The Best TV Shows on BBC One

Every BBC One Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Stay up-to-date with over 20 of BBC One’s elite series, with our list refreshed for September 2026. Leading the pack on BBC One are Panorama and Doctor Who, with their initial broadcasts in 1953 and 1963. BBC One has delivered an expansive roster of over 20 shows, dating from 1953 all the way to 2021.

  • Everyman
    Everyman (1977)10.0

    Everyman is a British television documentary series that aired on BBC One in a late-night slot on Sunday evenings between 1977 and 2005. Its subject matter tended to be focused on moral and religious issues, often in the form of a film in which individuals would discuss their thoughts. One edition from 1990, A Game of Soldiers concerned a group of soldiers exploring their feelings about being trained to kill. Throughout much of its time on air, series of Everyman aired alternately with Heart of the Matter, a debate series which featured somewhat similar topics. Both series were cancelled in the 2000s after the BBC revamped the output of its religious programming.

  • Peaky Blinders
    Peaky Blinders (2013)8.5

    A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

  • Ready, Steady, Cook
    Ready, Steady, Cook (1994)8.0

    Talented chefs battle it out against the clock, creating delicious dishes in 20 minutes

  • Doctor Who
    Doctor Who (1963)7.9

    The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

  • QI
    QI (2003)7.9

    Comedy quiz show full of quirky facts, in which contestants are rewarded more if their answers are 'quite interesting'.

  • Match of the Day
    Match of the Day (1964)7.6

    BBC's football highlights and analysis. "The longest-running football television programme in the world" as recognised by Guinness World Records in 2015.

  • Silent Witness
    Silent Witness (1996)7.6

    A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

  • Top Gear
    Top Gear (2002)7.6

    This fast-paced and stunt-filled motor show tests whether cars, both mundane and extraordinary, live up to their manufacturers' claims. The long-running show travels to locations around the world, performing extreme stunts and challenges to see what the featured cars are capable of doing. The current hosts are Paddy Mcguinness, Chris Harris and Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff.

  • Doctor Who
    Doctor Who (2005)7.6

    The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

  • Call the Midwife
    Call the Midwife (2012)7.6

    Drama following the lives of a group of midwives working in the poverty-stricken East End of London during the 1950s, based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth.

  • Death in Paradise
    Death in Paradise (2011)7.4

    A brilliant but idiosyncratic British detective and his resourceful local team solve baffling murder mysteries on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie.

  • The Graham Norton Show
    The Graham Norton Show (2007)7.2

    Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.

  • Vigil
    Vigil (2021)7.2

    The mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death on-board the submarine HMS Vigil bring the police into conflict with the Navy and British security services. DCI Amy Silva and DS Kirsten Longacre lead an investigation on land and at sea into a conspiracy that goes to the very heart of Britain’s national security.

  • Top of the Pops
    Top of the Pops (1964)6.6

    The biggest stars, the most iconic performances, the most outrageous outfits – it’s Britain’s number one pop show.

  • Play for Today
    Play for Today (1970)6.6

    Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

  • Panorama
    Panorama (1953)6.3

    Current affairs programme, featuring interviews and investigative reports on a wide variety of subjects.

  • Casualty
    Casualty (1986)6.2

    Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

  • Newsnight
    Newsnight (1980)6.0

    A daily BBC Television current affairs programme which specialises in analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians.

  • Holby City
    Holby City (1999)5.8

    Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.

  • EastEnders
    EastEnders (1985)4.2

    The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.