Explore TV Series

BBC series exploring cultures around the world.

As the entire world went "space action" crazy at the end of the Seventies, Hanna-Barbera reconvened its Sci-Fi superstars Space Ghost and the Herculoids for another round of adventures. Joining the sixties sci-fi faves in their interstellar battle against evil were newcomers Teen Force and Astro and the Space Mutts (yes, that Astro!).

A dynastic struggle occurs for the throne of Hastinapur, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan, between the Kauravas and Pandavas, collateral branches of the clan, which causes the Kurukshetra War.

Your favorite Peanuts stories come to life in this animated television series. With short sketches featuring these classic and much-loved characters, it's easy to, as the opening song suggests, “have a party with Charlie Brown and Snoopy.”

Surgical spirit is a British situation-comedy television series starring Nichola McAuliffe and Duncan Preston that was broadcast from 14 April 1989 through to 7 July 1995. It was written by Annie Bruce, Raymond Dixon, Graeme Garden, Peter Learmouth, Paul McKenzie and Annie Wood. It was made for the ITV network by Humphrey Barclay Productions for Granada Television.

Not Necessarily the News is a satirical sketch comedy series that first aired on HBO in September 1982 as a comedy special, and then ran as a series from 1983 to 1990. It featured sketches, parody news items, commercial parodies, and humorous bits made from overdubbing or editing actual news footage. It was based on the British series, Not the Nine O'Clock News. Not Necessarily the News was also the birthplace of Rich Hall's sniglets.

Campion is a television show made by the BBC, adapting the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. Two series were made, in 1989 and 1990, starring Peter Davison as Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates. A total of eight novels were adapted, four in each series, each of which was originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes. Peter Davison sang the title music for the first series himself; in the second series, it was replaced with an instrumental version.

Kazuya Oki volunteers to undergo cybernetic surgery in the International Space Development Program in the United States to become an astronaut who can survive in outer space without the need for a bulky external suit. After a successful operation, he is given the codename "Super-1". Before he can depart for space, however, the base where he received his operation is attacked by the Dogma Kingdom. Only Kazuya can escape and is determined to avenge the deaths of the scientists, he returns to Japan and is trained by a martial arts expert, Master Genkai. With this knowledge, he can transform into the powerful Kamen Rider Super-1 to fight the evil Dogma Kingdom and later Jin Dogma.

From the voyage of the Mayflower to the bold exploration of outer space, join the Peanuts gang as they take you on a timeless journey through American history! Groove along with Charlie Brown and Snoopy as they discover the beginnings of jazz and ragtime music, accompanied by Lucy's speech about American heroes. So all aboard with Peanuts because This Is America, Charlie Brown!

A small group of human resistance fighters fight a desperate guerilla war against the genocidal extra-terrestrials who dominate Earth.

Five Easy Pieces is a TVB television series, premiered on 4 August 1980. Theme song "Five Easy Pieces" composition and arrangement by Joseph Koo, lyricist by Wong Jim, sung by Adam Cheng.

By 2120, humans have successfully colonized other planets following the devastation of Earth from the last great world war. One such colony is surprised at the arrival of The Zor, coming to reclaim their former home world. A relentless war erupts between both races.

Space Sheriff Shaider was a tokusatsu television show that aired on from 1984 to 1985. It is the last of the Space Sheriff Series, the previous two being Space Sheriff Gavan and Space Sheriff Sharivan. Action footage from Shaider was used for Season 2 of VR Troopers. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as Space Captain Sheider.

Triangle was a BBC Television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed from Felixstowe to Gothenburg and Gothenburg to Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam and Felixstowe to justify the programme title, but this was not operated by the ferry company. The show ran for three series before being cancelled, but is still generally remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced". The scripts involved clichéd relationships and stilted dialogue, making the show the butt of several jokes - particularly on Terry Wogan's morning Radio 2 programme - which caused some embarrassment to the BBC. In 1992, the BBC screened TV Hell, an evening of programming devoted to the worst television had to offer, and the first episode of Triangle was broadcast as part of the line-up. The ferry used in the first series was the Tor Line's MS Tor Scandinavia. In the second and third series this was replaced by the DFDS vessel Dana Anglia probably because she had a less intensive schedule and the longer time she spent in port made on-board filming easier.

