Top UK Telefantasy Shows

My favourite ten British science fiction and fantasy television programmes...

10. Day of the Triffids (BBC, 1981)

9. Children of the Stones (ITV, 1976)

8. Blake's 7 (BBC, 1978-1981)

7. Quatermass (BBC, 1953-1958, ITV, 1979)

6. The Prisoner (ITV, 1967-1968)

5. Sapphire and Steel (ITV, 1979-1982)

4. Robin of Sherwood (ITV, 1984-1986)

3. Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes (BBC, 2006-2010)

2. The Avengers (ITV, 1961-1969)

1. Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-1989, 1996, 2005-)

Favourite TV Shows - Sixties

10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.

3. The Prisoner
2. Doctor Who seasons 1-6

1. The Avengers

Favourite TV Shows - Seventies

10
9
8
7
6
5
4

3. Blake's 7 series 1-2
2. Fawlty Towers

1. Doctor Who seasons 7-17

Favourite TV Shows - Eighties

10. 'Allo 'Allo
9. The Young Ones
8. The Edge of Destruction
7. Sapphire and Steel assignments 3-6
6. The Day of the Triffids
5. Yes, Minister
4. Robin of Sherwood

3. Doctor Who series 18-26
2. Red Dwarf series 1-3

1. Blackadder

Favourite Radio Shows - Nineties

10. The League of Gentlemen
9. John Peel
8. The News Quiz
7. On the Hour
6. Just a Minute
5. Knowing Me, Knowing You
4. The Evening Session

3. I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
2. Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World / Fist of Fun

1. Mark Radcliffe / Mark and Lard

Favourite TV Shows - Nineties

20. The Larry Sanders Show
19. This Life
18. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1-4
17. Our Friends in the North
16. Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge/I'm Alan Partridge
15. Have I Got News For You
14. The Adam and Joe Show
13. Bottom
12. The Crystal Maze
11. Gamesmaster

10. Red Dwarf 4-8
9. The Day Today
8. The X Files 1-7
7. Friends 1-6

6. The Simpsons 1-11
5. Frasier 1-7
4. Father Ted

3. Shooting Stars 1-3, UK, 1995-1997

2. Spaced, UK, 1999-2001

1. Seinfeld, USA, 1989-1998

Favourite Video Games - Nineties

20. Formula One Grand Prix (1991)
19. Virtua Tennis (1999)
18. Quake 3 (1999)
17. Pinball Dreams (1992)
16. Driver (1998)
15. Tomb Raider (1996)
14. Sam and Max Hit the Road (1993)
13. Day of the Tentacle (1993)
12. Micro Machines (1992)
11. Lemmings (1990)

10. Road Rash 2 (1992)
9. Brian Lara Cricket (1999)
8. Worms (1995)
7. Cannon Fodder (1993)
6. Tekken 3 (1997)
5. Grim Fandango (1998)
4. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (1996)

3. Sensible Soccer series (1992-1998)
2. Doom (1993)

1. The Secret of Monkey Island series (1990-1997)

Favourite Video Games - Noughties

20. Machinarium, 2009
19. Okami, 2007
18. Ico, 2001
17. Syberia, 2002
16. Jimmy White's Cueball World, 2001
15. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, 2005
14. Fallout 3, 2008
13. Resident Evil: Code Veronica, 2000
12. Burnout 3: Takedown, 2004
11. Left 4 Dead, 2008

10. Fahrenheit, 2005
9. Psychonauts, 2005
8. Bioshock, 2007
7. Championship Manager 01/02, 2001
6. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, 2003
5. Beyond Good and Evil, 2003
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 5, 2005

3. Max Payne 2: The fall of Max Payne, 2003

2. Grand Theft Auto 3, 2001

1. Half-Life 2 (and episodes), 2004, 2006, 2007

Favourite TV Shows - Noughties

No "The Wire", no "Lost", no "Big Brother", no "24", no "Sopranos".... Yes, it's my top 20 shows of 2000-2009!

