British sitcom

Beginnings The origins of British TV sitcoms trace back to radio comedies of the 1940s and 1950s like ''Hancock's Half Hour'', which aired on BBC Radio in 1954, British TV sitcoms were initially inspired by American comedy formats, but they quickly developed their own style that highlighted dry wit, social satire, and the nuances of British life. ''Pinwright's Progress'' Written by Rodney Hobson, ''Pinwright's Progress'' (1946–1947) was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom. Broadcast live in black and white by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, it was about J. Pinwright, the proprietor of a small shop. Storylines involved his hated rival and his staff, who only added to his problems by attempting to be helpful. The series featured an ensemble cast including James Hayter as J. Pinwright, Clarence Wright as Aubrey, Daphne Maddox as Miss Peasbody, Doris Palmer as Mrs Sigsbee, and Leonard Sharp as Ralph. Charles Irwin as a salesman, and Jill Christie as Pinwright's daughter. ''Hancock's Half Hour'' Transferred to television in 1956 after 48 episodes on BBC radio which began in 1954, ''Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1961) by Galton and Simpson was the first modern TV sitcom. Whilst moving away from audio variety towards character development, the radio series had been influential in the development of TV situation comedy. The series is about the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at the fictitious Chiselbury public school "for the sons of Gentlefolk". From 1956 to 1960 and 1971–1972, it ran for 60 episodes over 8 series. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best", alluding to the frequent and traditional punishment of disobedient pupils in the UK by caning which was the butt of many jokes. The BBC sums up this aspect of Whack-O!'' with: "Watching the series now is a little painful in one respect – we're too sensitive to find canings amusing – but it's right on the money in other ways, mainly because finding over-privileged kids vile hasn't gone out of fashion." Only six of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971–72, slightly retitled Whacko! and with less emphasis on the caning. Other members of the cast included Arthur Howard (series 1–7), Julian Orchard (series 8), Kenneth Cope, Norman Bird, John Stirling, Peter Glaze, Edwin Apps (series 1–7), Peter Greene (series 8), David Langford, Keith Smith, Brian Rawlinson, Gordon Phillot, Harold Bennett (Are You Being Served?), (series 8), Frank Raymond, Gary Warren (series 8), and Greg Smith (series 8). A feature film, Bottoms Up, was made in 1960. The Army Game Peter Eton's series of The Army Game (1957–1961) was probably British television's most successful sitcom of this period and ran for 154 episodes. Many of its stars went on to become household names. The original cast consisted of William Hartnell, Michael Medwin, Geoffrey Sumner, Alfie Bass, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw and Norman Rossington. The cast of The Army Game would change over the years with actors such as Geoffrey Palmer, Bill Fraser, Ted Lune, Frank Williams, Harry Fowler and Dick Emery appearing in subsequent series. The Army Game follows the exploits of Hut 29, a fictional dysfunctional group of conscripted National Service soldiers during the post-war years. Writers included creator Sid Colin, Larry Stephens, Maurice Wiltshire, Lew Schwarz, John Jowett, John Antrobus, John Foley, Marty Feldman, Barry Took, David Climie, David Cumming, Derek Collyer, Brad Ashton, John Junkin, Talbot Rothwell, Sidney Nelson, Stan Mars, Bob Perkins and Alan MacKinnon. At least three episodes are uncredited. In June 1959, a short The Army Game scene was performed by Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass, Norman Rossington, Bill Fraser and Ted Lune at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. This was the last Royal Variety Performance that was not televised. This successful series inspired a film spin-off, I Only Arsked! (1958), and in 1958, just a year after the series debuted, the first Carry On film, the very similar Carry On Sergeant, was released, also featuring Hawtrey, Rossington and Hartnell. ==The 1960s==

Two channel TV ITV sitcoms began with the channel's launch in 1957 and throughout the 1960s helped shape British comedy with varied and often experimental styles. In the 1960s, the BBC produced a then-rare workplace comedy with The Rag Trade (1961–1963, 1977–1978) written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. The success of the series was due partly to the strength of the female ensemble playing the workforce, who included Sheila Hancock, Barbara Windsor and Esma Cannon. It also made the earliest of Richard Waring's domestic comedies, Marriage Lines (1961–1966), starring Richard Briers (later to star in The Good Life) and Prunella Scales (who went on to star in Fawlty Towers), and Not in Front of the Children (1967–70), starring Wendy Craig. Women were usually only cast in secondary roles in this period, though several series with Craig in the lead were an exception. Sitcoms developed by Carla Lane, the first successful female writer in the form, began with The Liver Birds (1969–1979, 1996), initially in collaboration with others. Another change, with Steptoe and Son (1962–65, 1970–74) and The Likely Lads (1964–1966), producers began to cast actors, rather than the comedians around whom earlier series like Whack-O!, with Jimmy Edwards, or ''Hancock's Half Hour'', had been built. Writers for the 1960–63 episodes included Marty Feldman, Barry Took, The series was derived from a one-off Galton and Simpson comic play, "The Offer", shown on their BBC series Comedy Playhouse in 1962. It is regularly repeated and gave rise to four feature films. Although in 2000, the show was ranked number 88 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes list compiled by the British Film Institute, due to changing attitudes in political correctness, it is seldom repeated. During its original television run on BBC1, the show was nominated for multiple British Academy Television Awards, including "Best Situation Comedy" in 1973, 1974 and 1975, although only won "Best Light Entertainment Production Team" in 1971. In 2000, the show was voted 13th in a British Film Institute poll of industry professionals of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In 2004, championed by Phill Jupitus, it came fourth in the BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. As of 2022 it is one of British television's most regularly repeated sitcoms. All Gas and Gaiters Bringing the first light-hearted satirical look at the church, during 1966–1971 All Gas and Gaiters paved the way for Bless Me, Father (1978–1981) with Arthur Lowe, and farcical ecclesiastical comedies such as Father Ted and The Vicar of Dibley in the 1990s.As with many situation comedies of this era, a film version was developed and released in 1971. This was set in an outdoor pursuit centre, but starred most of the TV cast. ==The 1970s==

The Golden Era The 1970s is often regarded as the golden era of British sitcom. Following the Galton and Alan Simpson traditional sitcom format of an ensemble or a central character with a small supporting regular cast, the characters are constantly trapped in work or domestic situations from which there is no way out. Man About the House (1973–76) and George and Mildred (1976–79). Rising Damp star Leonard Rossiter also played the lead role in the BBC's The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79). The decline in cinema attendance meant that many of these series were turned into cinema films; the first film version of On the Buses (1969–73) was the biggest hit at the British box office in 1971. According to Jeff Evans, On the Buses was a "cheerfully vulgar comedy" in which "leering and innuendo dominate[d]." Some of the network's other ratings successes from this era included Love Thy Neighbour (1972–76) and starred several female stalwarts from the Carry On film series, including Barbara Windsor, Wendy Richard and Valerie Leon. A feature of the show which inspired three films was Howerd's frequent breaking of the fourth wall. Other controversial topics for comedy included series written by Richard Waring and Wendy Craig. ...And Mother Makes Three (1971–73), and its sequel ...And Mother Makes Five (1974–76), starred Craig (who also co-wrote) as a widowed mother who eventually remarries a divorced single father. My Wife Next Door (1972), created by Brian Clemens, concerned a divorced couple who accidentally moved next door to each other, Miss Jones and Son (1977–78) was about a single mother, and Rings on Their Fingers (1978–80) was about a young, unmarried couple. On the Buses Another creation by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe is On the Buses, starring Reg Varney and Bob Grant in an ensemble cast with Anna Karen, Doris Hare, and Stephen Lewis (Oh, Doctor Beeching!, Last of the Summer Wine). Running 1969–1973 for 74 episodes over 7 series, it was initially rejected by the BBC, who did not see much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. It was then commissioned by Frank Muir, then at London Weekend Television who said it was "rather at the baked beans end of my menu". Despite poor critical reception, it gained an audience of up to 20 million. It has been described as cliche-ridden, stereotypical, occasionally racist and totally sexist by today's standards, with Varney's and Grant's characters both lecherous womanisers and ethnic minorities used inappropriately for humour. As David Stubbs wrote for The Guardian in 2008, Grant and Varney were playing "two conspicuously middle-aged men" (Varney was in his 50s when the series began) pursuing "an endless array of improbably available 'dolly birds' ". The series was made into three films, On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972), and Holiday on the Buses (1973). Bless This House Starring Sid James of Carry On and ''Hancock's Half Hour fame as the father, with Diana Coupland as the mother, and Sally Geeson (also several Carry On'' films), and Robin Stewart as their teenage children, Running on ITV from 1971 to 1976 in 65 half-hour episodes over 10 series, it marked a departure from James' characteristic bawdy slapstick and famous 'dirty laugh'. The series ended abruptly in 1976, when, just four days after the broadcast of the final episode, James died after collapsing on stage. Ironically, James had told Coupland, "It's such fun and so successful, we'll still be working on Bless This House till one of us kicks the bucket." It was a stark contrast to the dark comedy of their Steptoe and Son and ''Hancock's Half Hour''. Filmed on location in Colombier-le-Vieux, in the department of Ardèche, it starred Roy Dotrice, Wendy Hiller, Cyril Cusack, Kenneth Griffith, Cyd Hayman, Bernard Bresslaw, Hugh Griffith, Micheline Presle, Madeline Smith, Christian Roberts, Nigel Green, Wolfe Morris and Gordon Rollings, with narration by Peter Ustinov. The show was produced by Michael Mills as a co-production between the BBC and West Germany's Bavaria Film. Incidental music was arranged by Alan Roper and played by L'Harmonie Du Rhone Orchestra, Lyon, under the musical direction of Raymond Jarniat. The music was by Dennis Wilson. In 1973, one episode won a British Academy Television Award for Best Situation Comedy. During a repeat run in January 1980, one episode gained 19.3 million viewers and was the second most-watched programme that week. Are You Being Served? Set in a fictional, traditional London department store, the show follows the antics of the staff of the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments . Known for its innuendo-laden humor, quirky characters, and catchphrases Are You Being Served? (1972–85) was one of the longest-running sitcoms of the era. It was created and written for the BBC by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft and stars Frank Thornton (Last of the Summer Wine), Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, and John Inman, who of the original cast were to appear in all 69 episodes and the same five later featured in the sequel spin-off Grace & Favourwhich aired in 1991–1992. Inman's camp characterisation of Mr. Humphries contributed greatly to the series' success. In 2004, it ranked 20th in ''Britain's Best Sitcom. The series proved to be highly exportable, and is regularly repeated on BBC Two, Drama and Gold in the UK, PBS and BBC America in the United States, and BBC UKTV, Fox Classics and 9Gem in Australia, and Jones! in New Zealand; as of 2024 it is also streamed on Britbox, Apple TV, and in the US on BritBox Amazon Channel. The series was nominated for the 1977 Best Situation Comedy BAFTA TV Award but the 1977 Are You Being Served? feature film starring the main cast was not well received. and Sally Thomsett, with Brian Murphy (Last of the Summer Wine) and Yootha Joyce as their landlord and landlady. 40 episodes were broadcast over six series on ITV, and ran from 1973 to 1976. The series is regularly repeated on ITV3. After the series ended in 1976, two successful spin-off series followed: George and Mildred, in which the Ropers move to the suburbs, and Robin's Nest, in which Robin gets married and opens a bistro. The 1977 Man About the House spin-off film which included guest stars Arthur Lowe, Bill Pertwee, Aimi MacDonald, and Spike Milligan (as himself), "acquits itself better than most movie spin-offs from TV series." Man About the House placed 69th out of 100 in a 2003 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom''. ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' Broadcast on BBC One, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice, a total of 23 episodes of ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em were filmed which ran for two series in 1973, returning for a third series in 1978. Christmas specials were made in 1974 and 1975 and one-off special aired in a 2016. The series regularly garnered 25 million viewers and was broadcast in 60 countries. The episodes follow the hapless and maladroit Frank Spencer through his various attempts to get and keep a job, which frequently end in disaster, physical comedy, and complex and often dangerous stunts. Noted especially for its stunt work, performed by Crawford himself, it featured several well-known and much-lampooned catchphrases that have become part of British popular culture. In the 2004 series Britain's Best Sitcom, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' placed 22nd in the list of all British sitcoms. The music was provided by composer Ronnie Hazlehurst. Porridge Based on life in a UK prison, the Porridge sitcom by writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais provided Ronnie Barker (Open All Hours), in the role of a prison inmate, with his most significant sitcom vehicle, supported by Richard Beckinsale (Rising Damp 1974-1978). It ran from 1974 to 1977 on BBC1 for 22 episodes over three series. The series features two major supporting characters, both prison officers: Mr Mackay, played by Fulton Mackay, and Mr Barrowclough, played by Brian Wilde. The sitcom focused on two prison inmates, Norman Fletcher, played by Barker, and Lennie Godber, played by Beckinsale, who are serving time in a fictional British prison. Porridge was critically acclaimed and was ranked No. 35 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute in 2000. In 2004, Porridge placed seventh in Britain's Best Sitcom. Porridge was appreciated by British prisoners. Erwin James, an ex-prisoner who wrote a column for The Guardian, stated: "What fans could never know, however, unless they had been subjected to a stint of Her Majesty's Pleasure, was that the conflict between Fletcher and Officer Mackay was about the most authentic depiction ever of the true relationship that exists between prisoners and prison officers in British jails up and down the country. I'm not sure how, but writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais grasped the notion that it is the minor victories against the naturally oppressive prison system that makes prison life bearable." The series won the 1978 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy and was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom in the BBC's ''Britain's Best Sitcom, coming in 27th overall. Frances de la Tour received an Evening Standard'' British Film Award in the category of "Best Actress" for her performance as Ruth Jones. Happy Ever After Broadcast 1974–1979 on BBC1 for 41 episodes over 5 series, starring Terry Scott and June Whitfield (Absolutely Fabulous and Last of the Summer Wine), with Beryl Cooke, Happy Ever After was written by John T. Chapman, Eric Merriman, Christopher Bond, John Kane and Jon Watkins. It was based on a Comedy Playhouse pilot called "Happy Ever After" which aired on 7 May 1974. Scott and Whitfield play the archetypal suburban sitcom marriage of a middle-class couple who find themselves alone when their grown-up daughters leave home. However, they are not alone for long as Aunt Lucy comes to live with them, along with her talking mynah bird. Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers starred as Barbara and Tom Goode – a middle-class suburban couple who decide to quit the rat race and become self-sufficient, much to the consternation of their snooty but well-meaning neighbour Margo, played by Penelope Keith (To the Manor Born), and her down-to-earth husband Jerry, played by Paul Eddington (Yes Minister). The opening theme was composed by Burt Rhodes. In 2004, The Good Life came 9th in ''Britain's Best Sitcom. After its success, the four main cast members were given their own "vehicles" commissioned by the then Head of Comedy and producer of The Good Life'', John Howard Davies. The series provided Felicity Kendal with her big break on television and significantly boosted her career on stage. In two series, only 12 half-hour episodes were made, because the writers, John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, felt that they could not continue to write comedy of the same quality. The series starred Cleese as Basil Fawlty, Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty, Connie Booth as Polly Sherman, and Andrew Sachs as Manuel. Supporting roles included Major Gowen, played by Ballard Berkeley, Chef Terry, played by Brian Hall, and Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs, played by Renee Roberts and Gilly Flower. Other well known guests from stage and screen, usually two or three for each episode, were featured in various episodes and among many others included Yvonne Gilan, Conrad Phillips, Bernard Cribbins, James Cossins, Allan Cuthbertson, Ann Way, Brenda Cowling, Joan Sanderson, Elspet Gray, Geoffrey Palmer, Derek Royle, Richard Davies, Ken Campbell, Una Stubbs, and John Quarmby. The show was produced by John Howard Davies and Douglas Argent, directed by Davies and Bob Spiers and the music was by Dennis Wilson. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, Basil Fawlty has been listed by Channel 4 as the second greatest television character. George and Mildred The spin-off from Man About the House, starring Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy, with Norman Eshley, Sheila Fearn, and child star Nicholas Bond-Owen, a domestic sitcom George and Mildred is focused on a clash of social class. Written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer, it ran for 38 episodes and is regularly repeated on ITV3. Yootha Joyce died suddenly in August 1980, just before production of a sixth and final series. It starred Paula Wilcox (Man About the House), Christopher Beeny, Charlotte Mitchell and Norman Bird. The series depicted the life of Elizabeth Jones, played by Wilcox, a young woman coming to terms with the responsibility of looking after her baby alone. Emotional support came in the form of next-door-neighbour and friend Geoffrey, played by Beeny. Difficulties included the reproaches of her parents, played by Mitchell and Bird, a difficult social life, and a reduced income. The theme song, "Bright Idea", was written by Roger Webb. Rings