# Let's talk about the funniest British comedy of the last decade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413 "2013-07-24T20:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/21 "2013-07-25T18:12:02Z")
Not a deep Anglophile, but I did love _ **Mongrels** _. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/22 "2013-07-25T18:18:19Z")
I only know what I see on Netflix but I really like The IT Crowd and The Snuff Box. The latter is bizarre and extremely dark but I think it is hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/23 "2013-07-25T19:08:06Z")
Just to clarify - the identity of the funniest British comedy of the last decade is not up for debate. It is Cabin Pressure. This is a fact. You are more than welcome to propose other candidates, I suppose, and I agree that many of these are fine shows in their own right. But you’re wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/24 "2013-07-25T20:34:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I only know what I see on Netflix but I really like The IT Crowd and The Snuff Box. The latter is bizarre and extremely dark but I think it is hysterical. I think you’d like [Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Marenghi's_Darkplace) too, if you haven’t seen it. It’s co-written and directed by Richard Ayoade and is wonderfully absurd. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/25 "2013-07-25T21:38:20Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > My clear winner though if you go back over the last 20 (and a bit) years is the stuff that Lee and Herring did as a double act: _Lionel Nimrod’s Inexplicable World_ (radio) _Fist of Fun_ (radio and TV) and _This Morning with Richard not Judy_ (TV). Both Stewart Lee and Richard Herring have done decent stuff on their own, but nothing as good as any of the stuff they did together. I do agree. Wonderful stuff, especially “Lionel Nimrod”. I don’t think I have heard much of Lee’s solo stuff, but Herring’s though decent, is not nearly as good as what he did with Lee a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![agnesnitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@agnesnitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agnesnitt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/26 "2013-07-25T21:56:23Z")
I’m a fan of the “Hut 33”, “Fags, Mags, and Bags”, “The Scarifyers”, but the two funniest are “Ectoplasm” and “Hamish and Dougal” 'You’ll have ‘ad your tea?’ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/27 "2013-07-25T22:47:58Z")
Hilarious, and I would never have discover it without this thread. Thanks you, **Mr. 'head**! ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/28 "2013-07-26T21:16:10Z")
Haven’t watched too many British comedies in the last decade, but I’ve been a fan of Nicholas Lyndhurst ever since _The Piglet Files_. I recently discovered _After You’ve Gone_, and I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s no _Piglet_, though. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/29 "2013-07-26T21:25:19Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Just to clarify - the identity of the funniest British comedy of the last decade is not up for debate. It is Cabin Pressure. This is a fact. You are more than welcome to propose other candidates, I suppose, and I agree that many of these are fine shows in their own right. But you’re wrong. 😃 So, as I’d like to be enlightened further (because Benedict Cumberbatch), how would a poor American who is not allowed to pay the license fee (which doesn’t apply to radio anyway) able to get this thing? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/30 "2013-07-26T21:40:34Z")
^ post #14 contains a suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/31 "2013-07-26T21:56:28Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > ^ post #14 contains a suggestion. So does Post #4. 🙂 The series are also apparently available on CD; and it might be worth checking your local public library to see if it has them. In addition, the BBC sometimes makes some of its radio programs (or is that “programmes”?) available online, via podcast or streaming player, though AFAIK that doesn’t help you with _Cabin Pressure_. Anyone else have any better ideas? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/32 "2013-07-26T22:27:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So does Post #4. 🙂 > > The series are also apparently available on CD; and it might be worth checking your local public library to see if it has them. > > In addition, the BBC sometimes makes some of its radio programs (or is that “programmes”?) available online, via podcast or streaming player, though AFAIK that doesn’t help you with _Cabin Pressure_. > > Anyone else have any better ideas? Cabin Pressure is great - thanks to this thread, I now own all four seasons. AudioGo seems to have a sale going on - $3.99 per season as MP3s. Got all 4 for not much more than a single CD on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/33 "2013-07-26T23:05:13Z")
Excellent. Bought the first season; I’ll give it a try soon enough to decide whehter I need to take advantage of the AudioGo sale for the rest. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/34 "2013-07-27T01:00:22Z")
those of you listening for the first time, please let us know what you think. yellow car! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/35 "2013-07-27T01:10:32Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > AudioGo seems to have a sale going on - $3.99 per season as MP3s. Got all 4 for not much more than a single CD on Amazon. Ah, thanks for the heads-up! ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/36 "2013-07-27T04:38:45Z")
Surely _Coupling_ is the right answer? Or is it too old? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/37 "2013-07-27T11:16:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So does Post #4. 🙂 > > The series are also apparently available on CD; and it might be worth checking your local public library to see if it has them. > > In addition, the BBC sometimes makes some of its radio programs (or is that “programmes”?) available online, via podcast or streaming player, though AFAIK that doesn’t help you with _Cabin Pressure_. > > Anyone else have any better ideas? The BBC _always_ makes all **Radio 4** programmes, of which _Cabin Pressure_ is one, available for free, worldwide, via streaming audio, both live as broadcast and for a week after from the **Radio 4** web site: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm.)\* Entertainment programmes such as this are usually then repeated (often several times, but when is hard to predict in advance) by **Radio 4 Extra** , which exists solely as streaming audio online, and can also be had both as a live stream and as separately streamed programs available for a week after the original “webcast”: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/programmes/schedules](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/programmes/schedules). Some shows are also available as podcasts at around the time of first broadcast, but selection is a bit arbitrary. I do not know if _Cabin Pressure_ was ever available in podcast form. I live in the UK now, but still I always listen to this stuff via the online streams, as I did when I lived in the USA. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ \*Actually, I am fairly sure that the BBC makes _all_ its radio output (at least, all the nationally broadcast stuff) available for free worldwide via streaming audio. **Radio 4** and **Radio 4 Extra** are the relevant for nearly all the comedy and drama, though (although there is occasionally a decent comedy show on **Radio 2** ). ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/38 "2013-07-27T13:07:26Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > **Radio 4 Extra** , which exists solely as streaming audio online, It’s a digital radio station too. > [@](#): > > \*Actually, I am fairly sure that the BBC makes _all_ its radio output (at least, all the nationally broadcast stuff) available for free worldwide via streaming audio. They do, the only exception is some rights-limited sports events. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/39 "2013-07-27T21:22:21Z")
Bloody BBC and its socialist funding model. If we’re not careful, they’ll be doing the same with healthcare soon. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413/40 "2013-07-28T05:31:36Z")
I’ve enjoyed \*The Old Guys . . . \*mainly because I am one. Too bad there were only 12 episodes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-funniest-british-comedy-of-the-last-decade/664413.md?page=3)