It would be surprising, I suppose, if I did not comment on the recent poll conducted by the British Film Institute to find the members' choice of the 100 best programmes ever seen on British television.

It would be surprising, I suppose, if I did not comment on the recent poll conducted by the British Film Institute to find the members' choice of the 100 best programmes ever seen on British television.

When you see the list, the first thing that leaps out is just how many wonderful programmes have been made and shown over the last 30 or 40 years. It was no surprise at all that 17 of the top 20 programmes were made by or for the BBC, the first being the peerless Fawlty Towers, of which only 14 programmes were ever made, each one a classic piece of television comedy in its own right.

In second place was Cathy Come Home, Ken Loach's ground-breaking drama, made under the prestige Wednesday Play banner in 1966. Highlighting the plight of the homeless, it led directly and swiftly to the founding of the charity Shelter shortly afterwards.

The members of the BFI decided that third place in this list of the all time televisual elite should be occupied by Doctor Who. I am particularly pleased at news of this, frankly rather unexpected, accolade because for a long time it has been widely believed that the regular success of Doctor Who in viewers' polls has been due principally to some sort of reckless repetitive voting frenzy on the part of the loyal fans of the programme, somewhat patronisingly regarded in some areas as being obsessive and therefore to be disregarded.

However, the BFI members are producers, directors, critics and other professionals involved in the film and television industry. Their assessment of a half a century of television is clearly, given the quality of the company the good Doctor is in, based on something more than a sci-fi fan's obsession. I am proud to have been involved, albeit for only three years of the programme's long history, in something that is clearly held in such great affection by so many people.

I suppose it could be seen as simply a reflection of the age and generation of the BFI's members that there are only two programmes in the top 20 made in the last ten years and you reach number 17 before you encounter one of them (Ab Fab).

However I would argue that it is more than that.

Leaving aside my special connection with, and arguable bias for, Doctor Who, the quality of some of the programmes of the 60's, 70's and 80's was simply magnificent, judged from any standpoint - Boys from the Blackstuff, Yes Minister, The Naked Civil Servant, I Claudius, Morecambe and Wise, The Singing Detective, Edge of Darkness.

Eleven of the top 100 are that modern rarity, the single play. Made as the Wednesday Play, Play of the Month or Play for Today, they frequently attracted great writers of the day to produce remarkable work for that huge, growing and hungry audience of ordinary people, who would never dream of going to a theatre but avidly watched Bar Mitzvah Boy, Edna the Inebriate Woman, The War Game and Abigail's Party.

They perhaps thought that television would always be that good. I know I did.

Then along came more and more channels, satellite and cable, all competing for the same viewers, with the finite funds available to make them being spread more and more thinly. So the fly-on-the-wall replaced the writing on the wall. Pass me the swatter.