on Their Fingers Also written by Richard Waring, Rings on Their Fingers (1978–80) ran from 1978 to 1980 for 20 episodes in 3 series and was and produced by Harold Snoad for the BBC. It concerns a young unmarried couple, Sandy Bennett, played by Diane Keen, and Oliver Pryde, played by Martin Jarvis. The cast also included Tim Barrett, Barbara Lott, Anna Dawson, John Kane and Royce Mills. Despite being seen as "cosy" and somewhat "dated" even upon its original broadcast, and lampooned by contemporaneous alternative comedy programmes, the show nevertheless attracted large viewing figures. The BBC became "slightly embarrassed of their 'safe and cosy' sitcom but one which still commanded strong audience figures" and allowed the show to peter out. The show stars Wendy Craig (Not in Front of the Children (1967–1970), ...And Mother Makes Three (1971–1973), and ...And Mother Makes Five from 1974 to 1976), as Rita, a non-working wife in a mid-life crisis, with Geoffrey Palmer (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and As Time Goes By) as her dentist and amateur lepidopterist husband. The main theme is Rita's friendship with her secret confidant Leonard, a divorced businessman who wants an affair with her, played by Bruce Montague, and the coming of age of her two teenage sons, Adam played by Nicholas Lyndhurst (co-star of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses), and Russell played by Andrew Hall. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin The classic BBC black comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976 to 1979) of 22 episodes in three series based on novels by David Nobbs stars Leonard Rossiter of Rising Damp fame (1974-1978), supported by a cast comprising Pauline Yates (Keep It in the Family, 1980) as Elizabeth Perrin), John Barron as C.J., Sue Nicholls as Joan Greengross), John Horsley as Doc Morrissey, Trevor Adams as Tony Webster, Bruce Bould as David Harris-Jones, and Geoffrey Palmer (Butterflies (1978-1983), As Time Goes By (1992-2005), and Fawlty Towers) as Jimmy. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series from the first novel. The story concerns a middle-aged middle manager, Reginald "Reggie" Perrin who suffers a midlife crisis, tries to escape the pointlessness of his job and is driven to bizarre behaviour. The sitcom was a departure from the many middle-class suburban family life sitcoms of the era. The music was provided by Ronnie Hazlehurst, prolific composer of sitcom theme tunes. Its popularity is evidenced by the follow-ons and the 2-series remake 30 years later. Simon Heffer writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2016 explains why: "It [the BBC] took a problem common to the silent majority and explored it sensitively, but with brilliant humour. That was why Perrin was so popular in its day, and why if one watches the box set now, 40 years later, it transmits through wit something timelessly relevant". A fourth series also by Nobbs, The Legacy of Reginald_Perrin, made more than a decade after Leonard Rossiter's death, comprised all the central characters of the earlier series, but without Rossiter and Adams shows Reggie's legacy – a fortune left to friends and family, but with strange conditions. Running for two series through 2009 and 2010, a modern remake of the series titled simply Reggie Perrin was written by David Nobbs and Simon Nye starring Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) in the BBC revival with Wendy Craig (Butterflies 1978–1983), Fay Ripley, Geoffrey Whitehead, Neil Stuke, and Lucy Liemann in supporting roles. Come Back Mrs. Noah The sci-fi sitcom Come Back Mrs. Noah, set in space in 2050, was broadcast on BBC1 from 17 July to 14 August 1978, with a pilot being aired on 13 December 1977, but it was not a success and ran for only six episodes. Although written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, and featuring an all-star sitcom cast including Mollie Sugden (Are You Being Served?), Ian Lavender (''Dad's Army), Gorden Kaye ('Allo 'Allo!), Donald Hewlett (It Ain't Half Hot Mum and You Rang, M'Lord?) and Michael Knowles (It Ain't Half Hot Mum and You Rang, M'Lord?), along with Vicki Michelle ('Allo 'Allo!) and Harold Bennett (Dad's Army and Are You Being Served?''), some regarded it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made. It has never been repeated. The series is rarely repeated and has never been released on home media although all 26 original episodes survive intact in the archives of the British Film Institute (BFI). Yanks Go Home The series Yanks Go Home, another sitcom produced by Granada Television, centred around the interactions between American servicemen during World War II in Warrington, Lancashire, England. It was broadcast on ITV from 22 November 1976 to 19 September 1977. The series raised some mild controversy because the United States had recently just celebrated its bicentennial four months prior. The show failed to meet the network's expectations, most likely due to the concept which had already been touched upon in the sitcom ''Dad's Army in the episode My British Buddy. As a result the series only lasted for 13 episodes over two series and was cancelled afterwards. The series was directed by Eric Prytherch and Roger Cheveley. The series was written by H. V. Kershaw, John Stevenson, Anthony Couch, Michael Carter, Julian Roach and Stuart Damon. It started Stuart Damon as Cpl. Vince Rossi, Bruce Boa as Sgt. Gus Polaski, David Ross as Harry Duckworth, Meg Johnson as Phoebe Sankey, Harry Markham as Bert Pickup, Catherine Neilson as Doreen Sankey, Freddie Earlle ( Backs to the Land, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Dad's Army, Hi-de-Hi!) as Corporal Pasquale, Lionel Murton as Col. Irving, Alan MacNaughtan as Col. Ralph Kruger, Richard Oldfield as P.F.C. Burford Pucket, Norman Bird as Leonard Chambers, Jay Benedict as Pvt. Floyd Tutt, Peter Sallis (Last of the Summer Wine'') as Randell Todd, Zulema Dene as Marjorie Mortimore and Frank Crompton as Corporal Hoskins. ==The 1980s==

