (Rediffusion) | 1963–1966 |
63 | Z-Cars | BBC1 | 1962–1978 |
64 | Culloden | BBC1 | 1964 |
65 | The Ascent of Man | BBC2 | 1973 |
66 | A Very British Coup | Channel 4 | 1988 |
67 | Civilisation | BBC2 | 1969 |
68 | Prime Suspect | ITV (Granada) | 1991–2006 |
69 | The Likely Lads / Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? | BBC2 / BBC1 | 1964–1966 / 1973–1974 |
70 | Have I Got News for You | BBC2 / BBC1 | 1990– |
71 | The Snowman | Channel 4 | 1982 |
72 | Walking with Dinosaurs | BBC1 | 1999 |
73 | Nineteen Eighty-Four | BBC | 1954 |
74 | The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | BBC1 | 1976–1979 |
75 | Quatermass and the Pit | BBC | 1958–1959 |
76 | Between The Lines | BBC1 | 1992–1994 |
77 | Blind Date | ITV (LWT) | 1985– |
78 | Talking to a Stranger (Theatre 625) [10]) | BBC2 | 1966 |
79 | The Borrowers | BBC1 | 1992–1993 |
80 | One Foot in the Grave | BBC1 | 1990–2000 |
81 | Later... with Jools Holland | BBC2 | 1992– |
82 | Tutti Frutti | BBC2 | 1987 |
83 | The Knowledge | ITV (Thames) | 1979 |
84 | House of Cards | BBC1 | 1990 |
85 | This Is Your Life | BBC1 / ITV (Thames) | 1955–1964, 1969– |
86 | The Tube | Channel 4 | 1982–1987 |
87 | The Death of Yugoslavia | BBC2 | 1995 |
88 | Till Death Us Do Part | BBC1 | 1966–1975 |
89 | A Very Peculiar Practice | BBC1 | 1986–1992 |
90 | TV Nation | BBC2 | 1995 |
91 | This Life | BBC2 | 1996–1997 |
92 | Death on the Rock (This Week) [11] | ITV (Thames) | 1988 |
93 | The Nazis: A Warning from History | BBC2 | 1997 |
94 | Drop the Dead Donkey | Channel 4 | 1990–1998 |
95 | Arena | BBC2 | 1975– |
96 | The Railway Children | BBC1 | 1968 |
97 | Teletubbies | BBC2 | 1997– |
98 | Spitting Image | ITV (Central) | 1984–1996 |
99 | Pride and Prejudice | BBC1 | 1995 |
100 | Made in Britain | ITV (Central) | 1982 |
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
References
- ^ "BFI TV 100 - The Top Ten (2000)". www.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ a b c Barnes, Anthony (6 September 2000). "Just don't tell the Major, Fawlty is our favourite". Birmingham Post. Birmingham: Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0963-7915. OCLC 500151397. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ BFI Staff (4 March 2009). "The BFI TV 100: 1–100". London, UK: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011.
- ^ "The Wednesday Play: Cathy Come Home". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "Play for Today: Abigail's Party". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "Play for Today: Blue Remembered Hills". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "Play for Today: Nuts in May". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "Play for Today: Bar Mitzvah Boy". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.)
- ^ "Play for Today: Edna, the Inebriate Woman". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.)
- ^ "Theatre 625: Talking to a Stranger". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ Elstein, David. ""Death on the Rock": 21 Years Later and the Official Version still Lives On". Open Democracy. Retrieved 27 March 2020.)
Further reading and viewing
- BFI Staff (4 March 2009). "The BFI TV 100: 1–100". London, UK: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011.
- BBC News article regarding the list, and giving the first 20 on the list.