My Top 5 British Comedy TV Shows (Everyone Should Watch)
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- Опубліковано 22 вер 2024
- Today I'm sharing my top 5 British Comedy TV series I think everyone should watch! Some of them have been my favorites for a very long time, some of them I just recently started watching. As a big lover of films and TV series this is a topic I truly enjoy talking about.
Let me know what your favorite British Comedy TV shows are in the comments :)
Lots of love,
Vanessa 🌹
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COME SAY HI IN THE COMMENT SECTION - I’d love to meet you!
My name is Vanessa. I live in London, England.
I mainly upload my videos about life and culture in the UK, learning English, and things that interest me. Feel free to subscribe to my channel 🥰
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So glad you included Detectorists in this, i have watched it twice and will watch it again someday. It is warm and beautiful, poignant and hilarious. So well written and acted too.
I'm so glad you like Only Fools and Horses - such an oldie but goldie
Your description of Only Fools and Horses is spot on. I also used to like Red Dwarf, and Faulty Towers of course.
"Dinner ladies" always floats my boat. Written by Victoria Wood of course. An English treasure sadly lost to us in 2016.
Never forget the total gut-punch that Blackadder ended on. One of the best endings ever. Comedy to absolute heartwrenching sadness in seconds.
Well I haven't seen that... must do! I'm American, and have only seen a few episodes. I'll be living in Britain this summer, perhaps I can binge watch it then?
@@darasandland7353 It's not only the best ending to any comedy series in history - it's the best ending to any TV series in history.
Technically, it wasn't the end. That was Blackadder: Back and Forth. I know exactly what you mean though. The end to the standard series was incredibly sad on many levels.
Every one must watch the Black Adder Goes Forth final.
It is but I prefer the sketch were lieutenant George asked what they should do if they step on a mine? ‘Leap 200 ft into the air and scatter your body parts over a wide area’ was his helpful reply!
Red Dwarf, Father Ted and The IT Crowd are my favourite comedy shows, I can watch them endlessly.
I think in my house someone quotes "have you tried turning it off and then back on again?" at least 4 times a week. LOL
Those 3 with Blackadder and Porridge are mine. Open All Hours is decent too.
Feck is a father Ted quote.
The money was just resting in my account😂😂
So glad you mentioned the detectorist, zen comedy at it's best
Fawlty Towers, This Country, 'Allo 'Allo, The Good Life, Are You Being Served?, Dad's Army, Little Britain, Till Death Us Do Part... so many good ones I could go on and on.
These are great choices.
Also Open All Hours my favourite.
@@malcolmbrown7683 Yeah another good one! Last of the Summer Wine in its hayday was great too.
Falling through the open pub counter flap is the funniest scene ever made.
It's just a slapstick standard, but it is set up and delivered so brilliantly.
@@RichardBlakey .. It was thought at the time that it was an accident because the timing was so perfect.
The chandelier episode was one of my favourites.
Good choices. Father Ted is one of the greatest comedies ever. I can watch every episode time and time again. it never gets old :-)
Red Dwarf too
Yeh every time i watch father ted its like im watching it first time. Its great!
Classic Farther Ted, I hear he’s a racist now.
😆
Father Ted just so different. Just, so..funny. The cows are smaller because they are far away! Then Graham Norton knocks the caravan over dancing. I just cry laffin at that.
each to his own, mr W. a conceived device put up by the irish state/church to conceal the filth that appertained at the time. not remotely funny, btw.
Hi, if you haven't come across "Yes, Minister" and the follow up "Yes, Prime Minister" yet you are missing out big time.
Congratulations on your well deserved success! Some of my favorites are, 'Last of the Summer wine', 'My Hero' and, 'Keepin up appearances'.
