Top 10 TV: Sci-Fi (2001)

Country of Origin: UK
Date(s) of Broadcast: 13 October 2001
Number of Seasons: n/a
Total Number of Episodes: 1
Average Episode Running Times:
Format:
Sound:

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Chrysalis / Channel Four
Series Editor: Steve Gowans
Deputy Series Editors: Mark Raphael, John Quinn
Executive Producer: Neil Duncanson
Producer: Matt Webster
Associate Producer: Graham Diss
Production Manager: Ruth Yahel
Production Coordinator: Libby Raybould

SCRIPT
Script: Matt Webster, Steve Gowans, Mark Raphael, Paul Morley

DIRECTION
Links Director: Daryl Goodrich

PHOTOGRAPHY
Cameras: Mark Camwell, David Lindstrom, David Niblock, Andrew Psarianos, Jon Stapleton
Rostrum Camera: Frameline; King Camera; Simon Bedford Rostrum Camera

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Michael Pearce
Online Editor: Clyde Kellett
Edit Assistant: Selina MacArthur
Post Production: The Farm

MUSIC
Title Music: Roger White
Songs Performed By: David Bowie (Oh You Pretty Things; Starman)

SOUND
Sound: Joao Do Valle, Mik Gough, Stacey Hruby, John Hyalnd, Karin Jonsson
Dubbing Mixer: Dan Chapman

VISUAL EFFECTS
Titles: Daryl Goodrich, XTV

MISCELLANEOUS
Researcher: Emma Lorenz
Production Team: Dominique Cheffers, Fiona Staples
Production Accountants: Lisa Cryan, Sarah Hood
Production Associates: Anthony Hall, Andrew Simmonds, John Wohlgemuth
Archive Courtesy Of: BBC Television; British Movietone News; Majel Barrett-Roddenberry; Carlton Television; Cartlton International; Film Images; Fremantlemedia; The Image Bank Film; ITN; Kobal Collection; Music Mall; scenes from Star Trek courtesy of Paramount Pictures; Pearson Television; Rex Features; Smallfilms courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing Ltd; Vin Mag Archive Ltd
Archive and Music Licensing: Claire Austin
Archive Research: Andy Rossiter, Ed Slateford

CAST
Tom Baker (himself)
Nick Frost (narrator)
Walter Koenig
Jacqueline Pearce
Erin Gray
Jayne Dearsley
Peter Davison
Gerry Anderson
Kim Newman
Catherine Schell
Nick Tate
Ben Moore
Gary Gillatt
Glen A. Larson
Richard Holliss
Paul Morley
Joe Nazzaro
Nick Young
M.J. Simpson
Mike Holloway
David McCallum
P.J. Hammond
Shaun O'Riordan
Charlie Catchpole
Gareth Thomas
Paul Darrow
Paul Tonkinson
Mat Irvine
Simon Jones
Douglas Adams (himself (in archive footage))
David Dixon
David Graham
Matt Zimmerman
Rob Grant
Craig Charles
Robert Llewellyn
John Nathan Turner
Sylvester McCoy
Colin Baker
D.C. Fontana
Gene Roddenberry (himself (in archive footage))
George Takei
Nichelle Nichols
Leonard Nimoy

SUMMARY

A run down of the "top 10" science fiction TV shows, as voted for by the viewers of Channel 4.

CAPSULE REVIEW

Pretty much what you'd expect really - the usual suspects dominate the top 10, though why the show opens with a montage of clips from films (including The Green Slime (1968) and shows that aren't in the top 10 (UFO (1970 - 1971), Quatermass and the Pit (1958)) isn't really clear. Most of the top 10 would probably be in most discerning fans' lists (except maybe the dreadful Buck Rogers) but when so much else is missed, dismissed or ignored, it renders the whole exercise meaningless. Lightweight fluff with another seriously mad turn from Tom Baker which at least makes the links watchable. That top 10 in full:

1. Star Trek (1966 – 1969)
2. Doctor Who (1963 – 1996)
3. Red Dwarf (1988 – 2001)
4. Thunderbirds (1965 - 1966)
5. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
6. Blakes 7 (1978 - 1982)
7. Sapphire and Steel (1979 - 1982)
8. The Tomorrow People (1973 - 1979)
9. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 - 1981)
10. Space: 1999 (1975 - 1978)

AVAILABILITY

UK
Television Distributors: Channel 4
not currently available on video or DVD

TIMELINE

2001
October
13: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

LINKS

INCLUDES FOOTAGE FROM
Battlestar Galactica (1978 – 1979)
Blakes 7 (1978 - 1982)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979 - 1981)
The Clangers (1970 - 1974)
Come Back Mrs Noah (1977 – 1978)
Doctor Who (1963 – 1996)
The Green Slime (1968)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper (1979)
Q5 (1969)
Quatermass and the Pit (1958)
Red Dwarf (1988 – 2001)
Sapphire and Steel (1979 - 1982)
Space: 1999 (1975 - 1978)
Star Trek (1966 – 1969)
Thunderbirds (1965 - 1966)
The Tomorrow People (1973 - 1979)
UFO (1970 – 1973)

REFERENCES

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

documentary, television history

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009