Explore TV Series

The plot revolves around Mary, a girl sent to spend the summer with her aunt and uncle in a coastal English town while her mother is away in Africa. Feeling alienated, she befriends a young boy who turns out to be the son of an African diplomat who has been kidnapped. The children work together to keep him hidden and safe.

A pilot for a Frankie Howerd sitcom that was eventually never made. A Touch of the Casanovas follows the same formula as Howerd's other sitcoms.

A television magazine show hosted by David Frost; his all-comedy show which includes regular features of music, song and dance.

Arrows was a pop television series aimed at the teen market, which aired in 1976 and 1977 in the UK. The show was produced by British TV legend Muriel Young, and ran for two full 14 week series on the ITV network, produced by Granada Television. The Arrows show format was that the band would perform their own songs, and they would introduce the guest artists. There was also a pop dance troupe called Him and Us who were regulars on the series. The Arrows were Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker and Paul Varley. Guests on the Arrows show included such artists as Marc Bolan, The Bay City Rollers, The Drifters, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Peter Noone, Alvin Stardust, Gene Pitney, Slade, Pilot, Billy J. Kramer, The Real Thing, and many more.

In 1976 Peter Adam took Lawrence Durrell author of several Greek Island books, back to Greece. Their journey took them to Corfu, Rhodes, Crete and Hydra. Durrell has often said that words alone cannot express the true nature of Greek landscape and village life. In this film he pushes aside the debris of the present and guides us through the Greece of his youth. In a sequel to the Greek Spirit of Place, Peter Adam takes Lawrence Durrell back to the setting of his four famous novels. The journey starts in Alexandria and follows the Nile to Upper Egypt, to Aswan and Abu Simbel. Durrell revisits the Coptic monasteries of Wadi Natrun, the oasis of Fayum, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. He talks about his beliefs, his craft and his experiences as a writer, and evokes Egypt's two landscapes - the desert and the great river.

Everyone dreams of running away at least once in their lifetime. Toughy, Smarty and Mouse discover an island which seems perfect. Sun, sand, fruit in the trees, fish in the sea. No haircuts. No school dinners. No goodnight kisses. Best of all, no grown-ups. Or so they think.

Veteran television interviewer and presenter Sir David Frost is the only person to have interviewed all six British prime ministers in office between 1964 and 2007, and all US presidents from 1969 to the present. His fearlessly incisive approach is legendary and, just six months after his monumental encounter with former president Richard Nixon on American television, he presented this unique series in which the Rt. Hon. Harold Wilson was invited to discuss British prime ministers of the recent and distant past. In power for a total of 13 years, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976, Harold Wilson’s government had presided over a country undergoing vast economic and social upheaval, his leadership frequently coming under attack from both right and left; in 1977, he was well placed to reflect on the challenges, triumphs and failings of his predecessors.

Wealthy local personality Malcolm Winfield was mugged walking through a park late at night with Ronald Hamilton whom he had met at a club earlier in the evening. Hamilton was unharmed in the attack. The victim's wallet was found later on at the home of Derek Clark and Sharon Cox, tucked inside a record player. Winfield says that Clark and Cox attacked him that evening. Hamilton is also accused of the same crime - the prosecution argue he was a male prostitute who willingly took part in a plan to entice Winfield to the park where his former house-mates could rob him. All the defendants deny the charges. Clark and Cox say this is a case of mistaken identity - they simply found the wallet in the park and were going to hand it in to police the next day; Hamilton says he was forced to assist the others who would have made public his sexuality had he not done so.

A group of young people live and work on a replica of a prehistoric Iron Age settlement at a secret location in the West of England. Cut off from the modern world, the group try to re-create the way of life of Celtic tribesmen in the third century BC.

The Melting Pot is a British television situation comedy starring Spike Milligan. It was written by Milligan and his regular collaborator Neil Shand. The pilot episode was broadcast only once on BBC1 in June 1976, with a full series recorded the following August but never broadcast. Milligan played Mr. Van Gogh (in brownface) alongside John Bird as Mr. Rembrandt, father and son illegal Asian immigrants who are first seen being rowed ashore in England, having been told that the beach is in fact Piccadilly Circus. They hitch a ride to London in a lorry advertising Italian-made Yorkshire puddings, and find themselves at a boarding house in the fictional Piles Road, London WC2, run by Irish coalman Paddy O'Brien (Frank Carson) and his voluptuous daughter Nefertiti. The rest of the tenants include a black Yorkshireman, a Chinese cockney and a Scottish Arab. The "Melting Pot" of the title refers to the district of London where they have arrived.

In a post-apocalyptic Britain, everyone has rebelled against modern technology (electricity, engines, trains etc) and reverted to a pre-Industrial Revolution way of life. When Nicky Gore tries to investigate the cause, she is accused of being a witch and imprisoned to prevent her spreading dissent.

A major BBC television documentary series, first shown in 1976. About the life on board the fourth HMS Ark Royal, a British aircraft carrier. It followed the ship on a five and a half month deployment to North America in 1976 & the follow up years later to find out about some of the characters.

Young Tom Dawes is enthralled by the sight of a fine schooner sailing up the Avon Gorge. But before long, both he and his father have become mixed up in the mystery of a missing girl, a half-recorded message, and sinister intruders at Bristol Docks... Made by HTV West for the ITV Network.

Sale of the Century was a UK game show based on a US game show of the same name. It was first shown on ITV from 1971 to 1983, hosted by Nicholas Parsons. The first series was supposed to air only in the Anglia region, but it rolled out to other regions since 8 January 1972 and achieved full national coverage by the end of 10 May 1975, at which point it was one of the most popular shows on the network - spawning the often-mocked catchphrase "and now, from Norwich, it's the quiz of the week." It has been revived twice first on Sky One from 1989 to 1990 hosted by Peter Marshall and then on Challenge TV in 1997 hosted by Keith Chegwin.

Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s. For ten years viewers were chilled and terrified by atmospheric literary adaptations as well as sinister contemporary tales.

The Secret War was a six–part television series produced by the BBC in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum documenting various technical developments during the Second World War. It was aired during 1977 and presented by William Woollard. The programme opening music was an excerpt from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The closing music was by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The 'seventh' episode often included with video versions of the series was not part of the original series but produced separately.

A 1970s comedy television sketch programme, written by and featured Spike Milligan, who was accompanied by different stars every week. It was shown after the thoroughly more popular Q5, also written by Milligan and Neil Shand. It is likely the programme was written to bridge the long production gap between Q5 and the next series, Q6, which did not appear on TV screens until 1975.

Ryan and Ronnie was a television comedy series made by BBC Wales and originally broadcast in the Welsh language under the title Ryan a Ronnie. The series starred Ryan Davies and Ronnie Williams. There were three Welsh-language series before the English version appeared in 1971. It ran for three series, ending in 1973. The programme consisted of sketches and stand-up comedy sessions in which Ronnie took the role of "straight man" to Ryan's clowning. There was also music, from the duo themselves and regular guests such as Welsh singer Margaret Williams. Each programme ended with an episode of a spoof soap opera entitled "Our House", in which Ryan played the mother of the family and Ronnie the father. Myfanwy Talog played their daughter, "Phyllis Doris". The running joke in "Our House" was that "Mam" doted on her son, Nigel Wyn, originally played by Derek Boote and, latterly, Bryn Williams, and forgave him anything, whilst being strict with Phyllis Doris, whom she always addressed as "you brazen hussy". Both children were played by adults, the former appearing dressed in school uniform. The father, "Will", was the silent type, but each week, Nigel Wyn would address him as "Will" and "Will" would say, "Don't call Will on your father".. With its bizarre and off-beat, almost surreal humour, "Our House" has achieved an iconic status.

Series of informal masterclasses held at the Wiltshire home of the renowned guitarist Julian Bream.

