Ten Of The WORST TV Programmes Ever Made (WORST UK TV Shows List) 

That last one, if the reviewer can't even get Ron Grainer's name right, then alarm bells are already ringing. Besides he was seemingly so enamoured with Tom Baker that he didn't notice that Grainer only composed the theme tune with the iconic sound dynamics coming from the often unappreciated Delia Derbyshire. The composer of that period of Tom Baker's time on the show, depending on the episode, could've been Dudley Simpson, Carey Blyton, Geoffrey Burgon, Peter Howell, Paddy Kingsland, or Roger Limb, most of whom worked in the BBC Radiophonics Workshop. Can't say I'd personally take that review all too seriously myself.

Sorry but you can't have Doctor Who in this list. It's a classic

Victor Lewis Smith's review of Eldorado is still a work of brilliance. Also TV Offel was great. RIP Vic.

For the information of the last reviewer, yes, I used to watch Dr Who from behind the couch. It was terrifying to young children. My first Doctor was Troughton and the yetis in the Underground gave me nightmares.

Tom Baker was a great Doctor -but the pantomime element got out of hand and was reigned in for his last season. Pertwee was superb.

No one ever mentions My Hero the very worst tv show ever made

How can any Classic “Doctor Who” be on this list??!? One of the most famous shows in TV history. Trolling stupidity. Why not just call it ‘My own bias list’?

How the fuck is Dr Who on this list, it’s an all time classic both the old and new who

As someone who works for "Doctor Who"... I am gonna sulk now ;)

I am not quite sure why Doctor Who is mentioned from an article dated 1998, when it hadn't been on telly since 1989, when it was cruelly axed by the BBC. There is nothing wrong with Doctor Who, right from 1963 to today, it is still a great programme and I love it.

So no 'Shafted' presented by the permatanned Robert Kilroy Silk? "You decide whether to share, or to shaft''. Hand gestures optional.

Coronation Street, Arse Enders, Emmerdale, in fact, all soap operas should be cancelled forthwith. Ghastly.

You just scoured 150+ stories of classic who, each of which comprised an average of 4- 5 episodes to get the naff scenes. The acting and stories usually made up for their shoestring budget. Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell are not to be sniffed at.

I never take notice of critics/reviewers, always watch and decide for myself.

HEEEY! I'm on this video! Im in the audience on the Vanessa Show, and yes it WAS terrible. I was also on a few of the other episodes, and each was as cringey as the other. I actually spoke on the video show. I asked a question to the scottish lady in the Chanel twin set. I asked how she felt after she had been so silly, she replied, and THEN Anglia TV cut my words out which were "But he gave you a shitty ring" referring of course, to the cheap wedding ring she had been given... Hey? what did you THINK I meant?!!! I'm on at 13:54 on the left hand side.

I was a young child in the 60s and i found the cybermen scary and i did go behind the couch .

The one with Felicity Kendall looks absolutely abysmal.😂😂. How on earth do some of these shows get commissioned?

no no no...john pertwees doctor was awesome...cup of tea slice of cake aunt sally..pertwee rocks!!!

I never realised Doc Who was a comedy series. Then again, growing up I was a Tom Baker child. He was the best of the old bunch.

The Very fact that Doctor Who is still around & popular Proves all the crittics who are long gone & forgotten got it so so wrong , be it William Hartnell , Patrick Troughton Jon Pertwee , Tom Baker or any of the names that have followed to take the title DR WHO , each one has gone on to stamp there own unique style & persona on to the role , Making it the most loved show that it is & far greater than any minor critic that would dare attack it..

Surely Doctor Who was aimed at a younger age group than the writer of the critical article, so his comments are misplaced. Like his spelling of the name of the great composer Ron Grainer.

Mrs Browns Boys, worst of all

My school friend had this weird phobia where if he heard the theme tune to Crossroads he’d get anxious and feel like the world was ending. It was both funny but really unsettling too as once I put it on as a joke and he started having a mini emotional breakdown. He was a totally normal guy otherwise

Still no mention of Lee Evans! So What Now?

Vanessa got sacked because she fiddled the guests so her friends appeared and tried to make her look good. But it failed. As the Guardian Newspaper said "10 Jun 1999 - BBC1's troubled Vanessa Show, which was at the centre of the "fake guests" scandal earlier this year has been scrapped."

I remember Eldorado being universally panned. it was good for a laugh, but only now and again.

Felicity Kendal has made some truly dreadful career moves since The Good Life finished.