Both from the 1970s, but both were huge hits in their time. "Fawlty Towers" and "The Good Life". Fawlty Towers is just side-splittingly funny - to me the funniest TV show I've ever seen. I lived in the US for over 12 years and "Seinfeld" was also very good, but Fawlty is the best. The Good Life is also very funny in a more gentle way. When watching it, you get a real sense of how much the actors really liked working together (they truly did). The problem with both of these series is that a few of the jokes or puns might reference people or events of the 1970s and may not be understood as much today.
However, I would be gobsmacked if you didn't fall in love with both of these series.
As an American I agree that Seinfeld was funny (particularly back in the day) but Fawlty Towers is all time classic. Just hilarious! Such a shame that only a few episodes exist, but so nice that we can watch them on YT!
@@darasandland7353 I suppose having only 12 episodes renders each episode more memorable.
@@ukmark62 yes, each is a classic. But I do love the German one and the rat one...
I like those you mentioned. Great choices. Here are my favourites: 1) Rising Damp. Leanord Rossiter is brilliant as the stingy landlord. Very funny. 2) Dinner Ladies. Written by and starring Victoria Wood a great and gifted comedienne. 3) Fawlty Towers. Classic. I own the box sets of each and they always make me laugh.
Great list. Definitely check out Fawlty Towers.... it’s old but absolutely genius
I had to stop your video just to go and hear the theme to the Detectorists again, such a good tune.
Great list, agree with all of them. I am glad you included Detectorists, which is not so well known
I love The Detectorists so much I've watched it right through 3 times. It's a shame that it's hard to find people who have seen it so I can talk to them about it.
It's the sort of show you'd expect 2 men in a field to be discussing, once the've done critiquing last night's University Challenge.
There's a whole Facebook group dedicated to it. facebook.com/groups/DetectoristsSeries
Vanessa sneezes. Without even realising what I'm doing, I say "bless you, dear"
Well thank you Michael 😂
A few others to consider if you haven't seen them, IT Crowd, Father Ted, Black Books and Green Wing. Green Wing is one of my all time favourites and well worth checking out, it's got Olivia Coleman in it so you're bound to like it!
Dads army,fawlty towers
If nobody's already done so, I highly recommend Father Ted. It only did 3 series and one of the main cast sadly died a few years after but it's still probably the best comedy on the planet beside Fawlty Towers which I'd also recommend :)
Dermot Morgan - who played Ted - died the day after the last episode was filmed. 🙁
Some of my absolute favourites there, great choices. Detectorists is so good, as are the others.
Great selection. You're right... Detectorists is an absolute gem.
Congratulations Vanessa on reaching and passing the 10K milestone. For me The Good Life and Dad's Army were two of the best series ever.
Thank you Stephen and thanks for the suggestions!
I’d have Detectorists and Blackadder, certainly, but I’m older than you so I’d also have some from my youth that have stuck with me. Gentle comedy, The Good Life; the really sharp Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister; and my favourite, Porridge. Classics all.
Yes Minister/Prime Minister are the ultimate satirical comedy, they're so funny 'cos they're so true.
Painfully true 😩
As an Austrian how come you talk with a septic accent, I would like to see your comments on Killing Eve, keep posting I enjoy what you do
Problems with living in the USA first ...
Congrats on the 10k!
That's a pretty good list, I don't know how you kept to 5 though.....
Omissions would include Red Dwarf, Father Ted, Fawlty Towers, Bottom, Phoenix Nights, The Thick of it, The Office, Inbetweeners, Men behaving badly, Gavin and Stacey, The Young Ones, IT Crowd, Royle Family, Alan Partridge, Black books, Derry Girls and probably a few more I've missed.
I genuinely believe Boris Johnson has made his entire career out of playing Steven Frys character in Blackadder Goes Forth.
