Six English Towns

Six English Towns (1978), Six More English Towns (1981) and Another Six English Towns (1984) are three television documentary series presented by architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor for BBC Two. In the series, Clifton-Taylor visits an English town and discusses its history and architectural character, with a particular focus on the building materials.

A writer on architecture, Clifton-Taylor came to television late in life. He was introduced by his friend Nikolaus Pevsner to BBC arts producer John Drummond who was planning a series on British architecture called Spirit of the Age. Drummond asked Clifton-Taylor to present the first episode about medieval English architecture, which was broadcast in October 1975.

Based on the success of this episode, Clifton-Taylor was teamed with producer Denis Moriarty to present a series of studies of English towns, discussing the genius loci similar to his chapters in Pevsner's Buildings of England and the AA Touring Guide to England. The Radio Times stated that the initial six towns were chosen "based not so much on the historical appeal of a fine cathedral, a castle or a church but the range and quality of the ordinary domestic houses and the use made of the traditional building materials of England - stone, brick, wood and plaster." Clifton-Taylor said "I'd like every programme to be an exercise in looking."