Wogan's Web was an attempt to bring his radio breakfast show banter to the tv. It simply didn't transfer. Wogan was always better on the radio.

I managed to get through 2 decades without ever watching an episode of Crossroads. The theme tune alone meant time to get away or switch over.

I'm from Australia, and grew up watching Tom baker as Doctor Who. He was MY favourite

Anyone remember the Green Death Doctor Who story. Kids all over't country (including me) were losing sleep and looking under our beds every night for giant maggots with teeth and lethal green slime. Reviewer was dead wrong on the old Doctor Who's though I have not liked the new stuff from Eccleston onwards despite much better production values/budgets.

Personally I felt the last two seasons of Tom Baker's run were pretty poor. The mystique around his run comes from that brief period when it was trying to outdo Hammer Horror under Philip Hinchcliffe. Bloody Mary Whitehouse.

Victor Lewis Smith will be much missed. A quite unique talent.

I watched every episode of Eldorado and it was cancelled too early and not given a chance.

Good God! You obviously haven’t gone back and watched 3-2-1 with Ted Rodgers.

Crossroads! The day the motel burnt down my Grandma cried. I cheered and clapped

I think Bread deserves a mention. How did that run for 7 seasons?

Wow! I can’t believe you showed all the best bits of Elderado

I never hid behind the sofa for Doctor Who, I sat crossed-legged in front of the TV, gawping at it.

with Dr Who it was the ideas that were important. the stories and creatures were well ahead of the available special effects at the time, and yes the sets were less rigid than much of the acting but it was still thrilling. I can remember some of the Troughton, Pertwee and T Baker series and some were terrifying. the episode (in black and white) where the doll like monster came alive on the back seat of a car was real 'from behind the sofa' stuff. you had to use your imagination to augment what was on the screen, it wasn't just passive viewing like some of todays telly. i will be 60 next year and I still look back on the first 4 Drs with great fondness. good times.

What decade was Kilroy on the telly?....that was pretty dire as well.

Terry Wogan used to lay into "Crossroads" on his Radio 2 breakfast show,, back in the 1970's & 980's, frequently describing the show as, "Dame Meg's home for destitute actors", and, "The only TV show where the walls of the set wobble everytime somebody closes a door".

Vanessa Feltz looks like Michael Winner in drag

Eldorado had some good actors, and it had some truly awful actors, but that's the same with every soap, and they could have easily been weeded out over time. The major thing it had going for it was the setting which every other dreary British soap didn't have. Had they not succumbed to the lazy critics, I genuinely believe it would still be going strong today.

Imagine thinking 'I Was Born on Christmas Day' by the unimpeachable Saint Etienne is one of the worst records of 1993.

Heil, Honey, I'm Home didn't make the list?

In that Catchphrase clip it was totally obvious the phrase was "grabbin" your trouser snake"

A spoof news item from the two Ronnies- "Good news for insomniacs, Crossroads is now available in tablet form."

You missed out EASTENDERS the biggest pile of crap ever produced

what killed Eldorado from the start in the uk was the choice of the spanish citizens speaking spanish with no subtitles for viewers , the prats at the BBC not realising that your avarage viewer was not multi-linqual & so were left to loose1/2 the plot of the shows plots due to not understanding a word being spoke...

I wanna hear something from Ron Grainger and his Gadgets. I'm assuming they were a four piece lounge act from the 70's, but I can 't find anything on 'em.

I would gladly watch any of these shows on an infinite loop for the rest of eternity, than watch even 1 minute of a Carla Lane written monstrosity.

Funnily enough, I have just finished watching Nolly, ITV’s biopic of Noele Gordon. Interesting look into how Gordon was sacked from Crossroads essentially because ATV wanted to axe it and they thought by getting rid of the main actor, the audience would disappear as well.

I absolutely love English programming, so much better than the crap over on our side of the pond. But we always used to say "BBC Special Effects" and roll our eyes from "Are You Being Served?" gadgets or Doctor Who villain-related activity.

Wogan's Web? I'm seriously beginning to think I've crossed over to another dimension.

I was on a TV show back in about 1980 I was Nine-sh, it was called "Credo" a documentry style show was not just me it was our whole family my dad was being made redundant from the buses he was a conductor. Be lovely to see that again I remember my dads combover's (he had two) blowing in the wind as he crossed a carpark, that convinced him to cut them off, thank goodness 🤣🤣🤣🤣

The saving grace of old people is that they don't last very long.