The alternatives' incursion In the 1980s, the emerging alternative comedians began to develop sitcoms, partly as a response to series such as Terry and June (1979–87), with their "complacent gentility, outmoded social attitudes and bourgeois sensibilities". With 'alternative' comedy now almost the mainstream, suburban family sitcoms were increasingly unfashionable by the end of the 1980s. The alternatives' incursion began with The Young Ones (1982–84), written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton and others. To help make it stand out, the group opted to combine traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick, non-sequitur plot turns, and surrealism. These older styles were mixed with the working and lower-middle class attitudes of the growing 1980s alternative comedy boom. Mayall was also the star of The New Statesman (1987–92), a series created by Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks, whose biggest success, Birds of a Feather (1989–98, 2014–20), also deviated from British practice in being scripted by a team of writers. The alternative comedy genre continued with Blackadder (1983–89), mainly written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis and starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Atkinson's Edmund Blackadder came at number three in the Channel 4 list of 100 greatest television characters. Another notable series was the Science fiction comedy Red Dwarf (1988–), while '''Allo 'Allo!'' another Croft and Lloyd creation is set in German occupied France during World War II. Yes Minister Starring Paul Eddington, with Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds in the supporting roles, Yes Minister which ran for 21 episodes on BBC2 (1980–1984), and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister (1986–88), which ran for 16 episodes, were political satires. Established Shakespearean actor Hawthorne picked up four BAFTA TV Awards for Best Light Entertainment Performance for his role. Created by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, Lynn and Jay explained: "After we wrote the episode, we would show it to some secret sources, always including somebody who was an expert on the subject in question. They would usually give us extra information which, because it was true, was usually funnier than anything we might have thought up." The series was the favourite television programme of the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. A ratings success with viewers, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll Del Boy was ranked fourth on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. The theme music was by Ronnie Hazlehurst (1981) and John Sullivan (1982–2003). Only Fools and Horses came top in a research and analysis by a team of scientists led by Dr Helen Pilcher, a molecular neurobiologist and stand-up comedian with a speciality in scientific humour. It is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running sitcom in the world. It later became the first comedy series to completely do away with studio sets and a live audience, moving all filming to Holmfirth. The episodes were then shown to preview audiences, whose laughter was recorded for a laugh track to avoid the use of canned laughter. Last of the Summer Wine was nominated numerous times for British television industry awards; it was proposed five times between 1973 and 1985 for the British Academy Film Awards, twice for the Best Situation Comedy Series award (in 1973 and 1979) and three times for the Best Comedy Series award (in 1982, 1983, and 1985). The show was also considered for the National Television Awards four times since 1999 (in 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004), each time in the Most Popular Comedy Programme category. In 1999 the show won the National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Programme. Reappraising the series, Andy Dawson observed that "Ever Decreasing Circles strayed far from the well-worn path that other Britcoms trudged along in the 70s and 80s. There was a very real darkness at the heart of it, with Martin existing in what was almost certainly a state of permanent mental anguish." The show was voted number 52 in the BBC's ''Britain's Best Sitcom'' poll in 2003. At its peak, it attracted television audiences of around 12 million. '''Allo 'Allo!'' Reminiscent of their 1970s sitcoms such as Are You Being Served?, ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!'' was another creation of the writer/producer team of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Set in Nazi-occupied France and starring Gorden Kaye as René, a café owner, 85 episodes aired on BBC1 in nine series. Series 2 attempted to broaden its scope, serving as a more general comedy while still retaining the thread of the affair. Chelmsford 123 Running for only 13 episodes, Chelmsford 123 (1988–1990), was a short-lived series set in Roman Britain about a young Roman general punished by the Emperor by being sent to govern cold, miserable Britannia, populated by hordes of drunken hooligans. ==The 1990s==

The new Channel 4 began to have successful long-running situation comedies. ''Desmond's (1989–94) was the first British sitcom with a black cast set in the workplace, and Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–98) brought topicality to the form as it was recorded close to transmission. Oh, Doctor Beeching'' (1995–1997) was the last of many sitcoms by producer David Croft. Some of the biggest hits of the 1990s were Men Behaving Badly, Game On, 2point4 Children, ''I'm Alan Partridge, Goodnight Sweetheart, Bottom, The Brittas Empire, The Thin Blue Line, Mr. Bean and One Foot in the Grave''. Jeeves and Wooster The "Jeeves" stories by novelist P. G. Wodehouse were made into Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993), a comedy-drama series in sitcom style. Twenty-three episodes in 4 series were adapted by Clive Exton for ITV, starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, already well known writers and double act stars of their own sketch comedy television series A Bit of Fry & Laurie. The productions were well received. The third series won a British Academy Television Award for Best Design for Eileen Diss. The final series won a British Academy Television Award for Best Graphics for the Art Deco animated title by Derek W. Hayes and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series; it also earned a British Academy Television Award for Best Original Television Music for Anne Dudley's jazz-swing compositions accompanying the title sequence and the incidental music, and a British Academy Television Award for Best Costume Design for Dany Everett. In retrospect, Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline called screenwriter Exton "the series' real star", saying his "adaptations come surprisingly close to capturing the flavour of the originals" by "retaining many of Wodehouse's most inspired literary similes." Writing in Art of the Title, Lola Landekic commends Hayes' Art Deco opening, saying "[it] provided a modern and elegant cornerstone, easing audiences into the rhythm and tone of the show." As of 2016 Keeping Up Appearances is the most-bought BBC and has outsold every other show to international broadcasters in the past 40 years. According to Roy Clarke : "...the secret to her wide fan base is that everyone knows a Hyacinth" A scene from the