Reading that Broadchurch thread where people are fawning over a bang average ITV telly drama got me thinking about what the best ever have been, so i decided to knock up bit of a list for you all to ignore...

- Goodnight Sweetheart won't feature as although respected critics argue it's a brilliant dramatic portrayal of both 90s and 40s life from Lyndhurst, it's essentially a sitcom high on both a situation and comedy.

- Corrie won't feature either, though of course everyone should try to investigate the 1960s & 70s episodes at some point.

- serials only. no standalone drama episodes or films, like Cathy Come Home, Poor Cow, Made in Britain, The Naked Civil Servant, An Englishman Abroad, etc, etc, but they're all great.

- nothing set in Roman times, nothing periodic, nothing about the army or lesbians.

- no lengthy discourse, you're just going to get a title, a brief description, link to some info and a Youtube clip.

- there will be at least one startling ommision as i've done it largely from memory, and at least two surprise entries as i could only really think of eighteen.

you're welcome.