I'm a big fan of The IT Crowd, Spaced, Black Books... (I'll stop now to let some others have a go ;) )
Absolutely agree about Detectorists, a stand out, clever show, brilliantly acted - I liked it so much I bought the DVDs :-) Congrats on the 10k too :-)
Thank you! :--)
Hi Vanessa! I'm so glad you included Only Fools and Horses! It's my favourite comedy of all time. Also, The IT Crowd, Peter Kay's Car Share, Not Going Out and Motherland are all brilliant as well. Great list by the way!😉
Started the Detectorists today on your advice. Loving it so far. Right, episode five...
So glad you like it Martyn!
From yearsssssssssss ago, I always loved The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. It perhaps would be better described as the fall, rise, fall, rise, and fall via regular bouts of anguish and repeated self-destruction. What's not to laugh at? :-)
I love Martin Clunes, and will watch pretty much anything he is in. Have you seen Warren on Amazon Prime? A dark comedy of his that reminded me of One Foot in the Grave. Just brilliant.
Yes,brilliant,I didn't get where I am today without watching Reggie Perrin !
I still use some of the catch phrases from Reginald Perrin - "I didnt get where i am today without ......" or "My wife, Mrs CJ said to me CJ, you need to....... " and it's funny to see millenials stare at me blankly wondering if i've lost my marbles.
Congrats on 10k subscribers, it's your command of language , tone and how so professional your vlogs are that has done that 👍👍
Thank you so much! 🤗
One Foot in the Grave and Miranda are my favourite comedies... one is quite dark/sarcastic and the other slapstick humour. Love them both!
Miranda 😂😂😂
@@marcweir9204 it's like the British version of I Love Lucy.
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the British TV series, is well worth the watch. "Red Dwarf" also. "The Guardian" newspaper is always good for a laugh.
I'm glad you chose only fools and horses as this has to be the best iconic comedy of all time!
As mentioned elsewhere, Afterlife with Ricky Gervais will have laughing and sobbing with the story line, watch from the first episode which sets out the background to the series.
Vanessa is great therapy if your feeling down during covid. Such a beautiful smiley face.
You deserve so many more subscribers! Love your videos they bring me such joy and your naturally fantastic vibe and personality shines through glad there are still people like you in the world! :)
Thank you so much Alfie! :)
@@vanessatalks1 You're most welcome Vanessa, I hope I one day get the chance to meet you :)
Blackadder is perfect and has provided so many favourite lines.
I regularly assess bad plans as ‘like fitting wheels to a tomato; time consuming and entirely unnecessary’!
Can never go wrong with only fools and horses never. A must have on ur list has to be red dwarf. Amazing british comedy 😂😂❤️❤️
@@Skiltra dam I feel old now I remember it first starting but I was a kid 😉😉👍👍
Red dwarf, Father Ted, The Office and Extras..Watching Extras now through my cringing fingers..Brilliant video..Fantastic editing
Excellent choices but as you say so many choices.
Some British golden oldies, Butterflies, The Good life and Fawlty Towers.
Detectorists is the best ever - its so funny so banal and so relaxing........will love it forever
in fact I am wearing my Danebury Metal Detecting Club T-shirt today
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge is my fav.
Not going to lie, as a Brit, I was rather dubious clicking the link, but really good list! Nice one.
I'm relieved you mentioned "Blackadder", because as a lover of British TV shows - and I am not British - and esp comedy, I can watch some scenes from the aforementioned over and over, and still laugh out loud ... (such as anything featuring Queenie, or Lord Flashheart, or Edmund's visit from his executioners)
For me, "Upstart Crow" is up there in my ever-expanding list of favourite Brit comedies. I think having all episodes written by the same writer (Ben Elton) helps maintain the very high script standards ... (apart from the recent 2021 Xmas special, which was for me a bit below par.)
Ricky Gervais comedies like Derek and Afterlife will have you crying and laughing in a space of a few minutes.
