Sir Michael Parkinson looks back over his 50 years as a broadcaster, revealing some tricks of the interview trade and remembering some of his favourite encounters.

When the news is announced that a comet is on an unavoidable collision course with Earth, the most hilarious and unexpected chain of events imaginable is set in motion.

The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.

As Seen on TV is a BBC television panel game show based around TV trivia. It is produced by Shine TV by arrangement with Unique Broadcasting; the latter is the company owned by Noel Edmonds, who presented the similarly themed show Telly Addicts. It is presented by Steve Jones, with team captains Fern Britton and Jason Manford. The first episode was broadcast on Friday 17 July 2009. It was moved to a Thursday evening slot from its second episode.

DS Mary Jane Croft runs the under-resourced Missing Persons Unit.

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 and currently airs on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" theme with many of the shows' segments focusing on fashion, health, nature, cookery and animals.

Irreverent comedy drama which follows the messy lives, loves, delirious highs and inevitable lows of a group of raucous teenage friends in Bristol.

Chef and restaurateur John Torode and food writer and ingredients expert Gregg Wallace search for the country's top celebrity chef.

A topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD. The programme is currently hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker from Monday-Thursday, with Chris Evans appearing instead of Baker on Fridays and relief presenters appearing when required.

A Headmistress steals from her own school. As a young girl Colleen McCabe asks a priest in confessional "What is sin?" Thirty years later she is found out for practising it. An ex-nun,she leaves the convent because she becomes disillusioned with spiritual matters and goes into teaching, being appointed headmistress of the John Rigby School in London. Along with a small coterie of chosen staff members to act as her spies,she misappropriates half a million pounds from school funds which she spends on luxury goods and a trip on the Orient Express. Meanwhile the school suffers,having to use ancient text books and pupils as cleaners. She is tried,although admitted to hospital for depression on the trial day, and sentenced to five years in jail, later reduced to four. The film alternates dramatized scenes of Colleen's misbehaviour with interviews with those who knew her.

Margaret Hale is a southerner from a country vicarage newly settled in the industrial northern town of Milton. In the shock of her move, she misjudges charismatic cotton mill-owner John Thornton, whose strength of purpose and passion are a match for her own pride and willfulness. When the workers of Milton call a strike, Margaret takes their side, and the two are brought into deeper conflict. As events spiral out of control, Margaret - to her surprise - begins to fall in love with Thornton...

Carrie's War is an adaptation of a 1973 children's novel by Nina Bawden, set during the Second World War and following two evacuees, Carrie and her younger brother Nick.

Three kids. Three dads. One mum. Mum is April (Pauline Quirke), a 39-year-old single mother living in Leicester, who has had three children by three different fathers. Richard (Victor McGuire), her husband since she was 18, is a plumber who still adores her. They separated years ago but never got round to a divorce. Eddie (Nicholas Gleaves) is a barman, with whom she had a fling nine years ago until, a week after moving in with him, she discovered they were both looking for Mr Right. Sunil (Nitin Ganatra) followed, sexy, young and rich.

Twenty years ago, three men set out on the longest walk of their lives. They vowed to repeat the walk, but this time they are joined by a forty year old wife and mother who is in the midst of a mid-life crisis.

Murder in Mind is a British television thriller drama anthology series of self-contained stories with a murderous theme seen from the perspective of the murderer.

Office Gossip is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 2001. Starring Pauline Quirke, it was written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who co-wrote The Vicar of Dibley, and George Pritchett. Recently, it has been aired in the United States on various PBS stations as part of 'One Season Wonders.

Down to Earth was a BBC One television series first broadcast in 2000 about a couple who start a new life on a Devon farm. The early episodes of the series were based on a series of books written by Faith Addis about their real-life move from London to Devon. The music in the series was composed by Sheridan Tongue, and had the song "After All this Time" as its opening and closing credits in series 2 and 3.

A modern day version of the 1969 detective series about Private Investigator Jeff Randall, who is aided in cases by the ghost of his deceased partner Marty Hopkirk.

Supermarket checkout girl Dianne Clarke embarks upon a campaign as a modern day Robin Hood, with no inkling of the chaos she is about to create. Within just a few days the Friendly Saver where she works will be brought to its knees. Double-check your receipt!

Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.

A young boy's dream of finding his dead father comes true when his father visits him as an angel. But things turn sour when he discovers that his father was not the hero he imagined him to be.

