# British TV Shows That Have Been Popular In The U.S **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2023, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018 "2023-01-11T08:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/41 "2023-01-11T20:57:31Z")
In the late '80s hubby got addicted to EastEnders (along with an Australian prison soap opera). Later he also avidly watched soap about football (soccer) players. I do not remember the names of either of the last two. We were trying to remember which station he watched them on and could not come up with it. EastEnders could have been PBS but we both cannot imagine the Australian prison soap playing on PBS and we both remember him watching them back to back. The footie soap was much later and could have been on any one of the newer places you can watch stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/42 "2023-01-11T21:01:20Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > As a kid I used to occasionally watch “Are You Being Served?” on PBS. > > I remember this show was on a TON but I don’t remember anyone being in to it or even watching it. Maybe it was the absolute cheapest show for PBS to get. My family watched it, and we loved it. Also _Keeping Up Appearances_. Hyacinth Bucket was a caricature, but her basic mindset was quite common among my parent’s generation. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/43 "2023-01-11T21:08:48Z")
_Are You Being Served_ always seemed a bit lowbrow for PBS to me. It’s like they kept trying to repeat the success of _Monty Python’s Flying Circus_. First with _Fawlty Towers_, then _The Goodies_, always getting further away from what appealed to Python fans until they ended up with something like _Are you Being Served?_. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/44 "2023-01-11T21:09:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > BBC America? That’s mostly Star Trek: The Next Generation and American movies. What was left for them, after _Britbox_ and _Acorn_ took everything else? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/45 "2023-01-11T21:09:56Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > but we both cannot imagine the Australian prison soap playing on PBS It was probably _[Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_(TV_series))_ (which was called _Prisoner: Cell Block H_ in the U.S.). I seem to remember seeing it syndicated, on an independent U.S. station, here in the US back in the '80s. The Wikipedia article I linked to contains a partial list of U.S. stations which carried it. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/46 "2023-01-11T21:11:58Z")
Yeup, Prisoner: Cell Block H. Thanks for scratching that itch! ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/47 "2023-01-11T21:13:59Z")
Which was recently remade well and renamed “Wentworth” and is currently on Netflix in the US ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/48 "2023-01-11T21:42:20Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Don’t forget _Sherlock_. You know, the one featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. That was on Masterpiece Mystery on Sunday evenings. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/49 "2023-01-11T21:45:35Z")
It wasn’t [Footballers’ Wives](IMDb: : Footballers’ Wives [Footballers' Wives (TV Series 2002–2006) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302103/)) was it? ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/50 "2023-01-11T21:49:15Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Additionally, there is a huge list of US shows that are adaptations of UK shows: _All in the Family_; _Three’s Company_; _Sanford and Son_; _Ghosts_; _Call Me Kat_. There have been three attempts to remake _Fawlty Towers_ for the US; all flopped, and two to make _Absolutely Fabulous_; both failed to capture the tenor of the original well, and the one that succeeded as a show known by its own identity. A rare show to go the other direction was _Law & Order_. Add to this list _The Office_ and _Shameless_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/51 "2023-01-11T21:51:01Z")
_ **The Prisoner** _ was aired on CBS as a summer replacement in 1967, as I recall. _ **Strange Report** _ and _ **Dean Martin’s Golddiggers from London** _ were summer replacements on NBC in 1970, I think. I vaguely remember _ **Val Doonican** _ and _ **Engelbert Humperdinck** _ being on around the same time. _ **Tom Jones** _ was on ABC Friday nights before _ **The Avengers** _ in 1965–66. The Tara King episodes of _ **The Avengers** _ continued through 1969, IIRC. _ **The Persuaders** _ was run in prime time in the early '70s. _ **The Champions** _ and _ **The Protectors** _ were on in syndication around the same time. I loved watching _ **Dave Allen at Large** _ in syndication in the early '80s. _ **Tales of the Unexpected** _ was on in syndication around the same time. _ **The Six Wives of Henry VIII** _ was on CBS (I think) as a summer replacement when I was in junior high. I watched it later on PBS along with _ **Elizabeth R** _. I became a regular PBS viewer around 1975 when they aired _ **The Ascent of Man** _ after _ **Civilisation** _. _ **Monty Python** _ came on the same year. I watched _ **Connections** _ on PBS in the early '80s I now watch _ **Heartbeat** _, _ **The Royal** _, and _ **Doc Martin** _ every week. _ **Blake’s Seven** _ and _ **Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy** _ were on PBS in the early '80s, IIRC. Were _ **'Allo, 'Allo** _ and _ **The Thin Blue Line** _ aired in the US? I saw them when I was living abroad in the '90s. _ **The Goode Life** _ was aired on PBS under the title _ **Goode Neighbors** _ in the early '80s. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/52 "2023-01-11T21:52:34Z")
Ghosts is apparently popular. There is an American version but it seems that many people thing the original is better. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/53 "2023-01-11T21:53:54Z")
Yes, yes it was Footballers’ Wives. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/54 "2023-01-11T22:08:45Z")
Nobody’s mentioned _ **Midsomer Murders** _ or _ **Poldark** _ yet? The first one’s been on forever it seems, and I much prefer the original version of the second. The US edition of _ **I, Claudius** _ was edited to suit Americans’ tender sensitivities. Some key scenes were inexplicably dropped from the original version. ---
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/55 "2023-01-11T22:26:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned _ **Midsomer Murders** _ or _ **Poldark** _ yet? The first one’s been on forever it seems, and I much prefer the original version of the second. Along those lines, I don’t think I’ve seen Father Brown Mysteries listed yet. That show seems to have a large following in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/56 "2023-01-11T22:36:14Z")
Oh that reminds me, what about all the Agatha Christies??? I’ve never yet found a Miss Marple version that I think really nailed the title character, but many viewers feel differently. And David Suchet’s Poirot absolutely is Hercule Poirot as far as I’m concerned. (And I’ve always thought that Philip Jackson’s Inspector Japp is right up there with Anton Lesser’s Chief Superintendent Bright in Endeavour as an all-time gem of a supporting-actor performance.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/57 "2023-01-11T22:48:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **'Allo, 'Allo** _ Aired on PBS. Used to be part of a local station’s Anglophile midday block, along with AYBS? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/58 "2023-01-11T22:58:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The US edition of _ **I, Claudius** _ was edited to suit Americans’ tender sensitivities. Some key scenes were inexplicably dropped from the original version Really? I could swear there was nudity. I was 14 in 1978 and paid close attention to that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/59 "2023-01-11T23:02:47Z")
I loved _The Duchess of Duke Street_, which I believe aired in the late 1970s in the U.S. _Jeeves and Wooster_ showcases the talent of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Frye, who do the two characters perfectly. And David Suchet is equally perfect in the _Poirot_ series. And more votes for _The IT Crowd, Sherlock_ and _Doc Martin_, mentioned upthread ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/60 "2023-01-11T23:49:59Z")
Back in the day, I remember _Brideshead Revisited_ being very popular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018.md?page=4)