show was included in the ''TV's 100 Greatest Moments programme broadcast by Channel 4 in 1999. In 2000, the show was ranked 17th in the greatest British television show of all time by the BFI. In 2004 and 2007, the show was ranked 24th and 29th on TV Guides "Top Cult Shows Ever" list. In 2019, the series ranked 9th in Radio Times' top 20 British sitcoms. The series has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'', was released in 2016. If You See God, Tell Him The BBC1 mini-series of If You See God, Tell Him (1993), broadcast in four 45-minute episodes written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, stars Richard Briers (The Good Life), Adrian Edmondson, Imelda Staunton and Martin Clunes. The humour concerns a man who bumps his head and starts believing he must do everything adverts tell him, with catastrophic results. The Independent wrote: "It's not really a disaster but there's something decidedly uneven underfoot here, a feeling that this is the working model for a new type of comedy rather than the finished product. [...] while it's sustained with considerable energy by the actors and direction you have to doubt whether it really stands up for one episode, let alone four." Conversely, a retrospective review in The Guardian highlighted the series as "a gem from an era when the BBC took its black comedy seriously", praising both its dark content and humour, "a Richard Briers sitcom that's the opposite of The Good Life." The series was only broadcast once and never repeated; according to The Guardian, this was "possibly because it was too much of a leap for fans of The Good Life, but it has grown in cult status over the years." The series exploited the 1992 changes in the Church of England that permitted the ordination of women. The show included cameos from many actors and celebrities, many appearing as themselves, and including Sarah, Duchess of York, Hugh Bonneville, Mel Giedroyc, Richard Griffiths, Miranda Hart, Alistair McGowan, Geraldine McNulty, Philip Whitchurch, Nicholas Le Prevost, Brian Perkins and Roger Sloman, Pam Rhodes, Kylie Minogue, Rachel Hunter, Terry Wogan, Jeremy Paxman, Martyn Lewis, Darcey Bussell, Sean Bean, Richard Ayoade, Orla Brady, Fiona Bruce, Annette Crosbie, Johnny Depp, Ruth Jones, Hilary Kay, Damian Lewis, Maureen Lipman, Jennifer Saunders, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, Stephen Tompkinson, Dervla Kirwan, and Emma Watson. Dibley received multiple British Comedy Awards, two International Emmys, and was a multiple British Academy Television Awards nominee. In 2004, it was placed third in a BBC poll to find ''Britain's Best Sitcom''. In addition to the twenty main episodes between 1994 and 2007, the series included numerous shorter charity specials, as well as 'lockdown' episodes produced during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. It was loosely adapted from the mystery novels by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney) by Daniel Boyle and starred Robert Carlyle as a police officer. The series won several BAFTA awards, twice winning for Best Comedy Series. In a 2001 poll by Channel 4, Father Dougal was ranked fifth on a list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. dinnerladies A winner of many awards, including "Best New TV Comedy" at the 1999 British Comedy Awards, and "Best TV Comedy" in 2000. Created, written and co-produced by Victoria Wood, who also starred as the main character, Brenda Furlong, dinnerladies is based on the lives and interactions of the employees of a works canteen and ran for a total of 16 episodes during 1998 and 2000. The permanent cast occasionally featured guest actors, including Joanne Froggatt, Tina Malone, Dora Bryan OBE, Lynda Baron, Elspet Gray, Janette Tough, Simon Williams, Kenny Doughty and Eric Sykes CBE, The theme music was composed by Victoria Wood. ==2000–2010==

At the turn of the Millennium, examples of the hyperreal approach pioneered by Galton and Simpson in some of their Hancock scripts was evident in Steve Coogan's 12-episode sitcom ''I'm Alan Partridge'' (1997–2002). Galton and Simpson's influence also found its way into The Office, a mockumentary, Early Doors, Gavin & Stacey and many British dramedies. The BBC began using their digital channels BBC Three and BBC Four to build a following for off-beat series including The Thick of It (2005–2012). Channel 4 had successes with Spaced (1999–2001), Black Books (2000–2004), Phoenix Nights (2001–2002), Peep Show (2003–2015), Green Wing (2004–2006), The IT Crowd (2006–2013) and The Inbetweeners (2008–2010). The late 2000s and early 2010s also saw a major resurgence in traditional-style sitcoms filmed in front of a studio audience and featuring a laughter track, such as Not Going Out (2006–), written by Lee Mack, Miranda (2009–2015), Reggie Perrin (2009–2010), a remake of the 1970s series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and Irish sitcom ''Mrs Brown's Boys (2011–). The most successful BBC sitcom of the time was My Family'' (2000–2011), which came 24th in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll in 2004 and was the most watched sitcom in the United Kingdom in 2008. Other notable sitcoms in the new millennium included Outnumbered (2007–2016), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2011), about a group of young people living in Runcorn, and The IT Crowd (2006–2013), about IT colleagues. The Royle Family Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash wrote the 25 episodes of The Royle Family (1998–2012) for the BBC. It centred on the lives of a television-fixated working-class family, the Royles, a stereotype of family life at the turn of the century, sharing elements of kitchen sink drama. The Royle Family was placed 31st in the BFI's 2000 list of the 100 greatest British television programmes. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Jim Royle, the misanthropic head of the household, was ranked 11th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In a 2021 BBC poll The Office came 9th out of 100 of the best shows of the 21st century. Doc Martin Like Hamish Macbeth in the 1990s, Doc Martin (2004–2022), is a dramedy series of 79 episodes through its 18 years. 18.49 million people watched the Christmas Day 2019 special, the most-viewed non-sporting event in a decade and the most-watched comedy episode for 17 years, and the 2024 finale with 12.3 million TV viewers was the most watched show on Christmas Day since 2008. After one week's consolidated viewing the finale episode had become the UK's most-watched scripted show since modern records began with 19.3 million viewers. Benidorm Written and created by Derren Litten and produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV, Benidorm (2007–2018) aired for 74 episodes over ten series. The series featured an ensemble cast of holidaymakers and staff at the Solana all-inclusive hotel in Benidorm, Spain over the course of a week each year.