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Television turns 100 this year, so the Guardian charted our pick of the biggest TV moments from a century of television. Then we asked readers to share their own milestone TV moments. Here are the best.
1953: the coronation
Mum and dad bought a Vidor TV for the coronation in 1953. We used to watch the Television Newsreel on Saturday evening – I was fascinated by the start, which was the BBC revolving round the Alexandra TV tower. I think this (together with listening to the shipping forecast on the radio) is what sparked my lifelong obsession with radio! It is still with me 70+ years later. Phil Holliday, 78, New Zealand
1969: the Apollo 11 moon landing
I can still remember my father waking me up late at night to watch the first human landing on the moon. He woke me because he had to share this event with someone and didn’t want to wake my mother. He said: “Sorry to wake you up, son, but you must come and see this. You’ll never see anything like this again.” And so we sat and watched it on our old stuttering black-and-white television, and although I wasn’t aware of the immense significance of the moment, I became caught up in my father’s fascination and excitement. I’ll never forget that night. Laurie, West Midlands
1972: David Bowie on Top of the Pops
David Bowie’s performance of Starman created a wave of enthusiasm for some, and scandal for others. This was the character Ziggy Stardust who was to forever change the face of popular music, not just in the UK. He was mesmerising and I was enthralled. He had a twinkle in his eye that told me he knew something that I did not. The UK was still very homophobic in the early 70s and Bowie suggestively putting his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson had some people spluttering with indignation. The high point was probably when he looked straight into the camera and pointed at us while singing the lyrics, “I had to phone someone so I picked on you”. Ian Wright, Berlin, Germany
1976: Sex Pistols appear on the Bill Grundy Show
Sex Pistols on the Bill Grundy show, with a few swear words and the allegedly inebriated Grundy flirting badly with Siouxsie Sioux. As a teenager, it really resonated with me. Peter Collins, 63, London
1982: the launch of the first Welsh-language channel
The launch of the first Welsh-language channel, S4C. I’d argue that the emergence of a Welsh-language channel was a very important moment, not just for the Welsh language and people of Wales, but for all minoritised people and languages. Liam, Cymru
1985: Live Aid
For one brief moment, it seemed as if the entire world was grooving on a single wavelength that said: “if we’re going to do this, it’s gonna take everyone … ” Christopher, USA
1990: Nelson Mandela’s release from prison
Having grown up in a world where apartheid was the norm, it was nearly unbelievable then to see this older, graceful man making his way to freedom. The meaning behind it was beautiful. I watched it with some of my extended family, about 15 of us, and we were all crying. Angela Adams, 55, Hainault
1993: Tales of the City
I was living in the foothills of Snowdonia, having recently given up teaching French at Bangor University, in favour of following a path of gay activism and becoming Wales’s first HIV outreach worker for the Gwynedd health authority. I had come out in Paris a few years previously, friends were dying with Aids, and I was outraged by the massive cover-up going on in the UK around engaging in effective prevention and care for gay and bisexual men around HIV/Aids. Then came Out on Tuesday – the Channel 4 series which was the world’s first networked television series aimed at a lesbian and gay audience. It was followed by Tales of the City, a TV dramatisation of a set of novels that were my bible and guiding light towards freedom, love and community. The airing of the book helped me believe that what I was fighting for was possible and not just a dream. I would invite friends round, crack open a bottle of wine and we would live the dream, from our remote Welsh hills. David Lynch, 62, Cambridge
1994: Melvyn Bragg interviews Dennis Potter
Without a doubt, Melvyn Bragg interviewing Dennis Potter shortly before the end of the latter’s life. Funny, sad, profoundly moving: as an event it will stay with me always. Judith Rhodes, 73, Leeds
1998: David Attenborough and the lyre bird
David Attenborough is in a forest with a lyre bird in south-eastern Australia, which mimics the sounds of the chainsaws felling the trees and destroying its habitat. It was a wake-up call to the effects of humans destroying the balance of nature on our planet. It has stuck with me ever since. Amalie Rothschild, 80, Florence
2000: Chandler proposes to Monica on Friends
We all thought Chandler had lost his chance. When he burst into the apartment to find Monica there, surrounded by candles, waiting for him, and they both drop to their knees, the joy and relief was palpable. It still makes me cry every time I watch it. Sandra Hochstein, 72, Canada
2001: The West Wing – Two Cathedrals
My dad used to watch The West Wing when I was young. He wouldn’t allow me to watch the entire episode, but he would let me watch the title sequence. I’m not sure why, but I was obsessed with it. Fifteen years on, it’s my favourite show. If I had to choose one moment, it has to be President Bartlet arguing with God in the brilliant episode Two Cathedrals. When Jed gets the Secret Service to shut down the Washington Cathedral after a funeral and begins to argue with the Lord himself, it’s hard not to appreciate how cool the guy looks doing it. It’s perfect TV. Daniel, 24, France
2003: Tim and Dawn finally kiss in The Office
When Tim and Dawn get it together in The Office. I’d ached for Tim in his seemingly unrequited adoration of Dawn, who struggled to contain her growing attraction to him. A surprising and unlikely denouement to a series not always kind to its characters. Ann, 75, London
2009: the lawnmower incident on Mad Men
Mad Men: season three, episode six. The advertising agency is having a party, everyone is pretty loose. Then a secretary starts riding a lawnmower and runs over the soon-to-be head of the company. The scene is graphic and shocking. The agency, and the United States at the time, are on the brink of great change. Maria, London
2010: the Tenth Doctor’s regeneration on Doctor Who
I was very into Doctor Who as a child, and I remember being enthralled by the Tenth Doctor’s (David Tennant) regeneration into the Eleventh (Matt Smith). My family and I were all sitting in our old living room. I would’ve been about four or five years old at the time, and I’ve probably supplemented this with memories from iPlayer. But the main impact was my eight-year-long obsession with Doctor Who. Issy, 21, London
2016: Peter Marsh crashes out on Come Dine With Me
The best moment is the 2016 Come Dine With Me episode where Peter Marsh does not appreciate his finishing position. So often on TV, everyone is very gracious when losing, congratulating the winners. This time, however, in a very un-British lack of decorum, Peter took umbrage at his loss, and uttered such iconic insults as “Dear lord, what a sad little life, Jane,” and “You have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.” Truly iconic. Mike, 41, Warwickshire
2016: The Battle of the Bastards on Game of Thrones
A sensational episode of television. It captures the raw violence of war on horseback very well and the hopelessness Jon Snow feels when it looks as if he is about to be crushed to death. This episode also has a very satisfying ending, where Sansa Stark gets to exact some sort of revenge on Ramsay Bolton, and not before time. Glorious. Brian Molan, 45, Cork
2021: Roman Roy’s accidental sext on Succession
I’d love to say something high-brow but that would be disingenuous. My actual favourite TV moment of all time is in Succession (obviously) when Roman Roy accidentally sends a very intimate pic to his father, Logan Roy, and the realisation and fallout of what he has done plays out on screen. One of the most shocking, hilarious, hands-over-your-face, cringing-on-his-behalf moments of TV I have ever seen! Glorious. Paul Cahill, 43, Dublin
2022: Andy’s discovery in Detectorists
In the first episode of final series of Mackenzie Crook’s sublime Detectorists, Andy (Crook) sounds a hawking whistle and the landscape flashes back in history to reveal the original owner calling her bird to return in a magical sequence. The scene is given further poignance by the accompaniment of the Unthanks’ equally wonderful song Magpie. Alex Simpson, Solihull
