Channel 4 started broadcasting in November 1982. Lenny Henry gives a countdown of the most popular 20 shows in his countdown.
It is a typical show of its kind. Where celebrities discuss the show with a few people who were actually involved in making them.
There is always the suspicion that the celebrities have never seen the shows they have been discussing. If they did watch them, it was a few minutes before the camera rolled.
Some of the countdown was a cheat. P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang and My Beautiful Launderette were actually movies part funded by Channel 4.
One of the shows in the Top 20 was Countdown, the first programme broadcast on launch night. Another was the gritty Brookside also show on the launch night.
There was the controversial music programme The Tube. Two hours on a friday evening and sometimes a bit too amateurish. Clip shows always rely on the good bits and Madonna appearing on it.
A lot of it was not much of a surprise. It was a time when the channel at least tried to be novel.
