My favourite 70s TV shows

Blake's 7 

Pretty low budget and sometimes the stories weren’t that great, but the continuing story line made this show… and the characters too. Who couldn’t love the cynical and devious Avon, who you never quite knew whether could be trusted or not. I will always consider the ending to be one of the most shocking in television history. I can still remember my best friend staring wide eyed as we watched it unfold and gasping “AVON KILLED BLAKE! I can’t believe it! AVON KILLED BLAKE!”

Dr Who 

Ok this was brilliant no matter what decade you watched it, but the late 70s and early 80s were the best days when Jon Pertwee played a debonair doctor and then was replaced with the greatest doctor of all times, Tom Baker, the slightly insane, but brilliant doctor. Only David Tennant has come close to portraying the brilliance of Doctors 3 & 4.

Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin

Classic comedy and Leonard Rossiter’s comedic timing was brilliant as the hapless Perrin who becomes frustrated with his life and decides to fake his own death. Lots of running gags which you could always see coming, but couldn’t help but laugh each time. It’s a pity Rossiter died when he was still at the peak of his career.

Fawlty Towers 

Such a quality comedy with great laughs all the way through. John Cleese was genius and it’s such a pity they only ever did the two series.

Monty Python's Flying Circus 

Some of their stuff was bizarre, but no one can argue just what impact these guys had on the comedy scene. They set the standard for comedy sketch shows and many of their sketches are iconic.

The Muppet Show

I can always remember well someone saying to me once “It’s hard to believe they’re not real” and that’s what I think made that show. They DID seem real! I always wanted to see the muppets get older and become old and grey – aging along with us fans. The latest muppet movie did kind of satisfy me a little in that respect, but really I’d love to see a show where they are older… and no, “Muppets Tonight” didn’t achieve that because they were all the same age and it focused mainly on new muppets.

The New Mickey Mouse Club

I watched this one religiously as a 12 year old, hating to miss a single episode. I had a huge crush on Kelly at the time. They say it was a cheap imitation of the original 50s version, but it was the greatest kids variety show ever as far as I was concerned. Not a lot of episodes were made but it was repeated again and again on NZ TV so seemed to last for a long time.

RIP Scott and Angel

Open All Hours 

Who couldn’t love the miserly Arkwright as he ran his shop, with his nephew doing all the dirty work for him. You wondered how he could turn a profit when he had so few customers willing to come into his shop.

Sapphire & Steel 

What a cool and very creepy show this was. David McCallum was likeable as the stuffy, serious Steele and Joanna Lumley was great as Sapphire. Probably one of the coolest kids shows ever. Just a pity it ended the way it did, having been cancelled after a cliff hanger ending to the final series.

The Six Million Dollar Man

This show had a huge impact on being a kid in the 70s. Remember the days when you had to do obligatory sound effects whenever you threw a slow motion punch or looked off in the distance? I did! Steve Austin was the MAN!

Check out my review on this show here.