The professional and private lives of the predominantly female staff of the Women's Medical Arts, a progressive clinic with a mandate to breathe new life into the doctor-patient relationship.

Beverly Hills Teens is an animated children's television program which debuted in 1987, animated by DIC Entertainment. The namesake teenagers have exaggerated wealth, and face stereotypical teenage concerns. They represent a variety of English backgrounds. In 1989, Beverly Hills Teens was nominated for the Young Artist award for Best Animated Series. In the same year, the show was syndicated by Claster Television. The French dub is known as BéCéBéGé, or sometimes Le Club BCBG, a title derived from the acronym BCBG.

Hey Dude is an American Western comedy series that aired from 1989 to 1991. The show was broadcast on the Nickelodeon network, and aired reruns on Nickelodeon until early 1999, and now on TeenNick ever since late 2011. Hey Dude was Nickelodeon's second original live action television series, following the 1984 series Out of Control. The series was set on the fictional "Bar None Dude Ranch" near the city of Tucson, Arizona. It portrayed the lives of the ranch's owner, his son, a female ranch hand, and four teenage summer employees. Hey Dude was a comedy geared towards a teenage audience. The complete series have been released on DVD. Only the first four seasons are on iTunes.

Foley Square is a 1985-1986 United States comedic television series starring Margaret Colin which centers around an assistant district attorney in New York City. It was Colin's first starring role. Original episodes aired from December 11, 1985, to April 8, 1986.

Antonio Lombardo lives in a huge, luxurious house in Acapulco with Victoria—his stepmother, whom he loves like a real mother—and his sister Camila, who has just married Claudio. Also living there is Maximiliano, Victoria's son from her first marriage, who hides an envious and manipulative personality behind the appearance of a good person.

Based on a wuxia novel of the same name by Jin Yong, The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain tells a story of a swordsman name Wu Fei who grows up and goes in search of his Father's murderer to avenge him. Along the way he faces trials and turbulence, and finds out there is more to his father's death than what he was told.

The series started off with the Bak family being hunted down by the people of the martial arts world. They are a well-known family and consist of 5 members: the father--Bak Fung Tin, the mother, and their 3 children: Jin Man, Yuk Ying, and Jin Mo. Fung Tin was said to have murdered the leaders of 4 powerful sects, so the head of the martial arts world ordered that his whole family be killed.

Strike it Lucky was a popular British television game show from 29 October 1986 to 23 August 1999, originally produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore. It was based on the American show of the same name that aired in 1986. In its formative years, it became well known for the outlandish and often highly eccentric contestants it featured - Barrymore would often spend over 5 minutes talking to them. The introductory footage of the prizes on offer were also noteworthy, often filmed in black-and-white with a slapstick style. In 1987, it was the fifth most watched programme on UK television. The Thames Television version of the show was recorded at Teddington Studios, and later Pinewood Studios. From 1996, the new version aired under the title Strike it Rich!; this being the title of the short-lived American game show Strike it Rich! on which it was based, and it moved to The London Studios. The reason for the name change was that the show was now being co-produced by LWT with Fremantle, so despite now being owned by the same company as Fremantle, Thames were unwilling to allow LWT use of the original title. There is also the factor that when the show was first exported to the UK, the Independent Broadcasting Authority's prize limits were still in place, and "Rich" was probably dropped from the title because of the relatively low value of prizes on offer; by the time it returned as Strike it Rich! the limits had been lifted and it was giving away a substantially higher value of prizes.

The 39th NHK Asadora drama is Hassai-sensei. A novice teacher in 1930s Osaka learns that there is more to education than mere instruction. Though her tenure is interrupted by first marriage and later World War II, she begins a quest for "ideal education" after the war.

In the early Showa era, the town of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture was divided by the conflicts between the worlds of "land" and "sea". Born to Kyubei Bando, the owner of a long-established soy sauce brewery, and his mistress Rui, Kaworu was taken in by her father and raised as a prim and proper lady. As she grew up, she fell in love with Sokichi, the eldest son of an established fisherman; alas, their two families were in conflict. This is a story of pure love between two people that grew beyond the boundaries of the old customs that they were brought up with. It is a drama that depicts their turbulent journey of love and the bonds of the people from an old and established family working tirelessly to protect their naturally brewed soy sauce business through the ups and downs.

