The Best TV Shows on London Weekend Television

Bottle Boys is a British sitcom which ran for two series on ITV in 1984 and 1985. Starring Robin Askwith as football-mad milkman Dave Deacon, the series mined comedy of the broadest sort from randy Dave's amorous adventures, in a style familiar to viewers from the Confessions films. However, as well as the sexual innuendo of his earlier big-screen adventures, Askwith was equally likely to find himself embroiled in more off-the-wall exploits, and found himself at various points in the series dressing up as a cow, inadvertently engaged to Sharon the secretary, and meeting then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The part of Dave Deacon was originally written for Jim Davidson, who was by this time already expanding into sitcom territory with Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, also on ITV. It was future BBC controller John Birt, during his tenure at London Weekend Television, who suggested that Askwith take the part.

On the Buses is a British comedy series created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to a friend, Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television, who loved the idea; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.

Anna Lee is a British television series produced by Brian Eastman and Carnival Films for London Weekend Television. Following a 1993 pilot, five two-hour programmes were produced in 1994, loosely based on the detective novels of Liza Cody. These were broadcast in the U.S. on the A&E cable network. The title role was played by Imogen Stubbs. Music was by Anne Dudley with theme song "Sister, Sister" and some additional songs by Luciana Caporaso. Considerable alterations were made from the original books so that sometimes they seem to share only their titles. According to actor Ken Stott's webpage:

Six Dates with Barker is a series of six one-off, half hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by London Weekend Television early in 1971. Writers on the series included John Cleese and Spike Milligan. The producer was Humphrey Barclay.

The Barbara Taylor Bradford trilogy that began with "A Woman of Substance", ends with this epic tale. Paula O' Neill feuds with her cousins as she fights to save her grandmother's business, and struggles to salvage her marriage.

The Complete And Utter History Of Britain was a 1969 television comedy sketch show. It was created and written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones between the two series of Do Not Adjust Your Set. It was produced for and broadcast by London Weekend Television but was not shown in other ITV regions. The idea was to replay history as if television had been around at the time. Sketches included interviews with the vital characters in the dressing-room after the Battle of Hastings, Samuel Pepys presenting a TV chat-show and an estate agent trying to sell Stonehenge to a young couple looking for their first home. Seven programmes were written and produced, but LWT amalgamated the first two episodes into a single "stronger" episode, resulting in a six-part series. For many years the entire series was believed to have been wiped. However, copies of the first two episodes have now been found, as have the complete first two episodes as produced. As of June 2008, none are known to have been repeated on television or released on DVD. Terry Jones has expressed dissatisfaction with the show, complaining after a showing of surviving episodes that the pacing was off and the soundtrack all wrong.

Please Sir! is a London Weekend Television produced situation comedy, created by writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featured the actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies. The series ran for 55 episodes between 1968 and 1972.

Released from prison after serving a prison sentence, Stanley Bowler sets about trying to 'better' himself. The basic premise of the series revolves around Bowler's attempts to develop a more cultured personality, as he tries to understand the fine arts, and to move into higher social circles.

Romany Jones is a British sitcom made by LWT, It starred Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts as Wally and Lily Briggs and was broadcast between 1973 and 1975, The show was originally designed as a vehicle for James Beck, involving the comic misadventures of two layabout families living on a caravan site. Following the death of Beck in August 1973, aged just 44, Bert and Betty Jones were written out of the series, and Jonathan Cecil and Gay Soper took over the lead roles, playing new neighbours, Jeremy and Susan Crichton-Jones. The show had a pilot broadcast in 1972 and was followed by a spin off sequel in 1976 entitled Yus, My Dear, starring Mullard and Watts.

Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr's Terrahawks, simply referred to as Terrahawks, was a 1980s British science fiction television series produced by Anderson Burr Pictures and created by the production team of Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr. The show was Anderson's first in over a decade to utilize puppets for its characters, and also his last. Anderson's previous puppet-laden TV series included Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Set in the year 2020, the series followed the adventures of the Terrahawks, a taskforce responsible for protecting Earth from invasion by a group of extraterrestrial androids and aliens led by Zelda. Like Anderson's previous puppet series, futuristic vehicles and technology featured prominently in each episode.