A Fleet Street reporter sets out to expose the corruption behind the big businesses trying to exploit emerging nations in Africa.

Writer and journalist Ian Nairn presents a series of travels, examining architecture and culture across Europe.

The Channel Four Show was a sketch comedy television show written by and starring Gary Stevenson and Mel Smith. Originally called The ITV Show for its first four series from 1977 to 1981 during its time on ITV 1, when Channel 4 was launched in 1982 the show was broadcast for nine more seasons on Channel 4 between 1982 and 1991.

Bamber Gascoigne charts the history and evolution of Christianity in this 13-part series covering over two thousand years of history. Filmed in 1977 in more than 30 countries, THE CHRISTIANS describes the experiences and actions of Christians from the birth of Christ, through the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, Lutheran reform and subsequent developments to modern times. The series also considers the spread of Christianity, whether by violence - as in the Crusades against Islam - or through world-wide travels of missionaries.

Series based around a fictional assessment centre for children who have been taken into care and their own individual stories. The stories themselves are based on real life cases.

Shang-a-Lang was a children's pop music TV series starring the Scottish band, the Bay City Rollers. It was produced in Manchester by Granada Television for the ITV network and ran for one 20-week series in 1975. It featured the band in a number of comedy sketches and performing their songs to a live studio audience made up of their teenage fans. This resulted in chaotic scenes at times as some members of the audience attempted to run onto the studio floor to meet their heroes, resulting in security officers having to forcibly restain or even eject them from the studio. The show's theme song "Shang-a-Lang", was a hit single for the group, peaking at number 2 in 1974 in the UK.

An embittered man discovers the secret tax haven of some very rich people and contemplates blackmail.

Drama set in a centre where people in trouble can get free legal help.

Twenty years after the first series being aired, the show is revived with artists such as Alvin Stardust, Joe Brown, Les Gray and Fumble among others performing classic Rock 'N' Roll songs

As Good Cooks Go was a black-and-white British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1970. Written by John Warren and John Singer, it starred Tessie O'Shea and Frank Williams.

Drama surrounding families and members' involvement in a local Salvation Army centre.

Scobie becomes caught up in an arson attack on an art gallery.

After many years of entertaining the inhabitants of Stackton Tressell with their Gala Concerts, Dame Hilda Bracket and Dr. Evadne Hinge were thrilled to be invited by the BBC to take their very individual style of concert performance to a wider audience. These events, recorded between 1977 and 1981 at the Royal Hall, Harrogate and the Opera House, Buxton, feature the dear ladies with full orchestral and choral support. The ladies perform a wide range of music from Gilbert and Sullican to Verdi. Of course, Dr. Hinge has a few pithy remarks to make, while Dame Hilda remains her usual irrepressible self.

Eugène de Rastignac comes to Paris and finds lodging in the same boarding house as a former pasta maker, Père Goriot. While the other lodgers abuse Goriot, Eugène is sympathetic to the meek and mild Goriot.

Sketch show starring Bernie Winters.

Dame Margot Fonteyn acts as tour guide to the British ballet.

'Tragic magic' rules in this six-part series from 1978, which saw Tommy Cooper at the height of his fame.

Forced to stay with his aunt and uncle for the summer holidays, Tom Long is lonely and bored, until one night he hears the clock strike 13. He suddenly finds himself transported to a magical Victorian garden of the 1880s and meets a girl.

A lively youth-oriented magazine series presenting a mix of music performances and segments offering help, advice and information dealing with social issues.

News-based spin-off of A Question of Sport.

Name That Tune is the British version of the American television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. It first premiered 7 April 1976 as a 15-minute slot on the popular entertainment series London Night Out and was turn into a half-hour weekly series in 1983. The first series were hosted by Tom O'Connor. In 1997, the game shoe was revived for two series on Channel 5 with Jools Holland as the host.

With Edward Woodward

Ian Nairn travels through Britain and takes a critical look at the townscapes and landscapes in which we live.