British Sitcom History Podcast

We recently looked at the peak years of Red Dwarf, a show that was so good that even the Americans had a go at it. There were two attempts (more like one and a half) at pilots for a US series and footage has unofficially leaked out. So let's have a look at them!

In this bonus episode, Gareth is a guest on The Modern British History Podcast. Harry White is the host and he generally looks at the modern (post war) British political scene. In this episode, he invited Gareth on to discuss the eighties sitcom Yes Minister and they discuss how it caricatures the civil service of the time. And have things changed forty years later? Find more from Harry here: https://www.modernbritishhistory.co.uk/

It's christmas! Time for cheer and good will to all men (or women). Unless you're Rigsby, in which case it's time to be a miserable git as always. But will he ruin the day for everyone else? We look at the Rising Damp christmas special from 1975 and see how it measures up to our own miserable christmas experiences.

In 1971, the TV sitcom Please Sir! got itself a big screen spin off. We're joined by Sol Harris of Diminishing Returns Podcast to see if it makes the transition smoothly, despite a change in cast member and a distinct lack of Potter.

Fleabag, the iconic series that defined a generation, was based on a theatrical one-person show that Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote and performed a few years before the TV people got involved. In 2019, she did that show again for the benefit of an audience (and cameras) as part of the National Theatre Live project. We watched it! And then inevitably compared it to the TV show.

It's part 2 of our discussion on (probably not really a sitcom) Fleabag, in which we continue to dissect in excruciating detail Phoebe Waller-Bridge's iconic series and then the rest of her career as well.

British Sitcom History takes on its most modern show yet as we travel all the way back to 2016 to look at the generation defining Fleabag. Phoebe Waller-Bridge got the Guardianistas chattering with her frank portrayal of a woman dealing with grief and loneliness but how does it stand up when looked at by two slightly chippy middle aged men from Yorkshire? And is it even a sitcom? (No)

We're back for part 2 of our look at the peak years of Red Dwarf. We're making a close inspection of The Inquisitor and having a peruse of the other work that the boys from the Dwarf did in the 90s. Spoiler - they're all crap.

We're back in deep space for our second visit to the Jupiter Mining Corp vessel Red Dwarf. The computer's different and now there's an android doing the ironing; what's all that about? We take a look at the significant changes that turned Red Dwarf from a quirky space based sitcom into a sci-fi cult classic.

For part 2 of our review of Chance in a Million, we get stuck into an episode and take a closer look at the sitcom history of Brenda Blethyn. We also try and get into the minds of the writers to see where they get their crazy ideas.

Chance in a Million is an early channel 4 sitcom that is today mostly only remembered for the central performance of Simon Callow. Allen says it's idiosyncratic, Gareth says it's a load of old toss. Is there anything to be said for revisiting this bizarre eighties show?

Part 2 of our look at Game on and we continue our analysis of a specific episode and take a look at how the show changed over the three series. And we even have time to do a sidebar on Hat Trick Productions, who have brought us several legendary sitcoms.

It's always more distressing when we delve into the nineties as we have to address what we were up to at the time. This week, we look at Game On, the cult success that plays into the lad culture that was so prevalent at the time. Will it live up to our memories of it and how similar was it to Gareth's mid-nineties London life?

It's part 2 of our look at old school favourite Please Sir! This week, we finish looking at the episode and look at the legacy of the show, which actually split into two sitcoms when the original kids left. We also take a look at what became of the kids from Fenn Street in their later careers.

Today we're going old school. All the way back to 1969 for LWT's Please Sir! Set in a London comprehensive and featuring the roughest bunch of fifteen year olds you've ever seen, has time and cancel culture caught up with the show yet?

In part 2 of our review of Hi-de-Hi!, we have a look at some of the supporting actors, consider the changes that came in the later series, and ask the usual question of, "is it healthy to watch 60 episodes of a show in three weeks?"

Our new series starts with eighties classic Hi-de-Hi!, which means we finally get to deal with Jimmy Perry and David Croft. We also look at the principal actors, including Su Pollard and Ruth Madoc.

Are you smarter than a 47 year old? To round off series 4 of the British Sitcom History Podcast, we have a quiz (loosely) based on the things we've just watched. There is a whole section on Oscar nominated sitcom stars, Coronation Street connections, and stand ups in sitcom. Play along and try and beat Gareth.

BSH takes a field trip to visit The Royal Theatre Haymarket and say its goodbyes to the musical version of Only Fools and Horses. Allen saw it several years ago when it first started and wasn't that impressed, so will he have a better time with an American in tow and sitting in the worst seat in the house?

I Only Arsked! has a special place in sitcom history because it was the first film spin-off ever. After the success of the first series of The Army Game, (most of) the original cast came together to make a film before they all went off to do Carry On films for twenty years. How does it hold up after 55 years?

This week, we're taking a look at the film spin off from Porridge. It's one of the best sitcoms ever and probably one of the better of the film offerings as well but it's not exactly perfect.

Part 2 of our clinical dissection of Miranda and this time we consider the influence of clowning techniques on the show and discuss the degradation of the show in the third series.

For the last show of our series, we're looking at modern classic Miranda, from the mind of Miranda Hart. Can a 21st century audience empathise with a posh protagonist? Can a sitcom that ended eight years ago already feel out of date?

Part 2 of our look at the first series of Blackadder includes closer inspections of Miriam Margolyes and Jim Broadbent as well as the original unaired pilot.

This week we begin an epic journey through centuries of English history with the first series of Blackadder. The Black Adder sees Rowan Atkinson as spare to the throne and we're looking at episode four, where he is forced to marry the Infanta of Spain.

Part 2 of our look at the 80s Jim Davidson vehicle Up the Elephant and Round the Castle and this week we also take a look at the supposed sequel Home James!, even though it was completely different and had no resemblance to the former.