Afterlife is just brilliant, like you say, one moment you are laughing out loud and the next sobbing your heart out. I saw online yesterday that Ricky Gervais has just started recording the 3rd series 😍
They're 5 of my all time favourites too, I watch the first scene of the first episode of Fleabag quite often, it never fails to make me laugh and the mix of comedy and shock factor is genius! Lots of great recommendations on here, I'd also suggest you check out 'The Trip', 'Nathan Barley' and 'Butterflies'
You may like to try some older comedy shows like rising damp or porridge!! Classic 70s stuff but you will recognise some of the characters who began there before being huge stars in their own right in the eighties in things like only fools and horses and blackadder!
Not watched the Detectorists, but will now. Love your blog. Best wishes. X.
I always like the last of the summer wine. The earlier ones with late great Bill Owen in.
My sister raved about the pub-based comedy Early Doors and she was right about it. It's like being an onlooker in a quiet pub. Still Game has been a great blast, a laid-back character based comedy. It started off as a stage show for the Edinburgh comedy festival where Sean Connery happened to be in the audience. He approached them and said that if it ever made it to TV he'd like to play the part of Winston. Sadly he didn't even get a guest spot.
Congratulations on 10,000 subscribers!! :)
Thank you! :)
Loved the Detectorists, I have watched the whole thing three times and I'm probably going to watch it again :)
Vanessa, Fawlty Towers is a classic British comedy and well worth checking out. I also highly recommend the Irish comedian Dave Allen, who was one of the highest rated comedians on British TV. His description of Adam and Eve from the Bible still makes me laugh now, over 30 years from when it was first broadcast
1, Love thy Neighbour 2. Some mother do ave them 3. Rising Damp 4. Young ones. 5. Hancock's half hour.
Have you ever watched 'One Foot In The Grave' or 'The Royale Family' ? Both are very well written. OFITG is very well crafted and dark at time but just hilarious too.
The Royale Family is VERY British and follows the life of a northern family in their house. Both are comedy gold.
A couple of worthy mentions; Fawlty Towers - The Germans, Open all hours, Porridge, On the busses, steptoe and son
Impressed by the love for the detectorists in the comments and so pleased you included it. If I was making a second video, it would include Fawlty Towers which despite being from 1970s the jokes are timeless and hilarious... Currently on the Iplayer too. Also, Peter Kay car share, the simplicity of its format is genious and full of hidden jokes. I'd also put Royle family in there as a wild card, it takes some watching but is very funny.
Are You Being Served is my all-time favorite!
Take a look at “”Some Mothers Do Ave Em” but be warned you might just wet yourself laughing.
Not The Nine o'Clock News is another classic
Check out One Foot In The Grave. David Renwick is a brilliant writer and leads you right up the garden path with his stories which suddenly twist around and take you somewhere you never expected to go. Laugh out loud moments, pathos, empathy and situations that will make you share poor old Victor Meldrew's cry of "I don't believe it".
Agreed. It was very clever. It greatly helped that Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie were such competent actors, and played the parts fairly straight as a fairly normal older married couple. The chaos mainly plays around them, their reactions express the understandable frustration with so much of modern life. Things even get a bit surreal and even dark from time to time, but the writers manage brilliantly to get the humour out of them - and the sadness, too, sometimes.
If you haven't already, you must give 'Green Wing' a go.. All series on 4player .. it's so uniquely British, surreal, eccentric and funny, with a great cast.. ( Olivia Coleman's in it ) 'IT Crowd' is another awesome show to try out, too..😉👍🏼
I love Green Wing, this reminds me it's due for a re-watch! Kind of the UK Scrubs, but darker...
So many good suggestions in chat for comedy series, "Keeping Up Appearances" I would add to the list too, so typically British Street life.
Hi Vanessa;
check out this episode of Only Fools And Horses, Season 5, Episode 7, “Tea For Three”, the part when Rodney gets his own back on Del Boy, and encourages him to fly on a hand glider, it’s so funny .
If I had to list my favourite comedies I think I'd have to split them between old (1960s-1980s) and new (1990s-2000s):
Old classics would be Steptoe & Son, Porridge, Only Fools and Horses, Hi-De-Hi & Allo Allo.
