On November 2, 1982 at 4:44 PM (see what they did there?), Speaker Paul Coia said, “Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be able to say: welcome to Channel 4.” This multi-colored 4 logo has just appeared on our screens for the first time, voiced by a four-note musical identification titled Fourscore. That’s a lot of fours.
Over the next four decades, the terrestrial broadcaster broadcast pioneering drama, nurtured comedic talent, championed cutting-edge journalism and created endlessly exquisite factual formats. Reality! Dating! Food! Property! Post pub filth! More dating, this time with gratuitous nudity!
To celebrate the station’s landmark anniversary, we’ve selected its 40 best shows. Only domestic originals, rather than imports or acquisitions – which excludes American comedies like Friends, Frasier and Sex and the City, or dramas like Lost, ER, Homeland and The Handmaid’s Tale, plus buy-ins like Taskmaster or Bake Off. Well, that’s fair. Anyway, it’s a pleasure to say: welcome to the best bits of Channel 4…
40. Countdown (1982-present)
“Loud, please, Carol!” … Countdown. Photo: Channel 4
One from the bottom of this chart, please, Carol. The first show aired on the channel is still going strong. An afternoon meal loved by pensioners, students and Twitter meme makers alike.
39. GBH (1991)
Alan Bleasdale’s saga of the state of the Labor Party, partly based on the Derek Hatton case, pitted corrupt councilor Robert Lindsay against principled director Michael Palin. Both were superb, as was the Elvis Costello soundtrack.
38. The Inbetweeners (2008-2010)
Ooh, fwend … The Inbetweeners. Photo: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy
Puller on the bus! Stick it! Oh fwend! The Rudge Park Comprehensive quartet were highly cited and featured in two hit film spin-offs. We were spoiled for choice when it came to Channel 4 sitcoms, with (deep breath) Black Books, Nathan Barley, We Are Lady Parts, Friday Night Dinner, Chewing Gum, Stath Lets Flats, This Way Up and Drop the Dead Donkey narrowly the incision is missing. Suburban sixth graders beat them through sheer cultural ubiquity.
37. Grand Designs (1999-present)
Kevin McCloud’s housing series has proved the most enduring of Channel 4’s stable of properties since 2000, which includes Property Ladder and Location, Location, Location. Watch with a mixture of envy and gloating as ambitious architectural projects miss deadlines and blow budgets while Kev tries to look cute in a helmet.
36. The Autopsy (2002)
He was warned it was illegal but went ahead anyway… The autopsy. Photo: Channel 4
Channel 4 is no stranger to controversy. In fact, they know each other intimately. Over the decades it brought us the transgressive Red Triangle, the week-long heroin-stopping series Going Cold Turkey, Drugs Live: The Ecstasy Trial, Naked Attraction, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and the mercifully short-lived Wank Week. This sensational canon also includes anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who performs the first public autopsy in Britain for 170 years in front of a live audience and television cameras. The hatted professor was warned it was illegal but aired anyway, attracting a record number of complaints from Ofcom. Pass the scalpel. Actually don’t.
35. Vic Reeves’ Big Night (1990-1991)
Vic and Bob’s surreal variety show made alternative cabaret cool again—comedy really was the new rock and roll—and proved hugely influential. That’s right, they just weren’t going to let him lie.
34. One born every minute (2010-2018)
The maternity wall favorite blazed a trail for the channel’s successful streak of intimate “fixed platform” docuseries. It was followed by 24 hours in the ER, 24 hours in police custody, and 24 hours out of Tulsa. Okay, maybe not the last one.
33. Alternative Christmas Message (1993-present)
Ddeepfake Queen … this could just be the alternative Christmas message. Photo: Channel 4/PA
This tradition began in 1993 with self-proclaimed Queen Quentin Crisp appointed against the actual monarch. Now that’s a holiday fixture. Speakers since then have included Doreen and Neville Lawrence, Edward Snowden, Ali G, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Marge Simpson, Danny Dyer and a deep fake Elizabeth II.
Channel 4 tends to leave sport to stations with deeper pockets. Two notable exceptions were the iconic 2005 Ashes and James Richardson’s Serie A weekly show, which introduced a generation to calcio, cultured pundits and pavement cafe cappuccinos. Vote!
31. A Very British Coup (1988)
Alan Plater’s conspiracy thriller follows the rise of hard-left Labor leader Harry Perkins (Ray McAnally) to 10 Downing Street, only to find his policies thwarted by power. He won four BAFTAs and an Emmy and proved eerily prescient about Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s still a Channel 4 recording… of Desmond. Photo: Channel 4
Oh, Porkpie. The warm, gossipy sitcom, set in a Peckham barbershop and featuring a mainly British-Guyanese cast, ran for 71 episodes – still a Channel 4 record. As creator Trix Worrell proudly noted, it was also the first time a black business was seen on screens in the UK.
