With the list about to visit that all-important Top, erm, Nine, let’s pause and take in the whole list so far, across two updates. Very much one for the TL;DR types, but nice to revisit even if you’ve been keeping an eye on the various updates.
While compiling the newer entries on the list, I’ve dug out some extra broadcasts from the entire archive (either from newspaper listings where RT listings were unavailable, or individual shows within programme listings), so some of the numbers are tweaked from the original write-ups, as are (in a few cases) the positions on the list. Plus, the whole thing started so bloody long ago, it’ll be nice to revisit some of the programmes.
So, here we go! Each programme name contains a link to the original write up for that show.
100: Saturday Kitchen
(Shown 891 times, 2001-2021)
“If asked to name the second most frequently shown Open University programme of all time, you’d probably expect the answer to be ‘Geochemical Surveying’ or ‘Public Administration’ or something similarly dry. But nope, it’s Saturday Kitchen. Saturday. Kitchen.”
99: Final Score
(Shown 897 times, 1971-2021)
“as is usually the case when it comes to football, The Football Results just seem to contain that little extra sense of gravitas when they’re on the BBC.”
98: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
(Shown 917 times, 2008-2021)
“Despite adopting a fairly well-worn format, PYMWYMI swiftly became a hit with viewers, and the programme would soon see itself spread across the schedules like high-end marmalade.”
97: Z Cars
(Shown 920 times, 1962-1998)
““I thought I was out. But then they dragged me back in” could be a line from any generic 80s cop film, where a grizzled LAPD Detective postpones his retirement to tackle one last case, just like he did in the previous four films in the series. The same could be said of Z Cars, had it been a sentient being capable of independent thought in addition to being a tremendously hardy continuing police procedural.”
96: Sportsnight
(Shown 934 times, 1968-1997)
“Indeed, those who had been on the terraces would often hope to make it home in time to catch footage of any incidents only half-glimpsed, or blocked by a taller spectator in front of them. If nothing else, anyone who’d been at Selhurst Park on 25 January 1995 will surely attest to that.”
95: Fimbles
(Shown 937 times, 2002-2010)
“the antics of Fimbo, Flurrie and Baby Pom proved popular enough, with the programme running on CBeebies for almost the entirety of the channel’s first decade, making the nascent channel’s weekly BARB top ten on 136 occasions”
94: Five to Eleven
(Shown 939 times, 1986-1990)
“A world away from episode six billion of Homes Under the Hammer, I’m sure you’ll agree.”
93: Rugby Special
(Shown 976 times, 1966-2005)
“Rugby. Sweat. Mud. Blood. Thunder. The North. Someone getting their ear torn off in a scrum. All soundtracked by Paddy Kingsland’s proto-electropop ‘Spinball’. So utterly marvellous it almost feels like a mistake.”
92: For the Children
(Shown 983 times, 1937-1952)
““a demonstration organised by the Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland”, “Commander A. B. Campbell opens a sea chest and shows its treasures to the children”, “Model steam and power boats cruise on the lake at Alexandra Palace” and “Commander A. B. Campbell opens his sea chest again. This time the treasures come from Canada.””
91: Postman Pat
(Shown 1006 times, 1981-2012)
“Henry Rollins once said “I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.” Now, I’ve no idea about the context of that particular utterance, but I feel at least 85% sure he’s talking about Postman Pat.”
90: Strictly – It Takes Two
(Shown 1006 times, 2004-2021)
“Personally, I’m still surprised that Come Dancing (a) even made a comeback that would become so popular, it felt like like seeing a peak-time celebrity reboot of One Man and His Dog (b) it would be so damn popular the format would be sold around the world (under a more sensible name, admittedly), and (c) that it did all that with such an unwieldy title. Presumably a play on the firm Strictly Ballroom, it doesn’t even work as a pun. Rubbish!”
=87: Nai Zindagi – Naya Jeevan
(Shown 1010 times, 1968-1982)
“With just thirty minutes each week, and quite a lot to cover (you know, music, interviews, a round-up of news from an entire sub-continent), one can only imagine how difficult it must have been to prepare for each show.”
=87: QI
(Shown 1010 times, 2003-2021)
“It ended up proving a huge success. In fact, it’s been so successful, it’s now part of a very exclusive group of programmes to have aired on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four. The whole set.”
=87: The Simpsons
(Shown 1010 times, 1996-2004)
“Two things pretty much led directly to the dominance of Sky in today’s television market. One is Premier League football, 104 years of tradition being tossed aside for a new money-led project that went on to dominate the sporting world, and Sky Sports will forever be irrevocably tied to it. The other key factor: a certain five-member family from Springfield.”