Otherworld is an American science fiction series that aired for only eight episodes from January 26 to March 16, 1985 on CBS. It was created by Roderick Taylor as a sort of Lost in Space on Earth. Taylor gave himself a cameo role in each episode.

Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes. The programme aired between 19 July 1988 and 21 December 2001 and was produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network and mostly follows the same general format from the original version of the programme from the United States.

A.D. is a 1985 television drama miniseries created and written by Vincenzo Labella and Anthony Burgess, based on Burgess' historical novel The Kingdom of the Wicked. The five-part serial is considered the third and final part of a trilogy, preceded by Moses the Lawgiver (1974) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977). Set just after Jesus' Crucifixion, the lives and adventures of His disciples are explored, and events in Rome during the reigns of Emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

Aisin Gioro Puyi, the last emperor of Qing dynasty, as well as the last emperor of entire Chinese history. This TV series explore modern history and its main incidents in Puyi's perspective.

First Tuesday or This World is a monthly television documentary strand, shown in the United Kingdom on the ITV network and was produced by Yorkshire Television. The subject matter was mainly social issues and current affairs stories from around the world. It ran from 5 April 1983 to 2 November 1993, with programme being shown on the first Tuesday of the month, hence the title. In 1993, Network First was a part replacement for First Tuesday.

Follows a family who live at Melbourne Zoo in Victoria, Australia. Doctor David Mitchell is the zoo's veterinarian. His children Nick and Susie love being with all the animals.

Mama Malone is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from March 7, 1984 to July 21, 1984 starring British character actress Lila Kaye as the title character, an Italian homemaker who hosts a cooking show from her Brooklyn apartment. She never gets to properly instruct viewers on her recipes because friends and family members keep interrupting her show.

The premise follows four high school tenth-graders, who use their sophisticated knowledge of computers to become amateur detectives, solving crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Chicago Story is an NBC drama that aired in the spring of 1982.

Super Dave is a Canadian/American variety show starring and hosted by the fictional character Super Dave Osborne. It ran from 1987 to 1991 on Showtime in the US and the Global Television Network in Canada. Super Dave was spun off from the sketch comedy series Bizarre, which featured Bob Einstein in recurring roles, including Super Dave. Super Dave made his first appearance on the 1972 TV series The John Byner Comedy Hour. Einstein then regularly played the character on the short-lived 1976 variety show Van Dyke and Company starring Dick Van Dyke.

Called out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what happened. He begins to follow up the clues of his friends past days, discovering that the clues lead to a high person in the Russian Secret service, and a secret important enough to kill for.

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo and friends must return 13 ghosts which they inadvertently released to a magical chest. Together with Daphne and Scrappy-Doo, along with newcomer Flim-Flam, they travel the world facing the ghosts that must be returned to the chest.

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show is an animated television program produced by Filmation for MGM Television in 1980, on CBS for Saturday mornings. The show lasted one season and the individual episodes were eventually added to syndicated Tom and Jerry packages, and also occasionally appeared on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Most voices were done by Frank Welker and Lou Scheimer.

After a successful Canadian run as Second City TV on Global and SCTV on CBC, the cast packed up and moved to America (theoretically) when NBC offered them a timeslot under the title SCTV Network 90. With them, they brought their unique, quirky characters, their personalities, and the shows they had appeared on. Dick Blasucci had begun writing for the cast in their second series, SCTV, and joined them here, serving as a recurring straight man for the characters. Tony Rosato and Robin Duke wrote scripts at the beginning of the show as they had before, until quickly leaving to write and perform for Saturday Night Live. The appeal of SCTV Network 90, however, doesn't only come from the writing, but from the sheer wit of its legendary stars.

The Power, The Passion is an Australian television daytime soap opera produced by the Seven Network in 1989. The series was devised to lure audiences away from American imports such as The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless but failed to make an impact and was cancelled due to low ratings after 168 episodes. The cast included Kevin Miles, Olivia Hamnett, Ian Rawlings, Danny Roberts, Jill Forster, George Mallaby, Nick Carrafa, Allan Cassell, Ross Thompson, Jane Clifton, Jon Finlayson and Julian McMahon in his TV debut.