Maisie Raine was a drama series originally broadcast on BBC1 for 2 series from 28 July 1998 – 9 July 1999. Pauline Quirke took the lead role as DI Maisie Raine, an unorthodox detective whose hands on and down to earth approach was not always appreciated by her superiors. When she took on a case, she did it her way, regardless of whose toes she stepped on and who she offended. Each episode would see the team investigating a crime and often uncovering more about the perpetrators and the victims histories with DI Raine often becoming personally involved or bending the rules to get the results she wanted. Also starring alongside Quirke were Ian McElhinney, Steve John Shepherd, Rakie Ayola and Richard Graham.

A parent's grief has no bounds. Our Boy tells the moving and tragic story of one couple’s struggle to come to terms with the disappearance and death of their only son. Woody, Sonia and their son, Lee, live contentedly in West Ham, London. When Lee is killed in a hit-and-run everyone grieves but Woody’s grief has no limit. His best friend, Phil, counsels revenge, while in the view of the ambitious Detective Constable Spence, Woody himself is the prime suspect. Woody searches for a way to react with extraordinary and touching results. Features award-winning performances by Ray Winstone and Pauline Quirke.

'The Canterville Ghost' is one of the most popular choice for making a film in Oscar Wilde's works, and the original short story deserves the popularity. It is a witty spoof about a ghost and the 'haunted' mansion where a rich American family start to live. In this story, the family are not annoyed by the presence of the ghost; no, it is the ghost who is annoyed by the family who just refuse to be terrified. After all, why should we be scared by an old man wearing rusty coat of mail, whose best trick is to walk in the middle of night making big noises?

When author Rosalind Leigh is assigned to write a book about the life of Olive Martin, a woman sentenced to life in prison for killing her mother and sister, she develops a relationship with Olive and is soon convinced of her innocence. With the help of restaurant owner and former policeman Hal Hawksley, she sets out to prove it and undo what she sees as a miscarriage of justice.

Soccer AM is a British Saturday-morning football-based comedy/talk show, predominantly based around the Premier League. Originally presented by Jane Hoffen, Gary Stevens and Russ Williams, they lasted just a year before Helen Chamberlain and Tim Lovejoy replaced them, where Lovejoy served for over a decade. He has since been replaced by Andy Goldstein and, more recently, Max Rushden. The show has been aired on Sky Sports 2 each Saturday morning of the football season since 1995 from 7:00am or 9:00am to noon originally and currently between 10:00am and 12:00pm. In early 2009, the 500th episode was broadcast. Although the show is filmed live from 2010 it has been broadcast on a momentary delay due to bad language and/or inappropriate content from certain guests. The show's current sponsor is Procter & Gamble through their Head & Shoulders brand. The show was previously sponsored by Frijj, a brand of milkshake, after Dairy Crest signed a £2 million sponsorship deal. Parts of the show have remained since the beginning, whilst new items have been introduced each season. In that respect, it is almost the same every week, the difference being new football footage and comedy skits. Every week sees a new group of celebrity guests, generally featuring at least one footballer who is free on the Saturday, and a mix of musicians, TV personalities, and other sportsmen.

The late, great comedian Bob Monkhouse entertains a celebrity audience that includes Stephen Fry, Mandy Smith and Eamonn Holmes in this 1994 special. Watch him answer questions, tell funny tales and crack jokes.

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One from 1989 until 1998 and on ITV from 2013. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers. The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodos brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault. The series ended on Christmas Eve 1998 after a 9-year-run.

Gavin is 31 years old and still lives with his parents. He is awfully shy but before he knows it there are three women interested in him. Lady Minerva Munday has a casual way of life and lives in a basement, Joan is an over-sexed millionairess, married to a Greek architect. But Gavin prefers the ugly assistant in the barbershop.

Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.

A drama based on the novel by Charles Dickens which tells the story of Arthur Clennam who is thrown into a debtor's prison. There he meets a young seamstress whose father has been imprisoned for twenty-five years. A film in originally released in two parts.

Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher. The show was broadcast during the autumn to spring seasons, with other shows such as the 8:15 from Manchester and Parallel 9 taking over during the summer months. It was preceded by Saturday Superstore, and succeeded by Live & Kicking. In 1988, when the second series started, Greene was hurt in a helicopter crash with her then boyfriend, Mike Smith. Guest presenters stood in for her including T'Pau's Carol Decker. Similarly, in 1992-93 during the final series, Schofield was starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and was unable to present the show. A third presenter took his place. Originally, Neighbours actor Kristian Schmid took the role but soon left after problems with his work permit. Various other celebrities to stand in included Shane Richie and Robbie Williams during his Take That days.

In this series, devised by Richard O'Keefe, maverick Detective Sergeant Alan Rockliffe is given the job of training seven new young recruits to the C.I.D., all fresh out of uniform. Under his irascible guidance it is hoped that they will blossom into full-blown detectives. But Rockliffe is human - so human that he makes more mistakes than the 'Babies' he is supposed to be training.

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Four girls share a flat together in London. Having nothing in common aside from their gender, they barely manage to co-exist.

The horrors of World War I have robbed returning veteran Chris Baldry of his memory. The traumatized soldier doesn't even recognize his own wife, Kitty, or remember their years together. While Baldry attempts to cope with the unfamiliar surroundings of his own home, he seeks out the company of an old flame from his childhood, Margaret Grey. His amnesia also makes him a ready target for the affections of his older cousin, Jenny.

Q.E.D. is a 1982 short-lived adventure series set in Edwardian England, starring Sam Waterston as Professor Quentin Everett Deverill. The Professor was a scientific detective in the mold of Sherlock Holmes, and the series had a smattering of what would later be called steampunk. In the show, the lead character was known primarily by his initials, Q.E.D; the reference here is that Q.E.D. usually stands for quod erat demonstrandum, a statement signalling the end of a proof. The show aired on the CBS network in the United States, and on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

"We were so close, we loved each other, we made a whole together. I feel cut in half." Meg struggles with the sudden death of her husband.

Shine on Harvey Moon! is a British comedy-drama series made by Central Television for ITV from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by Meridian. This generally light-hearted series was created by comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. The series is set in the East End of London shortly after the Second World War. Upon being demobbed RAF serviceman Harvey Moon, played by Kenneth Cranham, returns home and finds his family involved in various troubles. His wife Rita, played by Maggie Steed, is not interested in resuming their relationship, and works in a seedy nightclub frequented by American servicemen. He becomes involved with the Labour Party and the union movement. The name of the series is a wordplay on the title of the popular 1908 song 'Shine On, Harvest Moon'. The first series was commissioned and recorded by ATV at their Elstree studios with the remaining series filmed at newly constructed facilities in Nottingham.

It's such a simple, natural thing to have a baby, thinks Mary. But she and husband Paul are preoccupied with their careers. Can their young neighbour Tessa help, or are the emotions around a new baby more complex than anyone had expected?

Clive decides he will go mad. Stark raving mad. His wife doesn't take him seriously, until Clive does something that makes her realise he means it.

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

Beasts is a series of six television plays by Manx writer Nigel Kneale, unconnected but for a bestial horror theme, made by ATV for ITV in the United Kingdom and broadcast in 1976.

Set in London between 1900 and 1925, the story follows Louisa Leyton/Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess", who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietress of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James's.

Sixteen-year-old Otis loathes school. He wants to be a professional footballer, but is good at drawing, so his mother wants him to be a draughtsman. Then, a new sports teacher appears at his South London comprehensive school, and life starts to look a little more hopeful...

Jenny is an autistic teenager. Her father is concerned about her being withdrawn and hopes that employing her in his own business will bring her out of her shell. He also employs a new young assistant called Brian.

Shadows is a British Supernatural television anthology series produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1975 and 1978. Extending over three seasons, it featured ghost and horror dramas for children. Guest actors included John Nettleton, Gareth Thomas, Jenny Agutter, Pauline Quirke, Brian Glover, June Brown, Rachel Herbert, Jacqueline Pearce and Gwyneth Strong. The series was also notable for reviving the character of Mr. Stabs. Notable writers for the series included J. B. Priestley, Fay Weldon and PJ Hammond.

Angels is a BBC medical soap-opera which launched on 1st September 1975 and was the blue print for such medical soaps as Casualty, Holby City, plus daytime soap, Doctors. The medical soap focuses on different departments within Heath Green Hospital and was a highly successful continuing drama.

Eleanor seems normal enough to her parents and teachers. Why then has she disappeared?

A tough young girl lives with her aging grandfather near a cove on the coast of Cornwall. She supports herself and him by gathering seaweed to sell as fertilizer. A cocky young neighboring boy decides to help her with the work.

The lives of several families in the Yorkshire Dales revolve around a farm and the nearby village. With murders, affairs, lies, deceit, laughter and tears, it's all there in the village.

A series of six short films concerning the adventures of form 2B and their inventive science master, Mr Potter

A series of six short films concerning the adventures of form 2B and their inventive science master, Mr Potter

It isn't really the fault of the children in 2B that their efforts to be helpful end in disaster.

A series of six short films concerning the adventures of form 2B and their inventive science master, Mr Potter

A series of six short films concerning the adventures of form 2B and their inventive science master, Mr Potter

A series of six short films concerning the adventures of form 2B and their inventive science master, Mr Potter

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Science-fiction comedy: Junket, a schoolboy, borrows an apparatus invented by the absent-minded science master for transporting matter - and, by accident, makes it work...

Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the Bristol area of England.