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My Favourite TV Programmes

This page updated 05 January 2020

For episode guides to most series of importance go to:

epguides.com

The Avengers, Batman, 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, Family Guy, Fireball XL5, For The Love of Ada, The Goodies, Hill Street Blues, I Spy, It's Your Move, L A Law, The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, Lost In Space, Man In A Suitcase, M*A*S*H, Monk, 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, Space Patrol, Star Trek (The original), Steptoe and Son, Still Game, Thunderbirds, The Tomorrow People, The Twilight Zone, Worzel Gummidge

Overall favourites (in order of preference):

Doctor Who, The Avengers / The Prisoner, Star Trek / M*A*S*H / Dallas, Bilko

Tim Harris

Programmes I watched During 2020

(in order of preference, top being the highest)

Others of note, good or bad

I found the first hour of episode 1 boring but the last half hour kept me entertained. The first half of episode 2 bored me but the second half kept me entertained. The first 25 minutes of episode 3 entertained me and the rest bored me. Dracula may or may not be dead (the ending is obliquely edited) but I won't be watching the second series. Dracula can return from the dead as shown in many other versions but this is the last version I'll watch.

Programmes I watched During 2019

(in order of preference, top being the highest)

Others of note, good or bad

I note that when the BBC adapt more recent books such as "Elizabeth Is Missing" they stick to the source material but for older author-deceased books anything goes, and what usually goes is that which made the book what it was in the first place. TWOTW was a stodgy, talky, soap-laden meander through two different time zones in which the heroine looks for a man she has already seen die a few years before. The red weed stuff is saved for the scenes set later, it's dealt with in dreary scenes albeit with a good cast and it's just an awful mess really. Had H. G. Wells still been alive perhaps we would have got a much better adaptation than this one.

Fear The Walking Dead (Series 5) was the better series this time, Strand was wrongly pushed way back into the background though, he's a great character, why has he been side-lined? Other than that I liked this series, way more than series 4 of the same title.

My Top TV Programmes of 2018

(in order of preference, top being the highest)

Others of note

Companion series Fear The Walking Dead Series 4 very much took the series in a different direction and with Nick now being dead (a crap death), along with the added time-playing nonsense I'm really being driven away from this series. For a series that started out very slowly it's very quickly caught up with the time-line of The Walking Dead. Yeesh.

My Top TV Programmes of 2017

(in order of preference, top being the highest)

Others of note

My Top Programmes of 2016

(in order of preference, top being the highest)

Wasn't sure what to make of it for the first few episodes though the odd twist here and there kept me watching. By the end of episode five I was hooked and looked forward to each must-see episode. Fantastic twists along the way: the whole thing about William caught me by surprise, and not knowing if Hopkins' character was good or not made it very interesting. My only real question is how do guests know who is human and who is a robot? Anyway roll on series two.

 I've started watching series 10 and once again it mostly comprises the same drivers yet again with one new one. The early series' were simply more enjoyable than these later ones.

All-time Favourites

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. 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!

Kinky Boots

This is the Adam West / Burt Ward series from the 1960s that I refer to here, have enjoyed this since I was a kid, I tired of it during the late 80's and came back to it in 2015. It stand up well and remains great fun.

Elizabeth Montgomery was born to play Samantha, Dick York was born to play Darrin, as was Dick Sargent. 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, after many years, I have also warmed very strongly to Dick Sargent's subsequent portrayal of Darrin. In some ways Sargent's Darrin is more accepting of Samantha's powers and is all the bestter for it. Except for the last episode which is a bad throwback to the early days of their marriage: they'd been through too much together by that time to go back to an earlier point.

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.

All 8 series are out on DVD and is 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 actors 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.

I recently watched the last episode again along with the DVD extras for Season 4. That last episode still packs a very powerful punch and perhaps second only to the last ever M*A*S*H episode as greatest series ending ever. I've watched Blake so many times and it remains brilliant.

