Some British TV comedies of last 20 years

Squonk19 wrote: Logan - I thought 'Zanzibar' was a great take on 'A Comedy of Errors' and built-up very well as it progressed. Some of my favourite actors in one hallway! I hope Steve and Reece continue their rich seam of fine comedy writing in the weeks to come. Great to see 'Black Mirror' back. Loved the first one - as I was a second generation Star Trek fan in the 70s. I loved the way you sympathised with the guy initially, but then....... (spoiler alert! 😉). The next two were good, but lesser creations - looking forward to 'Hang the DJ' tomorrow. Not trying to binge this week. Just worked through Season 3 of Mr Robot - and still thinking of the hours I'll never get back again! 😂 Actually, wasn't too bad - but each season has been getting less essential!

Agreed. And Zanzibar did Shakespeare more economically than Shakespeare did {and seeing how long this post got, that goes for what I would be capable of}. Very clever writing. Steve and Reece are a really dynamic duo for me -- tops in my list. I hope they can continue as long as possible. I would have liked a series three of Psychoville but it's great that they went on to do Inside No. 9 which is so creative and recent The League of Gentlemen specials I loved.

Feel the same about Black Mirror, except I haven't seen Crocodile yet (seen USS Callister, Arkangel, Hang the DJ, and Metalhead). USS Callister is my favourite, but a lot of people put Hang the DJ over it.

Some people especially like the more romantic BM episodes. From what I have read, the usual favourite from the last series was San Junipero, which didn't resonate with me as much as some other episodes, especially Shut Up and Dance (my other fave was Hated in the Nation from series 3). Or series 2's Be Right Back, whereas I'm more of a White Bear and Black Christmas person from that time. And most people I've read put The Entire History of You from s1 over Hated in the Nation, EDIT, I mean The National Anthem (those two titles get mixed up in my head) and Fifteen Million Merits, unlike me, so don't know how much my tastes correspond with others. Sorry, I'm rambling, but....

I still really like Black Mirror, but I feel in moving to Netflix it's often become a little too Americanized and Netflix series often feel test-marketed to me. Love the show, and glad it's continuing. USS Callister is one of my favourites from Black Mirror, though. Great way to start the series. And when I say too Americanized, I love plenty of US shows, but I love British qualities that you find in shows such as Inside No. 9 (which I would say was always more quintessentially British than Black Mirror and would not fare well if adapted for American audiences in particular, other than some PBS viewers).

I'm going to watch Crocodile tonight. I enjoyed Metalhead a lot, but it's more for the aesthetic than the story (I will avoid spoilers).

Good to see another person into Mr. Robot, I only recently started on the show. Really liking it. Side-note that will be of no interest to anyone but myself: I checked it out because of a podcast I listen to with two rather vulgar American Professors who make up Very Bad Wizards

Edited by Logan - January 03 2018 at 16:47

Saw episode one of Inside No. 9's series four last night -- a clever Shakespearean tale in iambic pentameter called Zanzibar. Being into such stuff, I absolutely loved it. I'm jealous of creators/ writers/performers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith.* I already mentioned how much I loved the recent League of Gentlemen specials, and am a big ban of their Psychoville. EDIT cause I'm a podcat and discovered Adam Buxton's podcast because of this: https://www.acast.com/adambuxton/ep.52-stevepemberton-reeceshearsmith

Although I added Black Mirror as a bit of a joke to the list despite its sometime dramedy (comedy drama) elements, I did like having it on the list as something of an accessory to Inside No. 9 (the two anthology series are often compared). Mentioned in another thread, but I love Black Mirror's USS Callister from the latest series (Trek fans should watch it) and the episode Hang the DJ was quite comedic (at times that one reminded me of one of my favourite modern films, The Lobster, which in turn reminded me somewhat of another favourite film of mine called The Bothersome Man, which in turn was somewhat reminiscent to me of another fave, Amelie and other Jeunet et Caro films etc.)

Don't know if I mentioned it already, but another dark comedic anthology series worth mentioning when talking Inside No. 9 is Steve Coogan's comedy-horror Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible (created by Graham Duff). I didn't know it when I made the list, otherwise it would have been included (think I'll do another for anthology series, a more classic one I adored was Michael Palin and Terry Jones's Ripping Yarns). Fans of ones such as Garth Merenghi's Darkplace may also like Dr. Terrible's House of Horror (I saw it on dailymotion and have recommended it to Netflix here since it's not readily available).

*I had wanted to write comedy (more dramedy) for a living when I was young (of the dark and sad comedic variety), but my failure is a sort of tragicomedy of its own. At least I get some pleasure from rambling here.

