The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

Is God really the giver of second chances? Can He take a worthless, selfish, self-serving and self-centered, drug addicted broken down life and restore it with forgiveness, mercy and love? Is he able to guide and direct someone facing hopelessly seeming impossible circumstances, and lead them through to amazing grace? TAKE TWO is the True Story about a decadent Hollywood film producer who bottoms out in Los Angeles California and loses everything. Frustrated that he continues to wake up every morning to his same failed life he decides to leave L.A. to seek a new life, only to quickly realize he has taken himself with him. In the beginning of his trek he meets a beautiful young woman in a small bar in Wyoming. Unaware that she is already married and has children, they have a one-night affair that leads to the birth of a baby girl.

The teenage daughter of a Brooklyn beauty-parlor owner blossoms under the influence of her recently-returned show-biz aunt.

Writers of crime fiction and nonfiction discuss influential movies about police officers and the criminal element.

A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it's too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.

From double BAFTA nominated Writer and Director John Walsh. Monarch is part fact, part fiction and unfolds around one night when the injured ruler arrives at a manor house closed for the season.

Was there really a Robin Hood? Did he steal from the rich and give to the poor? This History Channel program revisits the popular legend of the valiant folk hero, revealing Robin's true origins as a composite of multiple figures from the distant past, reviewing their amazing exploits, and seeking insights from historians as well as cast members of the 2010 adventure film "Robin Hood" and its director, Ridley Scott.

This documentary is a three-part tribute to director Guru Dutt, who died in 1964 at the age of 39. The work traces Guru Dutt's personal story through many interviews with his family members and colleagues and observes his work through the use of extensive film excerpts. The documentary was produced by the British television network Channel 4 producer Nasreen Munni Kabir.

Joe believed in right and wrong until... His job outsourced to India. His teaser rate spiked. His wife bailed. But Joe has a plan...to get it all back, and more. Joe returns home, to the last place on planet Earth where real men can be found...Chicago. Joe's Uncle Dominic is "connected". Joe wants in...to The Mob, or "The Outfit", as it is called in Chicago. And he'll do anything to make it happen. Can a wanna-be wise guy live a long and happy life ? A way cool element of The Return of Joe Rich is amazing HD documentary footage of 10 real-life "Chicago Guys" ages 73 to 89. These "guys" found themselves in the same predicament, in real life, in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's, that Joe does today. They form a "Greek Chorus" which inter-cuts with the present day narrative of The Return of Joe Rich. Written by Sam Auster

Documentary that delves deep into the life and storied exploits of the iconic Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, as well as the volatile and highly influential era in gangsta rap he presided over. Through a series of interviewers face to face with director Antoine Fuqua, Knight reveals exactly how it all happened and why it all fell apart. Knight is currently in jail pending trial on murder, attempted-murder and hit-and-run charges.

A celebration of John Cleese and Connie Booth's acclaimed sitcom following the misadventures of Torquay hotel owner Basil Fawlty. The programme explores its phenomenal success, with a selection of its finest moments, and contributions from fans, experts and supporting cast members.

Matt Lucas celebrates 50 years of The Mr Men and Little Misses, telling the amazing story of the colourful little characters who changed global publishing forever.

Boom-a-Bang: 50 Years of Eurovision is an one hour documentary that aired on BBC One on 16 May 2006. The programme celebrates 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest and was presented and narrated by long serving Eurovision commentator Terry Wogan including a guest appearance from the UK representative for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, Daz Sampson, as well as archive footage from previous UK and other entries.

From Raymond Baxter live on Tomorrow's World testing a new-fangled bulletproof vest on a nervous inventor to Doctor Who's contemporary spin on the War on Terror, British television and the Great British public have been fascinated with the brave new world offered up by science on TV. Narrated by Robert Webb, this documentary takes a fantastic, incisive and funny voyage through the rich heritage of science TV in the UK, from real science programmes (including The Sky At Night, Horizon, Tomorrow's World, The Ascent of Man) to science-fiction (such as The Quatermass Experiment, Doctor Who, Doomwatch, Blake's 7, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), to find out what it tells us about Britain over the last 60 years.

As Take That, one of Britain's most successful and best-loved bands, mark their 30th anniversary, they are celebrated in this special one-off programme. It features fans from all over the country, and beyond, sharing their stories of how the band touched their lives - and in some cases, changed their world completely. This most successful boy band in UK chart history are reunited, with Robbie Williams joining them to share favourite memories as they reflect on three decades in the spotlight. It also offers up candid, previously unseen material that they shot over the years. There is also a reunion for the boys' biggest fans of all - the five, proud Take That mums. The band takes us on a guided tour of significant Take That locations, with some memorable fan surprises along the way. With a glimpse of their preparations for their anniversary album, we also see them in the studio with Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb.

After his own daughter was killed in Panama in 1994, former CIA agent Calvin Dexter became a private 'specialist' in cases which wouldn't reach justice trough the regular legal channels. Two years later he accepts to find Richard 'Ricky' Edmunds for his pa, influential rich businessman Stephen Edmonds. Ricky for a private Canadian war victims charity in Bosnia and went missing. Dexter discovers Ricky was beaten to pulp and drowned for no other crime then helping street boys from the other side by Zoran Zilic and his Serbian paramilitary 'order'. He offers Steven to 'finish the job' as such war criminals don't go to trial. But deputy CIA director Paul Devereaux cares only for a nuclear arms project he wants to use Zilic for. So CIA troubleshooter Frank McBride is ordered to protect him and handle Dexter.

Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on British Channel 4 from 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode featured a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining the process in layman's terms. This team of specialists changed throughout the series' run, although has consistently included professional archaeologists such as Mick Aston, Carenza Lewis, Francis Pryor and Phil Harding. The sites excavated over the show's run have ranged in date from the Palaeolithic right through to the Second World War.

Enemy At The Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War. The programme generated a certain amount of criticism in Guernsey, particularly for being obviously filmed on Jersey despite being ostensibly set on Guernsey. The series also marked the TV debut of Anthony Head as a member of the island resistance. The theme music was by Wilfred Josephs.

The Old Grey Whistle Test is an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970, while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers. According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys—doormen in grey suits. The songs they could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test.

Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network. It starred John Thaw as Sergeant John Mann, a member of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police and ran for two series and 26 episodes between 1964 and 1966, being about 50 minutes in a 60 minute time slot. Surprisingly for a 1960s ABC Weekend Television programme, 23 of the 26 episodes still exist.

Britain's Best Sitcom was a poll conducted in 2004 by the BBC, to identify the United Kingdom's best sitcom. Viewers were asked to vote for their favourite by phone, text message and on the web. The top ten went forward to a final round of voting. Ten, one hour long programmes were made before the final round, each about one of the Top 10, the programmes consisting of a celebrity speaking on behalf of their chosen sitcom as well as interviews with the stars and people that made it. Each of these programmes consisted of the celebrity advocating the sitcom giving a list of reasons as to why viewers should vote for the sitcom being advocated, as well as featuring plugs from other famous fans of each sitcom. Jonathan Ross hosted the countdown show.

Man on Earth is a four-part British documentary television series presented by Tony Robinson. The programme documents the effects of climate change across 200,000 years of human history. The series premiered 7 December 2009 on Channel 4 with 1.4 million viewers. Accompanying Robinson to help explain the science are archaeologist Dr. Jago Cooper and climate modeller Dr. Joy Singarayer.

Embarrassing Bodies is a British television programme broadcast by Channel 4 and made by Maverick Television since 2007. In 2011, an hour long live show was introduced, "Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic", which makes use of Skype technology. Various spin-offs have been produced in relation to the programme to target different patients, such as Embarrassing Fat Bodies and Embarrassing Teenage Bodies. The show has a strong multiplatform presence on web and mobile.

Race to Mars is a 2007 Canadian television mini-series about a fictitious mission to Mars that is based on contemporary international research. The first part aired on Discovery Channel Canada and its High Definition channel on September 23, 2007 and the second part on September 30. It was produced in association with Galafilm Inc. William Shatner narrates the miniseries. A companion book of the same title, written by Dana Berry, was also published in September 2007. It was offered as a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. Mars Rising, a companion 6-episode documentary mini-series, aired from October 7 to October 21, 2007, using sequences shot for Race to Mars.

Educating … is a British documentary television programme produced by Twofour for Channel 4 that has run since 2011. It uses a fly on the wall format to show the everyday lives of the staff and students of various secondary schools around the UK; interspersed with interviews of those involved and featuring narration from the director and interviewer, David Clews. Filmed on location at schools in Harlow, Dewsbury, Walthamstow, Cardiff and Salford respectively, there have been six series to date: Educating Essex (2011), Educating Yorkshire (2013), Educating the East End (2014), Educating Cardiff (2015) and Educating Greater Manchester 1 & 2 (2017 and 2020).

The series looked back at British lifestyle television programmes shown on the channel from across the decades, with episodes on the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s.

Dickinson's Real Deal is an ITV, UK modern antiques and collectables television programme presented by David Dickinson. It is broadcast on ITV as part of the afternoon schedule, and is repeated on sister channel ITV3. An American version of the show, simply titled Real Deal, was aired for one series on History, produced by Zodiak USA. The elements are the same except that the US show lacks the on-screen host for intervention on the deals.

A British television quiz programme hosted by Mike Read that originally aired on BBC1 from 4 July 1981 to 28 December 1984, with a Top of the Pops special on 4 January 1994. It was then revived from 21 May to 9 July 1994 on the same channel but this time with Chris Tarrant in charge.

The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am. The series characterises itself as "Britain's brightest daytime show", which "gives ordinary people the chance to talk and comment on everything from the invasion of Iraq to social, emotional and even sexual issues back at home", as well as featuring "showbiz stars and media commentators". The Wright Stuff has been nominated as "Best Daytime Programme" at both the Royal Television Society and the National Television Awards. The show first aired on 11 September 2000 and was created at Anglia Television who produced it for two years until their takeover by Granada. It is now produced by Princess Productions who also produced the short-lived The Vanessa Show.

Heritage Crafts President HRH The Prince of Wales has lent his name to a new series, The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation, set to spotlight Britain’s rich heritage of traditional crafts. Backed by Heritage Crafts and The Prince’s Foundation who put forward the featured experts from amongst Heritage Crafts members, the series sees a selection of top amateur craftspeople take on a variety of crafting challenges to supercharge their skills before each of them creates a final showcase piece to present to His Royal Highness in person.