There was a time I was hooked on this series and I watched the first five series in particular many times. Now I find it hard to watch, I find Frasier more entertaining, and I struggle to watch it. I include it here as it certainly kept me entertained many times back in the 1980s.

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

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.

Another series that I have watched so many times that I find it difficult to watch again, and even less so since my father died as I used to enjoy watching this with him. It is a wonderful series though and I remain fond of both the characters and the cast who played them.

The mini series, series 1 and 2 are brilliant, and the rest are good, bad and terrible. The series now known as series 11 on DVD almost killed my interest dead on original transmission but thankfully the series after that contained humour and I liked the series once more. I find it addictive to watch, and was pleased to see the series return in 2012. I liked the first two new series very much but struggled with the first half of series 3 as it was a repetition of plots from the original run. The 2nd half was better so was mildly disappointed to hear the series had been axed once more. I'd hoped it would come back for a rejuvenated 4th series but it wasn't to be.

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.

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore are well cast together as husband and wife in a very amiable, witty series.

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

I've always loved the film that was made in 1972 but it took to 1993 / 4 to see (most of) the 4 series that preceded it. I liked the series and was disappointed that UK Gold didn't show all of them (due to low ratings from what they said on their now defunct teletext service).

Finally the 4 series were released on DVD and I finally got to see all of them. The series is magnificent, with four incredibly good leads and a series brimming with pathos and adorable characters.

Imaginative wackiness. Why the bloody hell hasn't this been released properly on DVD? Update: It's finally coming out properly on DVD soon. Hooray!

Still the best police series ever.

Stylish, very intelligent and the two leads are very cool.

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.

The TV equivalent of a caffeine buzz achieved from drinking a gallon of coffee.

Amazingly effective series which still endears itself to me due to it's dedicated cast.

Mean, moody McGill is soooo cool.

I rarely think of this as a comedy series, it's much more than that. Comedy drama doesn't even seem to cover it adequately. It's a series that didn't need a fake laugh track, and thanks go to The BBC for asking for episodes without that fake laugh track. Thank 20th Century Fox for releasing the DVDs with both sound tracks. I'd rather the episodes had been in production order but never mind, can't have it all. The DVD extras were entertaining and I only wish the documentary Making M*A*S*H had been included.

It took me to the 5th series to really get into the series on its original run, my dad and brother had been into it right from the start but I had found it too weird, too  morbid and was set during a war I had no knowledge about. But their persistence in watching it eventually paid off and I started watching properly during series 5. I loved Frank Burns and his character helped me stick with the series. I also liked all the other characters, but had not known Henry Blake or Trapper John.

I met the arrival of Charles Winchester III with a grimace as he was to me no Frank Burns, I missed Frank and Charles just seemed too snobby to be true. However, many years later and two viewings later, I have warmed to him and like him as much as the others.

I's have liked Radar to have remained with the series until the end, Gary Burghoff's portrayal of the clerk who effectively runs the unit is simply brilliant. It would have been nice to have seen him leave with the others. Never mind.

The last episode of the last series is simply the best ending to a series ever and has replaced Star Trek's City On The Edge of Forever as best episode of anything ever in my affections. Third is Blake's 7's last episode Blake.

My next favourite episode of M*A*S*H also comes from the last series and is titled Hey, Look Me Over. Kellye Nacahara's portrayal of Nurse Kellye is fabulous, touching and real such that we come to see Kellye as special at the same time Alan Alda's Hawkeye sees her for who she is. A beautiful episode that I've watched many times as a standalone episode. Kellye appeared many times in the series but this episode particularly grabbed me upon first viewing back in 1982.

Thanks to the BBC repeating (most of) the series as of 1986, I was able to catch up on Henry Blake and Trapper John. What surprised me was how much comedy there was in the earlier series', but there were seeds of what was to come. Sometimes You Hear The Bullet from series one is a stand-out moment, and a few in series 3 certainly showed signs that the series was beginning to mature. It took me a while to warm to Henry (I think he's excellent now) as he is so different from Colonel Potter but what a brilliant actor Maclean Stevenson was. His last episode is one I've watched many times, it's so affecting and powerful. The salute between Henry and Radar is so touching (and ad-libbed so I believe) that Henry's death soon after is even more devastating.

