# any new Brit shows i should know about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908 "2010-03-26T18:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/21 "2010-03-29T03:15:38Z")
Like _Skins_ (which I haven’t watched), _Shameless_ was just amazing in its first few series. I still watch it but now instead of eagerly awaiting the next episode, I’m more like “oh, new _Shameless_. Guess I’ll grab that…” ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/22 "2010-03-29T03:33:50Z")
I highly recommend watching **Gavin and Stacey** from the start. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/23 "2010-03-29T04:07:21Z")
I’ve found **The Inbetweeners** to be pretty humorous so far. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/24 "2010-03-29T04:51:22Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I found The Mighty Boosh to be pants, actually. They were showing it on Adult Swim in the US, which is about right - I imagine it would be riotously funny if I was half-baked out of my mind. I’ve never touched an illegal drug in my life and I think _The Mighty Boosh_ is absolutely brilliant and extremely funny, but I do realise it’s an incredibly weird show that’s not to everyone’s tastes. I’ve also noticed it’s a fairly polarising show- people tend to either love it and think it’s brilliant or hate it and think it’s complete shite, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/25 "2010-03-29T06:03:34Z")
Definitely **Peep Show**. Absolutely brilliant. And **The Thick of It** as well. If you’re a fan of **Yes Minister** / **Yes Prime Minister** (as all right-minded folks should be!), you’ll find this right up your alley, though of course since it’s a post-2000 show, it’s updated, more cringeworthy, and far more vulgar. Thanks to this thread, I just watched the Armstrong & Miller Flanders & Swann sketch, which was very funny. I’m curious, though: are F&S still widely known in the UK? I only know them through my college voice teacher, who was a big fan; pretty sure they’re almost unknowns here. Loved the chav/RAF bit too. Though boy, Ben Miller really does remind me of Rob Bryden! Speaking of whom… > [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > I highly recommend watching **Gavin and Stacey** from the start. Yes, definitely. Far quieter and more “traditional” a sitcom than the vast majority of recs in the thread, but there’s something very comfortable and believable in the portrayal of the two families/households. And Rob Bryden is so incredibly sweet in it! It’s a show that’s really _made_ by the supporting cast. The Gavin and Stacey characters are more straight men for their broader castmates. Oh, and if you like detective dramas, you might like **Wallender** , with Kenneth Brannagh, who’s tremendous in the role of a depressive detective with family issues. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/26 "2010-03-29T10:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Though boy, Ben Miller really does remind me of Rob Bryden! Ha there is an episode of QI where they discuss that. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/27 "2010-03-29T10:22:14Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Oh, and if you like detective dramas, you might like **Wallender** , with Kenneth Brannagh, who’s tremendous in the role of a depressive detective with family issues. Definitely, in fact go the whole hog, see the original Swedish version as well. It is subtitled but don’t let that put you off, it is brilliant. OK, it’s Swedish not British but hey…take it where you find it I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/28 "2010-03-29T11:13:32Z")
If you like Rob Bryden, his “Rob Bryden’s Annually Retentive” was pretty funny, too. And I’ll second “How Not To Live Your Life”. Little Britain, however, is awful. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/29 "2010-03-29T11:13:36Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Definitely, in fact go the whole hog, see the original Swedish version as well. It is subtitled but don’t let that put you off, it is brilliant. > > OK, it’s Swedish not British but hey…take it where you find it I reckon. The second series of the Swedish version started here in the UK on Saturday. As an aside, we were in Copenhagen last September and took a trip to Ystad in Sweden to see where the books are set, and the programmes are filmed. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/30 "2010-03-29T14:18:23Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > [Outnumbered](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outnumbered) Ah, seconded! ‘Outnumbered’ is brilliant. Also worth watching to wonder how they get such brilliant comic performances out of Ramona Marquez (‘Karen’) who still hasn’t reached her tenth birthday. Also, depending on rights and where you are in the world, you can watch all the first series episodes on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/31 "2010-03-31T19:52:52Z")
How about Only Connect? I think it meets the OP’s criterion of being good but slightly quirky. It’s a team quiz game, and it must be the brainiest quiz show on TV. Brainier than University Challenge (our version of College Bowl) or Mastermind, which are just about knowing stuff. Only Connect requires similarly prodigious general knowledge, but with a side of lateral thinking, and it can get pretty challenging in the later knockout stages. I like the way it most definitely doesn’t dumb things down, while still remaining a light-hearted parlour game. There are four different rounds in the game, involving the idea of connections to greater or lesser degree. [Here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/onlyconnect/quiz/), you can play some examples of probably the most popular round, the Connecting Wall, exactly like they do on the show itself (apologies if that turns out to be one of those BBC pages that is difficult to access from outside the UK.) ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/32 "2010-03-31T20:25:12Z")
I enjoyed the recent 6-part “_Married, Single, Other_” (if you liked _Cold Feet_, you’ll like this). New _Who_ begins on Saturday, of course, and \*Have I Got News For You \*returns on Thursday. Did you see _The Inbetweeners_? It’s had two series now, and is quite funny. _The Thick Of It_ is fantastic. Ostensibly a political show, but it’s more about Malcolm Tucker shouting at people and using inventive obscene insults. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908/33 "2010-03-31T20:30:36Z")
I’ve been watching the post-apocalyptic [Survivors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258189/) and I like it. Also, [Primeval](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808096/)is interesting. Primeval has had several series already, and it’s probably available on DVD. Survivors just finished the first season and immediately started on the second. (Both of these on BBC America.) J. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-new-brit-shows-i-should-know-about/533908.md?page=1)