British TV Ratings of the 1950s
TOP TEN TV SHOWS MONTH BY MONTH - 1955 to 1956 (Part 1)
Here's the first part of a list of the top ten Britsh TV shows on a month-by-month basis from 1955 to 1959
From 1955 to 1956 the Top Ten was created by evaluating the London percentage audience share - From 1957 onwards the top ten was based on how many homes were actually viewing the listed programmes. It wasn't until August 1977 that the figure shown was for individual viewers.
The TV charts are incomplete due to some loss of records (July/August 1956) but they are represented here as accurately as possible.
Sources: Television Audience Measurement (TAM) 1955 - 1968
Audits of Great Britain (AGB) 1968 - 1981
October 1955
| 1 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 78% |
| 2 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 73% |
| 3 | Double Your Money | ITV | 70% |
| 4 | Saturday Showtime | ITV | 69% |
| 5 | The Roy Rogers Show | ITV | 69% |
| 6 | Highland Fling | BBC | 69% |
| 7 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 68% |
| 8 | Boxing | BBC | 68% |
| 9 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 66% |
| 10 | Movie Magazine | ITV | 66% |
November 1955
| 1 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 78% |
| 2 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 75% |
| 3 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 74% |
| 4 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 73% |
| 5 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 71% |
| 6 | People Are Funny | ITV | 71% |
| 7 | Dragnet | ITV | 71% |
| 8 | Saturday Showtime | ITV | 71% |
| 9 | The Roy Rogers Show | ITV | 69% |
| 10 | Gun Law | ITV | 69% |
December 1955
| 1 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 84% |
| 2 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 79% |
| 3 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 79% |
| 4 | Dragnet | ITV | 78% |
| 5 | The Roy Rogers Show | ITV | 77% |
| 6 | Figure Skating | ITV | 72% |
| 7 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 71% |
| 8 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 71% |
| 9 | Stage One | ITV | 71% |
| 10 | Gun Law | ITV | 69% |
January 1956
| 1 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 78% |
| 2 | The Roy Rogers Show | ITV | 76% |
| 3 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 70% |
| 4 | Escaper's Club | ITV | 69% |
| 5 | Colonel March of Scotland Yard | ITV | 68% |
| 6 | Dragnet | ITV | 68% |
| 7 | Saturday Showtime | ITV | 66% |
| 8 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 65% |
| 9 | Inner Sanctum | ITV | 65% |
| 10 | TV Playhouse | ITV | 65% |
February 1956
| 1 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 78% |
| 2 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 75% |
| 3 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 73% |
| 4 | Dragnet | ITV | 70% |
| 5 | Escaper's Club | ITV | 69% |
| 6 | Professional Boxing | ITV | 69% |
| 7 | Inner Sanctum | ITV | 68% |
| 8 | Douglas Fairbanks Presents | ITV | 67% |
| 9 | Jack Hylton Presents | ITV | 66% |
| 10 | Chance of a Lifetime | ITV | 65% |
March 1956
| 1 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 76% |
| 2 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 68% |
| 3 | Noddy Stories | ITV | 67% |
| 4 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 67% |
| 5 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 67% |
| 6 | The Jack Jackson Show | ITV | 67% |
| 7 | Dragnet | ITV | 65% |
| 8 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 64% |
| 9 | Roy Rogers | ITV | 63% |
| 10 | Before Your Very Eyes | ITV | 62% |
April 1956
| 1 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 76% |
