British TV produced some exciting, character-motivated dramas from the 50s to the 70s.
Amongst the talent involved when British TV was at its most creative, were the following actors: Sean Connery, Albert Finney, Alan Bates, Robert Shaw, Ian Hendry, Patrick McGoohan, Stanley Baker, Rupert Davies, Billie Whitelaw, Barry Foster, Ian Holm, Michael Caine, Vivien Merchant, Diana Rigg.
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- StarsHarry H. CorbettPaul Whitsun-JonesBillie WhitelawThis show was a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and from mid-1968 by Thames Television.A landmark series for British television, covering a wide number of genres. The acting and writing are exceptional.
- StarsDonald PleasenceIan HendryThomas HeathcoteArmchair Mystery Theatre is a 60-minute United Kingdom television anthology mystery series. Thirty-four episodes aired from 1960-65. It was hosted by Donald Pleasence and produced by Leonard White.
- StarsJill BrowneCharles 'Bud' TingwellFrederick BartmanSet in Oxbridge General Hospital, this soap opera focused equally on the lives and loves of its medical staff and the pressure of their work.
- StarsRaymond FrancisEric LanderJohnny BriggsTales of Scotland Yard centering on a detective team. A sort of halfway house between "Dixon of Dock Green" and "'Z' Cars." The detectives are still 1950s-style with good elocution and authoritative manner. A range of classic cases but gritty it isn't. Each case centres on one crime and one criminal.
- StarsCampbell SingerThomas HeathcoteRichard CaldicotRichard O. Sullivan as a child genius in the play "Honour Bright".
- CreatorJames MitchellStarsEdward WoodwardRussell HunterLisa LangdonDavid Callan is the security service's main agent/killer.The greatest Spy TV show of them all.
- CreatorAnthony MarriottRoger MarshallStarsAlfred BurkeRay SmithPauline DelaneyCynical, dour and world-weary, private eye Frank Marker is frequently the unwitting stooge in bigger criminal wheels in his attempts to make a tenuous living on the outskirts of London.Alfred Burke made the leading character his own. A fine series that represents real life as it tends to be.
- CreatorRobert BarrStarsJon LaurimoreGillian WrayMichael BlackhamLondon millionaire playboy James Hadleigh returns to his Yorkshire birthplace and buys a local newspaper his father founded, intending to turn it into a relevant force for change against the wishes of its plodding editor, Frank Walters.An introduction to the character of Hadleigh.
- CreatorRobert BarrStarsGerald HarperPeter DennisAmbrosine PhillpottsJames Hadleigh is the squire of the village in this series created by Robert Barr.
- StarsFrank WindsorNorman BowlerDavid Lloyd Meredith1970s BBC police drama with experienced cops DCS Charlie Barlow and DS John Watt who lead a task force charged with tackling the toughest cases Thamesford has to offer.Very effective.
- StarsJohn PaulJoby BlanshardSimon OatesDoomwatch is the nickname for the Department of Measurement of Scientific Work. Under the leadership of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. Spencer Quist, the Doomwatch team struggled, for three seasons, to keep an eye on the environment and supervise government and private sector research in an attempt to prevent pollution and other disasters that might be caused by the misuse of new scientific developments, discoveries and technology. While confronting dangers ranging from a plastic-eating bacteria to a hyper-intelligent species of rats, from mind-destroying sound waves to toxic wastes and genetic mutations, the Doomwatch team always found themselves under the gun, from unsupportive governmental superiors, and openly hostile corporations, and the powerful influences they could wield. The Doomwatch team initially consisted of Quist, former intelligence agent Dr. John Ridge, eager young researcher Toby Wren, technician and computer specialist Colin Bradley, and secretary Pat Hunnisett. During the subsequent seasons there would be a high turnover rate in Doomwatch membership, with only Quist, Ridge, and Bradley surviving all three seasons.The existing episodes are great, full marks for writing and acting.
- StarsDerren NesbittGeorge SewellMorris PerryGroundbreaking British police drama series following the exploits of the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police: an elite group of officers tasked with protecting London from spies, terrorists, and subversives.Early episodes are very good. The later ones are a bit chequered.
- CreatorIan Kennedy MartinStarsJohn ThawDennis WatermanGarfield MorganJack Regan and George Carter are hard-edged detectives in the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police. They pursue villains by methods which are underhanded and often illegal, frequently violent and - more often than not - successful.The series that gave British TV a brand new look. Still influential.
- StarsJohn ThawTom BellJames LaurensonBritish television drama anthology series of single plays.No surprise that "Regan" was the only one to become a series.
- StarsDerek FrancisAlfred BurkeArthur HewlettAn anthology series from the U.K., from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television.
- StarsRobin ChadwickDonald SindenPaul MoriartyAnthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television.
- StarsGeoffrey MatthewsBrian VaughanEwan MacDuffEach episode is based on a true-crime case with the names changed.
- StarsEdgar LustgartenMichael HordernKenneth BendaSeries of courtroom dramas introduced by criminologist Edgar Lustgarten.Interesting follow-up to "Scotland Yard."
- StarsDavid BuckMark MossFreddie Jones"Mystery and Imagination" was a UK hosted horror anthology series running from 1966 until 1970 with host David Buck as "Richard Beckett". who was a romantic young Victorian adventurer always had a tale to tell.
- CreatorSydney NewmanStarsEdwin BrownNeville SmithTony SelbySeries of one-off plays made by BBC television, which gave breaks to a wide range of writers and directors in the late 1960s, such as Dennis Potter, Ken Loach, David Mercer, and John Hopkins. Famous plays include "Up the Junction", "Cathy Come Home" , "Stand Up Nigel Barton", "Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton", "On the Eve of Publication", and "Son of Man". The series often addressed controversial issues, such as homelessness and abortion.
- StarsAlison SteadmanNigel HawthorneDavid DakerBBC anthology series featuring original plays, theatrical and literary adaptations from 1970-1984. Over 300 episodes aired, each 50 mins to 1 hr 40 mins long. Some were later developed into series, like Rumpole of the Bailey.
- StarsPeter VaughanPeter BarkworthDouglas WilmerAdaptations of mystery stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's contemporary rivals in the genre.Holmes himself would be flattered.
- StarsNigel StockPeter CushingDouglas WilmerA series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, based on the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
- StarsBruce SetonRobert RaglanPhilip DaleDramatization of murder investigations and other criminal cases that Detective Superintendent Robert Fabian, a real-life Scotland Yard Inspector and the host of the show, worked on.