You forgot the WORST programe EVER, EASTENDERS! .it started badly and only got worse if that were possible.

I'm not having catchphrase on this list, i though it was probably one of the better gameshows of the 80's and 90's because you could play at home, unlike a lot of them where you just watch people winning speedboats

How does anything by Jim Davidson escape this list?

The Dukes of Hazard was a class show (Daisy Duke, anyone?) and yes, I hid behind the sofa at Dr Who, but I'm assuming that critic wasn't a child like I was. Actually, by 1988 I was 18 so he probably had a point about Dr Who. It did go downhill from the late 80s.

Eldorado was the first British soap opera to have a reoccurring disabled character. Played by the lady who was later in The Office.

As a kid I remember Dr who’s Sea devils? Terrified me!.

Eldorado was one of the best soaps ever created when it got a new producer it was wonderful. The tag line for Eldarado was to bring Europe together as one! Till the person who commissioned it and wouldn't cancle it cause soaps take time was fired and the show cancelled, Britain didn't take the euro money and it was roomerd they where leaving the EU so having 10 million viewers per episode about a soap in Spain with lots of euro characters. Wouldn't have helped with them wanting to leave they eventually left as you know and turned its back 100% on Europe! So basically politics 🙄 got eldarado cancled even though it was commissioned for at least another 2 years.

Eldorado used to make me think my tv was on the blink, I know these clips are old but even when it was new in the day the sound mix and camera quality was awful. I do remember the buzz around it being a new soap coming soon then when it landed it was absolutely trashed. Rightly so but sometimes it was soo bad it was good for a laugh.

I look forward to all your videos and your back catalogue. Poor Victor Lewis Smith left this mortal world last year

What don’t understand is why people watched stuff they didn’t like

i actually liked eldorado... but then again Prisoner cell block h is one of my favourites

Those who can do; those who can't teach; those who can't teach become TV critics and those who can't become a TV critic are Victor Lewis Smith.

Eldorado, (or 'Elbore-ado', as I used to call it), was a totally miscast soap from the off. None of the characters were even remotely relatable to the majority of viewers, the results of which meant hardly anyone took any interest in what they got up to in a show that was largely, again, un-relatable due to being set in an expat part of southern Spain. I totally agree with the, 'Top of the Pops', review from 1993, too. By then, pop music, especially that which was presented on television had turned into nothing but a stream of, 'party, yeh, wooh, right-on', presenters trying desperately to convince teenagers and, 'young people', of the time that this was how to, 'have a good time', by listening to largely over-hyped mediocre pap. I used to find the Doctor Who monsters quite funny in a sarcasticlly, 'how did they ever manage to fit a man inside that?', kind of way. I'm not sure when that review is from, but certainly, by the mid 80's the budget for the show had been reduced by the BBC, simply because they didn't want it anymore, but due to it's apparent popularity, continued to run it, (into the ground), until eventually it was, 'shelved.' By that time, I'd long since stopped watching the show, largely because of the story-lines. Oh, and Bonnie Langford.

TV offal was such a great show Victor was an amazing writer..

No matter how bad you think these programs were, you should remember that for most there was only 3 or 4 or in some cases 5 channels to choose and if you didn't watch live you would probably never see it again. Unlike today were we have 100's of channels broadcasting endless shite that we can watch anytime, anywhere. Oh such progress! 😂

'My Family'; ghastly middle-class comedy with lame 'jokes'. 'Last of the Summer Wine' was also dire in a different way

Dr who in this list wrong

As poor as early Eldorado was, after it was announced it was getting axed, it really improved. Even the critics agreed. Jesse Birdsall was easily the best thing about the show.

To be honest, most of these shows were perfectly crafted for the demographic they were intended for. Half pissed students just waking up after a bender or senile retired people who just stared at the screen all day. I remember flicking around TV in the mid morning/afternoon on occasion as a kid in the 80's and being thoroughly bored with stuff like 'Take the high Road' or 'Pebble Mill', switching off and reading a book. The poor quality of TV probably had a positive impact on literacy rates at the time....

I think the old dear serving the tea in Crossroads was the inspiration for Julie Walters Mrs Overall character in Acorn Antiques.

Would seem you don't know the wonderful Victor Lewis-Smith is dead?

Call the midwife beats all of these , sister wheresthesoap and her soppy end of show homily especially gruesome.