29. Yorkshire Education (2013)
Using the ‘fixed platform’ technique and working with it, embedded cameras followed the daily events at Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury. Watch a fascinating story as shy student Musharraf is coached to overcome his stutter by English teacher Mr. Burton. Other series went to secondary schools in Essex, London, Cardiff and Salford.
A wink-wink digest of continental quirks… Eurotrash. Photo: Channel 4
Bonsoir my British friends! In the pre-internet era, Antoine de Connes and Jean-Paul Gaultier’s digest of continental oddities drew a late-night Friday audience of 3 million, hoping for gratuitous nudity and usually getting it.
27. Derren Brown: Mind Control (2000-2003)
The Mentalist confounded us with his mix of “magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship.” Brown turned to one-off specials, with 2003’s Russian Roulette being condemned by police and a 2004 séance drawing hundreds of complaints.
The late Robbie Coltrane gave a terrific performance in Jack Thorne’s Yewtree-inspired drama about a beloved comedian accused of historical rape. A hauntingly ambiguous treatise on sex, power and celebrity.
25. Come Dine With Me (2005-present)
“What a sad little life, Jane.” The nondescript dinner competition became a surprise success, exported to 42 countries around the world. Show your appreciation by popping a bubble wand in your mouth.
Messrs. Buxton and Cornish’s sketch show featured Toymovies, BaaadDad, Vinyl Justice and all manner of mischief. Unashamedly amateur, but full of charm and ingenuity, this was cult television at its purest.
23. Utopia (2013-2014)
Bold and captivating… Utopia. Photo: Ryan McNamara/Channel 4
Where… is… Jessica Hyde? Dennis Kelly’s conspiracy thriller was compellingly plotted and boldly shot, with convulsive bursts of ultra-violence. Two words: eyeball, teaspoon.
22. Faking It (2000-2006)
Ex-naval officer becomes drag queen in Faking It. Photo: Channel 4
Classical cellist turned home DJ? A posh gay becomes a nightclub bouncer? Billed as a “modern-day Pygmalion”, this transformative reality series was warm, intimate and brilliantly cast – rather like the Gogglebox that its creator, Stephen Lambert, created. It preempts the steady wife-swapping that has become too cartoonish and manipulative.
The sketch show by Fiona Allen, Doon McEachan and Sally Phillips was endlessly inventive, wildly funny and all too rare in a male-dominated era of TV comedy. Many of the same team went on to make the similarly giddy Green Wing.
20. Skins (2007-2013)
What a launch panel!… the cast of Skins. Photo: Channel 4
A decade before Sex Education or Euphoria, the raunchy comedy drama about sixth-formers from Bristol pushed the boundaries for TV portrayals of teenagers. It proved to be a launching pad for the careers of the likes of Dev Patel, Nicholas Hoult, Jack O’Connell and Daniel Kaluuya.
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19. Spaced (1999-2001)
With its quick cuts, movie homages, and geek-friendly jokes, the flat-share sitcom was ahead of its time. Edgar Wright, Jessica Hines and Simon Pegg’s surreal creation left fans wanting more, lasting just 14 episodes.
18. The Word (1990-1995)
From the people behind groundbreaking ‘yoof’ shows Network 7 and Club X, The Word’s innovative mix of live music, quirky reporting and uncensored chat invented the post-pub TV genre. Oliver Reed got drunk. L7 ditched their denims. The “hopefuls” ate worms and sulked at grandmothers. No wonder he became the scourge of the tabloids.
17. Black Mirror (2011-present)
As if that would ever happen… Black Mirror. Photo: Hal Shinnie/Channel 4
Charlie Brooker began his dystopian sci-fi anthology with a story about a prime minister who rapes a pig. As if that would ever happen. Visionary dramas continue to attract A-list stars and boldly push boundaries. Like May Martin’s gangster saga Top Boy and Feel Good, it was snapped up by Netflix, but Channel 4 deserves credit for having the courage to commission and maintain them.
16. Dispatches (1987-present)
The investigative documentary strand is Channel 4’s equivalent of the BBC’s Panorama, regularly breaking news and winning a Bafta. Exclusive headlines include the BNP ‘Young, Nazi and Proud’ expose, MMR Medical Deep Dive: What They Didn’t Tell You and the policy-changing ‘How Councils Are Blowing Your Millions’. Proper public journalism.
15. Disaster (2015-2019)
Over four sickeningly funny series, Sharon Horgan and Rob…
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