20. Blackpool
19. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
18. Torchwood
17. Black Books
16. The Thick of It
15. Look Around You
14. The Mighty Boosh
13. Family Guy
12. The IT Crowd
11. Futurama

10. Firefly
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. Have I Got News For You
7. The Flight of the Conchords
6. The Inbetweeners
5. State of Play
4. The Office

3. Doctor Who, UK, 2005-
2. Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, UK, 2006-2010

1. Arrested Development, US, 2003-2005

Doctor Who Top 10 - The Eighties

While undoubtedly Doctor Who's weakest decade on the television, there are still gems to be found out there. The top three would certainly be able to walk into any of the other decade lists compiled for this blog. Unfortunately the strength in depth simply isn't there - this period was Doctor Who at its most inconsistent, and like many people, I place the blame for this firmly at the door of the producer and his choice of script editors. Nevertheless, below is a selection of stories which frequently showcase Doctor Who at its most (successfully) experimental, and in the case of the McCoy stories, provide pointers for where the franchise would ultimately head post-cancellation.

1. The Curse of Fenric
Year: 1989
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Notable Guest Stars: Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch
Writer: Ian Briggs
Director: Nicholas Mallett
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Unusually for original-series Doctor Who, a real emotional rollercoaster of a tale, with a relentless pace and plenty of memorable characters and scenes. Like all good Doctor Who serials should have, it has a couple of cracking cliffhangers, a strong central villain, and some stirring incidental music, all things it has in common with my number 2 choice...

2. The Caves of Androzani
Year: 1984
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant
Notable Guest Stars: Christopher Gable, John Normington
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: Graeme Harper
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Peter Davison's swansong contains by far the best writing, acting and directing seen in the show for many years, and unfortunately it would be several more before anything else would come close to touching it again. A dark and gritty story in which the Doctor is little more than a doomed and helpless bystander to the events taking place around him, it bequeathed us several less impressive Colin Baker era rip-offs, but still stands as a mightily impressive production, and possibly the best final story any Doctor has ever had.

3. Ghost Light

Year: 1989
Episodes: 3
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Notable Guest Stars: Ian Hogg, Michael Cochrane
Writer: Marc Platt
Director: Alan Wareing
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

The story which, along with its two immediate successors, made a fan of me when it was first broadcast. Despite being fairly impenetrable to the unattentive viewer, the ambition, classiness and evocative atmosphere of this story make it one to cherish.

4. Survival

Year: 1989
Episodes: 3
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Anthony Ainley
Notable Guest Stars: Lisa Bowerman, Julian Holloway
Writer: Rona Munro
Director: Alan Wareing
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

The final story of the original run, Survival can't quite match the heights of the previous two stories (see nos 1 & 3), but it shouldn't be put down for that. A lot of the roots of the 21st century revival can be seen here, from the suburban, modern day setting, the exploration of the companion's links to her home, and, um, the use of actors in cat costumes.

5. Remembrance of the Daleks

Year: 1988
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Terry Molloy
Notable Guest Stars: Simon Williams, Pamela Salem
Writer: Ben Aaronovitch
Director: Andrew Morgan
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Widely credited with saving the show from a complete creative fizzle out, this serial and its novelisation provided a strong template for the new direction that fan writers would take the franchise in through the nineties. Personally though, I find it hard to get as enthusiastic about it as the other McCoy stories higher up this list, but it is undoubtedly one of the decade's highlights.

6. Enlightenment

Year: 1983
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson
Notable Guest Stars: Keith Baron, Lynda Barron
Writer: Barbara Clegg
Director: Fiona Cumming
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

One of the good things to come out of 80s Who is that it occasionally attempted rather more sedate and cerebral stories like this, which unusually was both written and directed by women - and it shows. Visually lush, and gently inventive.

7. Warriors' Gate

Year: 1981
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Lesson, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Clifford Rose, Kenneth Cope
Writer: Stephen Gallagher
Director: Paul Joyce
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Again, an experimental story, and not particularly easy to follow compared to most Whos, but contains a host of memorable sequences and images, as well as the departure of both Romana and K9 - the Tom Baker era was finally drawing to a conclusion.