86: Laurel and Hardy
(Shown 1047 times, 1948-2005)
“Okay, here’s a thing. For the most part, if a programme is called something, it’s that something. In the case of beloved comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, it’s either one of their original films, or an episode of the 1966-1967 Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name. And quite frankly, one of these things is less than the other.”
85: ChuckleVision
(Shown 1056 times, 1987-2012)
“A cultural touchstone for entire generations of children (and adults) across a quarter-century on our screens, and two of the absolute nicest people in showbusiness.”
84: Murder, She Wrote
(Shown 1065 times, 2002-2011)
“What is perhaps most surprising of all is how Murder, She Wrote appeared so many more times on the BBC than contemporary US shows like Columbo (225 times, 1988-2003, 485th place), Ironside (514 times, 1967-2003, 187th place), or even the always-bloody-on-when-I-was-a-kid Bonanza (somehow only 220 showings between 1978 and 1988, 497th place).”
83: Dad’s Army
(Shown 1069 times, 1968-2021)
“Here’s a programme that was always going to be On Ze List, but who would’ve thought it would be in as modest a position as joint-83rd?”
82: The Magic Roundabout
(Shown 1070 times, 1965-1985)
“Without even bothering to check through the rest of the list, I’m just going to go out on a limb and state categorically that this is the highest-ranking French programme on the list.”
81: In the Night Garden
(Shown 1106 times, 2007-2012)
“In short, if you’re a parent who ends up having to watch this programme every evening because it’s more suitable than what you really want to watch at 6.30pm, your mind really can’t help but overanalyse every little facet of the programme. Like: how come the Pontipine children are never taken into care? And why does to relative size of the characters keep shifting around so much in each episode? But hey, there might be someone good on Bedtime Stories in a bit.”
80: The Phil Silvers Show
(Shown 1107 times, 1957-2004)
“But, let’s be honest here, The Phil Silvers Show isn’t just any American sitcom. As far as comfort-viewing sitcoms that transcend age and time go, I’d argue it’s (at least to British eyes) a stateside cousin of Hancock’s Half Hour.”
79: Doctor Who
(Shown 1139 times, 1963-2021)
“as much of a Saturday fixture as Grandstand or Dad’s pool coupon going in the bin just after the classified results”
78: Watchdog
(Shown 1141 times, 1985-2019)
“All together now: ‘“’Potential death trap.’”
77: Wogan
(Shown 1142 times, 1982-2010)
“Wogan would air at 7pm each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while upstart soap EastEnders would go out at that time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Only one of them was an instant hit. And it wasn’t EastEnders.”
76: University Challenge
(Shown 1175 times, 1994-2021)
“For the last few years, University Challenge has effectively teamed up with Only Connect each Monday evening at 8pm to provide a weekly “feel pleased with yourself if you get more than two questions right” hour of programming.”
75: Great British Menu
(Shown 1184 times, 2006-2021)
“Long before Bake-Off became the default Google autocomplete option for ‘Great British’, another BBC2 cookery contest set a lofty bar for highfalutin haute cuisine.”
74: Tom and Jerry
(Shown 1192 times, 1967-2003)
“Thomas Jasper “Tom” Cat Sr and Gerald Jinx “Jerry” Mouse would be an early evening fixture on BBC-1, forming a formidable triple-act with Simon Dee on Tuesday and Thursday evenings throughout 1967.”
73: The Sky at Night
(Shown 1201 times, 1957-2013)
“Liiiiiive astronomy!”
72: Call My Bluff
(Shown 1218 times, 1965-2005)
“Despite feeling like the very epitome of dry early 1980s BBC-2 output (well, it does to me), the programme actually had a much more glamorous birthplace: Studio 6A at NBC Studios in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center.”
71: Grange Hill
(Shown 1252 times, 1978-2008)
“Don’t you realise the way you act is influencing millions of children to talk cockney and be insubordinate?” “Come on sir, don’t be silly. We’re the only kids in Britain who don’t say…”
70: Mastermind
(Shown 1265 times, 1972-2021)
“One’s a Trade Union leader, the other’s a member of the Cabinet.”
69: Athletics
(Shown 1295 times, 1946-2021)
“And at a time where such output could easily have been hived off to BBC Three or the Red Button, it only proves how compelling the art of running, jumping and occasionally throwing stuff is to the Britain public.”
68: To Buy or Not to Buy
(Shown 1313 times, 2003-2012)
“Hello and welcome back to Coverage of People Buying a House and Then Living In it. So, hello Jeff, you wanna buy a house, here’s a house.”
