Cult TV still works its magic
- Publication: The Herald (Ireland)
- Date: 2001-08-08
- Author: Ian O'Doherty
- Page: 35
- Language: English
Dr Who (no need to ask) tops the list of timeless TV shows. Ian O'Doherty time-travels through the rest with a guide to cult classics
IT'S 1975, and I am cowering behind the sofa, waiting for the usual Saturday evening tea of spice burgers, sausages and chips. Why am I cowering behind a sofa? Are my mothers spice burgers so foul they make me hide?
Nope, it's Dr Who time and I have just been introduced to the Cybermen, a bunch of cybernetic androids who, to my four year old mind, manage to look like the personification of mindless, post-fascist collective malevolence. Or something.
It's the kind of memory that gets jogged by the Penguin Television Companion, a new reference book which also contains the top 20 favourite cult shows of all time.
It's a strange choice, and the inclusion of shows such as Fawley Towers and Only Fools And Horses stretch the definition of 'cult' dangerously.
KLINGON
But there is a veritable cornucopia of classic telly contained in the list.
Not surprisingly, Dr Who topped the poll.
The science fiction show which engendered an almost religious adoration long before weird Americans tried to learn Klingon as a first language, Dr Who worked on minimal budgets, candy floss sets and some frankly ridiculous hamming from Tom Baker (the best Dr of them all).
But it had imagination, it had wit and it wasn't afraid to scare the shite out of small children, which is always a good thing.
The idea of a list of cult classics is risky on several levels.
Making lists can be a fraught occupation at the best of times, and I know of at least one near fist-fight which was originally started by a debate about the five best B-sides (not including Stiff or Motown) of the '70's —guilty parties, you know who you are.
But when you combine the unashamedly anal nature of making lists with the, erm, unashamedly anal nature of cult television you are in unmarked territory where the obsessive geek reigns supreme.
Which is why I must take issue with the list.
Apart from Fawlty Towers and Only Fools And Horses (cult programmes do not get annual Christmas Day specials) the idea of including stupid, '60s garbled nonsense The Prisoner at 5 is a travesty.
Nothing more than vaguely hallucinogenic, drug inspired nonsense about a weird loner and a Quixotic quest that may or may not be a figment of his own imagination, The Prisoner comes a remarkable 12 places higher than Twin Peaks, with its vaguely hallucinogenic, drug inspired tale of a weird loner and his Quixotic quest.
SIMPLE
What made one so much better than the other? Well, Sherilyn Fenn for starters.
Not surprisingly, science fiction plays a huge part in the list.
This is for the very simple reason that science fiction tends to appeal to young men who don't have a girlfriend.
This places sci-fi into the kind of solitary pursuit that single young men tend to enjoy and never forget.
This is why most women in their thirties can't really remember what they were looking at 20 years ago, while I can easily remember what I was having for tea the first time the cybermen appeared on my screen. The ubiquitous Star Trek comes third, providing further proof that even geeks can be sold a myth if you persist for long enough.
But how on earth can The X Files come above Blakes 7?
Blakes 7 was one of the most vividly imagined, frightening pieces of future shock to have emerged from the golden age of British television.
The X Files, on the other hand, lost its bottle years ago and swapped serious conspiracy theorising for a bunch of hokey one-off episodes, stupid one-liners and a bogus will they/won't they scenario between two unattractive people.
And if The Magic Roundabout is included then where is Mr Benn, easily the most subversive and subtly shaded children's programme of them all?
In fact, the only way to correct this dreadful injustice is to compile my own list - which, of course, is the whole reason the people at Penguin compiled theirs in the first place.
SMALL SCREEN GEMS
1. DOCTOR WHO
2. FAWLTY TOWERS
3. STAR TREK
4. MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
5. THE PRISONER
6. THE X FILES
7. THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT
8. THE SIMPSONS
9. THUNDERBIRDS
10. ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES
11. THE YOUNG ONES
12. BLAKE'S 7
13. KUNG FU
14. THE AVENGERS
15. FATHER TED
16. RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED)
17. TWIN PEAKS
18. BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF
19. RED DWARF
20. BAGPUSS
Captions:
THE X FACTOR: Mulder and Scully in The X Files: No.6 in the line-up of cult TV classics
SCARY? Raw as Dr Who
WOODEN HEARTS: Thunderbirds
RESPECTABLE 14: The Avengers
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: O'Doherty, Ian (2001-08-08). Cult TV still works its magic. The Herald (Ireland) p. 35.
- MLA 7th ed.: O'Doherty, Ian. "Cult TV still works its magic." The Herald (Ireland) [add city] 2001-08-08, 35. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: O'Doherty, Ian. "Cult TV still works its magic." The Herald (Ireland), edition, sec., 2001-08-08
- Turabian: O'Doherty, Ian. "Cult TV still works its magic." The Herald (Ireland), 2001-08-08, section, 35 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Cult TV still works its magic | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Cult_TV_still_works_its_magic | work=The Herald (Ireland) | pages=35 | date=2001-08-08 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=4 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Cult TV still works its magic | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Cult_TV_still_works_its_magic | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=4 April 2025}}</ref>
