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The best television features characters audiences adore, allowing them to grow invested in their journeys across their respective series. This can result in some of the most powerful storylines, that play with the viewers' emotions. Shows like Game of Thrones or medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy have given fans some devastating episodes, and each sad episode in a show only seems to elevate the stakes of the series.

TV has introduced audiences to some of the saddest plots, across both factual entertainment and fictional storytelling. These sublime shows are difficult to watch, due to how the individuals involved find themselves in these deeply upsetting situations. The best pieces of television create a lasting memory for viewers, reminding them of the emotional pain they endured from watching these episodes.

Puppy Love (All Creatures Great And Small) Depicts James And Tristan On A Very Tough Work Day

All Creatures Great And Small...

The satire that would pervade Terry Gilliam’s subsequent Brazil is largely confined to the first few minutes of 1981’s Time Bandits. The film opens in a modern, English household where a boy, Kevin (Craig Warnock), pores over a book on ancient Greek history while his parents (David Daker and Sheila Fearn) both watch and read advertisements, discussing the relative merits of their various gadgets and appliances compared to those of their neighbors. The living room is lit with harsh artificial light and decorated like a showroom, a place designed as a boast, not to be lived in. Only Kevin’s room, naturally lit via a window and adorned with self-taken photographs and childlike drawings, betrays any humanity.

Soon, the cozy retreat of Kevin’s room is invaded, though not by his parents, but by a medieval knight on horseback, and then a sextet of time-traveling dwarves who recruit the...

Besides being one of the most imaginative movies of the 1980s, Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits also leaves a lot of questions with its surprising ending. Released in 1981 to mostly positive reviews, the film was praised for its cleverness, and it launched what would be known as Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination" throughout the 1980s. It deftly blends history with fantasy and even includes broad philosophical commentary filtered through the filmmaker's signature sense of humor. Even if it was overshadowed by other fantasy epics of the decade, Time Bandits went on to become a cult classic in its own right.

Time Bandits is a pleasant mixture of children's film, fantasy, and sci-fi, and yet it has its own style and tone that is unmatched by any other work, excluding Gilliam's own. The self-contained fantasy film isn't based on any other material, and that reliance on imagination is essentially the heart of its story.

.I like doing the impossible.. Social issues have not been immune to Doctor Who, you just have to set them on a space liner and have some monsters involved. Drug addiction and smuggling are given the Who twist thanks to the writer having done research on the subject for another show. The results are given more oomph thanks to Tom Baker. The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) arrive on the space liner Empress, captained by Rigg (David Daker), which has become locked together with a private ship, the Hecate piloted by Dymond (Geoffrey Bateman), after colliding with it on emerging from hyperspace. They meet the zoologist Tryst (Lewis Fiander), who has with him a Continuous Event...

The Doctor’s triumphant return to television after 16 years has created a two-tier system of fans: people who are only interested in the show from 2005 onwards, and people who embrace its entire 48 year history. As a member of the second group, I am occasionally asked what story I would start with from the original 26 year run to try and convince someone whose first Doctor was Christopher Eccleston that there was more to the Classic Series than wobbly sets, identical corridors and polystyrene spaceships. Well, I mean, of course there was. There were also gravel pits.

I always end up with the same story, one that was among the very first released on VHS, back in the 1980s. I would start with The Time Warrior. Here’s a quick list of reasons why.

1. No Obvious Problems

The Time Warrior has a number of very apparent features that some other stories lack.

What is it with 1979 and drugs in telly sci-fi? Early on in the year, Blake's 7 came up with 'Shadow', a stark warning about the dangers of drug-taking. And to get in on the act, Doctor Who came up with Nightmare Of Eden, which pushed the 'Just Say No' message even further.

But while 'Shadow' has generally been praised for its complex script and flashy visuals, Nightmare Of Eden has had more of a turbulent press. The problem with the story is that while it boasts a well written, witty and entertaining script from Bob Baker, the production's throwing obstacles in the way with nonchalant glee. As a result, like some other season 17 stories, more is being asked of the viewer to tolerate these deficiencies in order to see the bigger picture.

But what huge deficiencies there are in Nightmare. In time-honoured fashion, let's look at the bad apples:

A great idea on paper,...