67: Casualty
(Shown 1336 times, 1986-2021)
“chronologically-speaking, the first episode of Casualty was closer to the events of Casualty 1909 than to today.”
66: Top Gear
(Shown 1396 times, 1978-2021)
“Well, here’s a thing. Something that started out as a regional programme in the Midlands, which would go on to become the most-watched motoring programme [theatrical voice] In The World.”
65: Pingu
(Shown 1404 times, 1990-2013)
“Pingu went on to be broadcast around the world – pretty much everywhere except the USA, it seems. Even a 1993 rap single by David Hasselhoff about Pingu (no, really) didn’t win over the stateside audience.”
=63: Antiques Road Trip
(Shown 1449 times, 2010-2021)
“Despite a programme name that makes it sound like an Aldi version of Antiques Roadshow, Antiques Road Trip is a very different proposition. Well, not that different. It’s still about antiques.”
=63: Natural World
(Shown 1449 times, 1983-2021)
“With a reputation as the planet’s go-to broadcaster for high-quality natural history films, it’s little surprise so much talent could be coaxed into working on the series, but the narrator rarely took top billing in a series where wildlife always took centre stage.”
62: Diagnosis Murder
(Shown 1472 times, 1993-2011)
“the show featured medical doctor Mark Sloan (played by D-word Van D-word) as he solved crimes in all the bountiful spare time medical doctors have.”
61: Farming
(Shown 1488 times, 1957-1988)
“No longer would farmers finding themselves in the wrong region miss out on advice from W. S. Mansfield, Manager of the Cambridge University Farm, on topics such as grassland improvement, High versus Low Farming, or alternate husbandry (saucy).”
60: Tomorrow’s World
(Shown 1510 times, 1965-2003)
“As the trope has it, a series inextricably linked to a nation of pop kids who just want TOTP to start already, Tomorrow’s World spent almost forty years tottering on the tightrope between reporting on scientific breakthroughs and entertaining a primetime BBC1 audience.”
59: The Money Programme
(Shown 1515 times, 1966-2011)
“The suggestion didn’t go down too well with some executives at the Corporation, their reaction reportedly being that money was boring, and “the idea that there might be an audience for a regular TV programme on money struck producers as absurd.””
58: Scooby-Doo
(Shown 1522 times, 1970-2012)
“And that programme was, of course, to be called… The Mysteries Five. And that five were: Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda and W.W., plus their bongo-playing dog, ‘Too Much‘.”
57: Westminster
(Shown 1567 times, 1970-2001)
“Here’s one that seems unlikely to generate much excitement. But for much of it’s life, a programme that came with the unenviable challenge of not being able to show any footage of the thing they’re talking about.”
56: Have I Got News for You
(Shown 1578 times, 1990-2021)
“And so, in a set that now looks claustrophobically close, Have I Got News For You thundered onto our screens at 10pm on Friday 28 September 1990. The main competition in that slot at the time was The Golden Girls on C4, and the Florida quartet initially pummelled the upstart panel show in the ratings.”
55: Animal Park
(Shown 1639 times, 2000-2021)
“If you want an animal-based programme that seems as unstoppable as a rhino-led restaging of the rollerskating scene from Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, then Animal Park is the show for you.”
54: Coast
(Shown 1644 times, 2005-2021)
“Coast arrived on our screens in 2005 with a simple premise. You know the wiggly bit that runs around the periphery of the UK? Let’s look at that!”
53: Twenty-Four Hours / 24 Hours
(Shown 1684 times, 1965-1972)
“Twenty-Four Hours does a magnificent job of covering such a breaking international story – it’s worth remembering that at this point, the entire medium of television is only thirty years old.”
52: Holby City
(Shown 1700 times, 1999-2021)
“It’s perhaps notable that, despite the series being a soap opera (sorry, continuing drama). Holby City dealt purely in hour-long episodes, clocking up over 1000 episodes in its time. Indeed, that stack-em-high approach led to criticism, with Broadcasting Standards Commission director Paul Bolt accusing the BBC of squandering the television licence fee on the programme.”
51: Breakfast Time
(Shown 1727 times, 1983-1989)
“A pastel coloured set strewn with sofas, a breezy theme tune and a bejumpered presenting team headed by Frank Bough, Selina Scott and Nick Ross eased Britain into each new morning, with a warming mixture of chat, interviews, horoscopes and advice.”
Cripes, that took a long time to put together. Coming up very soon: numbers 50 to 10. And not too long after that, the all-important number nine.
BrokenTV 