# Britians best sitcom a BBC poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156 "2004-01-12T11:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/21 "2004-01-12T15:26:18Z")
It’s like choosing your favourite music; differently ordered list every day. But this made me smile or cringe or both: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > The Good Life February 28th 9pm Ulrika Jonsson God help us! Not such a good life now for a former teevee presenter who’s jobless. At least the former weather girl got to sell a few more books. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/22 "2004-01-12T15:30:04Z")
Fwiw, Only Fools and Horses has to win it by a country mile, asssuming no ‘vote campaigns’. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/23 "2004-01-12T15:34:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Usram \* > I guess if _Father Ted_ had been a BBC show it would have been in there instead of _The Vicar of Dibley_ (WTF?). Presumably the Beeb don’t have the rights to show it. Anyway, is the whole thing just an elaborate excuse to show more repeats? The top 100 includes plenty of non-BBC shows (as it would have to have). _Father Ted_ is at no.11 as we’ve already heard, but the fact that 24 of the top 25 are BBC shows probably says more about middle England than anything else. I’d probably go for _Blackadder_ FWIW but can’t see myself voting (or tuning in every week). I think it is just an excuse to show more repeats, and to give work to the rent-a-quotes they always have on those list shows. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/24 "2004-01-12T15:48:10Z")
most of these come from what my parents made me watch in the 80’s. BlackAdder & Father Ted I loved, Fawlty Towers is alright. Porridge, Rising Damp or Phoenix nights should be top in my book. As for Vicar of Dibley, WTF? I hate this. somebody tell it I hate it. It offends the very core of my being and all I stand for. it being no3 says everything about the British public, or rather the middle aged British public that voted. Never liked Fools & Horses or Yes Minister either. And all the Good Life tapes at the BBC should be burned on a Darth Vader style funeral pyre, with me dancing around it. man, I hate Richard Briers. and Penelope Keith. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/25 "2004-01-12T23:36:20Z")
The Brittas Empire was fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/26 "2004-01-13T02:59:06Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > As for Vicar of Dibley, WTF? I hate this. somebody tell it I hate it. It offends the very core of my being and all I stand for. it being no3 says everything about the British public, or rather the middle aged British public that voted. The Vicar of Dibley isn’t at no.3. They haven’t decided the order of the top ten yet – that’s the whole point of the forthcoming bunch of programmes. That said, I must get off my chest how exasperating I find these list shows. They always seem to show the same set of faces (Stuart Maconie, Miranda Sawyer, Paul Morley, Kate Thornton etc.) and the fake spontaneity of their “recollections” grates too. They want you to believe that they’ve remembered one of their favourite bits of TV and thought up an amusing story about it, whereas really the producers have just got a bunch of researchers to sit through a few hundred hours of tape then played the celebs the bits they want to show and fed them a line to go with each clip. “Ooh I used to love that” they gush, “D’ye remember the theme tune? _\_ Fantastic!!!” ’Course you remember it, you twat, they’ve just played to you five minutes ago. The only exception is Peter Kay who seems to have thought up his own anecdotes and sounds genuinely funny telling them. I heartily recommend his show _Live at the Bolton Albert Halls_, btw. ---
**Author:** ![stringy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@stringy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stringy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/27 "2004-01-13T05:31:56Z")
_Spaced_ doesn’t even make it into the top 100? Good grief. It doesn’t have broad appeal, aimed more at younger people, but surely it’s better than some of the crap on that list? ---
**Author:** ![stringy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@stringy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stringy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/28 "2004-01-13T05:35:45Z")
That said, _Blackadder_ clearly deserves to win! Are international voters allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Marks\_1st\_wife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Marks\_1st\_wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marks_1st_wife)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/29 "2004-01-13T14:55:11Z")
Don’t think I can list five, not having access to television. 1. Fawlty Towers 2. As Time Goes By And while most of this show was too smutty for me to watch and I had to turn it off. I did laugh and laugh at the ‘Grot shop’ episode of _Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_ \ ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/30 "2004-01-13T15:18:52Z")
> [@stringy](#): > > _Spaced_ doesn’t even make it into the top 100? Good grief. It doesn’t have broad appeal, aimed more at younger people, but surely it’s better than some of the crap on that list? _Spaced_ is at no.66. I can’t see how they can to stop you voting from outside the UK, but the [online voting form](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/vote.shtml) asks for the region you live in, so you’d have to pick a fake one. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/31 "2004-01-13T15:43:16Z")
Well I cast my vote for a show I first saw while living in London, so surely that’s legit. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/32 "2004-01-13T18:04:03Z")