{{cite web The series had a large ensemble cast,{{cite web Adam Gillen, Alan David, , Bel Powley, Bobby Knutt, Charlotte Eaton, Crissy Rock, Danny Walters, Elsie Kelly, Geoffrey Hutchings, Hannah Hobley, Hannah Waddingham, Honor Kneafsey, Hugh Sachs, Jake Canuso, Janine Duvitski, John Challis, Johnny Vegas, Josh Bolt, Julie Graham, Kate Fitzgerald, Kathryn Drysdale, Kenny Ireland, Michelle Butterly, Nathan Bryon, Nicholas Burns, Oliver Stokes, Paul Bazely, Perry Benson, Selina Griffiths, Sheila Reid, Shelley Longworth, Sheridan Smith, Sherrie Hewson, Simon Greenall, Siobhan Finneran, Steve Edge, Steve Pemberton, Tim Healy, Tony Maudsley and many guest stars. The first series proved to be a hit for ITV, with critics describing it as "beautifully written and performed" and "a gem of wry observation in withering bad taste".{{cite web ==Since 2010==

The censoring of repeats, especially where the watershed, the time after which adult programming is allowed to be broadcast, is being eroded by on demand viewing and OTT technology. The standard solution is to provide a warning to viewers of real-time transmissions that the programme contains language which some viewers may find offensive.{{cite news Other recent British sitcoms include Brassic (2019–present), Chewing Gum (2015–2017), Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020), Bad Education (2012–2014, 2022-2024), Cuckoo (2012–2019), Fleabag (2016–2019) which 'challenged audience expectations of characters', and ''Peter Kay's Car Share'' (2015–2018). Still Open All Hours The sequel to Open All Hours, Still Open All Hours (2013–2019), was created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. Starring David Jason (Open All Hours, Only Fools and Horses), its 41 episodes retain the 20th century sitcom traditions of its predecessor. The show is supported by James Baxter and a regular supporting cast of Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Brigit Forsyth, Johnny Vegas, Kulvinder Ghir, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sally Lindsay, Tim Healy, Sue Holderness, Dean Smith, Archie Panjabi and Nina Wadia, with Baron, Cole, and Ollerenshaw reprising their original characters from Open All Hours. Directed by Dewi Humphreys,{{cite web Breeders The British-American parental black comedy television series Breeders ran from 2020 to 2023 for 40 episodes over 4 seasons. The show was created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell.{{cite web ==Writers, directors and producers==

Barry Took Barry Took came to TV comedy following his hugely successful half-hour radio sketch comedies such as Beyond Our Ken (1958 - 1964) and its successor Round the Horne 1965 - 1968 and paved the way for the format of many television sitcoms. Together with Perry, Croft was presented with a British Comedy Award in 2003 for lifetime achievement, and in 1978 OBE for services to television. He also received the 1981 Desmond Davies Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, for his contributions to the industry. Jimmy Perry Jimmy Perry (1923–2016) created ''Dad's Army with David Croft. The song he wrote for the series, Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler?, won him an Ivor Novello Award. Croft and Perry wrote together for over 30 years. Along with Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and Galton and Simpson, they were among the dominant writing teams of the period. Perry could send himself up as well as others. His autobiography was to be called A Boy's Own Story, but it came out in 2002 under the title A Stupid Boy''. Are You Being Served? was based partly on his own experiences of working in a London department store as a suit salesman. Its success gave rise a spin-off, Grace and Favour, which was a collaboration with David Croft.{{cite web John Howard Davies John Howard Davies (1939–2011) joined the BBC as a production assistant in 1966, and became a television director and producer specializing in comedy. In 1978 he became the head of comedy, and in 1982 the head of light entertainment.{{cite web Cooke and Mortimer Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer were a comedy writing duo whose career began in radio with the critically acclaimed Round the Horne of 1968, and its sequel Stop Messing About created as a vehicle for Kenneth Williams of Carry On fame. Together they penned many of the 1970s popular TV sitcoms often featuring well known comedy actors such as Paul Eddington of The Good Life and Yes Minister, Patrick Cargill (Father, Dear Father); Richard O'Sullivan, Yootha Joyce, and Brian Murphy of Man About the House ; Peter Butterworth (Carry On), Peter Jones, Beryl Reid, Roy Kinnear, Joan Sanderson. Independently, Cooke created ''Tripper's Day featuring Leonard Rossiter of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' and Eric Chappell's highly successful Rising Damp. On his own, Mortimer wrote Never the Twain starring Donald Sinden (''Two's Company) and Windsor Davies (It Ain't Half Hot Mum''). ==Composers==

Burt Rhodes (1923–2003) Rhodes wrote the title music for The Good Life. In 1968 he became the Light Entertainment Musical Director and composed the theme tunes of many sitcoms, including Are You Being Served?, ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Last of the Summer Wine (where he also wrote all the instrumental music for the show), I Didn't Know You Cared, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, To the Manor Born, Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Just Good Friends and Three Up, Two Down. He also arranged the themes for Butterflies, Sorry! and the first series of Only Fools and Horses''. His arrangements have accounted for fourteen No. 1 singles and five double platinum albums in the UK and he has been nominated for a Grammy three times. Simon Brint (1950–2011) Brint was closely associated with the Alternative Comedy movement and contributed music to several associated projects including the sitcoms Absolutely Fabulous and 2point4 Children. Anne Dudley (born 1956) Dudley composed the jazz-swing title and incidental music for all episodes of Jeeves and Wooster. She is a composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician, winning many awards including an Oscar for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for the comedy film The Full Monty. Dudley was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001, and has composed the scores for over twenty other films. In 2009, he was named "Composer of the Year" at the Classic Brit Awards. == Film spin-offs ==

