Thursday 16 July 2015

Doctor Who Series 10 commissioned - Which other British shows have achieved this?

Within the pages of the BBC Worldwide Annual Review, the  commissioning of Doctor Who Series 10 has been confirmed.

Doctor Who features prominently in the Review, published earlier this week.   It reports that Series 8 has been licensed to 189 territories and achieved record ratings on BBC America and Space channel in Canada.

With at least 10 series confirmed,  "new" Doctor Who still has a long way to match the 26 series of "classic" Doctor Who.  If you combine the two runs of the show, it is the longest running fictional British TV show other than the soap opera Coronation Street (1960-).   

Here is a list of non-soap British dramas and situation comedies with 10 or more series: 
(ongoing series are in bold)
  1. Last of the Summer Wine (BBC One) - 31 series - 1973-2010 
  2. Grange Hill (BBC One) - 31 series - 1978-2008
  3. Casualty (BBC One) - 29 series - 1986-
  4. Taggart (ITV) - 27 series - 1983-2010
  5. Doctor Who (BBC One) - 26 series - 1963-1989
  6. The Bill (ITV) - 26 series - 1984-2010
  7. Dixon of Dock Green (BBC One) - 22 series - 1955-1976
  8. Chucklevision (BBC One) - 21 series - 1987-2009
  9. Silent Witness (BBC One)  - 19 series - 1996-
  10. Midsomer Murders (ITV) - 18 series - 1997-
  11. Heartbeat (ITV) - 18 series - 1992-2009
  12. Byker Grove (BBC One) - 18 series - 1989-2006
  13. Holby City (BBC One) - 17 series - 1999-
  14. Doctors (BBC One) - 17 series - 2000-
  15. A Touch of Frost (ITV) - 15 series - 1992-2010
  16. London's Burning (ITV) - 14 series - 1988-2002
  17. Z-Cars (BBC One) - 13 series - 1962-1978
  18. Agatha Christie's Poirot (ITV) - 13 series - 1989-2013
  19. Birds of a Feather (BBC One / ITV) - 12 series - 1989-
  20. Inspector Morse (ITV) - 12 series - 1987-2000
  21. New Tricks (BBC One) - 12 series - 2003-2015
  22. Trial and Retribution (ITV) - 12 series - 1997-2009
  23. Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC One) - 12 series - 1996-2007
  24. Mike & Angelo (ITV) - 12 series - 1989-2000
  25. Peak Practice (ITV) - 12 series - 1993-2002
  26. Red Dwarf (BBC Two / Dave) - 11 series - 1988-
  27. Shameless (Channel 4) - 11 series - 2004-2013
  28. My Family (BBC One)  - 11 series - 2000-2011
  29. Never the Twain (ITV) - 11 series - 1981-1991
  30. Doctor Who (BBC One) - 10 series - 2005-
  31. The Liver Birds (BBC One) - 10 series - 1969-1996
  32. Minder (ITV) - 10 series - 1979-1994
  33. As Time Goes By (BBC One) -  10 series - 1992-2005
  34. Are You Being Served? (BBC One) - 10 series - 1972-1985
  35. Dream Team (Sky One) - 10 series - 1997-2007
  36. Waterloo Road (BBC One) - 10 series - 2006-2015
  37. Spooks (BBC One) - 10 series - 2002-2011
  38. No Hiding Place (ITV) -10 series - 1959-1967
I am using IMDB "seasons" listings as my source - they count some special episodes as separate "seasons".
Get in touch if you think any shows are missing from the list.

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