The Best TV Shows on BBC Two

Every BBC Two Show Ranked From Best To Worst

A broadcaster of distinction, BBC Two has aired more than 20 shows between 1962 and 2015. Among BBC Two’s finest offerings are University Challenge and Match of the Day, which debuted in 1962 and 1964, respectively. Explore our list of the top rated shows up to date from October 2026 that includes over 20 unique series.

  • 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.

  • The Last Kingdom
    The Last Kingdom (2015)8.3

    A show of heroic deeds and epic battles with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

  • Line of Duty
    Line of Duty (2012)8.2

    A drama about the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anticorruption unit.

  • Red Dwarf
    Red Dwarf (1988)8.1

    The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.

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

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Horizon
    Horizon (1964)7.5

    Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.

  • Coast
    Coast (2005)7.5

    The nation's love affair with the coast will be reawakened for this entertaining and ambitious exploration of the entire UK coastline. Every part of the 9,000-mile coast is covered to explore how we've shaped it - and how it shapes us. Hosted by a team of history and geography experts who investigate everything from life on a nuclear submarine; rebuilding the Titanic using computer images; the story behind the first Butlins holiday camp; and the birth of the Severn Bore. Discover the curious, sometimes dysfunctional, relationship between the British and the seas.

  • Natural World
    Natural World (1983)7.4

    Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

  • Arena
    Arena (1975)7.2

    Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

  • 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.

  • Screen Two
    Screen Two (1985)7.1

    Series of single made-for-television dramas.

  • Have I Got News for You
    Have I Got News for You (1990)7.1

    Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

  • Never Mind the Buzzcocks
    Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1996)7.1

    Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game show with a pop and rock music theme. The show is infamous for its dry, sarcastic humour and scathing, provocative attacks on the pop industry.

  • Playhouse
    Playhouse (1974)7.0

    A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

  • University Challenge
    University Challenge (1962)6.5

    Academic quiz show where teams of students from UK universities answer questions on all manner of subjects.

  • Newsnight
    Newsnight (1980)6.0

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

  • Later... with Jools Holland
    Later... with Jools Holland (1992)5.9

    Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland.