BBC Two

Oxbridge Blues

An anthology series of seven linked plays about the lives of people connected with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Lame Ducks

Lame Ducks is a British television sitcom made by the BBC in 1984 and written by Peter J. Hammond. In one of the more dark and surreal plotlines, it starred John Duttine as Brian Drake, a man who, when suffering a serious injury after being hit by a truck, can no longer work and decides to head off to live as a hermit. As he goes along, he is joined by various other outcasts, including a woman called Angie. Later, a private detective called Ansell, hired by Drake's wife, locates the group, but as an outcast himself, decides to join them. The show ran for two series.

Freud

The life and times of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.

Sea of Faith

Sea of Faith was a six-part documentary television series, presented on BBC television in 1984 by Don Cupitt. The programme dealt with the history of Christianity in the modern world, focussing especially on how Christianity has responded to challenges such as scientific advances, political atheism and secularisation in general.

Pages from Ceefax

In-vision Ceefax was first shown in March 1980, originally in 30-minute slots and by mid-1983 it was a common filler during daytime downtime. Transmissions were originally billed on-air as Ceefax in Vision but daytime transmissions were not listed in the Radio Times until 7 January 1984, under the title of Pages from Ceefax.

Saturday Review

A BBC TV cultural review show featuring celebrity interviews.

Swallows and Amazons Forever!

Alas Smith and Jones

A British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that ran on BBC One and BBC Two from 31 January 1984 to 14 October 1998. From series 5 in 1989 the 'Alas' title was dropped and became simply Smith and Jones.

Strangers and Brothers

As World War II looms in Europe, an ambitious young English lawyer embarks on his tempestuous career, and even stormier romantic life. Based on the novel series of the same name by C.P. Snow.

Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park is the magnificent country residence of Sir Thomas Bertram and his family. It is here that their poor relation Fanny Price is brought up. Never allowed to forget her good fortune, Fanny is ignored by her cousins, with the exception of Edmund, who alone treats her with care and affection. But will she ever be able to win a valued place in the household and the heart of the man of her dreams?

Rockschool

The series explored the history of rock music and gave instruction in popular performance techniques.

The Real Thing

Asking how you tell what's real and what isn't sounds like an obvious question. But in this series of six programmes, James Burke shows that the more you think about it the harder it is to answer. After all, what have you got, apart from your five senses, to prove those senses are giving you the real thing?

Natural World

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

Micro Live

Micro Live was a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as The Computer Programme, Computers In Control, and Making the Most of the Micro. As the name implies, the series was broadcast live. The first programme was actually a one-off two-hour-long special, broadcast on Sunday 2 October 1983 under the name Making the Most of the Micro Live. A second one-hour special was then broadcast in the summer of 1984 - in that programme it was announced that Micro Live would be back on BBC2 as a regular monthly one-hour series starting in October of that year. A second season of Micro Live launched in 1985 as a weekly half-hour programme and was followed by a third series of weekly half-hour shows in 1986. The series broadcast its last programme in 1987. The scope of the programme was much wider than the preceding computer series and had a less formal feel due to its 'live' nature - not only did it cover more subject areas but it also featured more microcomputers instead of its main focus being the BBC Micro. It also regularly included stories from the United States and recorded various small but significant milestones, such as the first on-air transatlantic cellphone call made in a snowstorm from the top of a New York skyscraper to Lesley Judd sitting in a C5 outside Television Centre.

The Old Men at the Zoo

An incompetently managed zoo becomes a metaphor for the state of Britain as a nuclear crisis looms over Europe.

The Gathering Seed

The saga of Manchester lad Joe Henshaw, a story that takes in family life, the trials and tribulations of the Labour movement and World War Two

Fun to Imagine

Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist, enjoys thinking aloud about the adventures science can offer. Back in 1983, the BBC aired Fun to Imagine, a television series hosted by Richard Feynman that used physics to explain how the everyday world works – “why rubber bands are stretchy, why tennis balls can’t bounce forever, and what you’re really seeing when you look in the mirror.” In case you’re not familiar with him, Feynman was a Nobel prize-winning physicist who had a gift for many things, including popularizing science and particularly physics.

The Crystal Cube

The Crystal Cube was a spoof science program, based on shows such as Tomorrow's World. The show was hosted by Jackie Meld (Dame Emma Thompson).

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World is a biennial singing competition in Cardiff, Wales. It attracts contestants from around the world to compete over five days, performing arias and songs from different genres. Since its establishment in 1983, the competition has launched the careers of renowned singers like Bryn Terfel. It offers a platform for emerging artists to gain exposure and showcases the world's finest young vocal talent. The competition is known for its prestige, with the winner receiving the coveted title of Cardiff Singer of the World. With millions of viewers worldwide, the show is a celebration of the art of singing, providing an opportunity for emerging artists to gain international exposure.

The Good Old Way

Four part series about British folk music, originally aired on BBC2