The Best TV Shows on ITV1

Every ITV1 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Stay up-to-date with over 20 of ITV1’s elite series, with our list refreshed for December 2025. Highlighting ITV1’s quality programming, Coronation Street and The Avengers stand out, premiering in 1960 and 1961. ITV1’s extensive portfolio includes more than 20 shows, spanning the years from 1960 to 2014.

  • Agatha Christie's Poirot
    Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)8.2

    From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

  • Doc Martin
    Doc Martin (2004)8.2

    Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Dominic Minghella after the character of Dr. Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film Saving Grace. The show is set in the fictional seaside village of Portwenn and filmed on location in the village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, with most interior scenes shot in a converted local barn. Five series aired between 2004 and 2011, together with a feature-length special that aired on Christmas Day 2006. Series 6 began airing on ITV on 2 September 2013.

  • Sherlock Holmes
    Sherlock Holmes (1984)8.1

    Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.

  • Downton Abbey
    Downton Abbey (2010)8.1

    A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

  • Endeavour
    Endeavour (2013)8.1

    The early days of a young Endeavour Morse, whose experiences as a detective constable with the Oxford City Police will ultimately shape his future.

  • Foyle's War
    Foyle's War (2002)7.9

    As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an MI5 agent operating in the aftermath of the war.

  • Broadchurch
    Broadchurch (2013)7.9

    The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.

  • Agatha Christie's Marple
    Agatha Christie's Marple (2004)7.8

    The adventures of Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living in the quiet little village of St Mary Mead. During her many visits to friends and relatives in other villages, Miss Marple often stumbles upon mysterious murders which she helps solve. Although the police are sometimes reluctant to accept Miss Marple's help, her reputation and unparalleled powers of observation eventually win them over.

  • The Avengers
    The Avengers (1961)7.7

    A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

  • Prime Suspect
    Prime Suspect (1991)7.7

    Highly skilled Detective Inspector Jane Tennison battles to prove herself in a male dominated world.

  • Lewis
    Lewis (2007)7.6

    Inspector Robert Lewis and Sergeant James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.

  • Midsomer Murders
    Midsomer Murders (1997)7.5

    The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

  • The Saint
    The Saint (1962)7.4

    Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

  • Vera
    Vera (2011)7.4

    A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and blackmail. Vera is obsessive about her work and faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.

  • Grantchester
    Grantchester (2014)7.3

    In 1953 at the hamlet of Grantchester, Sidney Chambers—a charismatic, charming clergyman—turns investigative vicar when one of his parishioners dies in suspicious circumstances.

  • Heartbeat
    Heartbeat (1992)7.1

    Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

  • Minder
    Minder (1979)6.8

    Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

  • Thomas & Friends
    Thomas & Friends (1984)6.8

    Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series, which had its first broadcast on the ITV network on 4 September 1984. It is based on The Railway Series of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. These books deal with the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised locomotives and road vehicles who live on the fictional Island of Sodor. The books were based on stories Wilbert told to entertain his son, Christopher during his recovery from measles. From Series one to four, many of the stories are based on events from Awdry's personal experience.

  • University Challenge
    University Challenge (1962)6.0

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

  • Coronation Street
    Coronation Street (1960)5.3

    The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.