Weird, Old British Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy TV Gems
by andrewroake | created - 11 Feb 2021 | updated - 3 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Supernatural (1977)
50 min | Horror
Chilling anthology series where membership to the secret society, The Club of the Damned, is granted through telling horror stories.
Stars: Andre Van Gyseghem, Billie Whitelaw, Ian Hendry, Charles Kay
Votes: 169
2. Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982)
TV-PG | 30 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The secrets Sapphire, Steel and their colleagues find include people trapped in photos, ghosts lost in time and a retro dinner party.
Stars: David McCallum, Joanna Lumley, David Collings, Gerald James
Votes: 1,857
3. The Stone Tape (1972 TV Movie)
90 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A research team from an electronics company moves into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director... See full summary »
Director: Peter Sasdy | Stars: Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Iain Cuthbertson, Michael Bates
Votes: 1,885
4. Children of the Stones (1977)
173 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Scientist Adam Brake and his son Matthew arrive in the sleepy English village of Milbury to find it under the grip of weird psychic powers unleashed by the sinister village squire, Hendrick, and whose power they struggle to break.
Stars: Gareth Thomas, Veronica Strong, Peter Demin, Ruth Dunning
Votes: 856
5. The Changes (1975)
240 min | Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic Britain, everyone has rebelled against modern technology (electricity, engines, trains etc) and reverted to a pre-Industrial Revolution way of life. When Nicky Gore ... See full summary »
Stars: Victoria Williams, Keith Ashton, Marc Zuber, Rafiq Anwar
Votes: 195
6. Quatermass and the Pit (1958–1959)
30 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror
A team of scientists search for the origin and purpose of a mysterious capsule found on a building site.
Stars: André Morell, Cec Linder, Anthony Bushell, John Stratton
Votes: 1,206
7. Quatermass II (1955)
188 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror
Professor Quatermass is trying to perfect a dangerously unstable nuclear-powered rocket engine. After a disastrous test firing in Australia, his soon-to-be son-in-law, Captain John Dillon, ... See full summary »
Stars: John Robinson, Monica Grey, Hugh Griffith, John Stone
Votes: 482
8. The Quatermass Experiment (1953)
30 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror
Follows the first manned space flight from Australia. In its return to Earth, from the crew of 3, only Victor Carroon, is still aboard. Examinations reveal that something attacked the crew as they were on course back to Earth.
Stars: Reginald Tate, Isabel Dean, Hugh Kelly, Paul Whitsun-Jones
Votes: 440
9. The Day of the Triffids (1981)
50 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
When a comet blinds nearly everyone in the world, a genetically-engineered species of plant takes over.
Stars: John Duttine, Emma Relph, Maurice Colbourne, Jonathan Newth
Votes: 2,438
10. The Signalman (1976 TV Movie)
38 min | Drama, Horror
A lonely Signalman is visited by a stranger.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Denholm Elliott, Bernard Lloyd, Reginald Jessup, Carina Wyeth
Votes: 1,755
11. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974 TV Movie)
37 min | Horror, Mystery
The Reverend Justin Somerton, a scholar of Medieval history, and his protégé Lord Peter Dattering are visiting an Abbey library. Studying a stained glass window they uncover clues leading to a treasure hidden by a disgraced Abbot.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Sheila Dunn, Anne Blake, Frank Mills, Virginia Balfour
Votes: 717
12. The Stalls of Barchester (1971 TV Movie)
45 min | Horror
While cataloging the library of Barchester Cathedral, a scholar finds a diary detailing the events surrounding the mysterious death of an Archdeacon some 50 years earlier. The first of the BBC's famed 'A Ghost Story for Christmas'.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Robert Hardy, Clive Swift, Thelma Barlow, Will Leighton
Votes: 914
13. A Warning to the Curious (1972 TV Movie)
50 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
An archaeologist goes treasure hunting along the English coast in search of a lost, fabled crown that supposedly helps protect Great Britain against invasion, but uncovers something much more sinister.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Julian Herington, John Kearney
Votes: 1,640
14.
Theatre 625 (1964–1968)
Episode:
The Year of the Sex Olympics
(1968)
105 min | Drama
Set in a future when the world is dominated and run by television, where language has become almost redundant and all "tensions" - love, war, hate, loyalty - have been removed. ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Elliott | Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Suzanne Neve, Tony Vogel, Brian Cox
Votes: 191
15. The Ash Tree (1975 TV Movie)
32 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Man of leisure Sir Richard (Edward Petherbridge) receives notification that his Uncle has died, bequeathing him his stately country manor and all its lands. On his return to England he ... See full summary »
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Edward Petherbridge, Preston Lockwood, Barbara Ewing, Lalla Ward
Votes: 766
16. The Prisoner (1967–1968)
TV-PG | 1,010 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After he resigns, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is actually a bizarre prison. He refuses to give his warders information while attempting to escape.
Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Angelo Muscat, Peter Swanwick, Peter Brace
Votes: 15,047
17. Tales of the Unexpected (1979–1988)
TV-14 | 25 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
Short dramas each with a twist of some kind; across the first four seasons most of these are from short stories by Roald Dahl.
Stars: Roald Dahl, Andrew Ray, Forbes Collins, Richard Johnson
Votes: 2,500
18. Hammer House of Horror (1980)
TV-14 | 54 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
This British anthology series, which was produced by England's leading exporters of horror films, told tales of haunted houses, demons, ghosts, and other supernatural wonders.
Stars: Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliott, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Anna Calder-Marshall
Votes: 2,285
19. Lost Hearts (1973 TV Movie)
35 min | Horror, Mystery
A young orphan, Stephen, is sent to go and live with his strange, much older cousin at his remote country house. Once there, Stephen experiences terrible dreams in which he sees a young girl and boy who are missing their hearts.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Simon Gipps-Kent, Joseph O'Conor, James Mellor, Susan Richards
Votes: 961
20.
Play for Today (1970–1984)
Episode:
Robin Redbreast
(1970)
76 min | Comedy, Drama
After a long-term relationship ends, Norah moves to a remote house in the country. The locals are friendly., if eccentric. She starts a flirtatious relationship with young gamekeeper, Rob. ... See full summary »
Director: James MacTaggart | Stars: Anna Cropper, Amanda Walker, Julian Holloway, Freda Bamford
Votes: 499
21. Dead of Night (1972)
50 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
"Dead of Night" was a non-hosted UK television anthology series of supernatural fiction, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in 1972.
Stars: Anna Massey, John Castle, Anna Cropper, Peter Barkworth
Votes: 169
22. The Owl Service (1969–1970)
200 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Three teenagers discover a mysterious set of owl and flower-patterned dinner plates in the attic and the magical ancient legend of the "Mabinogion" comes to life once again in their Welsh valley.
Stars: Dorothy Edwards, Gillian Hills, Michael Holden, Francis Wallis
Votes: 229
23.
Play for Today (1970–1984)
Episode:
Penda's Fen
(1974)
89 min | Comedy, Drama
Summer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings.
Director: Alan Clarke | Stars: Spencer Banks, John Atkinson, Georgine Anderson, Ron Smerczak
Votes: 838
24. Artemis 81 (1981 TV Movie)
185 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The epic battle for the future of mankind is fought between an angel of light and an angel of death.
Director: Alastair Reid | Stars: Hywel Bennett, Dinah Stabb, Dan O'Herlihy, Sting
Votes: 208
25. Out of the Unknown (1965–1971)
60 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A classic anthology science fiction series which features adaptations of stories by famous authors including Isaac Asimov, J.G. Ballard, Frederik Pohl and John Wyndham.
Stars: John Gabriel, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Erik Chitty, Peter Copley
Votes: 175
26. Timeslip (1970–1971)
30 min | Family, Sci-Fi
Simon and Liz fell into a time hole and found themselves trapped in different eras of the 20th century, where they have all sorts of adventures. Many of these involve the nefarious Commander Traynor, who is also traveling through time.
Stars: Cheryl Burfield, Spencer Banks, Denis Quilley, Iris Russell
Votes: 239
27.
Inside No. 9 (2014– )
Episode:
The Devil of Christmas
(2016)
TV-MA | 29 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A director talks about his old horror film. It's Austria, Krampusnacht, December 1977. The Devonshires arrive at the alpine chalet for a holiday. The caretaker, Klaus, tells them about a local legend of Krampus, the Devil of Christmas.
Director: Graeme Harper | Stars: Reece Shearsmith, Rula Lenska, Jessica Raine, Steve Pemberton
Votes: 1,986
28. Thriller (1973–1976)
TV-14 | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
"Thriller" was an anthology series of self-contained episodes, with genres ranging from murder mystery to suspense to psychological and supernatural horror.
Stars: Donna Mills, Gary Collins, Derek Francis, Michael Jayston
Votes: 977
29. Armchair Thriller (1978–1981)
25 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Suspense and mystery-themed anthology series.
Stars: Frank Duncan, James Bolam, Maria Aitken, Zena Walker
Votes: 256
30. Black and Blue (1973)
60 min | Drama
Anthology series of plays based on the theme of "things turning black and the air turning blue."
Stars: George Tovey, Warren Mitchell, Clifford Rose, Julian Holloway
Votes: 24
31. Beasts (1976)
60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
An anthology series concerning bestial horror, created by Nigel Kneale.
Stars: Pamela Moiseiwitsch, Jane Wymark, Martin Shaw, Patrick Magee
Votes: 280
32.
Play for Today (1970–1984)
Episode:
Red Shift
(1978)
84 min | Comedy, Drama
Three men at three different times in history come to Mow Cop Hill in search of sanctuary from their troubles: a Roman soldier, an English Civil War rebel and a 1970s teenager. Somehow they... See full summary »
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: Stephen Petcher, Lesley Dunlop, Stella Tanner, Bernard Gallagher
Votes: 80
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