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My Favourite TV Programmes (in rough alphabetical order) |
For episode guides to most series of importance go to: |
| The Avengers, Bewitched, Blakes 7, Butterflies, Cheers, Chocky, Clown White, Dad's Army, Dallas, Danger Man, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Doctor Who, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Fireball XL5, The Goodies, Hill Street Blues, I Spy, It's Your Move, L A Law, The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, Little House On The Prairie, Lost In Space, Man In A Suitcase, M*A*S*H, The Monkees, Only Fools and Horses, The Outer Limits, The Phil Silvers Show, The Prisoner, Robinson Crusoe, Randall and Hopkirk, The Selfish Giant, Shoestring, Sons and Daughters, Star Trek (The original), Steptoe and Son, The Tomorrow People, The Twilight Zone, The Waltons, The Wonder Years, Worzel Gummidge | |
| See also: Rose-Tinted Spectacles | |
| The
Avengers Honor Blackman's my favourite Avengers girl. A very way-out series that evolved throughout each of its series. No two series are quite the same and it's one of the greatest achievements in television history. One of the rare British TV series to be popular in the USA, it has a charm that's very appealing. Steed himself is different in the sries that were shot on film, he's less brash, less manipulating, but Patrick Macnee plays him with a steely poise throughout the series' run. Favourite episodes include 'Traitor In Zebra', 'The Hour That Never Was', 'Man-Eater of Surrey Green', 'The House That Jack Built', 'The Living Dead', 'The Forget Me Knot', 'The Morning After', 'Fog', 'Bizarre'. Right: Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman's no. 1 single! |
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Bewitched Elizabeth Montgomery was born to play Samantha, Dick York was born to play Darrin. A very light series to watch but very entertaining. With its easy mix of fun, mischief and fantasy 'Bewitched' is almost certainly the most accessible programme for any mix of people of any age. Montgomery's character Samantha is well known for her nose twitching ability but Montgomery is visually very expressive all the time, her face can convey a wonderful mix of emotions and expressions. She is simply one of the finest actors to ever grace a screen, large or small and her untimely death in 1995 was a sad blow to her many fans. Dick York is also extremely expressive in facial matters and it was a great shame he no longer appeared in the series after series five. My two favourite episodes are: 'A Is For Aadvark' (series 1) and 'A Bum Raps' (series 2). In the first one Samantha gives Darrin powers and it goes to his head. Ultimately he regrets having the powers and the scene where he asks Samantha to take the powers away is fantastic. Montgomery is superb and realistically emotional when she realises that Darrin is happy to be, well, just Darrin. Brilliantly acted. Just before they start speaking Dick York's face tells the whole truth of his unhappiness and it is his best moment in the series. In the second one a case of mistaken identity causes Samantha and Darrin to take in a tramp who is in fact happily thinking of robbing them. All turns out well in the end and the tramp is a good guy at heart. In one scene he sings a touching version of 'When You Were Sweet Sixteen' to their daughter Tabatha and it is a lovely moment in the series. The first 7 series are out on DVD with just the eighth and last series awaiting release. Highly recommended viewing, these series are very relaxing to watch after a hard day at work. |
Above: Elizabeth Montgomery as everybody's favourite witch. In 1995 Montgomery was diagnosed with a form of cancer and she sadly died within a couple of months. One of the most watched actresses in television history, Montgomery endeared herself to audiences all over the world. One of the best actors ever, it is likely that 'Bewitched' will still be entertaining many more generations to come.
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| Blakes 7 | |
| Cheers | |
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Chocky Based on John Wyndham's book, I did not like this series when it first aired in 1984 but watched it when it was released on DVD. I was hooked on it and I liked the two sequels too, 'Chocky's Children' and 'Chocky's Challenge'. See my Chocky page |
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| Clown
White A one-off 50 minute Canadian drama about an unhappy deaf boy who does not make friends easily and does not know how to communicate his frustraions other than by misbehaving. He meets a mime artist and his whole world changes. |
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| Dad's Army | |
| Dallas Series 1 and 2 are fun, shame the rest weren't as good. |
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| Danger
Man Patrick McGoohan stars as John Drake, secret agent for Nato. It's a very finely crafted series, it has a look of expense which is rare in this kind of series and McGoohan himself is such a good actor it's hard to believe he hasn't been fully acknowledged for this. |
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| The
Dick Van Dyke Show Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore are well cast together as husband and wife in a very amiable, witty series. |
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Doctor
Who My favourite series of all, watched throughout my entire life and enjoyed immeasurably. See My Favourite Doctor Who Stories See Doctor Who's Not-So-Classic Moments |
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| The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | |
| Fireball XL5 | |
| The
Goodies Imaginative wackiness. |
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| Hill
Street Blues Still the best police series ever. |
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| I Spy Stylish, very intelligent and the two leads are very cool. |
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| It's
Your Move A very funny US sitcom about a scheming teenager, Matthew, ably played by Jason Bateman, who constantly fools his mother, played by the fabulous Caren Kaye. Tricia Cast plays daughter Julie who tries to wise her mum to what her brother is really like, whilst David Garrison (of 'Married With Children' fame) plays Matthew's arch rival. A series that should have run for years but sadly only lasted one. This is a series I'd love to see released on DVD. |
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| L A
Law The TV equivalent of a caffeine buzz achieved from drinking a gallon of coffee. |
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| The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? | |
| Little
House On The Prairie I just love this series, it's so darn nice!!! |
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| Lost
In Space Amazingly effective series which still endears itself to me due to it's dedicated cast. |
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| Man In
A Suitcase Mean, moody McGill is soooo cool. |
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| M*A*S*H | |
| The
Monkees Series 2 especially |
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| Only Fools and Horses | |
| The Outer Limits | |
| The
Phil Silvers Show Possibly the funniest comedy of them all. |
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| The
Prisoner The only series I can honestly say contains no bad episodes. They are all classics. |
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| Robinson
Crusoe Seen a hundred times, a black and white classic that really should be repeated just one more time. Thank God it was released on DVD. |
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| Randall
and Hopkirk (20th Century) A fondly remembered series with a likeable cast. |
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| Randall
and Hopkirk (21st Century) A likeable cast in remake of a fondly remembered series. |
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The Selfish Giant Reader's Digest animated version of Oscar Wilde's charming story. Two other animated features in the series were 'The Happy Prince' and 'The Little Mermaid'. All three can be found on YouTube but presented here is 'The Selfish Giant'.
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| Shoestring |
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Sons and Daughters Excellent Australian soap featuring the Palmers and Hamilton families. There are two websites I recommend, Sons and Daughters and Sons and Daughters.co.uk. |
| Star
Trek (The original) Favourite episode of anything ever: 'City On The Edge Of Forever'. This is a brilliant episode, with superb characterisation and with Joan Collins in excellent form as Edith Keeler. |
| Steptoe and Son |
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The Tomorrow People Cheap, oh so cheap, sci-fi series that got cheaper-looking over eight series. The first three series are my favourites. See my Tomorrow People page. |
| The
Twilight Zone The early episodes in particular give the appearance of being expertly made short movies. I even like the 1980's version. |
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The
Waltons Quite a few classics made during this series' run. The series is finally being released on DVD. See my Waltons page. |
| The
Wonder Years Bittersweet series of teen angst. It ended too soon. |
| Worzel Gummidge |
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