Top 10 Hilariously Low Budget TV Shows

#10: “The Thick of It” (2005-12)

While this classic satire eventually got more money behind it, the entire first series was made on a minuscule budget of only £100,000. After fighting tooth and nail to prove to the BBC that political satire could be a relevant genre again, Armando Iannucci was given the tiny budget which he somehow managed to get three episodes out of. There was no music, no studio audience, and the entire thing was shot on hand-held cameras in the tiny offices of an ex-brewery. Letting the cast improvise was also a masterstroke, adding to the realism. It really DOES feel like a documentary about incompetent government ministers under New Labour.

#9: “Misfits” (2009-13)

Superhero TV shows weren’t known for their high quality in 2009, at least where visual effects were concerned, and “Misfits” was no exception. While it has superb writing and is easily one of the greatest British shows of all time, “Misfits” relied on giving its characters superpowers that hardly needed any special effects. Simon’s invisibility is generally achieved by the other actors just pretending they can’t see him; Kelly’s telepathy is a simple voice over; and Alisha’s animal magnetism requires barely any effects at all, it just relies on the actors. When a visual effect DOES rears its head, like the one-off characters with more complicated powers, it nearly always looks awful. But none of that matters, because it’s so well-written.

#8: “Come Back Mrs. Noah” (1977-78)

A genuinely bad show, “Come Back Mrs Noah” remains an appalling blot on the BBC’s storied, sitcom CV. Following the antics of Mrs Noah, a housewife who wins a competition and accidentally gets stranded on Britain’s flagship space station in the near future, the programme was so bad that it temporarily convinced the BBC that a sci-fi sitcom was doomed. Sci-fi comedies in general weren’t, but this one certainly was. With dirt-cheap sets and some extremely primitive visual effects, it was a relief to hear that the rescue mission had failed and the characters were mistakenly flung into space and left to die.

#7: “ChuckleVision” (1987-2009)

It wouldn’t have run for decades if it cost a fortune, but the low production value is part of what gives “ChuckleVision” its enduring charm. The Chuckle Brothers didn’t NEED enormous budgets. With most of the episodes taking place on small sets that needed very little dressing, and only extremely simple props and costumes, everything always feels very cobbled together. But the wordplay and visual gags are a cut above a lot of comedies NOT intended for children, and any episode of “ChuckleVision” is certainly funnier than “Mrs. Brown’s Boys” or “Citizen Khan”. “ChuckleVision” doesn’t even have sets half the time, they’re just wandering around in the street doing slapstick.

#6: “The Tomorrow People” (1973-79)

ITV’s first attempt to create a “Doctor Who” killer, decades before they tried it again with the outrageously expensive sci-fi drama “Primeval”, was “The Tomorrow People”. Following a group of evolutionarily superior humans with psychic powers, the production design was truly appalling. Each episode cost half as much as a “Doctor Who” episode, with most of the effects just keyed in with a primitive green screen. Much of the action took place on one dodgy-looking set, The Lab, and infamously, the programme’s main villain was a robot that looked so rubbish the show’s own creator never wanted to use it. Despite its production issues, it ran for years and left young viewers with fond memories of its likeable characters.

#5: “The Basil Brush Show” (2002-07)

This extremely meta children’s show starring Britain’s most beloved fictional fox made constant references to its own production, ruthlessly breaking the fourth wall to talk about anything from character departures to the way the set was falling apart. It was never going to be THAT expensive of a programme, just like everything on CBBC, but it’s a lot easier to notice the production shortcomings when they constantly point them out. But, of course, that’s part of what made it so good, because it treated its young audience as intelligent enough to understand and appreciate all of the meta-commentary and clever gags.

#4: “Red Dwarf” (1988-99; 2009-20)

After the disaster of “Come Back Mrs. Noah”, the BBC was only barely convinced to greenlight “Red Dwarf”, and subsequently gave it as little money as possible in the early days. While it eventually proved, on the strength of its cast and writing, that it deserved some more cash, getting some decent special effects in the revival over on Dave, those first series are marred by budget problems. The BBC never seemed to care about “Red Dwarf” internally, either, refusing to invite the cast to corporation parties even after the programme won an Emmy. But it’s so easy to forgive the dodgy sets and props when the episodes open with panning shots of the impressive Red Dwarf model ship.

#3: “Hole in the Wall” (2008-09)

They barely needed anything for “Hole in the Wall”. A swimming pool, lycra bodysuits, and a big moving wall made of polystyrene. The final product felt as cheap as it obviously was, with host Anton du Beke – who got promoted from team captain, the role he had originally – doing a lot of heavy lifting to get anything genuinely entertaining out of this bizarre premise. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this was an adaptation of a sub-game in a Japanese show. Why we thought it was compelling enough to make an entire thirty minute episode of celebrities falling into pools is anyone’s guess, but there were inexplicably two series.

#2: “Doctor Who” (1963-89; 2005-)

You knew this one was coming. While the post-2005 revival of “Doctor Who” has been something of a drain on the BBC’s finances, getting more and more overproduced, Classic Who had the opposite problem. Its four-part serials were so hastily written and shot that the sets and costumes barely looked finished – which they almost certainly weren’t. And if they weren’t on a cobbled together soundstage, they were filming on location in an abandoned quarry standing in for whatever alien planet they were meant to be on that week. At least in the reboot, the TARDIS doesn’t look like it’s about to fall to pieces if somebody leans on it with a bit too much force.

#1: “Crossroads” (1964-88; 2001-03)

Soap operas aren’t exactly known for being expensive, since even their most legendary actors command only modest salaries versus big-name stars working in different genres. But no soap has been as infamously shoddy as “Crossroads”, following the trials and tribulations of a motel outside of Birmingham. It became such a laughingstock despite the original run being on TV for over twenty years, that Victoria Wood famously parodied it in her “Acorn Antiques” sketch, that she eventually turned into a musical. But compared to programmes airing weekly, “Crossroads” was produced for even less money and broadcast multiple times a week, making it a subject of widespread mockery for its endless mistakes.

Let us know in the comments which dirt-cheap shows we forgot to include.