Items27The creator’s order
  1. 1The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) 8.4/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 1, 1970The decade's history boom starts here. Six feature-length plays, each by a different writer and each devoted to one queen, so the tone shifts from political chess to marital tragedy as you go. Keith Michell ages from eager young king to bloated tyrant across the run, and the performance won him the…0
  2. 2Elizabeth R (1971)Elizabeth R (1971) 8.6/10 on IMDbFirst aired Feb 17, 1971Glenda Jackson plays Elizabeth I from a frightened princess to a white-faced old queen, and the performance is reason enough to watch all six 85-minute plays. She won two Emmys for it, and the serial took the Emmy for best dramatic series in 1972. The approach is close to filmed theater: long…0
  3. 3Upstairs, Downstairs (1971)Upstairs, Downstairs (1971) 8.4/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 10, 1971The 1971 original, not the 2010 revival. Before Downton Abbey there was 165 Eaton Place, and this is still the better-written version of the idea: 68 episodes following one Belgravia household from 1903 to 1930, with the servants' hall given as much weight as the drawing room. It began as an idea…0
  4. 4The Onedin Line (1971)The Onedin Line (1971) 7.6/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 15, 1971Family saga at its most satisfying: Peter Gilmore's ruthless James Onedin builds a Liverpool shipping line from a single schooner, with the story running from 1860 to 1886 across 91 episodes. Real sailing ships at sea give it a scale few studio dramas of the time could manage. It is a commitment,…0
  5. 5Colditz (1972)Colditz (1972) 8.3/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 19, 1972The 1972 BBC series, not the 2005 remake. What lifts it above a boys'-own escape caper is how seriously it takes the boredom, rivalries and strain of years spent locked in a castle. Major Pat Reid, the real British escape officer at Colditz, advised on the series, and the schemes have the fiddly…0
  6. 6The Sweeney (1975)The Sweeney (1975) 8.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 2, 1975This is where British cop shows left the studio. Euston Films shot The Sweeney on 16mm film almost entirely on location, so London itself, all scrapyards, pubs and half-demolished streets, becomes part of the cast. John Thaw's Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman's George Carter of the Flying Squad bend…0
  7. 7Survivors (1975)Survivors (1975) 8.0/10 on IMDbFirst aired Apr 16, 1975The 1975 BBC original, not the 2008 remake. Terry Nation's premise is brutal: a plague kills roughly 4,999 of every 5,000 people, and the handful left in rural England must work out how to grow food, make medicine and govern each other. What makes it hold up is how practical it gets. There are no…0
  8. 8Days of Hope (1975)Days of Hope (1975) 8.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 11, 1975The history drama for anyone who wants politics instead of costumes. Days of Hope follows a working-class family from 1916 to the General Strike of 1926, and Jim Allen's scripts, Tony Garnett's production and Ken Loach's direction make it the decade's angriest look back. It began as a single…0
  9. 9Poldark (1975)Poldark (1975) 8.3/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 5, 1975The 1975 Poldark, not the 2015 remake. Robin Ellis plays Ross Poldark, home in late 18th-century Cornwall and trying to revive the family's derelict copper mines, and Angharad Rees's Demelza is the warmest, sharpest performance in the show. Next to the remake it is slower and more interior, with…0
  10. 10When the Boat Comes In (1976)When the Boat Comes In (1976) 8.4/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 8, 1976James Bolam's Jack Ford is one of the great charming chancers of British TV: a First World War veteran who comes home to the fictional North East town of Gallowshield and talks, hustles and organizes his way up, never quite on the side you expect. James Mitchell wrote most of the episodes, and the…0