The Prisoner
17 episodes (1967-68) 60m

Only the British could get away with making a TV series this surreal. Star Patrick McGoohan (Number 6), who also wrote the series, confronts a succession of Number 2s in trying to escape from 'the village' - with large guardian-balls thwarting every attempt. Lost? Number 6 could never get a straight answer to a question either.

Monkey
52 episodes (1978-80) 45m

Delightful Japanese show based on Wu Ch'êng-ên's version of the legendary origins of Buddhism. A Buddhist priest and three followers journey from China to India to retrieve the ancient scriptures. Although it sounds heady, the show is a lighthearted romp in which main character Monkey shows off his bravery and magical powers.

Sapphire and Steel
34 serial episodes (1979-82) 30m

Completely bizarre, absolutely no scientific foundation and immensely enjoyable. The title characters (played by Joanna Lumley and David McCallum) are dimension-hopping temporal agents whose job it is to plug leaks between the past, present and future - which is apparently what causes most supernatural phenomena.

Goodnight Sweetheart
57 episodes (1993-99) 30m

Gary Sparrow regularly time-hops back to World War II Britain where he is having an affair with a publican's daughter. He somewhat questionably reasons that this is not as morally reprehensible as adultery in his wife's time-frame. Things get more complicated when he decides to go ahead and have families in both existences.

Nowhere Man
25 episodes (1995-96) 60m

Surreal paranoia-trip that has a large cult following. A photojournalist steps out of a restaurant toilet to find his whole life has been erased by a bizarre conspiracy. It all has to do with a photo he took of an execution a year earlier. He goes on the run in true Fugitive style, while occasionally paying homage to The Prisoner.

Dead Like Me
29 episodes (2003-04) 60m

College dropout learns that being a grim reaper isn't all it's cracked up to be. When George Lass is hit by a toilet seat from a space station she dies and is recruited as a grim reaper. She proves no easier to get along with in death than she was while alive. Darkly comic series that has more than its fair share of oddball quirks.

Wonderfalls
13 episodes (2004) 60m

One of the best fantasy shows not to make it in a long time. Jaye Tyler is going nowhere fast while working in a souvenir shop in Niagara Falls. When inanimate creatures start talking to her all sorts of wild and loopy things happen while she gets involved in other people's lives. Deserved a chance in an easier timeslot.

The Lost Room
3 episodes (2006) 120m

Wonderfully engaging three-part miniseries about a motel room on Route 66 that in 1961 goes missing in time and space thanks to "the event". The story follows detective Joe Miller whose daughter has become lost in the room. To get her back Miller uses a mystical key to track down a hundred everyday objects from the room which have assumed paranormal powers. Mind-boggling.