What were Brits watching exactly 20 years ago?
Last updated: September 7, 2025
Back in 2005, the TV was just different. Saturday nights turned into proper battles over who controlled the remote, and families genuinely sat together watching the same thing rather than everyone buggering off to their own screens.
Saturday Night Fever: reality TV takes over
Reality TV was absolutely everywhere in 2005. The X Factor had been going for about a year but it was already this huge thing that dominated conversations. People actually arranged their Saturday nights around watching Simon Cowell demolish some poor soul's dreams, then spent Monday morning at work arguing about who should've won.
Strictly was just getting into its groove too, somehow convincing the entire country that watching celebrities learn to waltz was essential viewing. You'd find yourself getting genuinely wound up about whether the judges had been fair or if someone was being marked down for no good reason.
Big Brother was still must-see television as well. Random people would go into that house as nobodies and come out famous, and every morning started with someone asking if you'd caught the drama from the night before.
The drama that hooked a nation
Beyond all the reality nonsense, proper drama was having a moment. Doctor Who came back with Christopher Eccleston and suddenly you had parents who grew up with Tom Baker watching alongside their kids who'd never seen a Dalek before.
The soaps were still pulling in huge numbers – Corrie and Emmerdale were basically what held weeknight telly together. Then you had shows like Silent Witness and Spooks proving that British TV could do serious, grown-up stuff that actually kept you on the edge of your seat.
Comedy and comfort viewing
Television wasn't all intensity though. 2005 gave us comedy gold. The Office had finished its run recently, but everyone was still quoting it relentlessly. Little Britain was the sketch show you couldn't escape - every playground and office was full of people doing terrible impressions of the characters.
Top Gear was hitting its stride with Clarkson, Hammond, and May turning car reviews into pure entertainment. Sunday evenings meant settling in for Antiques Roadshow or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - programmes that just felt comforting and familiar.
Looking Back, Watching Forward
Thinking about 2005 television reminds you how different things were. TV wasn't just background noise - it was this shared experience that brought people together. When something big happened on Saturday night television, the whole country seemed to know about it.
Now everything's on-demand and tailored just for you, which is handy but we've definitely lost something along the way. There was something properly special about knowing that millions of other people were glued to exactly the same thing you were watching at that exact moment. Sometimes how we all watched together was just as important as whatever was actually on the screen.
