# British Television Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824 "2009-10-31T06:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/21 "2009-11-01T00:20:05Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions. I never could get into _Doctor Who_. Maybe I should give it another try. With _Life on Mars_, we liked our friend’s first season so well that we went looking for the second season, which he didn’t have and hadn’t seen, here and found it. So we were able to loan him one for a change. Between that show, _Lost_ and _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ (both of those last two are American, I know, and the last one a movie), time travel sure seems to be in vogue. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/22 "2009-11-01T00:21:50Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > But try and get hold of the cinema (movie!) spin-off “In The Loop” which is mostly set in DC and is the best film I’ve seen in the last year. How much is Malcolm Tucker in it? He being the reason I watch the show! He makes Ari Gold look pleasant and docile! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/23 "2009-11-01T00:24:33Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > \*Who also made Absolutely. A fine sketch show in its own right. Woah! Understatement of the year! > [@](#): > > Do you think it was a wee bit nasal? > > I don’t think it was nasal enough. Regarding A & M, at least I got the number right. Do you know why series 3 isn’t available? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/24 "2009-11-01T00:26:59Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > How much is Malcolm Tucker in it? He being the reason I watch the show! He makes Ari Gold look pleasant and docile! 🙂 It’s nearly all about him. There’s a bit with Jamie which is brilliantly anticipated. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/25 "2009-11-01T00:31:24Z")
Actually that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you certainly won’t be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/26 "2009-11-01T00:46:31Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > Regarding A & M, at least I got the number right. Do you know why series 3 isn’t available? Far as I know only series four of the original series is out. Series one, two & three are mired in some sort of rights hell. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/27 "2009-11-01T00:46:44Z")
Speaking of Rob Brydon, there was one show we liked that took place entirely in the front seat of his car, and the premise was he filmed himself as he drove around and gave a running commentary on his character’s life. What was that? I’m looking him up on imdb but nothing rings a bell. For my fellow Yanks, if you saw the Steve Coogan film [Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423409/) (2005) (the American title; I think the “Tristram Shandy” part was tacked on for US cinemas), he played himself and Captain Toby Shandy. In fact, he seems to be good friends with Coogan, who I recall was a producer of the show in the previous paragraph. _Black Books_ was another show we enjoyed very much. (That one’s not Rob Brydon.) ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/28 "2009-11-01T00:54:12Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > Far as I know only series four of the original series is out. Series one, two & three are mired in some sort of rights hell. Too late to edit. According to an Amazon review (so take it for what it’s worth), the master tapes are missing and A&M couldn’t buy the rights if they wanted to because they don’t know who owns 'em. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/29 "2009-11-01T00:57:47Z")
That’s Marion and Geoff, Sam. Didn’t mention it cause I wrongly assumed you’d know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/30 "2009-11-01T01:06:05Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > That’s Marion and Geoff, Sam. Didn’t mention it cause I wrongly assumed you’d know about it. Ah yes, that’s it, thanks. Well, I did know about it, just not the name. Looking in imdb, I didn’t think it was _Marion & Geoff_, since no Marion is ever seen. But I remember now. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/31 "2009-11-01T03:16:00Z")
As a computer geek, I find The IT Crowd one of the funniest sitcoms I’ve seen in years. The characters are just so much more likeable than your usual stock sitcom nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/32 "2009-11-01T04:11:19Z")
QI is well worth a watch, to put it mildly. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/33 "2009-11-01T06:31:44Z")
I am a sucker for any type of British Murder Mystery, so I have been loving Masterpiece Mystery’s current run of _Inspector Lewis_. Very enjoyable, and they have inspired me to seek out its predecestor, the Inspector Morse series, on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/34 "2009-11-01T23:54:50Z")
I’d like to add to the recommendations for [Spaced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced). The writing is dizzyingly good and satisfying, with superb, note-perfect performances from Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson. It’s very, very British, but in a good way. Season 1 of Steve Coogan’s ‘I’m Alan Partridge’, six shows set in a ‘Travel Tavern’, rank up there with anything else in TV sitcom history. Blisteringly funny scripts and characters brought to life by a perfect and hugely talented cast. Such a shame that Season 2 was nowhere near as good. Season 1 of [Green Wing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wing) is worth a look. It was very well written, very ambitious, and tried to do all sorts of new things. It doesn’t all work, but it’s very enjoyable and worth a look. Finally, don’t miss out on the sensational [Smack The Pony](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smack_the_pony). Three very funny, very talented female comedians having a whale of a time in a crazy, slick, ingenious and often delightfully silly sketch show that they largely wrote themselves. All beautifully filmed and put together, often devoted to mercilessly satirising women’s behaviour and attitudes. [This clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioW-VLwx0ec) is worth 90 seconds of anyone’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/35 "2009-11-02T03:01:06Z")
How Not To Live Your Life is an uneven but largely underrated little gem, too. Very dark humour, but often very good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/36 "2009-11-02T04:09:29Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Season 1 of Steve Coogan’s ‘I’m Alan Partridge’, six shows set in a ‘Travel Tavern’, rank up there with anything else in TV sitcom history. Blisteringly funny scripts and characters brought to life by a perfect and hugely talented cast. Such a shame that Season 2 was nowhere near as good. We’ve seen two seasons of _I’m Alan Partridge_. Good, but we’re a little confused. He seems to be the same person … sort of. In one season, he’s living in a hotel room after being kicked out of his home by his wife, who is now divorcing him. In the other season, he seems to be the same person, a radio personality and with the same frumpy middle-aged assistant, only no hint of a wife, and he lives in a mobile home with a Russian or Ukrainian girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/37 "2009-11-02T04:11:03Z")
These are not currently under production, so when you watch them all your done. Hyperdrive Spaced Black Books ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/38 "2009-11-02T04:29:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I never could get into _Doctor Who_. Maybe I should give it another try. Was that Back in the Day or have you been introduced to the Ninth and Tenth Doctors? These are brilliant series. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/39 "2009-11-02T04:30:45Z")
That was back in the day. Is it necessary to see much of the earlier series to understand 9 and 10? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824/40 "2009-11-02T04:49:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it necessary to see much of the earlier series to understand 9 and 10? No. You’ll miss out on some “OMG they brought back\_\_\_\_\_!” moments and a few running gags, but they’ll give you all the information you need to follow the stories, especially if you start with the first 2005 episode (“Rose,” which is quite silly, but re-introduces the character nicely). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-television-series/515824.md?page=3)