Gareth Edwards: Switching on to TV shows of the past

It only takes a quick glance at the line-up of blockbuster films from Hollywood in recent years to see the huge influence of the small screen on the big screen.

The Professionals is the latest classic gem plucked from the archives and dusted off for a big screen remake, possibly as a star vehicle for the likes of Jason Statham and Clive Owen.

Of course, television shows are not afraid to plunder the past either, and gems like V, Battlestar Galactica and The Six Million Dollar Man have all been given the big-budget glossy makeover in recent years, a trend likely to continue thanks to huge audiences and rave reviews.

While most of the big names have already been done, there are still plenty of gems from the archives of British TV yet to be shamelessly exploited by desperate producers on the hunt for a quick hit - and plenty more that should remain safely locked away.

THE GOOD . .

Blake's Seven

With the BBC no doubt still licking its wounds over the massive disappointment that was Outcasts, it might seem a bad time to revive a sci-fi classic. The success of other "reboots" such as V and Battlestar Galactica, however, show that if you get it right, the sky's the limit. With its ready-made fan base, Blake's Seven and its space-opera tale of rebels trying to bring about justice in a dystopian future make it a perfect fit in a modern TV schedule. Ahead of its time - and not just for killing off just about everyone in its grand finale - Sky is among the companies to have looked at a remake, although currently there are no firm plans in place. Watch this space.

The Persuaders

They might not have been The Professionals, but after a judge sentenced them to, basically, enact vigilante justice in the name of the law, the unlikely pairing of Roger Moore and Tony Curtis made this a huge hit both in the UK and United States. With our special relationship straining a little, the time is surely right for a similar cross-cultural tie-up. The tale of an aristocrat and an oil billionaire fighting crime might need a slight tweak for modern audiences, but if a new Moore and Curtis double act could be found - Dominic West and "the new William Shatner" Chris Pine, perhaps? - and the mix of action, glamour and knockabout fun could be recreated, this would surely be a mega hit.

Triangle

One of the worst atrocities ever committed to TV might seem a strange show to bring back, but that would be to overlook the potential of the idea, as the original team clearly did. Yes, a short-hop ferry running the North Sea route between Felixstowe and Gothenburg has about as much dramatic potential as tea cake on a turntable, with seasickness and lost luggage not the kind of sub-plot likely to drag in regular viewers, let alone sell to an international audience. Shift the action to more troubled regions around the Caribbean, however, and it all changes. The show could deal with modern-day problems like disaster - such as in Haiti, where ferry operators really did provide much-needed aid - piracy and even the prospect of our plucky passengers being trapped in a war zone. Get Idris Elba to play the captain and an assortment of old stars and new talent for the passengers and it's Love Boat with guns. Perfect.

Dempsey and Makepeace

Another classic crime-fighting double act from the 1980s, it's surely only a matter of time before someone gets round to remaking this. Like The Persuaders, this has mismatched cross-Pacific partners teaming up to fight crime, although the premise of trigger-happy undercover New York cop and a by-the-book policewoman with masculine name - Harry - could be updated to a post-24 hunt for international terrorists.

THE BAD . .

Eldorado

If Blake's Seven is the show everyone wants to see remade, this is the show everyone wishes they'd never seen in the first place. It was a short-lived, poorly-conceived experiment in making a European soap which was launched in a blaze of publicity and shut down a year later with very little fanfare. Its ludicrous and often overly sleazy storylines - the opening episode concerned dirty old man Bunny arriving in Spain with his teenage bride Fizz - attracted huge criticism and it's hard to see how any remake could escape the shadow of its spectacular failure.

Howards' Way

It's probably fair to say that drama based around the lives of yacht-owning yuppies is not the sort of thing likely to find favour amongst a cash-strapped audience. Despite the 1980s making a comeback, this is one product of the era that really should stay firmly on the shelf, mainly down to its love of shoulder pads and the fact that its main character, Tom Howard, was one of the most boring people ever to be the centre of his own drama.

It Ain't Half Hot Mum

The adventures of a rather cowardly troupe of army entertainers trying to avoid going into conflict in Burma is, at this time of ongoing conflict, not the sort of image our armed forces would appreciate. One of the joys of this was the superb turn of Windsor Davies and without that this would be doomed to failure. Plus, it's fair to say that Gary: Tank Commander has probably done as good a job of sending up the army as any remake of this could and without the casual racism to boot.

High Road

Millions of loyal fans were distraught when the story about the residents of Highland village Glendarroch came to an end, although it's quite likely an equally large number of people were overjoyed. The trials and tribulations of a village that didn't like outsiders was somehow actually less stereotypical and offensive than the modern, multicultural River City, but by the time it ended in 2003 it had more than run its course.