How to Cite a TV Episode or Streaming Series

Television is a layered source: an episode inside a season inside a series, made available first by a broadcaster and later by a disc, a catch-up service and a subscription service, each with its own date. A reference that names only the series tells your reader almost nothing; a reference that names the episode, its season and episode numbers, its first broadcast and where you watched it tells them everything they need.

The worked example is a real episode, verified on 22 September 2026 on the broadcaster's own programme page, bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09f8vtb: "The Deep", Blue Planet II, Series 1, Episode 2 of 7, first broadcast on BBC One on Sunday 5 November 2017 at 20:00, running 58 minutes. The page's credits list Narrator David Attenborough, Executive Producer James Honeyborne, Series Producer Mark Brownlow, Producer Orla Doherty and Production Manager Katie Hall. No writer and no director are credited.

What to Collect

• The episode title, and the series title
• The season (or series) number and the episode number
• The date of first broadcast or release
• The people credited, with their roles as the programme credits them
• The production company, and the broadcaster or streaming service
• The running time, where your style asks for it
• For a streaming or catch-up source, the service name and the date you watched

Quick Reference by Major Style

APA (7th Edition)

APA's Common Reference Examples handout publishes a TV Series Episode entry. This is APA's own example, verbatim:

The University of Queensland Library's APA 7th guide publishes the same structure as a template, plus a whole-series form. Its series example, verbatim:

Murdoch University's APA guide publishes a third variant, for a documentary strand where the presenter is the credited figure. Its example, verbatim:

Applied to the verified example. The BBC credits no writer and no director, so the entry uses the roles the programme does credit, and the broadcaster stands where a production company would go, because the BBC's record names the broadcast service rather than a production company:

In-text: (Doherty, 2017)

MLA (9th Edition)

The MLA Style Center's post "Can I cross-reference episodes from a television series?" carries MLA's own banner: "This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook." Check the ninth edition before relying on it. Its central point holds regardless: because credits and distributors change across a run, publication details belong to the episode, so episodes are listed individually. Two of its examples, verbatim — the first from a disc, the second from a streaming service:

And for a series discussed as a whole, MLA's own example:

Applied to the verified example, with the contributor MLA's template can actually support here — the narrator:

In-text: ("The Deep")

Chicago (18th Edition)

The free Chicago Citation Quick Guide has no television entry; its nearest relative is "Video or podcast", whose published example carries a season and episode number:

Murdoch University's Chicago author-date guide does publish a television entry. Its example, verbatim:

Applied to the verified example, with the narrator in the position Murdoch gives the presenter:

In-text: (Attenborough 2017)

Harvard (Cite Them Right)

Cite Them Right is subscription-only; the templates below come from two named university guides.

The University of York Library's Television programme entry and example, verbatim:

The University of Sheffield Library publishes separate forms for a disc and for a streaming service. Its box-set template and example, verbatim:

Its streaming template and example, verbatim:

Applied to the verified example as a broadcast, following York:

In-text: (Blue Planet II: The Deep, 2017)

If you watched the same episode on a streaming or catch-up service, use Sheffield's streaming template instead and add the service and the date you watched it.

IEEE

The IEEE Reference Guide has no television section. Its Online Video section covers video-sharing platforms, not broadcast television. If an IEEE-style paper genuinely needs a television episode, ask the editors what they want; give at minimum the episode title, series, season and episode numbers, broadcaster and broadcast date, so nothing is lost whichever shape they choose.

Missing Elements

No writer or director credited. Documentaries and news strands often credit producers and a presenter instead. Use the credited roles, as the example above does, and label each one.

No episode number. Some strands — current-affairs programmes, anthology series — number nothing. Use the broadcast date as the locator, which is what York's television entry and Sheffield's current-affairs entry both do.

A streaming service that renumbers seasons. Say which numbering you are using. If the broadcaster's numbering and the service's disagree, give the broadcaster's and note the difference.

An episode you cannot re-watch. Cite it as broadcast, with the date and channel. If the only record is a broadcaster's programme page, cite that page, because it is the evidence your reader has.

No production company. Give the broadcaster and say so. Do not fill a production-company slot with the channel's name as though they were the same thing.

Common Mistakes

• Citing the series when your argument is about one scene in one episode
• Giving the year you watched instead of the year of first broadcast
• Naming a streaming service as the producer
• Copying season and episode numbers from a fan wiki rather than the broadcaster's own page
• Leaving out the service you watched on, when the same episode exists in different cuts on disc and online
• Crediting a narrator as the director

Sources for These Formats

• BBC programme page for "The Deep", Blue Planet II, bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09f8vtb, and the BBC's programme data for the same record: series and episode position, first broadcast date and time, duration and full credits
• APA Style, Common Reference Examples handout, 7th ed. (last updated 3 March 2026), TV Series Episode
• University of Queensland Library, APA 7th guide, Television program (series and episode)
• Murdoch University Library, APA guide, Television Series Episode; and its Chicago 18th author-date guide, A-V Materials
• MLA Style Center, "Can I cross-reference episodes from a television series?" — flagged by MLA as eighth-edition content
• The Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide, Video or podcast — checked for a television entry and found not to have one
• University of York Library, Harvard guide, Television programme
• University of Sheffield Library, "Harvard referencing" (based on Cite Them Right), TV Episode from a series and Video – Streaming Service
• IEEE Reference Guide — checked for a television section and found not to have one

Full style rules: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard.