The Best TV Shows on BBC Two

Every BBC Two Show Ranked From Best To Worst

BBC Two has delivered an expansive roster of over 20 shows, dating from 1962 all the way to 2015. As of September 2025, we’ve curated over 20 of BBC Two’s premier shows for your viewing pleasure. Premiering in 1962 and 1964, University Challenge and Horizon are among BBC Two’s most celebrated shows.

  • 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)8.0

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

  • QI
    QI (2003)8.0

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

  • Inside No. 9
    Inside No. 9 (2014)8.0

    An anthology of darkly comic twisted tales, each one taking place behind a door marked 'number 9'.

  • Match of the Day
    Match of the Day (1964)7.5

    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)7.5

    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)7.4

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

  • Torchwood
    Torchwood (2006)7.3

    The exploits of a team of people whose job is to investigate the unusual, the strange and the extraterrestrial.

  • 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.

  • Natural World
    Natural World (1983)7.1

    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.

  • 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.

  • Playhouse
    Playhouse (1974)7.0

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

  • Never Mind the Buzzcocks
    Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1996)7.0

    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.

  • Timewatch
    Timewatch (1982)6.9

    Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can be found on US cable channels without the branding.

  • University Challenge
    University Challenge (1962)6.0

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

  • Escape to the Country
    Escape to the Country (2002)5.5

    The property show that helps prospective buyers find their dream home in the country.

  • Countryfile
    Countryfile (1988)4.6

    The people, places and stories making news in the British countryside.

  • Ready Steady Cook
    Ready Steady Cook (1994)N/A

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