8. State of Decay

Year: 1980
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Leeson, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Emrys James, William Lindsay
Writer: Terrance Dicks
Director: Peter Moffatt
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

A revived script originally due to be submitted back in the mid-late 70s gothic heyday, this is inevitably a (welcome) throwback to a more successful era, and by far the most conventional Who story of the period - in a good way.

9. The Trial of a Time-Lord

Year: 1986
Episodes: 14
Regulars: Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Anthony Ainley
Notable Guest Stars: Lynda Bellingham, Michael Jayston
Writer: Robert Holmes, Pip and Jane Baker, Phillip Martin
Director: Chris Clough, Nicholas Mallett, Ron Jones
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

An absolute disaster on so many levels, with a poorly through out structure, plot holes you could drive a train through, and some diabolical writing and acting at some points - but still the most watchable Colin Baker story, and it does have its moments. Just don't think too much about it, and don't set your expectations too high.

10. Kinda

Year: 1982
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes
Writer: Christopher Bailey
Director: Peter Grimwade
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Ok, the rubber snake is rubbish. But even the best Whos have poorly realised monsters. The latest in a long line of Buddhist influenced Who stories is thoughtful and dares to try something a little more imaginative than the norm.

Doctor Who Top 10 - The Sixties

The early years of Doctor Who are understandably the least familiar to the modern fan. Significant proportions of episodes are gone, lost forever in all likelihood, and what remains can often seem slow and creaky in comparison to what came afterwards. But this was in many ways the time when the show was at its most imaginative. Nothing was yet set in stone, and consequently the variety of ideas tried by the various production teams was incredibly eclectic for a while. That said, the most popular stories from this period are usually the more formulaic ones that conform to the standard default setting the series would later assume with some regularity, and this is because firstly they were damn good stories, and secondly a lot of those experiments I mentioned didn't actually work very well. This selection of stories most definitely do work however - I would strongly recommend each and every one of these stories. Even if you can't experience the TV episodes anymore, the soundtracks and novelisations remain, and give us enough of an impression of their quality to make a judgement call.

1. The Invasion

Year: 1968
Episodes: 8 (1 & 4 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury, Nicholas Courtney
Notable Guest Stars: Kevin Stoney
Writer: Derrick Sherwin, Kit Pedler
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Peter Bryant

With the help of the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), led by their old friend Lethbridge-Stewart -- newly promoted to Brigadier -- the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discover that businessman Tobias Vaughn has been conspiring with the Cybermen. Partially cybernised himself, Vaughn plans to give the Earth over to the Cybermen unless the Doctor can stop him... but the Cybermen have already arrived.

2. The War Games

Year: 1969
Episodes: 10
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury
Notable Guest Stars: Edward Brayshaw, Philip Madoc
Writer: Malcolm Hulke, Terrance Dicks
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Derrick Sherwin

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe believe the TARDIS has brought them back to Earth, in the midst of World War One. But it soon becomes apparent that they are nowhere of the sort. In fact, a race of aliens has been kidnapping soldiers from various points in the Earth's history and transporting them to another planet, with the intention of using them to form the greatest army the universe has ever seen. At the helm of this plot is the War Chief, a renegade Time Lord like the Doctor. To stop him, the Doctor may be forced to call upon his own people and give up his wandering in time and space forever.

3. The Evil of the Daleks

Year: 1967
Episodes: 7 (1,3-7 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: John Bailey, Marius Goring
Writer: David Whitaker
Director: Derek Martinus
Producer: Innes Lloyd

The TARDIS is stolen from Gatwick Airport, and the Doctor and Jamie pursue it through a time corridor back to 1866. There, they are captured by the Daleks, who are ostensibly trying to isolate the Human Factor, that which makes mankind truly human. But with the help of scientist Edward Waterfield, whose daughter Victoria is held hostage by the Daleks, the Doctor discovers his old enemies are actually searching for the Dalek Factor... which they intend to imprint upon every human in history.

