ITV at 60

In September 1955 the commercial channel ITV was launched, marking a new era for British television.

Knightmare (1988)

Knightmare (1988)

While BFI Southbank’s Breaking the Mould: ITV at 60 season looks at its groundbreaking early years, in Mediatheques around the UK you can watch over 250 programmes broadcast by ITV, from its inception into the 21st century. The selection we highlight here is just a taster of the huge breadth of material available – from single dramas, epic serials and kids’ TV to hard-hitting documentaries and arts programming. ITV has also been home to some of our most iconic soaps, including Coronation Street, Crossroads and Emmerdale, and devotees of the genre will find classic episodes aplenty in our dedicated collection ‘Soap Bubbles.’

Ten to try

Mayfair Merry-Go-Round (1954)

A rare curio from ITV’s pre-history: Catherine ‘Katie’ Boyle shows off the new channel’s advertising potential with this fashion-focused mock-up of a magazine show, a format later dubbed the ‘admag.’

South (1959)

Peter Wyngarde faces up to his demons on an American plantation in this early surviving Play of the Week, originally broadcast live.

Emergency – Ward 10 (1964)

This influential marriage of soap opera and medical drama follows the lives and loves of the staff at Oxbridge General Hospital.

The Owl Service (1970)

A Welsh myth threatens to possess three teenagers holidaying in a North Wales valley in this controversial eight-part adaptation of Alan Garner’s novel.

Johnny Go Home (1975)

This award-winning documentary following the lives of young homeless children in London shocked the nation on broadcast.

The Jewel in the Crown (1984)

Sex, class and scandal in the final days of the Raj: all 14 parts of Granada’s epic serial, based on Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet.

Knightmare (1988)

Kids’ TV entered the era of computer gaming with this cutting-edge (now cult) swords-and-sorcery game show.

Cracker (1993)

Robbie Coltrane makes his debut as Manchester psychologist-detective Fitz in two-parter ‘The Mad Woman in the Attic.’

Blur: End of a Century (1999)

Damon Albarn and bandmates revisit their Colchester roots in this edition of LWT’s long-running South Bank Show arts strand.

Housewife, 49 (2006)

A memorably moving wartime drama about a real-life Barrow housewife, written by and starring Victoria Wood.

Back to the top

See something different

Subscribe now for exclusive offers and the best of cinema.
Hand-picked.