Trapper always seemed to play second fiddle to Hawkeye, I've never understood why the production team did this; the one episode in his 3 series, from series 3, in which he finally gets the spotlight is another highlight so why hadn't they done this before. It certainly foreshadows the arrival of B.J. who would get a good share of the spotlight. Should have happened with Trapper.

I like those first three series a lot, I've now watched them 3 times and there's a lot to like. I perhaps prefer series 4, 5 and 11 the most though, there were real attempts to show the audience different aspects to characters and with some very affecting episodes.

Fast forward to 2012 and I finally got to see a few episodes of sequel series After M*AS*H and I can see why it has been rarely seen, it seems old-fashioned humour and doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. The W*A*L*T*E*R pilot was also disappointing (almost slapstick comedy) but the master series remains one of the greatest achievements in television history. Just stop televising it with that darn fake laugh track.

Series 2 especially, although as a kid I'd preferred series 1.

Over-watched and I doubt I'll watch it again for many more years.

Possibly the funniest comedy of them all.

The only series I can honestly say contains no bad episodes. They are all classics.

Update 9th May 2014: actually, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling does seem to forget that our anti-hero has escaped the Village at least twice before and wasn't that fussed about dealing with an un-finished mission. Not so keen on this episode these days.

Seen a hundred times, a black and white classic, thankfully released on DVD.

A fondly remembered series with a likeable cast.

A likeable cast in remake of a fondly remembered series.

Excellent Australian soap featuring the Palmers and Hamilton families.

There are two fabulous websites to recommend, Sons and Daughters and Sons and Daughters.co.uk.

Roberta Leigh's puppet masterpiece that I remember waching as a child and then consequently getting mixed up with Fireball XL5 for many years. It was only when I re-watched Space Patrol a while ago that I realised that some of the memories I though belonged to XL5 actually belonged to this one. I think I likely prefer SP to XL5 but I love both anyway.

Second favourite episode of anything ever: City On The Edge Of Forever (absolute favourite is the last episode of M*A*S*H). This is a brilliant episode, with superb characterisation and with Joan Collins in excellent form as Edith Keeler.

I started watching from series 6, I'd noticed when series 5 was on but hadn't rushed to watch it at that point. What drew me to series 6 was the description of episode 1,  that it was about pensioners in competition with each other to get the best seat in a park. I loved that episode and I was immediately hooked. I got my dad into watching the series and within 3 weeks had ordered the series 1-5 box set. At the time I thought series 6 was only series 2 so was surprised to see a series 1-5 box set. Surprised and very happy. What a brilliant series. I soon got into Chewin' The Fat a sketch show which had also featured Jack, Victor and Winston, once again I was highly impressed and found all four series very entertaining.

I can't remember when I first saw this series, way back when I was a child I'd think. I saw it a lot of the times it was broadcast on ATV and Central but sometimes I'd watch a few then go onto something else. I'm not sure I've ever seen a complete run within the space of a year or two but overwhelmingly I feel it deserves a place in my favourites list as I have affection for it. The kickstart production of 3 episodes made from 1960s mini album recordings are also brilliant highly authentic creations and I include those along with the original episodes as being just wonderful.

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 early episodes in particular give the appearance of being expertly made short movies. I even like the 1980's version.

SITE LINKS

Home Page    About Me    Contact Me    Site Links

Art, Graphic & Photographic Gallery    Portmeirion Gallery    Oxford Gallery    Doctor Who    MISFITS Archive

Photos Of Me    My Favourite Films    My Favourite TV Programs

My Favourite Radio Programs    My Favourite Books / Authors    School Reports    Filming Projects