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PETE JENNINGS HOME PAGES

MY TOP PICKS FOR TV, FILMS & MUSIC

100 FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMMES

Mock the Week LogoTheSimpsons!

We listened to a lot of radio but didn't have a television in my parents home until my late teens, so I only saw it at friends houses. Consequently I do not remember many childrens programmes before 1970. It has resulted in me being quite selective in what I watch. Rather than view whatever is on, I will switch it off and do something else if it doesn't appeal to me. I have little interest in sport, soap operas, quiz shows, chat shows, talent shows, cooking programmes, reality tv or gameshows. I have only ever had terrestrial TV channels so haven't watched stuff on Sky etc. I admit that I am quite picky. What I love best are history documentaries, comedy and murder mysteries. Since a lot of documentaries are 'one-offs' or mini series they do not feature in my list below. There are a few American entries that are widely shown on UK main TV channels. I have limited myself to 100, (otherwqise it would just go on and on) listed alphabetically so that you can easily check to see if your favourite is there.

  1. ‘Allo, Allo!
  2. A fine romance
  3. Absolutely Fabulous
  4. All creatures great and small (original)
  5. Antiques Roadshow
  6. As time goes by
  7. Big Bang Theory
  8. Blackadder
  9. Black Books
  10. Blott on the Landscape
  11. Buffy the vampire slayer
  12. Cadfael
  13. Call the Midwife
  14. Canned Carrott
  15. Colditz
  16. Crackanory
  17. Dark Materials
  18. Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish
  19. Death in Paradise
  20. Dinner Ladies
  21. Dr Who
  22. Drop the dead donkey
  23. Endeavour
  24. Fairly Secret Army
  25. Father Brown
  26. Fawlty Towers
  27. Fleabag
  28. Gentleman Jack
  29. Ghosts
  30. Good Life
  31. Happy Days
  32. Have I got News for You?
  33. Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
  34. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
  35. Homes under the hammer
  36. Hustle
  37. Inbetweeners
  38. Inside Number 9
  39. Jonathon Creek
  40. Lark Rise to Candleford
  41. Last Leg
  42. Lewis
  43. Lovejoy
  44. MASH
  45. Mastermind
  46. Midsummer Murders
  47. Miss Marple
  48. Mock the Week
  49. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
  50. Morse
  51. New Tricks
  52. Not Going Out
  53. Old Grey Whistle Test
  54. Only Fools and Horses
  55. Open all hours
  56. Paul Merton’s Adventures
  57. Poirot
  58. Poldark (original 1975)
  59. Porridge
  60. Porterhouse Blue
  61. Q6 (Spike Milligan)
  62. QI
  63. Red Bull Soapbox Derby
  64. Red Dwarf
  65. Robin of Sherwood
  66. Robot Wars
  67. Russell Howard’s Good News
  68. Sabrina the teenage witch
  69. Salvage Hunters
  70. Saturday Night Live (UK version)
  71. Scrubs
  72. Sherlock
  73. Simpsons
  74. Spitting Image
  75. Spooks
  76. Star Trek – all series
  77. Stingray
  78. Storage Hunters (UK & USA)
  79. The Detectorists
  80. The Durrells
  81. The fall and rise of Reggie Perrin
  82. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  83. The Sweeney
  84. Time Team
  85. Torchwood
  86. Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps
  87. Vera
  88. Vicar of Dibley
  89. Victoria Wood: as seen on TV
  90. Waiting for God
  91. What we do after dark
  92. Who Do you think you are?
  93. Whoops Apocalypse
  94. Whose line is it anyway?
  95. Wolf Hall
  96. Worzel Gummidge
  97. Would I lie to you?
  98. Wycliffe
  99. Yes Minister
  100. Zapped

 

 50 FAVOURITE FILMS  (in no particular order)

      

1. Dead Poets Society

26. Passport to Pimlico

2. Ice Cold in Alex

 27. Star Wars series
3. Clockwork Orange 28. Calendar Girls
4. Kes 29. Star Trek series

5. Good Morning Vietnam

 30. Arsenic and Old Lace
6. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 31. Apocalypse Now
7. Whisky Galore 32. Lavender Hill Mob
8. 4 Weddings and a funeral 33. Blazing Saddles
9. Woodstock 34. Matrix
10. Bridget Jones 35. Monterey Pop
11. Henry 5th (Branagh version) 36. Harry Potter series
12. Monty Pythons Life of Brian + other Python films 37. Shawn of the Dead
13. Lord of the Rings series 38. Italian Job (Micheal Caine version)
14. MASH 39. The Railway Children
15. Wicker Man 40. The Producers
16. 13th Warrior 41. The Ipcress File
17. 2001 42. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
18. Pulp Fiction 43. The Blues Brothers
19. James Bond series 44. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
20. St. Trinians series (original) 45. This is Spinal Tap

21. Naked Gun

 46. Here we go round the mulberry bush
22. Hot Fuzz 47. Young Frankenstein
23. Slumdog Millionaire 48. Suffragette
24. Time Travellers Wife 49. Faintheart
25. Soylent Green 50. Barbarella

 

 100 FAVOURITE SONGS 

My own rules for this was that no band could have more than one track listed, but that people who went and formed other bands could have an entry for each one. (Thus Keith Emerson gets two tracks, one with Nice, the other with ELP.) Other than that, they are just tunes I like, across a variety of genres, singles and albums. The order is fairly arbitrary – how do you place a good dance tune against a hard rock epic? The numbers are there to limit me to 100 rather than rank them, although I’ll admit Suppers Ready is my ultimate ‘Desert Island Disc’ choice. I have deliberately missed out my classical favourites since most are known by composers, not orchestras, but I have included a few top folk tunes that may be less familiar. Inevitably, they reflect my status as a burnt out hippie, ex disco, rock and radio dj, member of several bands, and as an old git!