Edited by Logan - January 03 2018 at 11:39

I hate Little Britain, the humour does not appeal to me.   Not sure, it's because it's a bunch of gay dudes but I'm not a huge fan of David Williams(a) .  Just me, I suppose!! 

Squonk19 wrote: Too many great programmes to choose! The Detectorists, Outnumbered and Red Dwarf not even on the list!!!! Big Train is an underrated classic - look at the actors who went onto even greater things - like Pegg, Eldon, Heap etc. No sign of The Fast Show or Vic Reeves' Big Night Out? Kept me in catchphrases at work for years! The Office over Extras any day (I think someone's being putting the multiple votes on!) The Thick of It, Alan Partridge etc. are classics too. However, for me here in UK, The League of Gentlemen (Series 1 and 2 at least) was the game changer! Dark and surreal, but wonderfully inventive (Hello Dave?) - Psychoville and Inside No. 9 kept the flag flying, but great to see the return of it this Christmas (hopefully more to come next year) - the exploding hedgehog must go down as the comedy moment of 2017! By the way, I know 'Black Mirror' had dark comedy moments - but it doesn't quite fit on the list for me. 'San Junipero' was one of the most uplifting dramas I've seen for years, with 'Shut Up and Dance', 'Hated in the Nation', 'White Bear' and 'Be Right Back' incredibly disturbing and thought-provoking. Looking forward to Series 4.

Nice! Thanks for the post.   I was mighty impressed with the LoG specials, and the exploding hedgehog really did up the ante from, say, the tortoise which blasted out of its shell when he gave it oxygen.

As for Black Mirror, while it may in part be considered dramady I added it in an attempt at some humour because I had seen it listed in a British comedy guide (maybe they added it because Charlie Brooker has done comedy and because it has some dark humour). https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/black_mirror/ It's generally about as funny as Inside No. 9's The 12 Days of Christine. It does fit with a few in the poll methinks even if it's not comedy. Some might find the hokey pokey, PM poke a pig in the hokey National Anthem thing amusing (to poorly link Black Mirror with the League of Gentleman). They say there will be one humorous BM episode in this series. And while I don't think this episode will be comedy, even if humorous moments, the trailer does make it look like quite a funny Star Trekish parody:



Incidentally, there were various shows that I didn't consider for the poll as I mean shows that started within about the past 20 years. So, I didn't include Red Dwarf which started in 1988 (to think Blackadder was still going then) and The Fast Show and Vic Reeves' Big Night Out, which both started on TV I think earlier than any of my choices. A favourite of mine from when Big Night Out started is Rik Mayall's New Statesman To be honest, I haven't seen much of The Fast Show or Big Night Out, but will try to rectify this (Vic and Bob are legends). I hadn't even heard of the Detectorists and Outnumbered when I made the poll, let alone seen any of them. Living in Canada, watching these shows can take a little more effort and ingenuity.

Would love more suggestions still. While I've discovered many more since I came up with the poll, and mentioned various one I liked in posts in the topic, and my choices would now be rather different, there are always more gems to discover. I also suspect that at least one over-exuberant person has used the multi-vote option in the improper manner, but the better way to express your passion is through an impassioned post, I think. That said, I do like Extras a lot. Its interesting for me to note the ones that have no votes and sole votes. Thought Misfits (which is more of a dramady and not a typical comedy) would be more popular, especially as there are various people here into the superpowers type thing. And People Like Us should interest those into The Office, but then the Office only has one vote. Green Room is one I sometimes like, but never managed to watch many episodes from as it kind of irritates me.


Edited by Logan - December 23 2017 at 19:24

Sorry bumping a poll of mine, but these topics act as list makers, and I always hope to learn about new ones from them.

The one I've most recently enjoyed, though it's very low brow (unlike, say, Inspector Bumhat) and perhaps I should be ashamed to mention liking it, is The Windsors. Royalists and people with taste, discerning or otherwise, might wish to steer clear. I saw it on Netflix Canada.



The League of Gentlemen just came back with a three episode special (bit late to mention this here though I saw the news ages ago as the three parts showed on December 18, 19, and 20th. I haven't had the chance to see them yet.



And I look forward to the return of another Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton show, Inside No. 9. I mentioned that quite a lot in another thread too, and while more of a dark comedy anthology series, I would recommend it to people who enjoy Black Mirror (as well as shows such as The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville). It's a show that I love enough that I wish to promote it even if this site is not the best place for talking about such stuff. Anyway, Inside No. 9 is coming back to BBC on January 2nd with a six part series. This will be the fourth series.