**Blackadder** - Quite simply the best situation comedy ever. **Fawlty Towers** - Excellent, but was primarily reliant on Cleeve’s performance. **Dads Army** - Average scripts that were often drivel, but redeemed by brilliant acting (Clive Dunn excepted). **Vicar of Dibley** - Nooooo! For the love of god, why??? Despite an impressive pedigree of actors and writer this never fails to be anything but truly awful. **The Good Life** - OK for its time, but very dated. If only it wasn’t so cosily middle class, middle England. **One Foot in the Grave** - Improbable plots, irritating characters. Makes for a very unlovable comedy. **Only Fools and Horses** - Good at first, but over-rated and has been living off past glories for the last 15 years. Enough already! **Open All Hours** - Boring. “Last of the Summer Wine”'s little brother in the unamusing stakes. Exactly how many jokes are there to be had from blunt Northerners talking about trivial matters as if they were vitally important? **Porridge** - Good. Ronnie Barker before he got crap. **Yes Minister** - Clever-clever, smug and irritating. Comedy for those who think “PM’s Question Time” is the height of topical wit. I’m afraid all this list demonstrates is that the most popular of most things is also the lowest common denominator. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/33 "2004-01-13T18:52:14Z")
I’m gonna give Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and Dad’s Army an equal number of votes. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/34 "2004-01-13T19:23:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > **…the decidedly average _Vicar of Dibley_…** I prefer the term “Bag of shite” to “decidedly average” (I was forced to sit though an entire episode once, an even bigger ordeal than getting through the last 1/4 of AI) I can understand my own favs like _Spaced_ or _Black Books_ not making it, but _Father Ted_? - Ok the talent is Irish rather than British, and it was on C4 not the Beeb, but it _was_ nominated. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/35 "2004-01-13T19:24:57Z")
Reposting what I posted on this on another board. I’m Canadian, not British, but… Of the top ten, the only two I agree with are Blackadder and Yes, Minister. I’ve seen and enjoyed Vicar of Dilby (inoffensive, and I’m rather fond of Dawn French), and Fawlty Towers (funny the FIRST time through…doesn’t hold up to repeated watchings), but don’t think either deserves to be on the list. One Foot in the Grave, I could do without. The other 5, I’ve never seen. Of the others, Father Ted, Red Dwarf, The Young Ones, The Brittas Empire, The Thin Blue Line, and The New Statesman should all be higher. (I notice a lot of overlap in the casts of my top list… Rik Mayal, Chris Barrie and Rowan Atkinson are all good signs, it seems. (Although Bottom and Mr Bean sort of ruin the theory…)) I’ve a certain fondness for As Time Goes By and My Family, but I wouldn’t put them higher than they are - at least not top 10. And although I like AYBS and KUA, I don’t think they hold up to repeat viewings even enough to hold their positions. The rest of the list either I’ve never seen, or don’t like (2.4 Children, I liked when it was first being aired here, now I watch it and think ‘the HELL?’.) Some I’d have put on the list but didn’t see there: Chef! (The first couple series - before they got divorced.), Mulberry (which was rather sweet for a show with Death as a supporting character) Humm…that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/36 "2004-01-13T21:44:06Z")
Hey, I _love_ One Foot in the Grave. What’s wrong with you people? 😉 I’m not a participant in the BBC poll, and this might not qualify as a sitcom, but none of that will stop me from nominating _People Like Us_ for this Top Ten list. I just wish my local PBS station would make up its mind whether it wants to broadcast it. They seem to pick the occasions with a dart board. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/37 "2004-01-13T22:12:39Z")
The marraige scene of _'Allo, 'Allo!_ shoots the whole series up to near the top for me! “We are goetherred here before Gid, to jain these two in haley matrimony…” So… what catagory does _The Goonies_ fit in? Variety? Also, I thought _Doctor In the House_ would rank much higher. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/38 "2004-01-13T22:21:51Z")
Does anyone remember _The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_? I thought it was hysterical. (oh, I just checked the list; it’s number 35) Of the shows mentioned, _Blackadder_ is by far the best. I’ve always thought _Red Dwarf_ was waaaay over-rated. And, as much as it pains me to say it (and I have all the episodes on tape), it’s true: _Fawlty Towers_ doesn’t really hold up on repeated viewings. Dang, I wish it was easier to see some of these shows in the US. BBC American is only on digital cable (and always seems to be running dreck). And my local PBS station only seems to run endless reruns of _Red Dwarf_ and _Are You Being Served?_. (shudder) ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/39 "2004-01-14T05:24:30Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > I’ve always thought _Red Dwarf_ was waaaay over-rated. Funny, I think _Red Dwarf_ was waaaay underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156/40 "2004-01-14T05:30:17Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Hey, I _love_ One Foot in the Grave. What’s wrong with you people? 😉 Exactly! One Foot in the Grave is great. The character of Victor Meldrew always reminds me a bit of my grandfather. Granted, the plots are rather farfetched, but hilarious. I keep waiting for the programs to be released on DVD. As for the other programs, I agree with the objections to the Vicar of Dibley. It’s mediocre at best (although I do like Dawn French). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britians-best-sitcom-a-bbc-poll/224156.md?page=3)