# Best Britcoms of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709 "2003-11-22T18:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/1 "2003-11-22T18:01:56Z")
In no order: Blackadder Fawlty Towers Monty Python (First 3 series) Young Ones New Statesman League Of Gentlemen The Day Today (why is this not more popular?) ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/2 "2003-11-22T18:06:34Z")
Cannot possibly forget _Keeping Up Appearances_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/3 "2003-11-22T18:08:40Z")
**The Young Ones Blackadder Monty Python** I also like **Coupling**. Great stuff in that series. I like **Father Ted** , but it doesn’t really have an “edge”. I think my favourite is **The Young Ones**. _One in every lifetime Comes a love like this…_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/4 "2003-11-22T18:09:47Z")
Of course, that should have been _ **Once** in every lifetime…_ It’s hard to have one’s computer on the floor and the keyboard in one’s lap. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/5 "2003-11-22T18:10:36Z")
Forgive the double post, but I cannot believe that _I_ was going to forget _The Office_. What was I thinking?! ---
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/6 "2003-11-22T18:22:26Z")
I meant to put The Office in there. Father Ted is also very good, but it has the tendency to switch between a fairly unharmful style of comedy to a some fairly edgy things (Father Larry Duff, the Holy Stone), and the transition is not too well done. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/7 "2003-11-22T18:32:01Z")
Two of my favorites, not yet mentioned: **Are You Being Served? The Vicar of Dibley** ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/8 "2003-11-22T18:43:59Z")
The Office. One of the best programmes of recent years. League Of Gentlemen ---
**Author:** ![Fnoonf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Fnoonf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fnoonf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/9 "2003-11-22T18:57:02Z")
**Spaced**. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/10 "2003-11-22T19:06:37Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Red Dwarf! Of the shows mentioned so far, I am completely unfamiliar with the following (not all Britcoms get aired in the States, not even on PBS): Young Ones New Statesman League of Gentlemen The Day Today Father Ted The Vicar of Dibley Spaced Keeping Up Appearances Can anyone tell me anything about any of these? Which is the one about the soccer hooligans? (“You don’t have the cobbles!”) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/11 "2003-11-22T19:10:15Z")
Spaced Phoenix Nights I’m Alan Partridge Brass Eye ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/12 "2003-11-22T19:34:48Z")
Steptoe & Son Hancock’s Half Hour (and Hancock) Men Behaving Badly Dinnerladies Porridge Only Fools and Horses Open All Hours **BrainGlutton** : For information about all things Britcom, I recommend visiting [TV Comedy Resources](http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/). ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/13 "2003-11-22T19:36:38Z")
1. Fawlty Towers 2. Jeeves and Wooster 3. Yes Minister/Prime Minister ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/14 "2003-11-22T19:46:04Z")
**Murder Most Horrid**. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/15 "2003-11-22T19:51:19Z")
I forgot to mention The Goodies. Also, if you are a fan of British comedy you’d do well to check out [BBC7](http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/). You can listen to the shows over the internet with RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/16 "2003-11-22T20:11:18Z")
Most of the good ones have already been taken, but I always had a soft spot for **Citizen Smith** (Robert Lindsay as the Trotskyist leader of the Tooting Popular Front, membership: 3). Also the sketch shows **Not the Nine O’Clock News** and **A Bit of Fry & Laurie** (well, the first two series, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/17 "2003-11-22T20:21:09Z")
:smack: how could I forget **The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin**? Pure genius. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/18 "2003-11-22T20:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned Red Dwarf! Good lord, you’re right! **Red Dwarf** is excellent. Does **Comic Strip** count as a series? Man, I’d love to get _The Beat Generation_ on DVD or tape. (I have _Bad News Tour_ and _Eat The Rich_.) ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/19 "2003-11-22T20:31:19Z")
A friend introduced me to _The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_ last year. I’ve seen the first two series (of three), Leonard Rossiter gave one of the best comedic performances I’ve seen on screen. Not being a Brit I’m sure I missed some of the social satire, still I found the characters and dialogue hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709/20 "2003-11-22T21:10:25Z")
Fawlty Towers Blackadder Only Fools and Horses (1980s only) Jeeves and Wooster Red Dwarf [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-britcoms-of-all-time/214709.md?page=2)