R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) (1927 on radio, 1938 on TV)
Sadly nothing survives of either production beyond the listings in the Radio Times, but in February 1938 an excerpt of Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) was broadcast on the BBC’s fledgling television service. The play gave the English language the word “robot” and is widely credited as the first ever piece of television science-fiction. The BBC made a radio version in 1927, and would remake the play several times over the years in both mediums, including in 2022.
The Quatermass Experiment (1953)
Sometimes described as the first purpose-written sci-fi for adults on British television, Nigel Kneale delivered a series that was scientifically plausible, nerve-jangling and unlike anything the BBC had made before that point. Sadly much of the original is lost, as it was transmitted live. Follow-ups Quatermass II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit (1958) continued the adventures of professor Bernard Quatermass, and also spawned a series of film remakes.
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)
Kneale also had a hand in adapting Orwell’s novel for a TV production that has recently been restored, and which pitched Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Yvonne Mitchell and André Morell into the world of Airstrip One. It turned out to be an incredibly influential and ambitious adaptation, with scenes such as the Two Minutes Hate being indelible. As a result of the transmission, MPs in parliament questioned the BBC’s tendency on Sunday nights to pander to sexual and sadistic tastes.
Doctor Who (1963)
The BBC’s biggest contribution to science fantasy, with monsters, props and costumes from the show becoming British pop culture staples. The key moment came in 1966, when producers devised a way to swap William Hartnell for Patrick Troughton, ensuring that the format could continue for decades to come.
The Boy From Space (1971 and 1980)
One of a series of children’s adventures that were part of the BBC’s educational Look and Read strand, The Boy From Space and his creepy over-watcher “the thin man” was perhaps the most disturbing attempt to teach children to read of all time. Featuring alien boy Peep-Peep, it was re-edited and shown again in colour with new teaching segments in 1980. Other memorably odd tales in this strand included Dark Towers, Through The Dragon’s Eye and The Legend of the Lost Keys.
Blake’s 7 (1978)
Terry Nation had already given us the fascist Nazi allegory of the Daleks and the bleak dystopian Survivors. But with Blake’s 7 he excelled, by developing a show about a dysfunctional bunch of criminals in a hijacked spaceship turning into freedom fighters against an oppressive regime. The series was notable for having strong female leads among the main crew – Jenna (Sally Knyvette), Cally (Jan Chappell) and later Dayna (Josette Simon) all gave as good as they got – and in the shape of Jacqueline Pearce’s Servalan, space villainy had never seemed so glamorous. The series also delivered one of the greatest shock endings of all time.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1978 on radio, 1981 on television)
Douglas Adams’ masterpiece started as two six-part series broadcast on Radio 4. From there it branched out into a television version which featured cutting-edge graphics to depict the entries in the titular book.
A movie and further audio instalments have kept alive a universe where most things seem to exist not for the point of plot, but for exploring Adams’ philosophies on, well, life, the universe and everything. There is still an online community dedicated to writing the Earth sections of the guide today: h2g2.
Day of the Triffids (1981)
John Wyndham’s novels often get described as “cosy catastrophes”, but there was nothing cosy about this adaptation starring John Duttine and Emma Relph set in an abandoned and unruly London. The sound effects of the triffids can still raise the hairs on the back of the necks of people of a certain age.
A Very Peculiar Practice (1986)
With its silent delinquent nuns, the premise of a new young medic arriving at a university campus was turned by writer Andrew Davies into something that was at once a critique of higher education policies, completely surreal and dreamlike, and very funny with it. Hugh Grant and Kathy Burke popped up as guests alongside an incredibly strong central cast of Peter Davison, Barbara Flynn, Graham Crowden and David Troughton. It only lasted two quirky series (and one ill-conceived special set in Poland) but has remained fondly viewed.
Red Dwarf (1988)
Red Dwarf managed to be a delightful ensemble piece and an opportunity for creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor to gently explore science-fiction and fantasy ideas. The setting might have been an isolated spaceship populated by deeply flawed characters, but the audience were always encouraged to empathise with them, which was the key to its success. It lasted on the BBC until 1999, with a later transfer to Dave giving it a second lease of life.
Dark Season (1991)
Just six episodes of this were made, but the fact that they encompass the debut of Kate Winslet as an actor and the first original series by Russell T Davies have ensured continually strong DVD sales as three teenagers Marcie, Tom and Reet battle to unravel the dastardly plans of the secretive Mr Eldritch.
Ghostwatch (1992)
It was clearly billed and introduced as a scripted drama, but if you tuned into it late there was no way to know that you weren’t witnessing a live broadcast genuinely go horribly and hauntingly wrong. Brilliantly cast with the perfect mix of Michael Parkinson’s in-studio gravitas and the exuberance of Craig Charles and Sarah Greene on “location”, like Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds and the Sex Pistols Free Trade Hall gig, the panic it caused and the number of people who claim to have seen it live may have been exaggerated, but it invented a whole genre of paranormal investigation television. The BBC has never shown a repeat.
Neverwhere (1996)
Created by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, it only comprised six episodes but the magical realm of “London Below” has continued to spawn spin-off media. Gaiman’s television projects may have gone on to bigger and better things including Good Omens and The Sandman, but Neverwhere remains a fascinating capsule of where TV fantasy drama was in the UK in the mid-90s.
Importing a lot of cult TV during the 90s
In a world in which Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ seem to be splurging millions on new cult and fantasy shows every week, it is difficult to remember that BBC Two was once the home for cult US imports for the majority of British viewers. Even as BSkyB hoovered up the rights, the BBC still found itself giving terrestrial premieres to Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files, Twin Peaks and more. As strange as it seems now, edited versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer even ended up with a coveted tea-time slot at 6.45pm.
The BBC online cult website (early 00s)
Before being pruned by DCMS edict, the BBC’s online presence including the much-missed bbc.co.uk/cult section, which provided not just a home for the odder bits of BBC output but also a pre-social media message board community for cult fans, and delivered new Sherlock Holmes short stories, animated webcasts including Richard E Grant’s short-lived turn as Doctor Who, and the start of Amber Benson’s Ghosts of Albion empire.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015)
Is a novel unfilmable if it relies on recasting 19th-century England as a place where magic was real and a veritable influence on the course of the Napoleonic wars? The BBC had a good crack at this, treating Susanna Clarke’s stylistic novel as if it were a set costume drama text rather than a recent bestseller, with Marc Warren in particular standing out as The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair.
Creeped Out (2017)
Doing the groundwork for the next generation of weird kids to want to write nostalgic lists like this in 40 years’ time, this horror anthology series essentially tries to answer the question: “What if we made Black Mirror, but for adolescents?” The stories cleverly address the modern anxieties of being a teenager and manage to deliver creeps, shocks and moral messages around technology, parents and relationships.
Uncanny (2022)
Of late, Danny Robins has cornered the market for cult podcasts on the BBC. Uncanny, his follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Battersea Poltergeist, features a potent mix of people in the first person talking about their paranormal experiences, followed by scientific sceptics and eager believers trying to explain them. With a new podcast, The Witch Farm beginning, and theatre hit 2.22 under his belt, a transfer to Robins making television seems inevitable.