| 2 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 68% |
| 3 | Noddy Stories | ITV | 67% |
| 4 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 67% |
| 5 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 67% |
| 6 | The Jack Jackson Show | ITV | 67% |
| 7 | Dragnet | ITV | 65% |
| 8 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 64% |
| 9 | Roy Rogers | ITV | 63% |
| 10 | Before Your Very Eyes | ITV | 62% |
May 1956
| 1 | Douglas Fairbanks Presents | ITV | 69% |
| 2 | Dragnet | ITV | 61% |
| 3 | Gun Law | ITV | 61% |
| 4 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 61% |
| 5 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 58% |
| 6 | Double Your Money | ITV | 57% |
| 7 | Theatre Royal | ITV | 57% |
| 8 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 55% |
| 9 | Variety Star Time | ITV | 54% |
| 10 | FA Cup Final | BBC | 54% |
June 1956
| 1 | Dragnet | ITV | 61% |
| 2 | Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 60% |
| 3 | Roy Rogers | ITV | 58% |
| 4 | The Jack Jackson Show | ITV | 55% |
| 5 | Celebrity Playhouse | ITV | 54% |
| 6 | Summer Theatre | ITV | 53% |
| 7 | Dixon of Dock Green | BBC | 52% |
| 8 | We Are Your Servants | BBC | 50% |
| 9 | My Wildest Dreams | ITV | 50% |
| 10 | I've Got A Secret | ITV | 50% |
July 1956
| 1 | Close Up | ITV | 58% |
| 2 | Gun Law | ITV | 58% |
| 3 | My Wildest Dreams | ITV | 57% |
| 4 | Holiday Night | ITV | 57% |
| 5 | Look In On London | ITV | 54% |
| 6 | The 64,000 Question | ITV | 50% |
| 7 | Opportunity Knocks | ITV | 50% |
| 8 | I Love Lucy | ITV | 50% |
| 9 | Summer Theatre | ITV | 50% |
| 10 | Big City | ITV | 48% |
August 1956
| 1 | Dragnet | ITV | 54% |
| 2 | Gun Law | ITV | 54% |
| 3 | The 64,000 Question | ITV | 54% |
| 4 | My Wildest Dreams | ITV | 50% |
| 5 | Friday Night With Terry Thomas | ITV | 50% |
| 6 | Close Up | ITV | 47% |
| 7 | They're Off | ITV | 46% |
| 8 | The Garrison Ramblers | ITV | 46% |
| 9 | The Gambler | ITV | 46% |
| 10 | This Week | ITV | 45% |
September 1956
| 1 | The Crazy Gang | ITV | 82% |
| 2 | Dragnet | ITV | 75% |
| 3 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 70% |
| 4 | Gun Law | ITV | 70% |
| 5 | Play Gems | ITV | 69% |
| 6 | Sailor of Fortune | ITV | 66% |
| 7 | Assignment Foreign Legion | ITV | 66% |
| 8 | Man Trap | ITV | 64% |
| 9 | The Bob Cummings Show | ITV | 63% |
| 10 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 63% |
October 1956
| 1 | Armchair Theatre | ITV | 74% |
| 2 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 70% |
| 3 | Frontier Doctor | ITV | 66% |
| 4 | Dragnet | ITV | 66% |
| 5 | The 64,000 Question | ITV | 66% |
| 6 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 66% |
| 7 | Joan and Leslie | ITV | 63% |
| 8 | Man Trap | ITV | 62% |
| 9 | Double Your Money | ITV | 62% |
| 10 | Make Your Mind Up | ITV | 60% |
November 1956
| 1 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 75% |
| 2 | Armchair Theatre | ITV | 73% |
| 3 | The 64,000 Question | ITV | 70% |
| 4 | Assignment Foreign Legion | ITV | 69% |
| 5 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 69% |
| 6 | Douglas Fairbanks Presents | ITV | 67% |
| 7 | Roy Rogers | ITV | 67% |
| 8 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 65% |
| 9 | This Week | ITV | 65% |
| 10 | Wyatt Earp | ITV | 63% |
December 1956
| 1 | Before Your Very Eyes | ITV | 70% |
| 2 | Dragnet | ITV | 69% |
| 3 | Film Festival | ITV | 64% |
| 4 | Secret Mission | ITV | 63% |
| 5 | Take Your Pick | ITV | 63% |
| 6 | Roy Rogers | ITV | 62% |
| 7 | Assignment Foreign Legion | ITV | 62% |
| 8 | Frontier Doctor | ITV | 62% |
| 9 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | ITV | 61% |
| 10 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | ITV | 61% |
