就拿《神探夏洛克》说，“卷福”和“花生”的这一对老搭档，从维多利亚时期“穿越”到了21世纪摆弄着黑莓以及Iphone在现代伦敦街道奔跑追逐罪犯。 2011年一整年，全世界的人都在讨论着这部只有3集，每集有90分钟的剧集。而今年年初第二季的播出，更是将这股英伦热潮推上新的高度，现如今，你可以 不看美剧，但你不能不知道《神探夏洛克》!
另一部有代表性的《唐顿庄园》是最新一届的艾美奖和金球奖的大赢家，这部典型的英伦时代剧，用泰坦尼克遇难做引子，用埋藏在日常生活之下的张力和复杂多面 的人性引人入胜。如果你热爱简奥斯丁，那么可以看三个未嫁的小姐如何恋爱择偶;如果你钟情革命与热血，那么一战背景无疑将让这个军人之家有了新冲突;如果 你就是爱看阶层的矛盾和笑点，那么远道而来的庄园继承人和他母亲都具有中产阶级的浓厚平民意识……同时，每集100万英镑的制作费用，让你光看华丽服装以 及各位的戏骨级演员飙戏就满足。
不得不提的穿越剧的鼻祖《神秘博士》，早在1963年该剧中来自外星球的“博士”就乘坐着自己那个像电话亭一样的时间机器穿越古今、游走于各个星球之间。 作为英国“国宝级”的长寿剧，这部被吉尼斯世界纪录大全列为世界上最长的科幻电视系列剧的《神秘博士》，从其整体播出收视率、DVD和书籍出售、 iTunes下载量、“非法下载”来看，也被列入有史以来“最成功”的科幻电视系列剧。
2000年，由英国电影学院British Film Institute (BFI)调查的100英国最佳电视节目的名单中不乏大家熟悉的Doctor Who ，Yes, Minister / Yes, Prime Minister，该名单不单包括电视剧，还包括纪录片，新闻等其他节目。虽然由于《神探夏洛克》、《黑镜子》、《唐顿庄园》、《梅林传奇》等剧集比较新 没有被排在内，但是你同样可以通过这张榜单了解英剧的“前世今生”!
The BFI TV 100 is a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI)， chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Initially, a 'big list' of 650 programmes was drawn up by BFI personnel, and this provisional list was then distributed to a range of television industry professionals in the UK, who were each given 30 votes。
The listing was split into six categories: Single Dramas, Drama Series and Serials, Comedy and Variety, Factual, Children's / Youth, and Lifestyle &Light Entertainment. Each voter was required to cast a minimum of three votes in every category. News stories were mostly excluded—with exceptions such as the coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales—on the basis that it would be impossible to determine whether it was the coverage or the news itself that made them important. Sport was excluded for similar reasons, and also because many events such as the 1966 World Cup, while important to those in England, would not matter to those in other areas of the United Kingdom. Some programmes are represented on the list by an entire series。
For some series, such as the anthology The Wednesday Play and current affairs show This Week, individual episodes are listed. Television programmes no longer existing in the archives were excluded from consideration。