New classics would be Spaced, Phoenix Nights, Phone Shop, The IT Crowd & The Inbetweeners.
Not a resident of the UK myself, so I have only experienced a few select british tv shows. But to me, I would list the following tv shows (not comedies necessarily): The Darling buds of May, Allo Allo, Dr. Who and Poirot / Agatha Christieˋs Poirot. And I must not forget: Keeping Up Appearances.
I agree with your selections: "Fleabag", "Peep Show", "Only Fools..." I was going to resist the temptation to talk about older comedies, but you mentioning "Only Fools" opens it up. As an older person I think there were two golden periods of British TV comedy, the 1970s and the early-mid 1990s. The absolute classics of 1970s TV situation comedy were: "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads", "Steptoe & Son", "Porridge", "On the Buses". These are all very much about social satire and observing social change. In the 1990s people like Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris were often involved in a range of projects involving people like Steve Coogan, there was also the "Fast Show", a sketch show which brought in lots of new comedy actors. Also "Men Behaving Badly" was excellent.
"Father Ted"!
Congratulations on 10k Vanessa, love your videos and the way you present them. Onwards and upwards! Love Father Ted, Outnumbered and no doubt lots more, I'm sure 5 was hard to narrow it down to.
Thank you so much Susan! ❤
Finally some love for Detectorists
I'd missed Detectorists, I shall check it out based on this =]
Also Peep Show is just amazing.
NO TURKEY?!
Also his name is Robert Webb, not Andrew Webb xD
Your paying to have that snake dry cleaned.
I have a friend who’s ex girlfriend had a problem, in that the only thing she would watch on TV was only fools and horses. Like morning, noon and night. Go from satellite channel to satellite channel and when she couldn’t find the programme, she’d get the DVDs out. Every evening for him was Only fools and horses night. He chucked her for it in the end, told her she needed help. So I can’t stand it anymore, either.
I recommend Nightingales, a comedy from the early 90s. It's about some security guards - headed by Robert Lindsay and James Ellis - doing the night shift in an office block somewhere in England.
There were only four TV channels in those days, so there wasn't much choice when it came to what was available to watch. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my older brothers who for reasons known only to themselves, detested Robert Lindsay. They only allowed it to be watched on the basis that whoever was the first to laugh at it, would be subject to a good kicking. Within minutes, everyone was howling.
It might not be everyone's cup of tea; it's really surreal at times, but that's one I definitely recommend.
Wow. You have picked some of my all-time favourites. Only Fools and Horses, Black Adder, Fleabag and the Detectorists. Wonderful stuff. Strangely I never tried the Peep show. Will give it a go. Other shows include Porridge (oldie), Ted Lasso (new show), IT Crowd, Derry Girls... the list goes on :-)
Isn't Ted Lasso American? Apple TV, American lead actor, American writing team, American producers...... but it is set over here. If It's funny (I haven't seen it) I guess that doesn't really matter :)
@@corleth2868 it is American produced but set in the UK. Cultural clash between Brits and Americans. It is very very funny and moving at times.
I'm a millennial and I just love older comedies. My top five would be, Steptoe and Son, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Yes Minister and Only Fools and Horses. I will check some of the ones you mentioned, great content again.
Particularly Yes Minister!
some of my favourites are Red Dwarf, Black books, Garth Merenghis Dark Place, The mighty Boosh, Spaced, Fawlty Towers,
Definitely 👍
Very good :) you need to try Red Dwarf, series 1 is a bit slow but builds to comedic genius
The editing on your videos is great
Have you ever heard of Dinner For One? I think you would love this to bits. (Dinner For One with Freddie Frinton and May Warden).
Enjoyed the vid cheers, Detectorists is a real gem
I forgot about The Detectorists thank you for reminding me.
