What was the Beeb's most successful drama series

A.� It's widely considered to be The Forsyte Saga, which was the last major serial to be made in black and white. it was the first drama series from the West to be bought by Russia; it marked the BBC's breakthrough in selling programmes to America and it was a worldwide hit.

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Q.� What was it about

A.� It was an adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels about a late 19th century London merchant family. Producer Donald Wilson had long considered adapting the novels but encountered two sizeable problems. One was that shortly before his death Galsworthy had assigned the rights to MGM. The other was that Sydney Newman, head of BBC drama at the time, didn't want to do The Forsyte Saga. He wanted classic serials for BBC and didn't consider Galsworthy a classic. Wilson needed to persuade Kenneth More to play Jolyon Forsyte in order to encourage the BBC to put up the �250,000 to fight MGM.

Kenneth More was joined by Eric Porter (the aloof Soames), Susan Hampshire (the impetuous Fleur) and Nyree Dawn Porter (the beautiful Irene).

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Q. When was it aired

A.� The 26-part serial began transmission in January 1967 on BBC2 (in America one station screened it non-stop as a continuous serial, lasting 23 hours and 50 minutes). It proved an enormous hit. It was repeated three times, the first on BBC1 in 1968 where it attracted an audience of over 18 million. It picked up a string of awards. Forsyte-mania swept the country; pubs were emptied on Sunday nights; early-day closing in a Dutch city was changed because no one stayed to shop and the programme caused students to postpone a rally in Prague. Elswhere, restaurateurs in Malta started opening later and in New Zealand a cricket match began early so the players could finish in time to watch the series.

The Forsyte Saga has been described as the epic drama of the 1960s, but The Prisoner, aired at around the same time, came a close second with a huge cult following.

Every Sunday for 17 weeks in 1969, 12 million viewers became obsessed with Patrick McGoohan's story about a man held in isolation in a place that was a cross between a village and a bizarre holiday camp (it was filmed at Portmeirion in North Wales). Everyone seems to have their own theory about what this mystifying story was about. Lew Grade sold it to America even before the scripts had been written and gave McGoohan a free hand and an unheard of budget of �75,000 an episode.� McGoohan devised, produced and starred in it, and wrote, directed and edited some of the episodes.

The man known as The Prisoner had resigned from the secret service and was about to go on holiday when he was drugged and kidnapped. He woke up to find himself captive in a fairy-tale village and with just a number, six, for identity. His captors observed him constantly� through closed circuit TV.

The series proved baffling; the ending even more so. It was suddenly decided to terminate The Prisoner after 17 episodes (one theory is the money ran out), and McGoohan only started writing the final script two days before filming.

A Prisoner appreciation society The Six of One Club was formed and they regularly� converge on the private village of Portmieirion. The series was revived in 1976 and shown again on Channel 4 in 1983 when fans were furious because one series was shown out of sequence.

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Q.� Was it shown at the time colour television began to arrive

A.� Colour TV arrived in Britain 14 years after America. The service was initially confined to BBC2 and didn't make it to the main channels until 1969. The average cost of a colour set was �350 (the equivalent to �2,000 today), and the price was so prohibitive that only a few could afford them.

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By Katharine MacColl