"Classic" Scifi/Fantasy shows?

[TDRandall]

Having dipped my toes into the world of Bit Torrent to catch episodes of shows that I missed, I've come to realize the potential of filling in the critical gaps of what I may have missed in my youth.

Oh, I probably caught most of the "worthwhile" stuff that was widely shown in the US 70s-80s-90s. I'm more interested in things non-US that I missed because "back in them days we didn't have VCRs or DVDs. Shoot - we were happy with our 7 1/2" black and white screens with two stations - three if you blinked in time with the vertical wrap and squeezed your eyes to blur out the snow.... Why, we had to walk up-hill, both ways, through the blizzard in bare feet...."

Anyway, which non-US shows are the sci-fi/fantasy classics? Red Dwarf and Tripods are on the list. There was a mention of Black Adder in another thread. What else? Anything non-English worth noting?

 

[Crothian]

Dr Who

 

[TDRandall]

Yes - I HAD forgotten about him! Caught a couple of episodes on PBS maybe ... 20ish (? ugh!) years back. Yep, looking at the pictures they fell into the Tom Baker/Peter Davison eras.

OMG, Mininova shows info for episodes up to #137 and season 18! Not anywhere complete, but even what's there is going to take forever to catch up. Another site mentions 27 seasons?

Talk about staying power!

EDIT: went to another site that had full episode list. Looks like UK "seasons" of 4-6 episodes are standard? That helps explain why the first Red Dwarf season I downloaded had 6 shows in it.

 

[Richards]

While originally a crime/spy show, many of the Mrs. Peel episodes of The Avengers dipped heavily into the realms of science fiction.

Johnathan

 

[Viking Bastard]

Blake's 7.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Blake's 7.

*I* was just about to post that.

 

[Big Finger Games]

Anyway, which non-US shows are the sci-fi/fantasy classics? Red Dwarf and Tripods are on the list. There was a mention of Black Adder in another thread. What else? Anything non-English worth noting?

For British stuff, I just picked up a box set of series one of CI5: The Professionals. Great 70s cheese. Worth finding just for the intro montage.

For stuff that would appeal to a gamer/sf mindset: find Spaced (series 1 and 2). Starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (also featuring Peter Serafinowicz (sp?), doing the voice of Darth Maul before he was Darth Maul's voice), it is from this series that Shaun of the Dead grew. Great stuff, loaded with pop culture references. Oh, and it's one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.

For older British sf (a la Doctor Who, Tripods), I would also suggest Terry Nation's Survivors. Post-apocalyptic stuff...

later,

-mike

 

[Viking Bastard]

For British stuff, I just picked up a box set of series one of CI5: The Professionals. Great 70s cheese. Worth finding just for the intro montage.

For stuff that would appeal to a gamer/sf mindset: find Spaced (series 1 and 2). Starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson

And directed and co-written by Edgar Wright.

Great, great, great show. Among my favourite ever.

If ya liked Shaun of the Dead, you'll like Spaced.

(also featuring Peter Serafinowicz (sp?), doing the voice of Darth Maul before he was Darth Maul's voice)

Hey, he did Maul? Neato.

Of course, when I think about it it's obvious, but I never realized.

 

[Morgana]

Sapphire and Steel - particularly Adventure #2 - The Soldier at the railway Station.

Scared the living daylights out of me when I first saw it at age 10 and did pretty much the same thing when I saw it again this year, aged 35.

(Perhaps I shouldn't have admitted to that last bit )

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

U.F.O.
Space 1999