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Best Documentary TV Series of 1981

17 Documentary series that started in 1981, ranked by popularity

All Documentary series All series from 1981
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Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

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Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
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Emotional payoff
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Format & audience
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Intensity & content character
17 series

MotorWeek

★ 7.9
143 1149 1981–present
Documentary

Másfélmillió lépés Magyarországon

★ 8.9
85 14 1981–present
Documentary

Pillar of Fire

★ 7.6
83 19 1981–1981
Documentary · History

Karpolla on asiaa

★ 7.4
64 136 1981–2007
Documentary · News

TROS TV Show

★ 6.0
54 94 1981–2022
Documentary · Family

Forty Minutes

★ 6.6
46 322 1981–1994
Documentary

The Body

★ 7.0
41 13 1981–present
Documentary

Remember When...

★ 9.0
34 7 1981–1985
Documentary · History

The Golden Age of Television

★ 7.9
33 1981–1982
Documentary

Album... - Bilder eines Jahres

★ 8.7
22 5 1981–present
Documentary · News

The Troubles

★ 8.8
17 7 1981–1981
Documentary

Omni: The New Frontier

★ 8.2
17 9 1981–1982
Documentary

The Unwomanly Face of War

★ 7.2
11 1981–1984
Documentary · War

It's a Vet's Life

★ 8.4
11 16 1981–present
Documentary

The London Marathon

★ 7.8
10 47 1981–present
Documentary · Sport

Bellamy's Backyard Safari

★ 7.8
10 4 1981–present
Documentary

Reporters

★ 6.1
9 1 1981–1989
Documentary
‹ 1980 1981 1982 ›
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