ElzaHub and I are big into British television - unfortunately, the majority of our British TV viewing is restricted to BBC America, which doesn’t present as wide of a variety of shows as we’d like (If I see one more Cash in the Attic marathon, I might scream).
However, we’ve managed to find a few gems that we enjoy, along with Doctor Who on Sci-Fi and EastEnders on DishNetwork PPV (I’ve been watching that for about five years now on BBC America, then moving to PPV after they cancelled it - got ElzaHub hooked on it when we got Dish). We’re unashamedly hooked on Footballers’ Wives (yes, we know it’s trash, but dammit, it’s fun trash), as well as Little Britain, Sea of Souls, Monarch of the Glen (although we haven’t yet gotten the final series and they just took it out of reruns), thoroughly enjoyed Viva Blackpool (I think it was just Blackpool over there, though), Bromwell High, Creature Comforts, and Mile High every so often (that one’s even a little TOO trashy). We also enjoyed the short runs of Holiday Showdown and Little Angels that we got, but those ended abruptly. We really like The Kumars at No. 42, although I think we’re about three years behind.
We try to keep an eye out for new stuff that BBCA airs (okay, so it’s not new to you guys). We’re going to give Rocketman a try tonight (not sure how long ago that aired over there).
However, it looks like we might actually be getting BBC World on Dish Network in the next six months or so, which would be VERY nice for us (especially since they’re supposed to be running EastEnders - we might be able to get rid of the PPV). So we’re hoping that’ll open up some new shows to us that don’t involve selling old stuff that people find around the house.
So - what’s been good on British television lately? What can we look forward to seeing over here? We kind of rely on BBC America during the summer to get us through the endless summer of reruns.
If you like the trashiness of Footballers’ Wives, you might like Bad Girls- it’s set in a women’s prison and is written by the same people and i think they are on about series 7 now.
Do you like nature programmes? If so, the recent BBC series Planet Earth was fabulous, and, of course, it was voiced by David Attenborough, which is always a bonus.
I know several people who are addicted to House of Tiny Tearaways- sort of a cross between Supernanny and Big Brother.
There have been a couple of recent Poliakoff things that were quite watchable.
Other than that, when I watch TV it’s mostly for the property shows on Channel Four- Grand Designs, Property Ladder, that kind of thing, which I imagine has limited appeal for American viewers.
My parents quite like New Tricks- can’t comment on it myself.
The only new show I’m waiting for eagerly (now that Dr Who is back) is Spooks- renamed MI5 in the USA, I think.
One programme to look out for is Planet Earth ( link ) in 5 one hour episodes. This is a stunning series (shot using new high definition cameras) showing all aspects of our world . The first part is a general tour round the planet , the other parts concentrate on mountains , fresh water, deserts, and underground.
If you go to the above link you can view some clips of the programme. Enjoy!
I’ll second the recommendations for Spooks/MI-5 and Hustle, both of which have been shown on A&E. Spooks is the only cop/lawyer/doctor type show that’s ever held my interest, but the first two series are better than later episodes. Hustle is just good fun TV about a gang of con artists with hearts of gold.
We’ve checked out Bad Girls once or twice - it didn’t really appeal, for some reason. I think we’re still way behind, too - we were hoping we’d get the episodes with Tanya Turner/Lazlett from Footballers’, but those seem to be pretty far off.
We’ll have to keep an eye out for the others. I’m really hoping that BBC World will give us a few more shows that we don’t normally get on BBC America. Although that looks to be primarily news and business.
I’m really loving Green Wing - surreal hospital humour, a tad in the Black Books vein although less drunken swearing. Season 1 now out in the UK on DVD!
For those too lazy to click the link, Life On Mars is about a modern day cop who ends up in 1973, and it’s being remade in the US by David E. Kelley (fingers crossed for another Office instead of a Coupling). I don’t care what the Learning Annex Scriptwriting courses teach, I love time travel!
Can any Brit Dopers tell me about QI? Is it still in production?
A friend of mine worked on it and it sounds great. I’ve loved just about everything that Stephen Fry and John Lloyd have done, and ever since hearing about it, I’ve been hoping that BBC America would run it. So far, no dice, but I’m still hopeful.
Good news! , as this link explains , a new series is in production. The reason that it may not be run by BBC America is that sometimes the language and subject matter can get a bit “fruity”.
I’ve seen it, and I thought it was hilarious, and also surprisingly interesting. They pulled out some extremely obscure facts. The guests were great, too.
Thanks for that link, Rayne Man. I hadn’t bothered to go there before, but I just watched all the clips and I think I see why BBC America may not have QI at the top of its list.
A few things jumped out at me: a fair amount of the humor (sorry, humour) seemed to be extremely topical and Anglo-centric, so that if you weren’t living in the UK right this minute you wouldn’t get it. Among Americans, at least, I think I would pass as a fairly hard-core Anglophile: I’ve lived for decades with the Goon Show, Monty Python, P.G. Wodehouse, Sherlock Holmes, and other things British. Although I’m reasonably well-versed in general British culture, language, and manners, there were several references in the clips that I didn’t get because I don’t live in Britain today.
Also, except for Stephen Fry, nearly all of the guests on the show would be totally unknown to Americans, even to Americans who watch BBC America. The only folks I recognized were the ones who were on the original UK edition of Whose Line Is It?, and Jeremy Clarkson, the automotive journalist who hosts Top Gear.
Oh, and a third thing: the title would be meaningless to Americans. Was “QI” a common expression for Britons before the show, or did the show coin it?
I hope I’m wrong, and that BBC America will run it soon, because those clips were pretty funny, even the bits I didn’t get.
The more you watch, though, the better-versed you become. I wish BBC America would recognize that some of us do watch and can keep up with the British references - I hope they don’t decide not to run a show simply because of that. This one sounds like a good one.
(We did laugh when Derek Martin/Charlie Slater from EastEnders showed up at Fat Fighters in “Little Britain” a few weeks ago - granted, any EastEnders reference usually makes us laugh, but we got a kick out of hearing “So what’s gonna happen with Kat and Alfie?” from her ad nauseum.)
. So unless you want to shell out $10 a month to watch it, you won’t get it 
.