POPULAR BBC PROGRAMS

'French and Saunders': Comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French star in this raunchy comedy. Skits poke fun at everything from ''Baywatch'' to ''Braveheart.''

'Keeping Up Appearances': Patricia Routledge is Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ''bouquet''), a matron obsessed with proving her public worth to the neighborhood. This proves difficult as her family - sisters Violet and Daisy, brother-in-law Onslow, and her senile father - embarrass her daily.

'Panorama': The weekly newsmagazine highlights one topic per episode. Its most recent scoop was an interview with the Princess of Wales that scandalized Britain and was rebroadcast in the United States.

Costume Dramas: A dramatization of Jane Austen's ''Pride and Prejudice'' was one of the most popular TV miniseries in recent history in Britain. (It aired this week on US cable.) ''Martin Chuzzlewit,'' a Charles Dickens novel, was another.

'Mastermind': Egghead contestants prepare in advance to be quizzed in detail on a particular topic, such as ''The Life of John Lennon'' or ''Jane Austen's Women.''

Soap Operas: ''Coronation Street'' and ''EastEnders'' are the most popular evening soaps in Britain. Both center on working-class families. (See story, right.)

'Oprah Winfrey': The popular US talk show is rebroadcast here without commercial interruptions.