A lot of BBC drama is on the radio or audio books, certainly Doctor Who has had a great outing in this media.
I’m appreciating this thread too, there are quite a few comedies I’ve forgotten about. Since someone mentioned “Big Train”, I’ll go further and mention Jam and Blue Jam, and why not throw in Brass Eye and The Day Today.
Yeah, The Day Today is good — bomb dogs.
PS, Pushkin, post #17 
Hehe… suggesting Brass Eye to someone alongside recommendations of Jeeves and Wooster and Open All Hours… it could only happen here.
Paedogeddon the brilliant Brass Eye special is available on YouTube, but it’s most certainly not safe for work (so I won’t link it).
True. I think this board is likely to be more internationally-aware than perhaps some other places, but I still think some of the selections here are likely to raise some eyebrows for some American audiences.
League of Gentlemen, for example - it’s brilliant comedy, but very dark and disturbing in a way that might just offend or fall flat in some other cultural contexts.
(I’m not trying to suggest American audiences are unsophisticated or anything, just different in a way that might generate some interesting reactions)
The only comparison I can make with any US television show is that episode of the X-Files where some horribly inbred Americans have sex with their mother, a legless, armless woman kept on a board under a bed to produce their own siblings/off spring.
Not sure I saw that episode, but the thing with The X Files is that it presents itself as a show where spooky things jump out and go ‘boo’, whereas tLoG is, on the face of it, just a show about everyday goings on in a sleepy little village.
My Dad used to be an assistant bank manager in one such sleepy town in the hills of Tyrone, I get that vibe off it.
Perhaps its more like American Gothic, but with more of a droll sense of humour, but that’s a bit of a stretch too.
My interest in history & legend initially made me avoid Robin Hood. But I’ve got BBCamerica, so I ended up seeing quite a few episodes “by accident.” (Doing housework with the TV on, etc.)
I’ve surrendered. It’s great fun. Healthy legends live & evolve. Every generation needs its Robin Hood!
I was laughing out loud in the first five minutes. Hyperdrive is brilliant, but maybe you find it less outstanding because you have other funny shows , which we don’t. Using less than perfect people in the roles is something that the BBC does more than the U.S.A. Sitcoms here almost all consist of a skinny attractive smart woman, and matching daughter, with a fat not smart husband and matching son.
Cool, I didn’t realize the second season was on. My kids love that show, and I’m pretty amused by it. I particularly like the arrow-whooshing sound effect that accompanies the titles.
The whole first season was worth it for that “I shot the sheriff” line, which took me totally off guard. My husband and I fell out laughing, while the kids didn’t get it at all.
I think it’s mainly just that I had watched a lot of Red Dwarf, and liked it - so it was sort of inevitable that I would initially receive it as a cheap knock-off of that. In fact, it’s not trying to be Red Dwarf at all - Red Dwarf is about a bunch of folks whose inexperience, personality flaws and general incompetence get them into all sorts of scrapes. In Hyperdrive, it’s their overwhelming cultural Britishness that makes them inept and funny.
I think you’re probably right - and this is partly why I think some people are going to raise eyebrows at some of the suggestions here - flawed, dirty, stupid, evil, self-centred and conniving characters are the norm in modern Britcom - and it’s often the case that remade American versions of the same shows are substantially sanitised.
Take Men Behaving Badly, for example - it’s a sitcom about the adventures of a couple of lager-swilling bachelors and their on-and-off, more respectable and civilising girlfriends - half of the action consists of the characters burping, farting, scratching their genitals, talking about sex, having sex, eating messily, falling over, breaking things and having stupid, inane conversations, then following them through into action. But it’s funny. I understand an American version was made, but they cut out a lot of the unsavoury stuff, so it wasn’t really Men behaving Badly any more - it was Friends Lite - and it fell completely flat.
I must be the only person in the world who has watched or enjoyed Peep Show.
Dammit trumped again! I loved that show in the third season and got a fair laugh out of the first two, glad to see there’s another season coming up.
With regards less than perfect characters in British comedies, someone once said that British comedy is mostly about people trying their hardest to get out of their rut in life, before finally realising they’re stuck there forever.
Did any other Peep Show viewers get as upset as me at the end of series 4?
The wedding scene where Sophie and Mark start crying in the middle of the wedding ceremony - it was horrible! All I could think about was all the people who’ve gone into their marriages not actually sure it’s what they want and all the years of misery that come after it. 
New series starts this friday!
I’m a fan of Peep Show, too. Spaced and Black Books are my current favorites at the moment. Oh, and Green Wing! How could I forget Green Wing? Man, that is the kick-assingest comedy ever! Hour long episodes, set in a hospital, and utterly hysterical. Brilliant, brilliant show.
Where do I start?
I’m totally addicted to Coronation Street - but soaps aren’t for everyone…
This is the third season of The Apprentice I’ve watched - and I’ve loved em all…
I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve watched a couple of seasons of The X Factor… considering I hate American Idol, I have no idea why I like it…
And love all the send-ups in Harry Hill’s TV Burp… That show must take a ton of work to put together…
The I.T. Crowd had some great moments…
Anything with Dawn French - French and Saunders, The Vicar of Dibley, and her interview shows - Girls Who Do Comedy and Boys Who Do Comedy
Gavin and Stacey - I can’t always understand all the references to life in Essex and Wales, but absolutely love the characters… I’m not even sure what the actors’ names actually are, but…
Gavin was on the Catherine Tate Show…
Gavin’s mom was the mother on The Worst Week of My Life
Gavin’s mom’s depressive friend was from Nighty Night.
Nessa was in Nighty Night and Little Britain
And speaking of Catherine Tate, I loved her show… I can think of all kinds of catch phrases without even trying… “Did I tell ya, our son’s a Gay man now!”… “Am I bovvered”… “What a fucking liberty!”
…and of course, there’s always** Doctor Who**.
Peep Show has always been fun… That Mitchell and Webb Look was good too…
I’m starting to get the feeling I watch too much British TV…
Not upset, but it was briefly one of those awkward moments you can’t quite stand watching. The rest of the last episode was great.
I forgot there were four series too, I watched them in short order on catch up TV and at my sisters on DVD, the whole thing went in a blur.
Hooray! There are more Peep Show fans! Alas! There’s apparently a new series coming out and my only means of watching it right now would appear to be piracy (shamefully, my means of exposure to the previous series as well).
I remember actually being a bit upset over something about the manner or tone of the end of series 4, but I can’t remember exactly what over; I don’t think it was exactly over what had upset you, Illuminatiprimus, but perhaps it was related. I suppose I’ll have to watch it again to jog my memory. (Which I suppose means I should buy the DVDs at some point; are they available with U.S. region codes? [Goddamn, I hate the region code system])
Seconded. Season 1-3 are great.