Beverly Hills 90210 While we had Grange Hill with its inner-city grit the Americans had the beautiful young people of West Beverly High.

And very entertaining it was too as the well-heeled teens tangled with adolescent angst and social issues.

Believable characters and decent scripts mean this 28-episode third series, from 1992, hasn't dated a bit.

It lacks some of the bite of the first two seasons -- remember some early episodes being banned from teatime ITV? -- but remains the right side of soap.

It also grows increasingly addictive as it carefully develops relationships and issues throughout the season.

It's sometimes a little simplistic, however, with problems like homelessness and gang violence solved with ease by our heroes.

David Knights