Food and Drink

Food and Drink 1982

5.00

Food and Drink is a long-running British television series on BBC Two. First broadcast between 1982 and 2002, it was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations. Created in 1982 by BBC producer Henry Murray from an original idea by Jancis Robinson, Fay Maschler and Paul Levy, the first series was presented by Simon Bates and Gillian Miles, and introduced Jilly Goolden in her first regular television appearances as the programme's wine expert. Russell Harty presented filmed location reports from exceptional restaurants around Britain. This series featured the innovative idea of a small contributing audience of 20 people who were called "tasters and testers". The first series broadcast in the summer months but was instantly successful, drawing an average audience of 1.5 million a week, a high rating for BBC Two in the summer in the 80s. Later series were presented by Chris Kelly and chef Michael Barry with wine experts Jilly Goolden and Oz Clarke. A spin-off panel game, Food and Drink Summer Quiz, aired during the main show's summer break in 1987. The theme music was by Simon May. Food and Drink returned to BBC Two on 4 February 2013 co-hosted by Michel Roux Jr and Kate Goodman.

1982

Impossible

Impossible 2017

6.40

Quiz show in which the 30 contestants competing across the series must avoid giving impossible answers to give themselves a chance of winning £10,000.

2017

Coupling

Coupling 2000

7.93

Six friends in their thirties navigate dating, sexual adventures, and mishaps on their quest to find love.

2000

Twenty Twelve

Twenty Twelve 2011

7.31

A mock-documentary following the challenges - both personal and professional - faced by the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on Earth: the 2012 Olympics. From getting a busload of non-English speaking Brazilians from A to B, who to appoint to run the Cultural Olympiad and what to do when the much-vaunted wind turbines won't turn because there's no wind, it's all in a day's work for the men and women whose job it is to stage the greatest sporting event in the world.

2011

The Forsyte Saga

The Forsyte Saga 1967

8.43

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene. It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2, at a time when only a small proportion of the population had television sets able to receive this channel. It was therefore the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television series to be sold to the Soviet Union.

1967

Murder Most Horrid

Murder Most Horrid 1991

6.80

A comedy that started in 1991 as a pilot, Murder Most Horrid stars Dawn French as various characters, as she embarks on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another she is involved with murder - either committing the crime herself or even getting bumped off herself!

1991

Yes Minister

Yes Minister 1980

8.30

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

1980

The Great British Bake Off

The Great British Bake Off 2010

7.50

This British television baking competition selects from amongst its competitors the best amateur baker. The series is credited with reinvigorating interest in baking throughout the UK, and many of its participants, including winners, have gone on to start a career based on baking.

2010

A Bit of Fry & Laurie

A Bit of Fry & Laurie 1989

7.90

A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

1989

The Pallisers

The Pallisers 1974

5.50

This sprawling BBC saga follows an aristocratic family through three generations of power, wealth, intrigue, and scandal in Victorian England. Based on Anthony Trollope’s “political” novels .

1974

Top of the Lake

Top of the Lake 2013

7.07

A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.

2013

The English

The English 2022

7.27

An aristocratic Englishwoman, Lady Cornelia Locke, arrives into the new and wild landscape of the American West to wreak revenge on the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son.

2022

The League of Gentlemen

The League of Gentlemen 1999

7.70

The League of Gentlemen is a British comedy television series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The show is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in Northern England based on Bacup, Lancashire. It follows the lives of dozens of bizarre townspeople, most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers—Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith—who, along with Jeremy Dyson, formed the League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for three series from 1999 until 2002 followed by a film in 2005. A three-part revival mini-series was broadcast in December 2017 to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary.

1999

Race Across the World

Race Across the World 2019

7.20

In a frenetic race across the world, travellers can choose any route they like - but no flights or phones are allowed. On the trip of a lifetime, which pair will finish first?

2019

The Royle Family

The Royle Family 1998

7.60

The Royle Family is a British sitcom created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, and produced by Granada Television for BBC Two (series 1) and BBC One (series 2 and 3). It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprising lazy patriarch Jim, his hard-working wife Barbara, their entitled daughter Denise, their put-upon son Antony, and Denise's lad fiancé–later husband–David.

1998

Talking Pictures

Talking Pictures 2013

6.17

A look back at television appearances by legends of the silver screen, using archive footage to tell the story of their lives and careers.

2013

Not the Nine O'Clock News

Not the Nine O'Clock News 1979

7.12

Classic sketch comedy show satirising the news and culture of the late 70s and early 80s which introduced Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Pamela Stephenson.

1979

This Life

This Life 1996

7.50

Five aspiring lawyers are aiming for the top - but behind the scenes they're a mess of love, drugs and excess.

1996

W1A

W1A 2014

7.80

The follow-up to 'Twenty Twelve' as Ian Fletcher takes up the position of 'Head of Values' at the BBC. His task is to clarify, define, or re-define the core purpose of the BBC across all its functions and to position it confidently for the future, in particular for Licence Fee Renegotiation and Charter Renewal in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

2014

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 1981

8.10

Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman who life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).

1981