The twenty best British TV shows ever - as arbitrarily decided on by us. (To see the worst, read the May issue.)

20. Dad's Army
BBC1 1969-77
Masterful Perry/Croft creation, rapidly becoming a social document as well as deathless comedy. Here represented by the episode where they find themselves against some actual Germans.

19. Fawlty Towers
BBC1 1975
The most accurate depiction of impotent male rage in telly history, never less than paralysingly funny and better than Monty Python. This is the bit from "The Builders" where Basil has to explain to Sybil, probably the most terrifying character in sitcom history, that the dining room has been bricked in.

18. Doctor Who
BBC1 1963-89 and 2005-present
Once described as the perfect TV programme, capable of adapting to any format from western to comedy to avant-garde and even changing its whole cast while remaining consistent. These are the titles from 1980 when Tom Baker was commanding the phone box.

17. The Office
BBC2, BBC1 2001-2003
The comedy classic of the 21st century so far, mirrored in the working lives of cubicle jockeys worldwide. David Brent is a monster for modern times but he's just one of a marvellous cast, including the widely worshipped Dawn and that eternal stranger to tact Keith.

16. Steptoe and Son
BBC1 1962-5, 1970-4
The sitcom "Waiting For Godot" - 'Arold imprisoned in his poverty-stricken timewarp with Albert but always dreaming of freedom. Seen from today it reaches back to an almost-Edwardian notion of back street England.

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