The Fenn Street Gang is a British television sitcom which ran for three seasons between 1971 and 1973. The series was created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, it was spun-off from their Please Sir! series.

Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike the later women-in-prison TV series Prisoner and Bad Girls, Within These Walls tended to centre its storylines around the prison staff rather than the inmates. The lead character was the well-groomed, genteel governor Faye Boswell, and episodes revolved around her attempts to liberalise the prison regime while managing her personal life at home. Another prominent character was her Chief Officer, Mrs. Armitage. Googie Withers left after three series; in Series Four her character was replaced as governor by Helen Forrester, who in turn left to be replaced in the final Series Five by Susan Marshall. The creator and writer of the programme, David Butler, played the prison chaplain, the Rev Henry Prentice, in some episodes. As of November 2011 Network DVD have released all five series in the UK, with the exception of "Nowhere for the Kids", an episode from Series Two which appears to have been wiped from the archives.

A Fine Romance is a British situation comedy starring husband-and-wife team Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Dench's sister was played by Susan Penhaligon. It was produced by London Weekend Television and written by Bob Larbey. It was first broadcast on 8 November 1981. It lasted for 26 episodes over four series; the final episode being broadcast on 17 February 1984. The series takes its name from a song in the 1936 film Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, which Dench recorded as the theme music. The series was nominated for nine BAFTA British Academy Television Awards and a winner of two, both for Dench's performance in 1982 and 1985.

The Royal Variety Performance is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety. It is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family. The evening's performance is presented as a live variety show, usually from a theatre in London and consists of family entertainment that includes comedy, music, dance, magic and other speciality acts.

In thirty-minutes of relentless stand-up punctuated by the occasional song, Carrott rants about everything from Spaghetti Junction to the Jersey constabulary, medicals to Monty Python... and famously introduces the word 'zit' into the British vocabulary.

Gay Life was a groundbreaking documentary series on London Weekend Television, produced by its London Minorities Unit. Broadcast in 1980, it may have then been the first series devoted to LGBT people and issues on a major television network.

Game for a Laugh is a British light entertainment programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network.

Julie Walters and Friends was a one-off comedy sketch show showcasing the talents of actress Julie Walters. Sketches were written by Walters' frequent collaborators, including Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett, Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale. Walters portrayed new characters alongside roles she had previously been known for, including a monologue in which she appeared as Mrs Murray, her character from G.B.H, written by Bleasdale. The show was nominated for the Best Light Entertainment award at the 1992 BAFTAs.

The Six O'Clock Show was a regional television magazine show broadcast in the Greater London area and produced by London Weekend Television between 1982 and 1988. The Friday evening programme was launched on Friday 8 January 1982 and presented in front of a live studio audience by Michael Aspel with co-hosts Danny Baker, Andy Price and Janet Street-Porter. Later presenters included Paula Yates, Shyama Perera, former Page 3 model Samantha Fox and Mastermind champion Fred Housego. Devised by Greg Dyke and intended as a light-hearted introduction to the weekend, the programme included a 15 minute news bulletin produced by Thames Television alongside current affairs, features and entertainment. There was also a short-lived Saturday edition of the programme, which ran for six weeks during May and June 1985. The Six O'Clock Show went onto become one of the most watched regional TV programmes in Britain. Concern from the Independent Broadcasting Authority about the lack of a proper local news service at weekends forced LWT to introduce its own service of LWT News bulletins throughout the weekend in 1988. The Six O'Clock Show was axed around the same time and replaced by a smaller scale magazine show entitled Friday Now. This in turn was replaced a year later by Six O'Clock Live, presented by Frank Bough with reporters Danny Baker, Jo Sheldon and Nick Owen.

After Michael Heseltine announced his retirement from the House of Commons and to tie in with the publication of his memoirs 'Life in the Jungle' in September 2000, LWT made a two part documentary telling his story.