it was another relic from the so-called golden age of television , and my teacher had included this show because a ) it had been on for over fifty years , thus making it the longest running science-fiction program in not only british history , but in american history , too ( even though in those days , he said , at least in terms of pop culture , america and britain were still pretty allied ) , and b ) because it represented a trend in what was popular at the time , and what was popular was sci-fi and action and fantasy , as well as traditional dramas .