Stoned. Black Books. Green Wing. Try those. Brilliant :) Great show :) x
The Rise & Fall Of Reginald Perrin, Rising Damp, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Desmond's, Last Of The Summer Wine, Vicar Of Dibley, Absolutely Fabulous
Best of all time has to be Fawlty Towers.
Bloody brilliant.
It's amazing to think there were only ever 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers made. Every episode is an icon in TV. So much so that it seems like 4 or 5 times as many episodes were made.
5 of my favourite comedy shows
the young ones
bottom
red dwarf
blackadder
only fools & horses
Good choice with Peep Show and Blackadder (ah, on that point, and as an ex--English teacher, I have to point out that, at 6:21, it says "Blackaddar"...sorry, but spelling errors attract me like I have OCD...or CDO, to put the letters in their correct, alphabetical, order). Other great comedy series that I'd recommend would be Black Books, Spaced, IT Crowd, Father Ted, Green Wing and, especially, because his character is one of the best examples of snobbish Englishman ever, any of the Alan Partridge shows (played by Steve Coogan), especially his parodies of chat shows in Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. Another great video, btw!
OMG why did I subscribe?? - can't stop watching now
One of my favourite comedies is Fawlty Towers, it's so iconic. I also really enjoyed Green Wing, I would highly recommend it! Also, if you like skit shows some great ones are The Two Ronnies, That Mitchell and Webb Look, and The Catherine Tate Show. (That Mitchell and Webb Look and Green Wing both feature Olivia Colman, so I'm sure you'll like them!)
the best British comedy ever was Yes Minister.Pure gold.
It Crowd and Father Ted are a must. The Inbetweeners is great too. My absolute favourite though is Alan Partridge. There's so much content to discover with this character - The Day Today, Knowing Me Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, Mid Morning Matters, This Time and a whole other bunch of one off specials. Both series of I'm Alan Partridge are on Netflix and I'd highly recommend giving it a go.
Hi Vanessa heres my top 5.Only Fools and Horses,Pheonix nights,Car Share,Fawlty Towers,and Father Ted.could name loads more that we used to love watching. All the Blackadders,Coupling,The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy,Max And Paddy,
The Detectives Jasper Carrot and Robert Powell,Allo Allo,Mr Bean,hope you eventually get chance to watch some of these
comedy sereis.
Excellent list. The Brits do comedy so well. Anyway, here’s my top 5 list of comedies that I highly recommend:
Keeping Up Appearances
One Foot in the Grave
Porridge
Yes, Minister
Some Mothers Do ‘ave ‘em
I know there’s a few oldies in there, but they’re definitely classic British comedy.
Take care!
Haven't watched it but my mum loves Detectorists
Hi Vanessa, thanks for your top 5. I hope if you look for another five to make the ten, you'll catch 'One Foot In The Grave' Victor Meldrew was one of the greatest comedy creations. So many hysterical episodes to catch up with. So brilliantly written by Richard Curtis and acted by the wonderful Richard Wilson, with Annette Crosbie as his long suffering wife Margaret. PLEASE check it out. Thanks.
Hi Vanessa, I know it´s from the '80s and consequently quite old now, but in terms of groundbreaking British comedy, I would highly recommend The Young Ones´!! Pure anarchy!!
On the subject of "Blackadder" I had to laugh at the 2013 New Years Honours List which announced that Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder) had been awarded the "Commander of the Order of the British Empire" (CBE). But in the same listing, Tony Robinson (Baldrick) was made a Knight Batchelor (KB) which is above a CBE! I think the Honours and Awards Committee has a sense of humour!
Have a delve into the archives for 'Steptoe & Son', 'Rising Damp', 'Porridge', 'On The Buses', 'Allo Allo' & 'Dad's Army'.
Bet ya laugh!!
I always loved 'One Foot in the Grave' Vanessa, not sure if you have ever seen any episodes but they are so funny and again genius writing as well. I also love The IT Crowd and was gutted when it ended. 😉