Maybe you’ve left your gift-buying to the last minute (again). Maybe you’re just looking for something to cozy up with as you keep yourself warm during the holiday lull. Either way, when it comes to quality screen time, there’s no beating the BBC. For decades, the British Broadcasting Corporation has created and aired some of the edgiest, funniest, and most envelope-pushing programming in the world — the best of which is available on US shores through BBC America.
Over the years, there have been a number of BBC series of such high quality that they begged to be collected in full, bringing their complete experiences into welcoming homes. After the jump, we round up the ten best of the best, along with info and the requisite video clips. But that’s not all: we also have copies of almost every one* of these BBC box sets available to win! To be in with a chance at one, leave us a comment telling us your personal favorite moment from British TV history. Be sure to use a valid email address when submitting, so we can contact you if you win. Bonus points if you catch the crossover cameos in our selected video clips — these UK stars have a habit of popping up in each other’s shows.
10. Black Adder Remastered: The Ultimate Edition
Rowan Atkinson may be best known stateside as Mr. Bean, but this brilliant series was the true launching pad for his fame. Set in multiple time periods, each series of Black Adder takes place in a different era, ranging from medieval times to World War II. In each, Atkison plays a variation on the Edmund Blackadder character, an often hapless individual who nonetheless remains entwined with the progression of history. Watch out for supporting roles by Stephen Fry, and better yet, a young Hugh Laurie.
9. Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered
John Cleese will forever be remembered for his role as a member of the Monty Python troupe, but by departing the Flying Circus early to move on to other projects, he ended up with one of the most popular British sitcoms of all time on his hands. Fawlty Towers is nothing short of a UK institution, despite consisting of a scant 12 episodes. As Basil Fawlty, Cleese runs one of the most mayhem-plagued hotels around, with his wife and staff splitting their time between controlling the chaos and making it worse.
8. The Steve Coogan Collection
Steve Coogan is a one-man British comedy institution, so it’s only fitting that he receive his very own box set. You might recognize him from his lead roles in 24 Hour Party People and Tristram Shandy, but it’s Coogan’s UK TV series that let his genius truly shine. His most high-profile character, Alan Partridge, is a man of questionable morals (and intelligence), but also disturbingly funny enough to feature in two separate series: Knowing Me, Knowing You and I’m Alan Partridge. Both are included here, along with pretty much everything else Coogan has done for British TV, collected on a whopping 13 discs.
7. Spaced: The Complete Series
If you’ve been paying attention to comedic cinema in the last few years, there’s no way to avoid Simon Pegg. Shaun of the Dead brought him (and partner-in-crime Nick Frost) to international audiences, while the subsequent release of films like Hot Fuzz and Run Fat Boy Run has kept him in the spotlight. It was inevitable, then, that the rest of the world would discover the turn-of-the-century series that started it all. Spaced tells the tale of two young people, Tim and Daisy, who pretend to be a married couple in order to get an apartment. And while the premise may sound simple, the execution is anything but. The show’s zany crew finds itself in increasingly bizarre situations, told via equally creative narrative devices. If there’s a 20th-century pop-culture touchstone close to your heart, chances are Spaced gives it more than a nod.
6. The Office: The Complete Collection
Sure, we all love Steve Carell (and Dwight), but if it wasn’t for Ricky Gervais, your whole Thursday night NBC fix would have a different taste. If you haven’t seen the original series that gave birth to the US version of The Office, you need to watch this immediately. The setup is very much the same, and many of the characters will feel more than a little familiar, but the slightly drier tone and Gervais’ flawless performance as regional manager David Brent give this one the edge up. Better yet, they knew when to call it quits, meaning that the entire series run never hit a down note. Gervais went on to star in Extras
5. The Mighty Boosh Special Edition DVD
This is the most recent series to make the list, as well as the only one that remains active. Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt are two of the most surreal comedians the UK has seen in, well, ever, and along with their cohorts, they are the Mighty Boosh. Their self-titled TV series has aired three seasons to date, and a fourth will be a while yet, so this collection features the whole caboodle so far. Internationally, the series has had the most exposure through the viral takeoff of the Mighty Boosh short “Old Gregg,” while a pickup from Adult Swim has further raised its profile. Watching too much of this at once will definitely make your head hurt, but you probably won’t mind.
4. The Young Ones: Extra Stoopid Edition
There’s never been another show quite like The Young Ones. Taking a hippie, a psychotic punk, a wussy anarchist, and a self-styled ladies man and putting them all together in the same house, the series created some of the most over-the-top insanity of all-time. The laughs come so fast and from such unexpected quarters that repeated viewings are often essential just to figure out what the hell you just saw. Adding random musical performances from real bands like Madness and Motörhead within the storylines, along with fourth-wall breaking monologues and a boatload of non-sequiturs, this show marks the pinnacle of the ’80s for UK television.
3. Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything
Being a complete mess has never been as appealing as in the capable hands of Patsy and Edina, the ultimate walking disasters with a taste for the high life. Jennifer Saunders flipped the traditional script on its head with this immense show, playing the irresponsible parent to the down-to-earth, no-nonsense daughter. Along with Joanna Lumley, she brought the concept of human trainwreck to a new level — perhaps enough so to make people think twice before having those last six drinks. As you may know, Roseanne loved this show so much that she wanted to recreate it for a US audience; thankfully, this was one time everyone ended up being smart enough to leave perfection alone.
2. Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series
Okay, we admit it, this list skews pretty hard toward the funnier side of UK TV. But the BBC is also known for airing some truly groundbreaking and informative material, and this is the cream of the crop in that department. Chances are you’ve already seen some, if not all, of this series exploring the endless wonder of the cosmic sphere we call home, but no matter how many times you see it, it never ceases to amaze. These investigations into the myriad experiences of life on Earth are best experienced as big as possible, which makes it a no-brainer that this collection would also receive HD DVD
1. The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset
There’s no way around it. No list of this nature would be complete without Monty Python, and denying the legendary troupe the top slot would be nothing short of heresy. Together, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Terry Gilliam set the bar for sketch comedy at a level that has yet to be topped in all the years since. There isn’t a troupe around that won’t pay tribute to their impact, or fail to cite them as an influence. And before the big-screen films that truly broke them on a global-level, their TV series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, was subversively changing the way people would look at their television screens for generations to come. At 16 discs, this is the true elephant of the bunch, but also the most essential of all the essentials.
* Note: Giveaways include all of the above box sets, with the exception of Steve Coogan and Monty Python.
Comments (119)
Blimey–how to choose a favorite? I suppose I would have to say that The Office was the most groundbreaking, poignant and geniusly funny at the same time. Growing up in Australia, Black Adder was the most subversively funny show when I was in my teens, and is still brilliant. And being a boozy chick, Ab Fab is a sentimental fave, but I’m going to vote for Gervais’s The Office.
spaced was never actually on bbc, or made by them. it was on channel 4.
>> Ed note: This is true, but Spaced was released on DVD by BBC Video, therefore qualifying it as a BBC collection: http://www.bbcamericashop.com/dvd/spaced-the-complete-series-14714.html
I have recently become a big fan of Snuff Box and the one bit I can’t get over is the series of “boyfriend” scenes from Matt Berry. Very funny stuff. Great list btw.
I have so many favorite moments in British TV history. To name a few, I love the show Nevermind the Buzzcocks and when the host Simon Amstell offended on of the contestants so much that he left the show mid taping. The final episode of The Office, The Extra’s season finale, and the first time Mighty Boosch’s Old Greg appeared on screen are all amazing moments. British TV is superior to American TV!
oh how i love british comedies! my personal favorites include are you being served, keeping up appearances and absolutely fabulous! pretty much everything patsy stone says and does slays me!
I would have to say Blackadder’s Christmas Carol takes the cake for me, when they end up in the future with Queen Asphyxia. It was very enlightening. And hilarious.
“I, Claudius” didn’t make the list?! (Yes, I know it was a Masterpiece Theater installment, but still…)
Wow,I just love British comedy! On my top is the hysterically, off-the-wall, extremely dry, crazy sketch show The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus ;)
I have to say that Planet Earth really was the most engrossing television I had seen in a very long time. Also, not on here, but super loved Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect.
I’ve had friendships based purely around the Spanish Inquisition from Monty Python (also around Red Dwarf which – while missing – is also excellent)
I’m going to have to go with Planet Earth – the whole friggin’ thing. So awesome.
Black Books belongs on the list. Dylan Moran makes me laugh in every scene.
The Young Ones – from the episode “Bambi” – when they go on University Challenge. So hilarious!!!
I’m a big fan of just about every one of the top 10, however my recent favorite would have to be Peep Show!
The Young Ones, late nights, MTV, 1985ish? “Old man, look at my life…I’m a lot like you were…”
Lots to choose from, but definitely missing from your list is the miniseries “The Singing Detective.” Great acting, enough plot to satisfy several viewings, and black humor to savor.
Oh, lord – I can’t possibly pick a favorite. From British comedy to drama to sci fi, I’m an addict…
A favorite? Oh, that’s hard. I can never shake Jeremy’s misuse of an electric toothbrush on Peep Show, nor can I ever forget the first time I saw Old Gregg…but nothing compares to the weekend I was exposed to the entirety of The League of Gentlemen. Such a good show…definitely better than Holly Oaks: In The City ;)
The Mighty Boosh changed my life – I’ve never found a show that epitomized my sense of humor so well. Also, methinks I spot a young, svelte Simon Pegg in the Alan Partridge clip… eh?
5 go mad – “Blah blah blah, it all ties together” with “and lashings of ginger beer!”
My favourite show was Dad’s Army, I used to watch the repeats every Sunday when I was growing up and I’m sad it’s not made it over the pond. “Don’t panic Captain Mainwaring!” is a catchphrase I still use today…but the best scene is “Don’t tell him your name Pike!”. I also really like the crudeness of Little Britain – never ceases to cause tears of laughter! Thanks for this list :-)
my favorite of all times was when Neil from The Young Ones got so sick with the cold and sneezing massive ‘bogies’ all over the place that they had to put a trash bag on his head. puerile but deadly.
Ab Fab on Comedy Central when I was young and impressionable turned me into the proud lush I am today. Though I also sympathized with Saffron back in the day. Poor Saffy!
Planet Earth is by far and away my favorite on this list – so majestic. As for all-time favorite BBC moment, however, I’d have to go with the first appearance of Cat (in his evolved form) on Red Dwarf. British humor is WAY more bizarre than ours!!!
The Parrot Sketch
what’s not to love. Fawlty Towers has so many laugh out loud roll on the floor moments but they are all brilliant. Planet Earth – the only proper use of the word AWESOME
So happy you posted “Argument Clinic.” That’s not only my favorite sketch from British TV, but it’s my all-time favorite sketch. Period.
the young ones were such an amazing comedy troupe — kept me in stitches constantly! brilliant idea to showcase brit musicians of the time. part of fond 80s memories for me and many friends. lila and i love you rick!!!
My gateway into British comedy was “Are You Being Served?”, which aside form featuring the greatest theme song, was side splittingly funny. “Dear Sexy Knickers…”
Nice list- great to see that the U.S. audience latched onto Boosh and the Office. I’d also include “Peep Show” and “Big Train” (which includes Spaced’s Simon Pegg).
One of my favorites is the Coupling episode “The Woman With Two Breasts” The fake language when we hear Jeff talking from the woman’s point of view is just brilliant! My favorite moment from the above listed shows is “And now the penguin on top of your television will explode.” I had a stuffed penguin on my telly for many years because of it.
My favorite bit is from Absolutley Fabulous when Saffie gives Edina a pair of Christian Lacroix earrings for her birthday and Edina says “These are really Christian Lacroix earrings darling? You didn’t just take cheap earrings and put them in a Christian Lacroix box, did you?” Genius.
There are so many moments in British Comedy that sticks in my mind… I think a lot of it revolves around the surreal creeping into ordinary lives. The number one example… the granddaddy of them all… would be the 16 ton weight falling on John Cleese in the Defense against Fresh Fruit sketch. It was revolutionary on so many levels. Along the same vein is the scene in Spaced where Tim and Daisy battle with the gang of teenage hoodlums with imaginary guns. Absolute classic comedy. Loved it!
If we’re sticking to BBC I’m going to say Blackpool. The Boy with a Thorn in His Side number is amazing. Also, David Tennant!
(If it’s open to Channel 4 then Green Wing!)
Tough call. I love everything from “a chat with you and somehow death loses its sting,” to every moment of Nessa’s screen time. My favorite, though, has to be French & Saunders ‘American retirement.’
one of my favorite moments is when abfab’s patsy tells edina that she keeps her cellphone on vibrate in a certain orifice.
So many favs to choose from…though I probably will have to say the “German Joke” from Monty Python is my fav.
The Office, Spaced, and Monty Python are high up on my list, and I have a lot of old favorites, but a recent favorite keeps sticking out because it’s so fresh. The recent Doctor Who special Waters of Mars really does stick out as one of the best Doctor Who specials, with one of the most beloved actors to portray The Doctor. It was much darker and added more depth to the complexities of The Doctor, with a great storyline and characters, and the a great build up to The Doctor realizing more and more that the end is drawing near for him.
I love Planet Earth. A friend in college watched Absolutely Fabulous and introduced me to British television. I was highly addicted to Coupling and watched the entire series in a weekend after finding it through Netflix. I only recently got BBC America and am enjoying seeing all the great television from overseas.
I loved the Young Ones and the Comic Strip… too many funny parts to even start quoting.
Agree with the original The Office having an edge. Possible spoiler: the Tim and Dawn kiss in the Christmas special is definitely a top moment.
That’s AbFab’s Jennifer Saunders in The Young Ones clip!
I love the Ministry of Silly Walks on Monty Python the best of everything ever.
The Young Ones were always on my Telie!
So hard for me to choose between YO and AbFab for an all-time fave Brit series… If forced, I’d pick AbFab, with my fave moment being the fantasy sequence that showed them as old ladies — Eddie with the huge bubble butt, and Patsy with boobs down to her waist!
I grew up watching Monty Python. I can remember my mother barging into my bedroom because she thought I was ill, but I was merely gagging on laughter. Best bits – The special olympics race and the parrot nailed to the perch.
Personal favorite moments would probably be one of the classics: either “NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION” or the particular line in the Dead Parrot Sketch, “If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch, it’d be pushing up the daisies!”
Both lines with deep impact on my everyday life, I’ll tell you that.
My two favorite British series: Absolutely Fabulous and The House of Eliott, for its wonderful 1920s fashions.
I must agree with my fellow commenters (commentators?) by saying that it’s difficult to choose an all-time favorite program from this list. I am an unrepentant Anglophile and have seen many, many episodes from every show mentioned (with lager and great gobs of brown sauce!) as well as many that aren’t. I go all the way back to Monty Python in the 70s, thanks to PBS here in the States, and I’ve never been the same since. But, for the heck of it and because it’s still a going concern, I’m gonna say that my current fave rave is “The Mighty Boosh”. The show’s inspired absurdity would make the Pythons proud. Oh, and does anyone else remember Ab Fab’s Jennifer Saunders showing up in an ep or two of the “The Young Ones” as some demented character?
One has to say that the 2 Ronnies was worth a laugh at the time… But my favourites are still Faulty Towers and Blackadder
Crikeys. Project impossible. I mean, you have to acknowledge the crossovers – Ade Edmonson from Young Ones on Blackadder (as the Red Baron), and then on AbFab – reciprocated by Jennifer Saunders’ turn as a psychopath on the Young Ones (and a long-married real-life couple); Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson as the toffs on the Young Ones’ Bambi episode (rah, rah, rah, we’re going to smash the oiks!); Rik Mayal’s brilliant play against type as Flasheart on Blackadder, along with Laurie’s variations on a daffy fop, and Fry’s blustery authoritarians; Tony Robinson’s inspired Baldrick who shows up in one episode of the Young Ones as the confused Doctor Not-the-NineoClock-News (I am an elephant, you know); Miranda Richardson as Queenie in Blackadder and guesting on AfFab; Ben Elton writing the Young Ones, Blackadder, Filthy Rich and Catflap, Alfresco, and Happy Families (with Edmonson and Saunders again); Nigel Planer as Neil on the Young Ones, Lord Smedley on Blackadder, and a cameo on AbFab; Robbie Coltrane on the Young Ones and Blackadder; and so on.
My personal favourite moment was the Mighty Boosh, Season Two, Episode Four, the Fountain of Youth, the Soup Song. I was on a long trip through Central Europe and stumbled across this on late night TV, subtitled in German, and laughed at the audacious, gentle, and ludicrous comedy of that moment. “Crazy days,” indeed.
“Manual, Manual! There are too many butters on those plates.”
“Que, senor?”
“There are too many butters ON THOSE PLATES.”
“No nono senor. Uno…dos…tres.”
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers and it’s hard to pick just one, but two of the most hilarious comedic bits on television, for me, are the ugly American “Waldorf Salad” and Fawlty’s Nazi greetings to the German tourists. Can’t believe it was just 12 episodes.
“Yes you did, you invaded Poland!” may well be the funniest punch line ever written – in the UK or the U.S. It is always a little sad to think that there aren’t more episodes of Fawlty out there – but then maybe having so few makes them that much more special.
So much fun to see the cameos and the crossover in the little BBC club – love seeing Simon Pegg in Alan Partridge (and almost every other BBC show under the sun) and Jennifer Saunders in The Young Ones (which I fondly remember catching late nites in the early days of MTV).
But it’s also amazing to check out some of the great actors who appeared on Black Adder – Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardso…
One odd nugget that doesn’t appear here – and will doubtfully ever make it to DVD – but is worth finding if you can. It’s a little known show called “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” and was created by Richard Ayoade” (Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd) and also has cameos from Stephen Merchant (The Office) and others…
that’s all I got. Thanks for putting these together so I can email to my office mates and listen to them giggle…
The Fish Slapping routine from monty python
When I was in high school my mom’s friend let me borrow tapes of Black Adder and Monty Python. My introduction to the Mighty Boosh was very…confusing. There was a cape, lots of hair. I was drinking some cheap mexican beer from the corner store. When watched sober, just as confusing and hilarious.
Inbetweeners was my fav
Ironically, my favorite is a comical portion of the one non-comedy on the list. It’s the birds of paradise in Planet Earth – funny, mesmerizing, mind-blowing. And I’m referring to the David Attenborough-narrated version, of course.
Planet earth… Where else do you get to see a skyscraper sized pile of bat doodoo teaming with roaches. Jaw dropping.
I’ll have to say….Blackadder!
While I love all of these and would welcome the chance to win any one of them…where is The League of Gentlemen? My favorite moment from that particular series was when six or so members of the town’s weird fetish sex club (hosted by the local B&B owners) were all hooked up to the same oxygen tank (operated by a creepy pervert) and wearing some variety of strange scuba-like gear. Said pervert suddenly has a heart attack, leaving the members of the club unable to move and running out of oxygen. When the cuckhold husband innkeeper returns home from his own affair, he finds the entire group dead in his living room. Extremely dark and twisted yes…but so much so that you have to laugh.
When Ricky Gervais tries to fire an employee and tells him, “The good news is that I got promoted. The bad news is that you’re fired. So it’s not all bad news today.” …uh, brilliant, relevant, and timely. Ricky Gervais at his best.
i lived in london may 1963 for 10 years greatest time for music/art wish i had my fotos!!!!!
There are so many UK comedies it’s hard to choose, but I’d have to say The IT Crowd is pretty close, followed by Spaced. Growing up we spent Saturday nights watching Python and Are You Being Served. Awesome stuff.
cornflakes. cornflakes. cornflakes, cornflakes, cornflakes, cornflakes, cornflakes, cornflakes, cornflakes.
You’ll never win anyway.
Why?
It’s only nine words.
———————-
Q: World’s biggest bottom burp?
A: (P)rick, Britain.
(Bonus: Emma Thompson in that episode)
_________________________
YES! WE’VE GOT A VID-E-O!
…and yes, i love black adder, fawlty towers, python, the office, and Ab Fab, too!
I love Absolutely Fabulous and the rest are wonderful too. Laughing is such good medicine when things are not going well.
ab fab is still absolutely fabulous!!!
Torchwood is the best show ever to hit the BBC! Can anyone beat Capt. Jack? No!
The best moment from British TV history involved me, snuggled up on the couch as an 8 year old, trying to figure out why grown men with very proper accents kept saying “And now, for something completely different…” over and over. I thought they were insane. “Daddy, but they just said that.” Years later, I became a huge Python fan and my humor has regressed from the height of 8 year-old sophistication.
That being said–Fawlty Towers’s misspelled signs, Mighty Boosh’s crack fox, Spaced in general– almost every British show I can think of is completely mad. That’s what makes them so good.
(Pick me! Pick me!)
The Young Ones are genius. I like to say that they raised me through high school in the 80′s. Or at least they helped me cope with high school. I’d watch it right before 120 Minutes on MTV in the late 80s, and come back to school the next morning asking my friends if they saw last night’s episode of the Young Ones. “Last night Vyvyan was PREGNANT! He was going to have a baaaaaby!!”. No one would know what I was talking about. For a long time I thought I was the only one who watched the Young Ones. I quoted the Young Ones for my senior quote, class of 1991, West Bloomfield High School in Michigan. “Oh, it’s the ole eat the telly trick again.” When everyone went gaga over Absolutely Fabulous, I said, that’s Jennifer Saunders from the Young Ones!! You know, The Young Ones!! Again, blank stare and a “Young who?”. The Young Ones have had a resurgence here and there with Comedy Central airing the series, Drop Dead Fred and the full DVD collection in the 90s. Glory be to see the Young Ones on flavorwire.com; those four spotty faces staring back at me, on my computer screen, near the eve of 2010. Blimey!!!
For me it’s a tie between the Office and Spaced.
Do I want to feel warm, fuzzy and awkward, or warm, fuzzy and five?
Easy. When Vyvyan slid through the wall and into the lentil soup Neil had prepared in The Young Ones
David Brent’s dance in The Office was the most sensational moment in British tv in my memory.
Very hard to pick a favorite… but I guess my favorite moment has to be the ending to “Blackadder Goes Forth.” It could be quite a silly show at times, which made the ending even more moving. (You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw0e8p0Tyo4) It didn’t seem at all trite, unlike many other sitcoms who tried to tackle serious subjects. It was just such a brilliant, unexpected ending.
Cross over: Simon Pegg from “Spaced” is in the “I’m Alan Partridge” clip. Of course, John Cleese was on both Fawlty Towers and Monty Python.
Whoops! On the youtube link, the close parenthesis accidentally became part of the link. Here it is again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw0e8p0Tyo4
That Mitchell and Webb Show, Two Ronnies, Are you Being Served, Top Gear, so many good ones.
No Peep SHow?! :(
I loved the episode of Vicar of Dibley where Geraldine meets Richard Armitage’s character and he falls in love with her.
I’m a newbie to BritComs overall and have never seen BlackAdder but it’s next on my list. Hope I win!
My favorite moment is my wife saying to me, “Have you ever heard of ‘Gavin and Stacey’?” and then falling in love with the show.
Anything David attenborough done for the bbc was never less than excellent. And planet earth with his narratation, was the mona lisa, hamlet, beethovens 5th, casablanca, sgt peppers lonley heartclub band equal. The series was nothing less than the best nature series ever made. As for all there great comedies my own favorite would be Only fools and horses.
Tough one. I started watching Python at the age of 8. And not long after that Fawlty Towers. My parents still regret me watching PBS in the late 70′s. I first saw the Young Ones when I was a teen and loved it. Blackadder, again, became an addiction. Steve Coogan is absolutely brilliant and “Knowing me Knowing You” is some of the funniest TV I’ve ever seen hands down. Mighty Boosh and The Office came along much later in life but are equally funny. If I’ve had to pick, I have to Python. I’ve been watching them for over 30 years and they are still funny. The fish slapping dance still makes me laugh.
Oh, I almost forgot. Does anyone else remember the Comic Strip. Brilliant, subtle stuff.
The chaps going “over the top” to die at the end of Blackadder Goes Forth. A bravely downbeat conclusion for a hilarious series, and a poignant reminder of the loss of almost an entire generation.
My favorite moment is easily from the first season from absolutely fabulous. Patsy and Eddie go to Paris for a week away from it all in what they think will be an amazing resort. They get lost and end up at the worker houses. Since they don’t speak french they think their horrible living arrangements can’t be fixed. Saphie and bubble join them later on. Patsy and Eddie go to a wine tasting where they get absolutely hammered and by several cases of wine. They sit in the tasting and yell “this is the one that I want. I want to buy this one right here” over and over again. They leave, finally, and stumble out to the car. Patsy passes out on the ground while Eddie does so in the car. I LOVE that scene. My friends and I yell “this is the one that i want” all the time.
The Young Ones montage with Motorhead – sheer fun. Also AbFab when grandma passes out during a Home Shopping Network spree. Fact is, all are funnier after having actually dated English…truth is stranger than fiction and Brits ARE funny…
Where the bloody hell is the givaway part of this advert?
Torchwood Children of Earth: love the entire series so far but these episodes crawled right into your psyche.
Love them all, but I’m still trying to find the Masterpiece Theatre series of “Pere Goriot”. It began a love affair with Balzac that lasted through all of his works.
Well for me the absolute top moment on British TV took place on the Eric Sykes show. The show normally had one of the great comic casts of any sitcom- Eric Sykes, Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler and Richard Wattis. In one episode, Sykes and the Stranger, a childhood sweetheart of Hattie’s arrives on the Sykes’ doorstep claiming Hattie as his fiancé. Totally unexpectedly the stranger turns out to be Peter Sellers who just takes over the show. Its all te other players can to to deliver a line and the step back out of the way and not break up too badly on camera as Sellers does his thing. He presents Hattie with a big plant as a gift-”It was hand raised, as they say in the Navy.” Its the indescribable madness that only improvisation from a truly wild and crazy comic mind can devise, stream of consciousness slapstick. I love Monty Python, Eric and Ernie and the Two Ronnies but nothing left me in tears holding my sides as Peter Sellers run amok.
My favourite British TV programmes tend to centre around classic losers such as Alan Partridge, Basil Fawlty, Rick (from the Young Ones), Frank Spencer, Howard TJ Moon (from The Mighty Boosh) and Richie (from Bottom) so my all time favourite British TV moment has to be The Office Christmas Special when David Brent stands up for himself by telling Chris Finch to “F@ck off”. He automatically became the hero for losers everywhere! Crossover Cameos from the above clips are: Simon Pegg (Spaced) in Alan Partridge and Jennifer Saunders (Ab Fab) in The Young Ones.
can’t say i’ve seen all of these, but i’d have to go with monty python.
The final bit of Blackadder Goes Forth. Just the turn the show needed. Goodbyeee…
The Smoking Room—BBC3 is the best incubator for comedy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/smokingroom/
The Mighty Boosh it is.
My fave was when Eddie fell out of the limo, drunk, with a disapproving Saffy shaking her head from the front steps; then she locks Eddie out of the house. SWEETIEDAHLING LET ME IN!!
Used to watch Young Ones/Red Dwarf late at night on the local PBS station… classics.
But yeah, the best of them has to be Monty Python. Favorite moment? Probably the re-enactment of the battle of hastings, with handbags. Hard to choose, though
The BBC moment I’ll remember forever is in the second or third episode of the Office. David Brent and Gareth go to a nightclub, where Gareth is hit on by a swinging couple. He’s outraged! He’s horrified! And at the very end you see him riding off, a hopeful grin on his face, hanging onto the back of their motorcycle.
romanhans@earthlink.net
They are all so perfect. Grew up with the Young Ones and they made me fall in love with all British Folk. But Steve Coogan has my heart now. He is my ideal cheeky monkey! Ta!
I do not even know why I am entering comment. BBC produced and PBS peddled “Brit Coms” have been a constant source of trauma and pain in my life. From my first experiences with the middle class travails of Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, to my struggles with the struggling radio and television flop Alan Partidge through to my magical, sofa-bound travels with Vince Noir, Howard Moon, and Naboo the Enigma, I’ve grown round, soft-boned, and utterly unbearable to friends who do not seem to get my particular, cross-pond sense of humour. Stick a fork in me by awarding me the box sets.
When I stumbled upon “Shameless.” What a find! Hilarious, touching, jaw-dropping.
I have never known a time without Monty Python. The Bruce sketch is a lot funnier when you have a graduate degree in social science. In fact, the more I learn about history, art, politics, literature, etc., the funnier Python gets. They were, are, totally brilliant. I wish more humor was that intelligent.
These are all classics! Hard to decide between Faulty Towers and Monty Python, but Python gets my vote. I still get the giggles just thinking about the dead parrot sketch!
When Mr. Bean lost his watch on a date at the movie theatre.
“Excuse Me, I’m looking for my Woooaatch.”
I’ve always had an affinity for everything British. From music to television. I remember growing seeing my dad perv out on Benny Hill. As I got older, Fawlty Towers and Monty Python were staples. The Young Ones and Absolutely Fabulous def helped to shape my adolescence. My current fav Mighty Boosh. I’m soo hooked. For all the naysayers who claim British humour is dry or bland, I say they probably influenced many of the comedies and sitcoms you are enjoying today. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Where did I put that Young Ones tape!
I thought I was the only guy with a lascivious landlady until I saw Spaced. Must-see for Simon Pegg fans!
armyacorn@yahoo.com
Got to be the Piranha brothers sketch on Monty Python.
That and Doctor Who: “Always bring a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good.”
MEGA TSUNAMI!!!! from peep show season 1. classic.
One of my favorite moments is in Ab Fab, the “Poor” episode. Edina’s monologue in court at the end has me in stitches every time!
Monty Python’s Michelangelo and the Pope
Spaced – the one when they go to the pub on X. brilliant.
the magazine staff meetings where Patsy “works” in AbFab – if the accents were different, that would be my office! And then there’s Lord Flashheart on Black Adder, and of course the exchange: “Witchcraft?” “Time Lord”. And then there’s…
Almost sad to see Steve Coogan overlooked by so many! Knowing Me, Knowing You and I’m Alan Partridge are SO SPLENDID and so amazing in their willingness to go ANYWHERE and allow the character to do ANYTHING…
His James Bond movie summary when the tape is destroyed might be the BEST EVER!
Would say definitely The Office, Halloween episode where they first show David Brent’s costume, where it looks like he’s riding and ostrage.
Fawlty Towers Hands Down!!!
soupy twist! from A Bit of Fry & Laurie.
Favr moment – Little Britian – This morning I woke up Next to my neighbor and he told me I was the only gay in the village.
I quote this line from the Mighty Boosh all the time, so funny:
Vince Noir: “what have you been eating?”
Fox: “toothpaste, head and shoulders, and shit. Lots of shit.”
Classic line from the IT Crowd that never gets old:
“have you tried turning it off and on again?”
Mad Men Pocket Squares http://bit.ly/60bL4K
I won’t lie to you sugartits…it’s gotta be Gavin & Stacey…what’s ocurrin’?
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