Button Nose is a little girl who is home alone for a few days when a robot comes to gather strawberries. She is so excited by his spaceship she accidentally starts it, and goes on a voyage to his planet. When she lands she is brought before the king, who is a distant relative of hers and invites her to spend some time on the planet.

St. Lawrence College, an all-girls school, breaks tradition by admitting three male students, including Wen Shu-sen. They become classmates with Wong Yuk-chu and Tong Ka-tai, initially experiencing teasing but eventually fitting in. The young people enjoy spending time together, playing pranks on their teachers and principal for fun, but a small incident tests their friendships and romances.

She's the Sheriff is an American sitcom created by Dan Guntzelman and Steve Marshall. Aired in syndication for two seasons from September 1987 to April 1989, the series stars Suzanne Somers as Hildy Granger, a young woman whose husband, the sheriff of fictional Lakes County, Nevada, is killed by a drunk driver. Now widowed with two teenage children to support, Hildy accepts the county commissioner's offer to appoint her as sheriff, despite her lack of relevant experience. The show focuses on her efforts to handle the daily problems of locals and tourists, while learning to work with her four deputies. In particular, Hildy has routine disagreements with Max Rubin, who sees her undeserving of the job.

Square One Television is an American children's television program produced by the Children's Television Workshop to teach mathematics and abstract mathematical concepts to young viewers. Created and broadcast by PBS in the United States from January 26, 1987 to November 6, 1992, the show was intended to address the math crisis among American schoolchildren. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns until May 6, 1994. The show was revived for the 1995–1996 PBS season as a teacher instruction program, Square One TV Math Talk. Square One was also shown on the U.S. cable television channel Noggin in syndication beginning in 1999, but was removed from its lineup along with other Sesame Workshop shows on May 26, 2003.

Helicopter skyrunner Anneka Rice races against the clock to find directions to treasure at locations worked out by studio guests from cryptic clues.

My Secret Identity was a Canadian television series starring Jerry O'Connell and Derek McGrath. Originally broadcast from October 9, 1988 – May 25, 1991 on CTV in Canada, the series also aired in syndication in the United States. The series won the 1989 International Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Programming for Children and Young People.

TV Pirata was a weekly Brazilian comedy show aired on Rede Globo between 1988 and 1990, being re-aired monthly in 1992. Some of the writers later went on to form the comedy troupe Casseta & Planeta. The show was first aired in April 1988 to fill a gap on Rede Globo's Tuesday night prime time line-up and its comedy was inspired by sketch comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live and Monty Python's Flying Circus with a no-nonsense approach to Brazilian comedy; however, it mixed a new style of comedy with elements of Brazilian culture such as football, politics, pop culture, telenovelas, economics and celebrities. No well-known figure or member of any economical or social class was spared from the show's cutting edge humor. The premise of the show was a TV studio being invaded by pirates who took over the programming department and put a tape on the air with some "unusual" programming. Another new element to Brazilian audiences was the performers, who weren't the usual comedic actors, but dramatic actors doing more comedic roles.

Calabash Brothers is a Chinese animation TV series produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as Bottle Gourd Brothers, Hulu Brothers, Seven Brothers and Pumpkin Brothers. In China, the series is popularly known as Huluwa.

Children's Ward is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its Children's ITV strand on weekday afternoons. The programme was set – as the title suggests – in Ward B1, the children's ward of the fictitious South Park Hospital, and told the stories of the young patients and the staff present there. Aimed at older children and teenagers, Children's Ward was a long-lived series for a children's drama, starting life in 1988 as a contribution to the Dramarama anthology strand, "Blackbird Singing In The Dead of Night", then first broadcast as a series 1989 and running from then until 2000. The series was conceived by Granada staff writers Paul Abbott and Kay Mellor, both of whom went on to enjoy successful careers as award-winning writers of adult television drama. At the time, they were both working on the soap opera Coronation Street, and had recently collaborated on a script for Dramarama. Abbott, who had been through a troubled childhood himself, had initially wanted to set the series in a children's care home rather than a hospital, but this was vetoed by Granada executives. During the course of its run, however, Children's Ward won many plaudits for covering difficult issues such as cancer, alcoholism, drug addiction and child abuse in a sensitive manner. The programme won many awards, including in 1996 a BAFTA Children's Award for Best Drama, won by an episode in which a serial killer lures children to him via the internet and is – highly unusually for children's television – not eventually caught.