So I’m an American and I love television! Hooray for TV. I’ve recently been turned onto some British shows. Well, technically it’s only Top Gear so far, but I have interest in a few other shows. The problem is, for some reason most British shows on DVD here in the U.S. are in the $60-$70 range for a single season and so I want to make sure that what I want to get is worth the expense.
The two particular shows I’m interested in are Doctor Who and Robin Hood. Well, okay, I pretty much know that I’ll like Doctor Who. I’m a huge fan of the Robin Hood mythology, though, and I was wondering if anybody has any opinion on if the series is worth watching. In addition, is the Torchwood spin-off any good?
Finally, is there anything I’m particularly missing? When I visited England several months ago I caught an episode of The X-Factor and I must say I enjoyed it a lot more than I do American Idol. So is there any other British TV (old or new) that I should be looking for?
Top Gear is quite a show, and I’ll be subscribing to the BBC Canada channel later on this year to make sure I get it. You sound like your tastes are different than mine, but for what it’s worth I highly enjoy(ed):
[ul]
[li]Bottom[/li][li]The IT Crowd[/li][li]Extras[/li][li]QI[/li][/ul]
As far as I know, none of these are available on anything other than region 2 DVD, if that. (I take a look for Top Gear every now and again, but have found only a magazine that they’ll charge me 4x the standard price 'cause I’m in Canada).
You also sound like your tastes are different from mine, but I’m going to talk anyway. I’m a big fan of this show, Peep Show. It’s quite intelligent comedy (or perhaps I just think it’s intelligent because they’re British and not Benny Hill) about a couple losers and their loser sex lives, with a frankness that’s not particularly graphic, but which wouldn’t have a home anywhere in the U.S. except on HBO type channels. Also, large parts are filmed in first-person (hence the name), at which points we are treated to the characters’ inner monologues. That description must sound kinda odd, but I’ve really enjoyed it. If, by any chance, you’re familiar with Mitchell and Webb, they’re the main guys (though, I suppose, if you were familiar with them, you’d probably be familiar with the show already anyway).
You definitely sound like your tastes are different from mine, but I’ll just point out that if you’re looking for British TV/DVD, I’ve heard very good things about Blackadder and even more about Red Dwarf for comedy shows.
You might like those, since You also sound like your tastes are different from mine, I do tend to know where your tastes lie though.
Back when the world and I were young, these were the must-watches:
Monty Python’s Flying Circus - the standard by which all sketch shows must be judged, combines the very high brow and very low brow into one absurdist unibrow. If you only get one season, make sure it has John Cleese in the cast. Fawlty Towers - one of the all-time great sitcoms, also featuring John Cleese, and you can watch the whole thing in one afternoon. I especially recommend “The Kipper and the Corpse” and “Basil the Rat,” both in season 2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - science fiction comedy, with much shabbier production values but more goofy charm than the recent big-screen version. Blackadder - this is actually four series (and related specials) with more or less the same cast but set in different historical periods. If you only see one, make it Blackadder the Third. Some fans of Blackadder in general recommend skipping the first series, The Black Adder because the main character is quite different than later incarnations and might put you off, but I think you can get a better appreciation for the series by seeing how it evolves from the beginning. Start with the very first episode, and if it absolutely appalls you, skip right to Blackadder II. Blackadder Goes Forth should definitely be viewed last.
Dave Allen at Large. A brilliant sketch comedy show, of which Benny Hill is but a pale imitation. A bit difficult to find in the States, but copies have been known to surface on eBay and the like. The show consisted of Dave Allen sitting in a chair, drinking something (it appeared to be scotch) and smoking in front of a studio audience. Allen would tell a joke or two, and then set the audience up for a sketch (which was pre-recorded). Allen was Irish and poked fun and nearly everything he could, especially the Catholic Church. One of the jokes he told, has always stuck with me.
It admittedly loses something in being read, rather than hearing Allen tell it (the man had impeccable timing), but if a joke like that can stick in your head for 20 plus years, that’s saying something about the man who told it.
For non-comedies have a look for House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut - Awesome drama series with the main character, Francis Urqhart, in HoC he’s Chief Whip and then in TPtK and TFC he’s Primeminister. Evil doesn’t begin to describe him. Spooks, known as MI5 in the US, is enjoyable. Hustle is fun. Life on Mars is excellent, but avoid the sequel Ashes to Ashes.
Coupling - a sitcom with immensely clever scripting/writing (I think it may have tailed off after the first couple of seasons, but the early ones are simply brilliant).
The Good Life (AKA The Good Neighbors) is one of my favorites. If you like your humor sick and twisted, there’s The Young Ones. Of course, you have to check out Red Dwarf.
It’s not available on DVD in the States yet (I think it’s coming out later this year), but if you have a regionless DVD player or the patience to trawl YouTube, you would do well to dive into the world of The Mighty Boosh. It’s like a psychedelic children’s show for adults, sort of. It’s kind of hard to describe. It gets labelled “surreal” a lot, but I think it leans more toward magical realism. Oh, yes, there are musical interludes and crazy animation, and a typical plot involves fighting some kind of monster with the help of a shaman and a talking gorilla, but everything makes sense at bottom. The humor is ridiculously charming, a rarity for being utterly devoid of cynicism. At the heart of the show is the friendship between two men, total opposites: Howard Moon (introverted intellectual with delusions of grandeur and an embarrassing passion for jazz) and Vince Noir (vain, androgynous, amiable social butterfly).
This is the first part of my favorite episode, where Howard and Vince get stranded on a desert island and make companions out of coconuts. Madness ensues.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I’ve seen episodes of Fawlty Towers and Flying Circus here on TV every now and then (usually late at night) and I can’t argue with John Cleese being hilarious. I also seem to recall being linked to a part of an episode of IT Crowd on Youtube and thought that was pretty funny too.
Hadn’t heard of Blackadder or Red Dwarf, but from what I’ve looked up it looks like I’d enjoy them. Spooks also looks like the type of TV I might watch. Argh, too much good television, too little time!
I love both Hustle and MI5. And I’ve been waiting for someone to put out Life on Mars on DVD over here.
My wife and I have been watching New Tricks on pur local PBS station. We don’t get DVDs for that either, but if it’s playing in your area, check it out.
Argh, too much good television, too little time!