By 2020, at least 45 British sitcoms had been adapted into over 50 feature films; John Pym of The Monthly Film Bulletin also gave the film a negative review, stating that "The humour consists mainly of a withering selection of patent British puns; an inflatable brassiere, some let's-insult-the-Germans jokes and a rickety thunder-box which bolts from the outside are thrown in for good measure." The film holds a 58% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the cutoff for a positive rating is 59%. Moreover, as with the series they were based on, some films have been criticised for not meeting contemporary levels of political correctness. Other sitcom adaptions from the era included Bottoms Up (1960), based on Whack-O!, Till Death Us Do Part (1968) and its sequel The Alf Garnett Saga (1972), ''Dad's Army'' (1971), On the Buses (1971) and its sequels, Please Sir! (1971), Bless This House (1972), Steptoe and Son (1972) and its sequel, Nearest and Dearest (1972), Father, Dear Father (1973), Love Thy Neighbour (1973), Man About the House (1974), The Likely Lads (1976), Porridge (1979), and George and Mildred (1980). ==Criticism and social issues==

British sitcoms reflect changes in public opinion and culture through the times. They began at a time in which, for example, "class and ethnic prejudices were challenged and mocked". and Mind Your Language (1977–79, 1986), which attempted to find humour in racial or ethnic conflict and misunderstandings, have been increasingly criticised over time. Johnny Speight, the creator of In Sickness and In Health, defended its depiction of the central character Alf Garnett, saying: "If you do the character correctly, he just typifies what you hear - not only in pubs but in golf clubs around the country. To make him truthful he's got to say those things, and they are nasty things. But I feel as a writer that they should be out in the open so we can see how daft these comparisons are." The contemporary ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum has also been criticised for racism, Meanwhile, Whack-O!'', a 1960s series set in a private school, has been described as "a little painful" to watch today for its depictions of caning.{{cite web ==Research==

In 2005, a group of scientists led by Dr. Helen Pilcher was commissioned by the satellite channel UKTV Gold to study 20 years of British sitcoms. Using the medical drama Casualty as a control, the team came up with a formula for measuring the success or failure of sitcoms. This formula assessed the recognisability of the main character and their delusions of grandeur, the wittiness of the script, the physical injuries the cast suffer and their differences in social statues, and the success of any plans. There was a maximum score of 1120, and Casualty scored 5.5. The top shows and their scores were Only Fools and Horses (which scored 696), The Office (678), Father Ted (564), Fawlty Towers (557), and Blackadder (374.5). The very worst sitcoms of the 20 year period were: • Eyes Down (2003–2004), starring Paul O'Grady and Sheridan Smith, which scored 96. Critical reception to this show was negative, with The Stage calling it "the biggest sitcom disaster of the year" and the British Comedy Guide describing it as "dull and predictable". Despite reports that a second series had been planned, the show was cancelled after the first series due to low ratings. Stevenson considered the series so bad that she quit her agent. It scored 67. The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy called it "hackneyed". The Daily Mirror was highly critical of Claire King's guest appearance. In an overview of ITV programmes, columnist Stuart Heritage of The Guardian named Babes in the Wood as one of the worst shows in the network's history. He described Babes in the Wood as "a show where some babes live in St John's Wood and literally nothing else happens". It scored 8. • '''Orrible'' (2001), written by and starring Johnny Vaughan, and lasting only for 8 episodes, came last with a score of 6.5. == British sitcoms overseas ==

United States British sitcoms are often seen on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), usually thanks to the effort of WGBH, and increasingly on cable television, including BBC America and Comedy Central. Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By became sleeper hits when they aired on PBS, while Absolutely Fabulous enjoyed a significant following when it aired on Comedy Central and The Office won a Golden Globe award in 2004 for "Best Television Series—Musical or Comedy", surpassing American series such as Sex and the City and Will & Grace. Several British sitcoms have been successfully remade for the American market. Notable examples include Steptoe and Son which became Sanford and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, which became All in the Family, and The Office which was remade into an American series of the same name. ''Three's Company, a remake of Man About the House, had its own spinoffs: The Ropers, based on George and Mildred, and Three's a Crowd, based on Robin's Nest. Other American remakes of British sitcoms include What a Country!, based on Mind Your Language. More recently, shows such as The Inbetweeners was adapted into an American version, as was The Thick of It as Veep''. A large number of US adaptations end up being cancelled early or are not commissioned after their pilots are created. Another notable difference, which can be both positive or negative depending upon the skill of the cast and writers, is the American media culture of 20 or more episodes in a season, as opposed to the British tendency to have fewer than 10 episodes per series. Australia and New Zealand In Australia, many British comedy series are aired on the ABC, which is the Australian equivalent of the BBC. British shows are also sometimes shown on the three commercial television networks in Australia, especially Seven Network during the 1970s. In New Zealand, state-run TVNZ also broadcasts many British series. The majority of British comedies now air in both countries on the subscription channels The Comedy Channel and UKTV. Australian commercial television channels made their own versions of British comedies during the 1970s, often using members of the original casts. These included: Are You Being Served?, Father, Dear Father, Doctor Down Under, Love Thy Neighbour in Australia. In both countries, locally produced sitcoms have historically been heavily influenced by the structure of British sitcoms, such as in the New Zealand sitcom Gliding On. India In the 1980s, India's national broadcaster Doordarshan showed Fawlty Towers, Yes Minister and Mind Your Language. == See also ==