EDIT: Well, I have now watched the three episodes of the 2017 holiday special (series four) of The League of Gentlemen, and I loved it. I do think it was a bit rushed in just the three half hour episodes, but it's not a bad thing that it left me wanting more. And I wonder how many others here got the Inside No. 9 reference? Or if anyone other than me who regularly posts here even watched it. To sound unChristmasy, sh*tty "BBC Canada" (sh*tty any channel with Canada in the title and sh*tty Canadian TV shows too -- if I want BBC I want BBC shows/ British shows but they have bloody Canadian content. It's not even really owned by BBC, it's the Canadian Corus Entertainment mostly so the can shill their own productions) doesn't even show The League and most of my fave BBC shows, nor is it on Netflix Canada, so I streamed it elsewhere (on Christmas Day I will be watching Doctor Who on Space since BBC made a deal with them and don't show DW on the Canadian BBC channel). I stopped subscribing to the various BBC channels in Canada since they do a bad job (even BBC Earth had commercials here even though I paid for the channel -- Netflix is much better value). I used to subscribe to BBC iPlayer here in Canada, but they stopped offering it. Anyway, I'll buy the LoG box set one of these days.

Edited by Logan - December 23 2017 at 16:17

Nathan Barley, written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris (two favourites of mine) is a very unique on the list.

It can be very uncomfortable viewing, and it's brilliant.

Potentially interesting factoid for those that may not know: Nathan Barley was based on a character created by Charlie Brooker (Nathan Barley, Dead Set, A Touch of Cloth, Weekly Wipe, Black Mirror) for the website TV Go Home http://www.tvgohome.com/ which parodied the Radio Times publication, and was produced fortnightly from 1999 to 2001. in 201, a TVGoHome comedy sketch show was made with six half-hour episodes.

Here is a taste of the tasteless sketch show. NOTE, those offended by hat defecation look away.

wikipedia wrote: c**t, a fly-on-the wall series featuring Nathan Barley, a "new media" type kept housed and up to date with the latest pointless technological gadgets through constant parental financial support. Barley is depicted as being of absolutely no value to society, with no morals and even less intelligence, and having many friends (all of whom are exactly like him). On one occasion he attempts to let his girlfriend down over a 6-month period, ultimately ending in his confident, happy girlfriend being sectioned.[3] He is subject to almost pathological levels of hatred from the writer of the billing of the show.

I also enjoyed Brooker's A Touch of Cloth, although the humour can be groan worthy, and the absurdity can be a bit much (watched both seasons, I think, on youtube).



There is quite a bit of none-too-subtle innuendo/ double entendres. Note: those offended by court testimonies look away.

I'm lukewarm on Alan Partridge, Little Britain (sometimes very funny, I thought) or the Office either. A number of people here have mentioned that they don't like those ones (and The Thick of It, though I really like that). In particular I found the Alan partridge film pretty dismal, but then I wasn't a fan of the League of Gentlemen film. My list would be quite different now, and I wish I'd noted some of other good ones that I discovered.

If you or anyone else hears about any good, new ones, please let me know.

They wrote three new episodes of The League of Gentlemen. Filming begins this month. And for those who care, Alan Partridge seems to be in the works.
And Shearsmith and Pemberton (who are part of the League, and made Psychoville in my list) will also be coming back for series 4 of Inside No. 9 this year (love that anthology show -- it's not always funny to be sure; it does dramedy and some serious drama). I haven't read, but I'm thinking they will start with a Christmas special again. The following is from 2016's Christmas special:

Logan wrote: Been drinking a bit too much perhaps, which is never a good excuse for piss poor posting.

See, if life were more like a comedy, somebody would have responded by now with, "So what's your excuse the rest of the time?"

Edited by Logan - July 31 2017 at 19:46

^ That will be something to listen to as I lay in bed that will make a nice change from my usual nocturnal podcast rituals.

^^ That is a coincidence with GEGS!

And, segue, speaking of cryptic crossword clues (used to love to do cryptics), the last Inside No. 9 episode had a cryptic crossword theme. And the episode the week before that was really brilliant (although the ending seemed rather implausible, but then Inside No. 9 often is, and it's part of the charm).



The crossword puzzle created by Pemberton for the episode was used by the Guardian (though changed somewhat from the episode): https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27132

Amazing! Ever since I saw that episode of Drop The Dead Donkey I have also used GEGS! as a personal swearword. Henry walking around saying GEGS! throughout that episode just stuck in my mind and since then whenever I'm annoyed I find myself saying GEGS!! I thought I was the only one