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‘How to Control the Nation’ - Derren Brown is a illusionist with a long career of controversy.

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‘How to Control the Nation’ - Brown’s TV special, ‘How to Control the Nation’, was particularly influential. Brown played this image on the screen, which apparently made viewers become stuck to their own seats.

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‘How to Control the Nation’ - Channel 4 claimed that 50,000 people called in after just three minutes of the film being shown. One viewer told the Daily Star that he was stuck to his chair for 12 hours.

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‘EastEnders’ - ‘EastEnders’ has achieved a lot in its 30+ years on air. It has also, indirectly, saved the life of five people.

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‘EastEnders’ - One viewer, 18-year-old Cian Pace, was watching the episode in which Dexter Hartman (Kali Best) donates a kidney to Sam James (Cornell S John, pictured). Pace was inspired by the episode, and said he wanted to be an organ donor.

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‘EastEnders’ - Tragically, Cian Pace was killed after suffering a car crash. His parents decided to honour his wish, and his organs were donated. The lives of five people were saved as a result of this organ donation.

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‘Coronation Street’ - ‘Coronation Street’ is another soap that has made an impact on the lives of its viewers.

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‘Coronation Street’ - Carla Connor, played by Alison King, was part of a transplant operation storyline. Fiona Loud, a policy director at Kirby Care UK, was consulted for the story.

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‘Coronation Street’ - It made a big difference, and there was record traffic to Kidney Care UK’s website, with people seeking help and advice. British Parliament even discussed the issue. “At their best, soaps can play a huge part in helping to inform the public on such issues”, said Labour MP Sharon Hodgson.

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‘Casualty’ - ‘Casualty’ is another show that has impacted British society, although not for positive reasons.

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‘Casualty’ - A 1999 storyline centred on a pilot attempting suicide in a particular method. A subsequent study found that after the broadcast, there was a notable rise in people committing suicide in the same way over the course of two weeks.

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‘Casualty’ - This is one example of how a show can have copycat consequences.

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‘Sherlock’ - Last year, ‘Sherlock’ returned to TV, with more baffling stories into the interesting investigator. The show has made a big impact on one business-owner in London.

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‘Sherlock’ -

‘Sherlock’ fans should know that the detective lives on Baker Street. In the show, the house is located right next to Speedy’s Café.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

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‘Sherlock’ -

The café appears in every episode of ‘Sherlock’. Chris Georgiou has owned the restaurant for years, but surged in popularity after ‘Sherlock’ debuted in 2010.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

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‘Cathy Come Home’ - ‘Cathy Come Home’ was a TV play that was first shown in 1966. Starring Carol White as a woman who descends into homelessness, the play made a huge impact on British society.

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‘Cathy Come Home’ - Director Ken Loach has always focused on poverty and homelessness in his films. “Homelessness hadn’t been in the spotlight before”, he told The Guardian. “The sense of public outrage that this was happening sort of grew”.

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‘Cathy Come Home’ - ‘Cathy Come Home’ inspired a lot of public reaction, which culminated in the foundation of homeless charity, Crisis. Coincidentally, homeless charity Shelter was founded the same year.

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‘The End of the Line’ - How does that old phrase go? “There’s plenty more fish in the sea”?. Well, documentary ‘The End of the Line’ proved might not be true.

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‘The End of the Line’ - ‘The End of the Line’ was originally a book, and was adapted to screen by Rupert Murray. The film centred on overfishing the world’s fish populations.

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‘The End of the Line’ - It’s more than four million watched the documentary in the UK, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This led to supermarkets like Marks and Spencer to change their fish sourcing policies.

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‘I, Daniel Blake’ - ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is another film from Ken Loach, starring Dave Jones as the title character, a 59-year-old carpenter who strives to get Employment and Support Allowance.

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‘I, Daniel Blake’ - The film caused a big upset, especially in the world of British politics. Iain Duncan Smith criticised the film, while business secretary Greg Clark called it “fictional”.

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‘I, Daniel Blake’ - Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a fan of the film, and attended the premiere in London. He even brought it up in Parliament, advising Prime Minister Theresa May to watch it.

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‘Crimewatch’ - This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but ‘Crimewatch’ has helped solve many cases since its debut in 1988.

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‘Crimewatch’ - A notable case was the murder of Rhys Jones. His parents made an appeal on ‘Crimewatch’, and 12 people called in to identify the murderer.

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‘Crimewatch’ - The show was also influential during the 2011 England riots, where criminals were identified.

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‘A Clockwork Orange’ - ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is a very controversial film. Many consider its scenes to be some of the most explicit ever shown in British cinema.

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‘A Clockwork Orange’ - Stanley Kubrick’s film was shown in British cinemas, but authorities soon tied the film to some real-life cases.

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‘A Clockwork Orange’ -

In Bletchley, a 16-year-old claimed that the film inspired him to murder an elderly vagrant. It is not the only case that has been said to be inspired by ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

Also discover the British royal family's favorite TV shows. 

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