Did you notice the lady in the Vanessa clip. You only see her for a split second but that’s Lucy Montgomery from Titty Bang Bang and the IT crowd. I actually remember being in the audience for that show. It was bad

In the last episode of Eldorado the lead character’s fancy-pants Renault GTA instantly changed into a Triumph TR7 as it got blown up.

Doctor Who was perfectly fine until Chris Chibnall destroyed it!

WhT? TOTP was brilliant until they allowed normal presenters to host, it instead of DJs.

I loved Eldorado.It got much better and viewing figures improved a lot when it was axed

RIP Victor Lewis Smith.

How dare you criticize Saint Etienne Sarah Cracknall could brighten anyone's day . Emmerdale farm post 93 is worse than the slurry they spread on the field. Did they ever find Archie??

I would’ve said “Come Dine With Me” and “Celebrity Bake Off” were the worst tv programmes ever made! I’ve never even heard of “The Upchat Line” or it’s follow up until this video?! I’m only in my mid 40’s and that bastard has never been repeated on anything as far as I know??

A clip of Crossroads without Benny? Criminal, miss Diana!

I really liked The Upchat Line, as it was first called. I think it came out at the right time for me and my age group. I also loved Vanessa. People move on so quickly from the things they love. It's a shame

I knew the moment i saw the top hat, it was the most iconic catchphrase episodes ever.

Did anyone watch The Ricky Gervais Show? Late-night Channel 4 immediately pre-Office, it was genuinely odd and didn't work at all...

Thanks. It makes you laugh at what I used to watch. A wasted childhood of playing football bike riding and being a child. The good old days before the internet.

Touch the Truck from 2001 should be listed here. 20 contestants holding on to a truck as long as they can without letting go was worse than watching paint dry.

You wanted to illustrate bad music in 1993, and one of the four clips you went with was the mighty Saint Etienne featuring Tim Burgess from the equally mighty Charlatans? Lunacy!

Tom Baker was the best. I'd still love a scarf like that. Some years ago I was walking down New Street in B'ham city centre with my then partner. A dalek passed us. "Exterminate," it said as it trundled past. We said hello; these things happen in Birmingham; a real camel once walked past me in the Bullring. Next came a cyberman. They're bigger than you'd think in real life; I'm 6'1"" and he was taller than me; he didn't say anything. Thankfully there was no Davros, who reminded me as a child of my ancient, shrivelled-up primary school head mistress, Miss Shrimpton, who weirdly used to roll up beside me in her creaky Victorian horror film wheelchair and speechlessly watch me eat my school lunch but without any of Davros's cheerful, relaxed demeanour. Davros, Miss Shrimmpton, I dunno, frankly I'd rather have encountered Davross rolling down New Street. GF and I carried on down the road and found a small queue outside Waterstone's. Tom Baker was signing copies of his autobiography inside. In the happy days when my GF and I had a bit of spare time and money to spend, we spontaneously bought a book and joined the line. When we got to the front of the queue, Baker was charm itself, sat quietly at a table flanked by two young security guards who clearly had no idea who they were guarding. There was a bowl of jelly babies on the table. "Would you like a jelly baby?" he asked with his lovely Tom Baker voice, but we were both too shy to have one. We didn't look at the autograph he'd written until we got outside: it read, 'To Linda and Jonathan, happy days!' followed by an indecipherable signature. I lent the book to an elderly relative in a care home some years later, where she died and the book was stolen. Anyway, that's the time I met a dalek, a cyberman, Tom Baker and had flashbacks to Miss Shrimpton all in one afternoon. The book, incidentally, is called Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? and is a really lovely read by a funny, intelligent, under-rated, self-deprecating man.

Top of the pops….how dare you

One of those young actors from Eldorado is my neighbour. He never mentions it.

For me, the old Dr Who is crap. The terrible pound shop costumes, wooden acting, primitive effects and sets that wobble make it look so amateurish, really painful to sit through without laughing at it or finding it incredibly tiresome to sit through. It’s like sitting through your kids’ primary school play, only you’ve at least there’s a purpose to sitting through the play. I’ve no doubt people who were alive when Dr Who first aired may hold a nostalgic appreciation for it, but I grew up watching tv shows and films that actually had budgets to make them with, making the old Dr Who comparably unwatchable.

Fair assesment. Dr Who was pretty awful, in hindsight. And then it got all woke and worthy and manged to become even worse. But when you're 7 and it's 1972, it's entertaining enough. Can't see why anyone over that age would be interested though- then or now.

Old Dr Who was mile better than the "Woke" shite being churned out these days.