                 

 

 

1. GENESIS – SUPPERS READY
2. AMERICA – THE NICE
3. WHOLE LOTTA LOVE – LED ZEPPELIN
4. KING OF ROME – JUNE TABOR
5. RADAR LOVE – GOLDEN EARRING
6. LONG LANKIN – STEELEYE SPAN
7. LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON – SMALL FACES
8. FIRE – CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN
9. SPAGHETTI PANIC - BLOWZABELLA
10. BLACK BETTY – RAM JAM
11. MY GENERATION – THE WHO
12. ROXETTE – DR FEELGOOD
13. LIVING IN THE PAST – JETHRO TULL
14. MOCKINGBIRD – BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST
15. FRANKENSTEIN – EDGAR WINTER
16. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT – MANFRED MANNS EARTHBAND
17. DON’T FEAR THE REAPER – BLUE OYSTER CULT
18. DON’T YOU KNOW ITS DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS – JOE JACKSON
19. SPUNK ROCK – MAN
20. ERIN GO BRACH – DICK GAUGHAN
21. ACE OF SPADES – MOTORHEAD
22. STRAWBERRY FIELDS – BEATLES
23. JINGO LO BA - SANTANA
24. HONKY TONK WOMAN – ROLLING STONES
25. BRAIN DAMAGE – PINK FLOYD
26. PARKLIFE - BLUR
27. NEW YORK GALS -OYSTERBAND
28. COOL FOR CATS – SQUEEZE
29. HOLD YOUR HEAD UP – ARGENT
30. COMMON PEOPLE – PULP
31. WIZARD – BLACK SABBATH
32. ALRIGHT NOW – FREE
33. HIT ME WITH YOUR RYTHMN STICK – IAN DURY & BLOCKHEADS
34. THE DAWN - OSIBISA
35. THE ROCKER – THIN LIZZY
36. I’M MANDY, FLY ME – 10CC
37. EVER FALLEN IN LOVE - BUZZCOCKS
38. VIRGINIA PLAIN – ROXY MUSIC
39. VOODOO CHILE – JIMI HENDRIX
40. DANCE TO THE MUSIC – SLY & FAMILY STONE
41. SEA KING - WOLFSTONE
42. MAGICIANS BIRTHDAY – URIAH HEEP
43. HOLE IN MY SHOE - TRAFFIC
44. ON THE ROAD AGAIN – CANNED HEAT
45. READY FOR THE STORM – DOUGIE MACLEAN
46. GIMME GIMME GOOD LOVING – CRAZY ELEPHANT
47. DEVILS ANSWER – ATOMIC ROOSTER
48. KILLER QUEEN – QUEEN
49. LITTLE POT STOVE – NIC JONES
50. DOCK OF THE BAY – OTIS REDDING                                              51. INCENSE PEPPERMINTS –  STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
52. HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN – ANIMALS
53. I PREDICT A RIOT – KAISER CHIEFS
54. SO LONELY – POLICE
55. A CHANCE AS GOOD AS ANY - BATTLEFIELD
56. SOMETHING IN THE AIR – THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN
57. RAZAMANAZ - NAZARETH
58. SPILL THE WINE – ERIC BURDON & WAR
59. SULTANS OF SWING – DIRE STRAITS
60. I’D RATHER GO BLIND – CHICKENSHACK
61. MONY MONY – TOMMY JAMES & SHONDELLS
62. ONE WAY - LEVELLERS
63. I’VE BEEN DRIVING IN MY CAR – MADNESS
64. MORE THAN A FEELING – BOSTON
65. FREEBIRD - LYNRD SKYNRD
66. WATERLOO SUNSET – KINKS
67. SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE – CREAM
68. BORN TO BE WILD – STEPPENWOLF
69. HELLO I LOVE YOU – DOORS
70. LETS DANCE – CHRIS MONTEZ
71. HOLD ON I’M COMING – SAM & DAVE
72. BLOWING FREE – WISHBONE ASH
73. I’M A MAN – CHICAGO
74. ECHO BEACH – MARTHA & THE MUFFINS
75. JUNGLE JENNY – SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
76. SHE’S NOT THERE – ZOMBIES
77. 666 – THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST – IRON MAIDEN
78. LET THERE BE ROCK – AC/DC
79. BACK STREET LUV – CURVED AIR
80. HURDY GURDY MAN – DONOVAN
81. BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR – ARCTIC MONKEYS
82. HIRING FAIR – FAIRPORT CONVENTION
83. SCHOOLS OUT – ALICE COOPER
84. PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION – EMERSON LAKE & PALMER
85. NOTHING COMPARES 2U – SINEAD O’CONNOR
86. HOTEL CALIFORNIA – EAGLES
87. YOUR SONG – ELTON JOHN
88. ALL HALLOWS EVE - LEGEND
89. BAKER STREET – GERRY RAFFERTY
90. LITTLE MUSGRAVE - PLANXTY
91. WUTHERING HEIGHTS –KATE BUSH
92. BLACK FOX – GRAHAM & EILEEN PRATT
93. 2468 MOTORWAY – TOM ROBINSON
94. FIRESTARTER - PRODIGY
95. CHERRY RED – GROUNDHOGS
96. THINKING ALOUD - SKYCLAD
97. FREEBIRD – LYNYRD SKYNRD
98. WEAVERS ANSWER – FAMILY
99. OLIVERS ARMY – ELVIS COSTELLO
100.DEEP PURPLE – SMOKE ON THE WATER