BBC One

Pinocchio

Based on the Carlo Collodi book, a macabre 4 part BBC live action Alec Drysdale dramatisation, directed by legendary Doctor Who producer Barry Letts.

Empire Road

Empire Road was a British television series, made by the BBC in 1978 and 1979. Written by Michael Abbensetts, the show ran for two seasons of eight episodes each. The series was the first British television series to be written, acted and directed predominantly by black artists. A soap opera, similar in format to Coronation Street, Empire Road depicted life for the African-Caribbean, East Indian and South Asian residents of a racially diverse street in the city of Birmingham. Prominent cast members included Norman Beaton, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Wayne Laryea, Joseph Marcell and Rudolph Walker. The programme also provided early TV exposure for Julie Walters who appeared in a few episodes. The series was made at BBC Pebble Mill with location work in the Handsworth area of Birmingham. The eponymously named theme song was recorded by Matumbi and also released as a single in 1978.

Connections

Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval) and traces a path from that event through a series of connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world.

Rings on Their Fingers

Rings On Their Fingers is a British television sitcom, written by Richard Waring. It ran from October 1978 to November 1980.

The Little And Large Show

The Little and Large Show was a comedy variety television show featuring Syd Little and Eddie Large. Its first series in 1978 was entitled just Little and Large and it was cancelled in 1991 after 11 seasons.

Scotch and Wry

Scotch and Wry was a Scottish comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC One Scotland and starred Rikki Fulton. After two series, in 1978 and 1979, the programme continued as a regular part of the channel's Hogmanay celebrations between 1980 and 1992, pulling in millions of viewers. The show gave early exposure to actors like Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Gerard Kelly and Miriam Margolyes.

Wuthering Heights

A five-part adapation of the infamous book, which stars Ken Hutchison and Kay Adshead as tortured lovers Heathcliff and Cathy.

A Horseman Riding By

Having been invalided out of the Boer War, Paul Craddock buys Shallowford, a manor house and estate in Devon, with money from his late father's scrap-yard business. He soon becomes a much-respected "Squire" who is determined to treat all his tenant farmers fairly, unlike his predecessor.

Touch and Go

Two bored teenagers on holiday at an English seaside resort race against time to foil a sinister plot at the local Naval College.

Tycoon

Tycoon is a British television drama created by John Sichel, broadcast from 18 September to 11 December 1978. Instead of taking on her late husband Sydney's job, Diana Clark loyally turns her talents to writing his biography, dredging up plenty of twists and turns along the way.

The Devil's Crown

The Devil's Crown was a BBC limited series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard the Lionheart and John. It was broadcast in thirteen 55-minute episodes between 30 April and 23 July 1978. Henry Plantagenet (latterly Henry II), sees his opportunity to seize the crown of England and create a kingdom of law and order. He cuts a deal with King Stephen in which Stephen will name him his heir, excluding his sons Eustace and William in exchange for a fragile truce. Stephen's sudden death elevates Henry to the throne. He may have been King of England, but the bulk of the Angevin Empire was in France, and it was this that Henry regarded as the Jewel in his Crown, maintained through a series of political marriages and complex allegiances. Henry pays homage to Louis VII, King of the Franks, for these lands, but it is clear that Henry is the shrewder and more ambitious of the two kings, having married Louis' ex-wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Think of a Number

A light-hearted exploration of maths and science, presented by Johnny Ball.

Pennies from Heaven

Pennies From Heaven is a 1978 BBC television drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from a song of the same name written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into miming to popular 1930s songs.

Going Straight

Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set. It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to his attempt, 'straight' being a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e., dishonest. Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, who was Fletcher's naïve young cellmate and was now in a relationship with his daughter Ingrid. Her brother Raymond was played by a teenage Nicholas Lyndhurst. Only one series, of six episodes, was made in 1978. It attracted an audience of over 15 million viewers and won a BAFTA award in March 1979, but hopes of a further series had already been dashed by Beckinsale's premature death earlier in the same month.

Grange Hill

Children's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.

Hawkmoor

All Creatures Great and Small

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

Blake's 7

A group of convicts and outcasts fight a guerrilla war against the totalitarian Terran Federation from a highly advanced alien spaceship.

Count Dracula

Count Dracula is a British television adaptation of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It first aired 22 December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book. Louis Jourdan played the title role.

Come Back Mrs. Noah

Come Back Mrs. Noah is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1977 to 1978. Starring Mollie Sugden and Ian Lavender, it was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, who had also written Are You Being Served?, which had also starred Mollie Sugden. Joke banter was recycled from other series, and outrageously strange props were used. Come Back Mrs Noah was not a success, with some regarding it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made.