Greatest TV Shows Ever

Got all these on DVD

Loved this as a kid.

Classic

Ahh the clangers- superb stuff- all that companies stuff was superb, must track down some Bagpuss!

I loved Ain't Half Hot Mum as a kid, I know it has been accused of streotypes and stuff and I havent seen a whole episode recently to judge- but growing up it just made me a laugh and I dont even really remember the Indian stuff at all save as a backdrop- just the army guys. And never been a better or funnier screen Sergeant than Windsor Davies.

Bagpuss- whole episode- if you have never seen this Uk chiildrens gem prepare to be charmed by a more innocent time.

The fantastic Danger Mouse- they just dont make em like this any more sadly. Now kids TV seems to be swamped with American imports.



You know its not really suprising I grew up to go through a mushroom eating LSD phase given I grew up watching this 60's induced madness!
The greatest intro ever to a kids program.



This used to freak me out- especially the witch in her kettle.
Chorlton and the Wheelies

anyone remember this?

or this?

this is probably the best tv series ever made.

Mrs Figg wrote:anyone remember this?

One of my favourits. Used to be on every year for the summer holidays.
Another one was sabastion, remember that ?

Love The Prisoner. Marvelous stuff. The remake was shocking.

They have finally released Space: Above and Beyond on to DVD in the UK after about 15 years!

Still annoyed that it got cancelled after the first series... was so good!

Petty - you should try and get hold of the series. I think you might like it.

I'd never heard of that show Lance- but a quick google and it seems like quality, innovative sci-fi full of promise. Which no doubt explains it getting canned after 1 series- what is it with Fox execs?

It was good. It was quite gritty... like an early version of Battlestar remake. Dealt with a lot of the social issues that series like star trek did, but in a more real way (as real as sci-fi gets).

I would definitely recommend watching if you can get you hands on it. Its one of those programs that I would hate to see remade but wish it had been allowed to go on longer which is unfortunately too late now.

Only 5 more episodes to watch until the pre-mature ending. Luckily Slash's new album will be on my doorstep next week so have something else to look forward to.

Selwyn Froggit, remember him. Magic are Morris.

Memories

The Sweeney classic 70s tv
Imagine my surprise at seeing Gene Hunt do a post modern 'ironic' version in Life on Mars.

Press Gang- this is where my love affair withthe writing of a certain Mr Moffat began- although I didnt know who he was at the time of course. This stated when I was about 15 on Childrens TV- the story of a school newspaper- as I was News Editor on my school newspaper I was always going to be drawn to it- but I stayed for the writing and so began a long association of sheer viewing pleasure at everythig Moffat subsequently wrote. Quality childrens TV this was.





(Didn't harm it either that at the time I fancied almost every single female cast member! (Well I was a teenager at the time) He always has had an eye for casting the ladies Mr Moffat- a perk of the job!)

In a related item- you can find it on wiki under Moffats entry- his first marriage did not go so well (he wrote an award winning sitcom based on it-thats a writer for you) and his wife had an affair. When Moffat found out, and also that the lover in question was a huge fan of Press Gang Moffat replied, ""Well, did he have to f**k my wife? Most people just write in!".

My admiration for him only grows!

Band Of Brothers is perhaps the finest miniseries I've watched, following a company of US Paratroopers in WW2 from 1942-1945, from training through feirce combat to the end of the War in Europe. A technical marvel, solid acting (it's fascinating to see how far some of the cast has come since-Colin Hanks, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, Damian Lewis, Simon Pegg etc are just a few who appear in the series) and scripts, and great production values that authentically create the 1940's, its mixture of cinematic scope and quiet reflections on the tragedy of war add up to a classic peice of TV drama, I've watched the series probably 10 times or more and still get emotionally gripped even now, noticing new things all these years later, and having read some of the books/biographies the series was based on, it's interesting to see real history portrayed through a hollywood lens, they got the casting spot on as well, many of the actors (many of whom were younger than I am now...) look uncannily like their real life counterparts...

Like all landmark TV series, it's not without its flaws-looking at it from a British perspective it does come across as a little biased, jingoistic and dramatically flat in some respects (we never side the German side of the conflict, nor do we really explore the mental strain the soldiers faced) but the latter is perhaps not so much a flaw in the scripts as it is the restrictions in story structure and runtime (the series already runs 11+ hours and was record breaking expensive to make at the time, most of the money was coming from HBO so it's understandable they'd want to focus purely on American soldiers). With such a large cast of main and supporting characters (there are perhaps 30 different soldiers who have recurring speaking roles in the series) some of the characters dissapear into the background with little development, but I suppose that would be the case with any real life army unit.

Flawed though magnificent, Band Of Brothers made a huge commercial and critical splash back in 2001 at it still stands up as a classic piece of TV Drama, definitely worth a watch if you are interested in the genre.

The companion series The Pacific released in 2010 explores the US Marine's 'Island Hopping' campaign against the Japanese in WW2 and complements the series pretty well, rectifying issues I had with BOB (though creating new ones of its own), and exploring other aspects of War the earlier series couldn't (though the shorter runtime, more morally dubious politics of the Pacific War, and increasingly split narrative threads make the series rather disjointed and tonally confused at points), it's not quite up to the standard of the earlier series, but definitely worth watching (I've read one of the memoirs it's based on With The Old Breed which was a eye opener for sure, an absolutely gut wrenching account of the War in the Pacific and the physical and mental horrors that the combatants experienced, I can't imagine being put in that situation nor would I have any confidence in my generation to be able to cope as well...).

Pettytyrant101 wrote:

Is that a young Helena Bonham Carter?

{{No Julia Sawalha. She is probably best known in the UK at least these days for playing the daughter in Absolutely Fabulous alongside Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. She won a BAFTA for her portrayal of Linda Day in Press Gang. }}}

{{ This episode had a big impact on me as a kid watching it. Its an interesting episode in a number of ways- first its amazing quality, I just dont see this quality of writing and drama for children these days on TV. Secondly its very Moffaty- by which I mean its an early example of techniques in his writing he will use later again, particualry in how he constructs an episode of television. But just as a bit of tv its worth 25 minutes of anyone's time. }}}

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v3751529F2dbzjfh

I have all the Praed episodes on DVD. No Conneries though. It annoyed me that Marion of Leaford eventually fell in love with Bob too...

... Judi, I was available back then (well sorta).

Granted, she didn't know I existed... yet, to quote The Grinder's Dean Sanderson (plays Mitchard Grinder)...

... but what if she did?