The big list: Frequently asked questions
Who made the selection of 650?
This selection of 650 tv programmes was created by a group of bfi personnel who work specifically in the area of television. It is the result of a great deal of discussion and is by no means definitive.
Who voted on the titles in this list to make the bfi TV 100?
Members of the television industry throughout the UK were asked to vote for their favourite programmes on the list.
Each voter was given 30 votes to distribute among the six categories as they wished, subject to casting a minimum three votes in each category.
Were voters only allowed to choose from the list?
No. The TV industry voters were given spaces to write in favourite programmes in all six of the genres, and votes for these were counted alongside votes for the listed programmes.
Some of the news stories seemed obvious - the moon landing, fall of the Berlin Wall, Tiananmen Square, the release of Nelson Mandela - but what was important: the event or the coverage? What made them important in terms of British television history, rather than 'just' history itself? In the end we decided to exclude them altogether, though some particularly televisual outside broadcasts remain - how could we leave out the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales?
Why are there no sporting events?
Sport was a similar, indeed larger, problem, with the added complication of individual bias. Yes, England's 1966 World Cup win should be there, but it's perhaps not quite so fondly remembered in Scotland. So the same ruthlessness was applied and you will not find any sports programmes or events in this selection.
What about series which contain separate programmes?
The basic questions we asked ourselves was: is it the series that is important or individual programmes? and, how do we differentiate? We do not think this is a soluble problem, so we've used what seems to us to be common sense, based on what you might expect to find on such a list. There were some necessary anomalies: For example, Panorama is represented as a series title on its own, as well as by particular programmes, including the Diana interview; and This Week is there as a significant series as well as Death on the Rock as a particularly important edition; but Nationwide and Newsnight are just there as series titles. On the other hand, you will not find 40 Minutes or Cutting Edge represented as series titles, though you will find individual editions, such as The Fishing Party and Graham Taylor: The Impossible Job.
Although this selection of 650 shows is meant to represent the entire range of British television from the beginnings of the BBC to the end of the television century, a substantial body of programming is missing. These are the programmes which no longer exist in the official collections. We excluded them from consideration for two reasons: firstly, nobody will have had a chance to see them and assess them recently and many will not have seen them at all; and secondly we want to be able to illustrate the results of this poll. So, every programme or series listed here is represented in the archives, even though, in many cases like Till Death Us Do Part or Dixon of Dock Green, much of the original material is, alas, lost.
We took the decision very early that the bfi TV 100 was to be a British list, so there are no titles from the USA, Europe or elsewhere, even though some of these are amongst the most fondly remembered and had an enormous impact on British television. Industry voters were given the opportunity to choose one top overseas programme, which will be annnounced alongside the TV 100 itself.
