The Best TV Shows on Channel 4

Every Channel 4 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Channel 4 has over 20 shows broadcast from as early as 1982 and as recent as 2015. Notable series such as The Tube and Dispatches from Channel 4 first graced the screens in 1982 and 1987. Explore our list of the top rated shows up to date from July 2025 that includes over 20 unique series.

  • Black Mirror
    Black Mirror (2011)8.3

    Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.

  • The IT Crowd
    The IT Crowd (2006)8.2

    The comedic misadventures of Roy, Moss, and their grifting supervisor Jen, a 'motley crew' of IT support workers at a large corporation headed by a hotheaded yuppie.

  • Taskmaster
    Taskmaster (2015)8.2

    Greg Davies is the Taskmaster, and with the help of his ever-loyal assistant Alex Horne, they will set out to test the wiles, wit, wisdom and skills of five hyper-competitive comedians. Who will be crowned the Taskmaster champion in this brand new game show?

  • Whose Line Is It Anyway?
    Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988)7.6

    An un-scripted comedy show in which four guest performers improvise their way through a series of games, many of which rely on audience suggestions.

  • 8 Out of 10 Cats
    8 Out of 10 Cats (2005)7.1

    8 Out of 10 Cats is a British television comedy panel game produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by company Harris Poll. The show's title is derived from a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food, which originally claimed that "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas".

  • A Place in the Sun
    A Place in the Sun (2002)7.0

    The programme that helps house-hunters find their dream holiday home in the sun.

  • TFI Friday
    TFI Friday (1996)6.8

    TFI Friday was an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. It was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. The title officially stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", but was widely understood to mean "Thank Fuck It's Friday" and was a reference to the popular phrase "Thank God it's Friday". The show's theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans's frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.

  • Dispatches
    Dispatches (1987)6.7

    Dispatches is the British TV current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, and often features a mole inside organisations under journalistic investigation.

  • First Dates
    First Dates (2013)6.7

    Interactive dating experiment in which real dates are filmed, and then viewers get the chance to apply to date the unsuccessful participants the following week.

  • 24 Hours in A&E
    24 Hours in A&E (2011)6.4

    A British medical documentary set in King's College Hospital. 91 cameras filmed round the clock for 28 days, 24 hours a day in A&E it offers unprecedented access to one of Britain's busiest A&E departments.

  • Four in a Bed
    Four in a Bed (2010)6.2

    Four pairs of B&B owners from across Britain take it in turns as hosts to decide which of their establishments provides the best value for money.

  • Scrapheap Challenge
    Scrapheap Challenge (1998)6.1

    Scrapheap Challenge is an engineering game show produced by RDF Media and broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. In the show, teams of contestants had 10 hours in which to build a working machine that could do a specific task, using materials available in a scrapheap. The format was exported to the United States, where it was known as Junkyard Wars. The US show was also produced by RDF Media, and was originally shown on The Learning Channel. Repeats have aired on another Discovery network, the Science Channel.

  • Bremner, Bird and Fortune
    Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1999)6.0

    Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner, and to date has 16 series.

  • Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
    Chris Moyles' Quiz Night (2009)5.3

    Chris Moyles' Quiz Night is a British television comedy panel game show, presented by Chris Moyles. The show was originally shown on Channel 4 at 10 p.m. on Sundays and repeated on Mondays at 11 p.m. It included three rounds in which he took on three celebrity contestants in a quiz where the prize was an item from his own home. As he was also competing, the questions were asked by a celebrity quiz master. The series has an all-female house band present in the studio who played the title music.

  • V Graham Norton
    V Graham Norton (2002)5.0

    V Graham Norton was an entertainment programme shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom starring Graham Norton, broadcast every weeknight as a successor to the weekly So Graham Norton. It aired from 6 May 2002 to 26 December 2003. It featured celebrities who chatted with Graham and became involved in studio games which were usually laden with sexual innuendo. The studio games were later featured on the clip show Nortonland in 2007 on digital channel Challenge. The show featured a 'webcam', a roving television camera which was randomly situated in a different place in the UK each week and which followed Graham's instructions and allowed him to interact with the public live. The feature was made technically possible using digital microwave link technology provided by Rear Window Television with the 'spontaneous' webcam feature always produced as a full quality Outside Broadcast, before being made to look like a traditional webcam at the studios.

  • Come Dine with Me
    Come Dine with Me (2005)5.0

    Amateur chefs compete against each other by hosting a dinner party for the other contestants. Each competitor then rates the host's performance with the winner winning a £1,000 cash prize. An element of comedy is added to the show through comedian Dave Lamb, who provides a dry and "bitingly sarcastic" narration.

  • Celebrity Big Brother
    Celebrity Big Brother (2001)4.8

    Celebrity Big Brother is a British reality television game show in which a number of celebrity contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize being donated to the winner's nominated charity at the end of the run.

  • Big Brother
    Big Brother (2000)4.3

    A British reality television game show in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house for several weeks, trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run.

  • The Tube
    The Tube (1982)N/A

    The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five seasons, from 5 November 1982 until 1987. It was produced in Newcastle upon Tyne for Channel 4 by Tyne Tees Television, which had previously produced the similar music show Alright Now and the music-oriented youth show Check it Out for ITV; production of the latter ended in favour of The Tube. The Tube was presented live by hosts including Jools Holland, Paula Yates, Leslie Ash, Muriel Gray, Gary James, Michel Cremona, Nick Laird-Clowes and Mike Everitt. The brand name was relaunched by Channel 4 as an online radio station in November 2006. The show was directed by Gavin Taylor; Geoff Wonfor directed some of the insert videos along with other staff programme director of Tyne Tees Television Martin Cairns. Many other specials were made, including one for the eve of the millennium.

  • Light Lunch
    Light Lunch (1997)N/A

    Light Lunch was a Channel 4 lunch-time comedy chatshow broadcast between March 1997 and February 1998. It starred Mel and Sue. The show was a huge success initially but audience figures declined slowly eventually resulting in viewing figures merely deemed "satisfactory" by Channel 4.