I've watched more than 80,000 hours of TV and here's the 10 best British shows ever

This earthy ITV drama, launched in November 1983, celebrated the lives of seven British construction workers – brickies, electricians and carpenters – who lived and worked together on a building site in Düsseldorf, Germany. The cast included actors who became household names – Tim Healey as Dennis Patterson, Kevin Whately as Neville Hope, Jimmy Nail as Leonard “Oz” Osborne, Tim Spall (Barry Taylor), Gary Holton (Wayne Norris), Christopher Fairbank (Albert Moxey) and ex pro-wrestler Pat Roach as Brian “Bomber” Busbridge.

Created by director Franc “Quadrophenia” Roddam, the series was mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Porridge, The Likely Lads), the series showed these hard-working blokes bonding, pining for home, drowning their sorrows and misbehaving (mostly Oz). At heart it was about male friendship, underpinned by natural humour – good-hearted banter – bravado and camaraderie.

“Pelicans, penguins and the Inland Revenue have all got one thing in common,” said plain-speaking Oz. “They can all shove their bills up their arse.”

The show’s authentic feel proved an instant hit, quickly building a weekly audience of 14million.

While modern TV prefers to paint masculinity as “toxic” and heterosexual men as losers or dimwits, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet celebrated the strengths of brotherhood.

In a golden age of down-to-earth male-oriented drama that included Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Black Stuff (BBC2) and Prospects (Euston Films for Channel 4), this show set a benchmark that was never equalled. Decades later, in 2015, it was voted the best ITV show of all time and even now, its fan club has more than 100,000 members.

(Image: ITV)