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7 Up tops list of UK 50 Landmark TV Programmes

Members of the Broadcasting Press Guild select 50 top television shows.

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The UK’s Broadcasting Press Guild has released its Top 50 Landmark TV Programme List, voted for by its members.

Documentary series 7 Up was voted into the top slot ahead of other shows including Life on Earth, The Office, I May Destroy You, The Singing Detective, I’m Alan Partridge, Fleabag and Queer as Folk.

BPG chair Manori Ravindran said: “In our 50 years, members of the Broadcasting Press Guild have been the tastemakers of the British TV industry. As such, it felt appropriate to celebrate this milestone birthday with a Top 50 list reflecting the programmes we believe have created landmark TV moments or have been truly significant to the industry over that time. It wasn’t an easy process — and we welcome healthy debate about our selections — but we believe this list encapsulates the richness of the creative sector and its inimitable contribution to our culture and society.”

1 7 Up series – ITV/Granada + BBC, 1964-2019
2 Life On Earth – BBC, 1979
3 The World At War – ITV/Thames, 1973
4 The Office – BBC, 2001
5 Big Brother – Channel 4, 2000
6 Planet Earth – BBC, 2006
7 Have I Got News For You – BBC, 1990
8 I May Destroy You – BBC, 2020
9 The Singing Detective – BBC, 1986
10 The Day Today – BBC, 1994
11 The Royle Family – BBC
12 Our Friends In The North – BBC
13 I’m Alan Partridge – BBC
14 Boys From The Blackstuff – BBC
15 Blackadder – BBC
16 Strictly Come Dancing – BBC
17 The Thick Of It – BBC
18 Fleabag – BBC/Amazon
19 Only Fools And Horses – BBC
20 The Naked Civil Servant – ITV/Thames
21 Spitting Image – ITV/Central
22 Queer As Folk –-Channel 4
23 The Family – BBC
24 Monty Python’s Flying Circus – BBC
25 House Of Cards – BBC
26 Gogglebox – Channel 4
27 Goodness Gracious Me – BBC
28 The Crown – Netflix
29 Newsnight – BBC
30 Derry Girls – Channel 4
31 Brideshead Revisited – ITV/Granada
32 Chernobyl – HBO/Sky
33 Cracker – ITV/Granada
34 Blue Peter – BBC
35 Inspector Morse – ITV/Central
36 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – BBC
37 The Beatles: Get Back – Disney+
38 I, Claudius – BBC
39 Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave – BBC
40 The Word – Channel 4
41 Death On The Rock – ITV/Thames
42 This is England – Channel 4
43 The Great British Bake-Off – BBC + Channel 4
44 Grange Hill – BBC
45 Pride and Prejudice – BBC
46 Pennies From Heaven – BBC
47 Desmond’s – Channel 4
48 The Big Breakfast – Channel 4
49 Parkinson – BBC + ITV
50 The Traitors – BBC

Soure: Televisual

7 Responses

  1. Any list is subjective so my list would be the first show I saw that was unique and diversionary and I unfairly compare any copy to the original. Many are long gone and unlikely to be brought back today. Audiences have changed and producers are now risk averse so only a few shows on this list would be made today.. If you want to see some originality – watch the ads!

  3. Being of a similar vintage, I think the fascination for me with 7 Up was watching other people going through “life” at the same time as me. Dreams and expectations don’t always turn into reality and there is also the realisation that most of us live very ordinary existences. Of course that is all very different now with social media – we all live such fabulous exciting and fulfilling lives!!!

    I have really started to tire of British TV. In its day it was gold standard, but for me, nowadays it is mostly blah. But like all things entertainment, that is all personal and subjective.

    I was surprised that Call the Midwives missed out. A consistently high quality emotional show that also charted the social and economic progression of post war England.

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