BFI TV 100

This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (December 2019)

The British Film Institute television programme poll was conducted in the year 2000,^{[citation needed]} and its results are reflected in the list that appears in a following section. Initially, a 'big list' of 650 programmes was drawn up by BFI personnel.^[2] Television programmes no longer extant in the archives were excluded from consideration.^{[citation needed]} The provisional list was split into six categories: Single Dramas, Drama Series and Serials, Comedy and Variety, Factual, Children's/Youth, and Lifestyle & Light Entertainment.^{[citation needed]} Some programmes were represented in the list by an entire series; however, for some series—e.g., the anthology The Wednesday Play and the current affairs programme This Week—individual episodes were listed.^{[citation needed]} News stories were mostly excluded, with exceptions such as the coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (on the basis that it would be impossible to determine whether it was the coverage or the news itself that made them important).^{[citation needed]} Sport was excluded for similar reasons, and also because many events such as the 1966 World Cup, while important to those in England, would not necessarily matter to those in other areas of the UK.^{[citation needed]}

The provisional list of 650 was then distributed to 1,600 television industry professionals in the UK, who were each given 30 votes.^[2] Each voter was required to cast a minimum of three votes in every category.^{[citation needed]} The judges were also asked to name their top overseas programme (where the U.S. sitcom Frasier was chosen).^[2]

The following are the results of the poll, as reported by the BFI and other sources.^{[clarification needed]} Because the list reports decisions made in the year 2000, programmes and series are presented as they were perceived in that year; as such, ones not yet having concluded by the year 2000 are presented as having an open-ended date span in the "Year(s)" column, even if they have subsequently ended.^{[verification needed]} The Genre column, added to the original table, may have a lot of crossover genres and is intended as guide to the "main" genre of each programme.

BBC led broadcasters in terms of numbers of programmes/series produced, with 70. Granada Television was the second most represented with 7, and Thames Television and Channel 4 tied for third with 6 each. Central produced four of the listed titles, while ATV produced two, and London Weekend Television, ABC Weekend TV and Associated-Rediffusion produced one each.

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