BFI TV 100

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (June 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any genre that had been screened up to that time.^[1]

Selection and criteria[]

This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019)

The BBC produced 70 of the 100 programmes on the list.

Granada Television produced 7 of the 100 programmes on list—the largest by a commercial broadcaster.^{[citation needed]}

The British Film Institute television programme poll was conducted in the year 2000,^{[citation needed]} and its results are reflected in the list that appears in a following section. Initially, a 'big list' of 650 programmes was drawn up by BFI personnel.^[2] Television programmes no longer extant in the archives were excluded from consideration.^{[citation needed]} The provisional list was split into six categories: Single Dramas, Drama Series and Serials, Comedy and Variety, Factual, Children's/Youth, and Lifestyle & Light Entertainment.^{[citation needed]} Some programmes were represented in the list by an entire series; however, for some series—e.g., the anthology The Wednesday Play and the current affairs programme This Week—individual episodes were listed.^{[citation needed]} News stories were mostly excluded, with exceptions such as the coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (on the basis that it would be impossible to determine whether it was the coverage or the news itself that made them important).^{[citation needed]} Sport was excluded for similar reasons, and also because many events such as the 1966 World Cup, while important to those in England, would not necessarily matter to those in other areas of the UK.^{[citation needed]}

The provisional list of 650 was then distributed to 1,600 television industry professionals in the UK, who were each given 30 votes.^[2] Each voter was required to cast a minimum of three votes in every category.^{[citation needed]} The judges were also asked to name their top overseas programme (where the U.S. sitcom, Frasier, was chosen).^[2]

Full list[]

The following are the results of the poll, as reported by the BFI and other sources.^{[clarification needed]} Because the list reports decisions made in the year 2000, programmes and series are presented as they were perceived in that year; as such, ones not yet having concluded by the year 2000 are presented as having an open-ended date span in the "Year(s)" column, even if they have subsequently ended.^{[verification needed]}

BBC led broadcasters in terms of numbers of programmes/series produced, with 70. Granada Television was the second most represented with 7, and Thames Television and Channel 4 tied for third with 6 each. ITV Central produced four of the listed titles, while Associated Television produced two, and London Weekend Television, Associated British Corporation, and Associated-Rediffusion produced one each.

See also[]

• Britain's Best Sitcom
• 100 Greatest
• BFI Top 100 British films

References[]

Further reading and viewing[]

• BFI Staff (4 March 2009). "The BFI TV 100: 1–100". London, UK: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011.

• BBC News article regarding the list, and giving the first 20 on the list.

External links[]

• British TV guide