h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What are your memories of GOOD and BAD 90`s British TV ?

GOOD ?
Our Friends In The North :
Powerful, well structured, believable. No gaffs over wrong music in the wrong year (as far as I could make out), although they did get a John Lewis carrier bag wrong in one of the 80`s-set episodes. Great ending with "Don`t Look Back In Anger" at the end - whether you like Oasis or not.

The Big Breakfast :
Made no attempt to be highbrow, and was all the better for it. It was, for the most part, ENTERTAINING. The Johnny and Liza era was my favourite, but even the dire `96 Rick-and-Sharron revamp was 100 times better than RI:SE was. Getting up for work used to be fun, but all that ended in 2002. Glad to see the back of that Linton, though.

This Life :
Bit of a grower. First series wasn`t great. The nation became increasingly gripped during the second series, and how we all cheered at THAT punch in the final episode.

Father Ted :
One of the most inventive and consistently FUNNY sitcoms seen on British TV (never mind Channel 4 - although Black Books comes close) from the first episode to the last. Dermott Morgan is sadly missed.

Maid Marion and Her Merry Men :
Like all the best kids` shows, not just for the kids !

Others :
The Day Today / Brass Eye. Knowing You Knowing Me / I`m Alan Partridge. Big Train. Have I Got News For You (still funny). Don`t Forget Your Toothbrush. GBH. The Royle Family.

BAD ?
The Word :
Desperate.

Eurotrash :
Ditto.

Light Lunch / Late Lunch :
Can you get anyone more irritating than Mel and Sue ?

Absolutely Fabulous :
Hugely overrated. Oh please, not another "celebrity" cameo !

Mr Bean :
Seemed good at first. Sheesh !

Others :
GMTV. The Comic Strip Presents (yeah, mostly good in the 80`s). The Glam Metal Detectives. Love In The Afternoon.

I`m sure you all have your own opinions. Let`s hear them.

Glam Metal Detectives? Tell more!

Mr Bean was so cool guess that brings up Blackadder as well. Red Dwarf was going strong early 90s. Only Fools And Horses chugged along. The Day Today was so wierd, and cool, haha. Bottom was great also. I can't remember any more.

GLAM METAL DETECTIVES ?

Yeah, it sounds brilliant, and I looked forward to the first episode, but actually, it turned out to be a pile of keech.

Check out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/g/glammetaldetecti_1299001269.shtml for a synopsis.

I think they released some records. Gimme strength.

OH! MY! GOD!

I remember that now!

I was too little to understand what Glam Metal was but, heh, some very vague memories are coming through now. Like, about two or three little clips I can remember. Wow!

I too really enjoyed Our Friends from the North. I was about 17 when it first showed and was really wasn't aware TV dramas could be of this quality. Another show of around the same period that got me totally hooked was Cracker. Written by Jimmy Mcgovern (the man originally behind Brookside) Amazing cast including Robbie Coltrane Chris Ecclestone (how also starred in Our Friends)and fresh form Hamish Macbeth and in Robert Carlye, who i believe gave a better performance than in any film of his I've seen. This epsiode of the series was amazing, i would recommend anyone who hasn't seen this one, or any episodes of Cracker, should try and get hold of a copy. It was easily my favorite tv show of the 90's.

I used to have this gripe (a rosy-spectacled one, I'm sure) that in the Noughties so far, we had seen nothing as good as the drama of the '90's; not just the utterly fabulous Our Friends in the North, and the other shows you mention, but Cracker, GBH, House of Cards - basically if Messrs McGovern, Davies or Bleasdale had a hand in it, it was very likely to be provocative, brilliant and entertaining television.
In terms of TV drama in this decade, until recently, the best seemed to come - embarrassingly - from across the water; to wit, "The Sopranos", "The Shield", "Lost", "24" etc.
So God bless Paul Abbott, of "Shameless" and "State of Play" fame, for resurrecting a fallen genre - the Must - Watch British Drama Serial.