4. The Tomb of the Cybermen

Year: 1967
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: George Pastell
Writer: Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis
Director: Morris Barry
Producer: Peter Bryant

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on the desert planet Telos, where an archaeological expedition from Earth has also arrived. The scientists are searching for the fabled tombs to which the dying Cybermen removed themselves many years earlier. The Doctor is adamant that his old enemies be left in hibernation, but two members of the research team, the Logicians Klieg and Kaftan, have plans to use the Cybermen to help them dominate the galaxy.

5. The Daleks' Master Plan

Year: 1965-66
Episodes: 12
Regulars: William Hartnell, Peter Purves
Notable Guest Stars: Jean Marsh, Kevin Stoney, Nicholas Courtney, Adrienne Hill
Writer: Terry Nation, Dennis Spooner
Director: Douglas Camfield
Producer: John Wiles

On Kembel, the Doctor finds a message left by Marc Cory, detailing the Daleks' plan to use a time destructor to take over the universe. The Doctor steals the taranium core needed to fuel the destructor, and is then pursued across time and space by the Daleks. The Doctor's ally, Space Security Service agent Bret Vyon, is killed by his own sister, Sara Kingdom, at the orders of Mavic Chen, the traitorous Guardian of the Solar System. It is up to the Doctor to convince Sara of the truth of her misguided allegiance, and avoid an apocalyptic triple threat in the form of Chen, the Daleks, and the time destructor.

6. Marco Polo

Year: 1964
Episodes: 7 (all missing)
Regulars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Notable Guest Stars: Mark Eden
Writer: John Lucarotti
Director: Waris Hussein
Producer: Verity Lambert

The TARDIS lands in 1289 China. There it is seized by famed explorer Marco Polo, who intends to present it as a gift to Kublai Khan, in the hope that it will win him his freedom. The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara must accompany Polo as he travels across the desert to the court in Peking, and at the same time unearth the malevolent plotting of Tegana, an agent of a rival warlord whose mission is to assassinate the Khan.

7. The Power of the Daleks

Year: 1966
Episodes: 6 (all missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze
Notable Guest Stars: Bernard Archard
Writer: David Whitaker
Director: Christopher Barry
Producer: Innes Lloyd

Still suspicious of the younger man claiming to be the Doctor, Ben and Polly discover that the TARDIS has landed on the Earth colony Vulcan. There, a scientist named Lesterson has unearthed a crashed capsule containing the inert forms of three Daleks. The Doctor is horrified to learn that Lesterson has reactivated them, intending for them to serve the colony's populace. But the time travellers soon discover that the Daleks have a far more malevolent agenda.

8. The Abominable Snowmen
Year: 1967
Episodes: 6 (1, 3-6 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: Jack Watling

Writer: Mervyn Haisman, Henry Lincoln
Director: Gerald Blake
Producer: Innes Lloyd

The Doctor is delighted when the TARDIS lands near a monastery in Tibet because it means he can return the monks' sacred ghanta which he took with him for safekeeping centuries earlier. But all is not well at the monastery: there is disharmony amongst the monks, and the countryside is overrun by robotic Yeti. Soon, the Doctor finds himself accused of murder, whilst an extradimensional force called the Great Intelligence prepares to return to Earth... using one of the Doctor's friends as a vessel.

9. Fury from the Deep

Year: 1968
Episodes: 6 (all missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: Victor Maddern
Writer: Victor Pemberton
Director: Hugh David
Producer: Peter Bryant

On the North Sea coast in the modern day, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria learn of a series of mishaps and strange occurrences which has been plaguing the oil refineries. They soon find that a form of intelligent seaweed is rising up from the seabed, attempting to take over humanity -- and the invasion has already begun.

10. The Mind Robber

Year: 1968
Episodes: 5
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury
Notable Guest Stars: Emyrs Jones
Writer: Peter Ling
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Peter Bryant

After an emergency dematerialisation, the TARDIS lands in a weird white void. Drawn out of the time machine, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find themselves in a surreal world where imagination has become reality, populated with characters out of folklore and literature. And the mysterious overlord of this Land of Fiction desires the Doctor's company... forever.