This week we take a look at the oft forgotten 80s sitcom designed as a vehicle for the unbound comic talent of Jim Davidson, Up the Elephant and Round the Castle. It wasn't good then and it's even worse now but is there anything of value to be salvaged from it?

In part 2 of our look at Victoria Wood's dinnerladies, we take a closer look at Julie Walters and Maxine Peake and see how the series came to an end.

This week we start our look at Victoria Wood's dinnerladies. In many ways it is classic sitcom in its purest form but does it also break the rules occasionally?

In part 2 of our look at The Army Game, we focus more on the second generation cast and the spin off success of Bootsie and Snudge. Is this a rare example of a show getting better after a big cast change?

This week we look at ITV's first sitcom, The Army Game. Starting in 1957, the show was a huge hit and made stars of Charles Hawtrey, William Hartnell, Bernard Bresslaw and many others. But how does it hold up in 2023?

This week it's part 2 of our look at Porridge in which we go a bit deeper on Brian Wilde and his wife's gammon steak hawaii. We also continue our look at the episode Just Desserts and then throw cheap shots at Kevin Bishop.

We're back and we're starting the new series with an absolute classic. Clement and La Frenais' Porridge was a vehicle designed for Ronnie Barker but is just as well remembered for its stellar supporting cast. Part one takes a look at the careers of Barker and Fulton Mackay and we start to comb through one of the episodes.

It's Christmas time again and that means all the most reputable people in society are going down the pub. We go back to the pub by the gas works to see how the Pub Landlord is handling Christmas with his mother.

Once again we delve into the world of film spin offs as we take a look at the pretty solid Till Death Us Do Part film and the absolutely woeful The Alf Garnett Saga. As usual, we are joined by film expert Sol Harris from Diminishing Returns Podcast. Having not seen much of the original series, he's coming into the films from an unbiased position, but how will that affect his feelings?

Gareth continues his look at what The Young Ones did after The Young Ones with Roll Over Beethoven. A Liza Goddard vehicle that in retrospect feels like Nigel Planer should have been the bigger name, Roll Over Beethoven ran for two (rushed) series in 1985. Written by the esteemed Marks and Gran, it has no laugh track and not that many laughs and it falls apart half way through. But is it worth a re-evaluation?

It's Part 2 of our look at Extras and we continue to journey through the Patrick Stewart episode and look at all the things that changed in series 2. Was it for the better? No. But we'll go into a bit more detail than that.

This week we're looking at Extras, the Gervais/Merchant follow up to global sensation The Office. So what do you do after you've changed the world of comedy? And how badly has it aged in just fifteen years?

When the Whistle Blows was a big hit with audiences but hated by the critics. It's ultimate downfall, however, was a personal one. In this episode of Forgotten Sitcoms we take a look at the show and the man behind it, Andy Millman.

It's Part 2 of our look at political satire The New Statesman and Alan B'Stard's plan to drain Hackney Marshes of its rich oil deposits. We also take a closer look at some of the other cast members and the legacy that B'stard has left across the world of British politics.

This week we take a look at the Rik Mayall vehicle The New Statesman, written by sitcom stalwarts Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. After only two series of their biting political satire, Thatcher was toppled. Coincidence? You decide.

For part 2 of our look at To the Manor Born, we continue on with our dissection of an episode of the classic sitcom and take a journey through the career of Peter Bowles. And then we throw in a little bit of politics. Everything comes back to Thatcher, don't you know.

To the Manor Born starred Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles and was the smash hit of the late seventies and has stayed in the national consciousness as the classic "will they, won't they" story. But given that it exists in a strange rural upper class bubble and it was already out of date forty years ago, will it stand up to the rigours of a 2022 examination?

It's Part 2 of our look at just one slice of the epic Red Dwarf. Here we continue to break apart episode 3, Balance of Power, and we look at the early work of Danny John-Jules and Chris Barrie. This is a really personal one for us but will the series live up to our fond memories?

This week we tackle the enormous Red Dwarf. In fact, it's so big that we've had to break it up a bit. So here we deal with just the first two series. The awkward growing years when it was still figuring out what it was. We take a deep dive on a specific episode and have a look at the brief pre-Dwarf careers of the main cast.

It's part 2 of our look at the not exactly fondly remembered oddity Sean's Show, which graced our screens courtesy of Channel 4 back in the early nineties. This week we discuss some of the guest appearances and have a chat about other stand ups who made the transition to the world of sitcom.

This week we take on our most obscure choice yet. Sean's Show was an early nineties sitcom that lasted two series and tried to capture the comic talents of Sean Hughes. Is it as good as we remember it or is it a load of post-modernist nonsense?

It's Part 2 of our look at Till Death Us Do Part and we try to get to grips with Alf Garnett and his somewhat outdated views. How did the character develop as he went from 1965 to 1998?

To start out the new series we've gone back to a classic, Till Death Us Do Part. But the show is not without its controversies. How well does it hold up after fifty years of societal change?

For this bonus episode we're teaming up with SADDO Podcast to talk about the first American attempt to remake Fawlty Towers, Snavely, starring Betty White and Harvey Korman.

It's Christmas so we're going back to where we started a year ago and visit Steptoe and Son as they plan a holiday. This was the last episode ever of Steptoe and it's a great send off after ten years.

In his pre-Only Fools and Horses days, David Jason had several attempts at starring roles over at ITV. Lucky Feller was a one series wonder made in 1976 but does it stand up to scrutiny 45 years later?

To cap off series 2 we've put together a quiz to test your general sitcom knowledge as well as how much you can remember from the shows we've talked about. Play along with Gareth and see if you can beat him.

The spiritual middle child between The Young Ones and Bottom, Filthy Rich & Catflap managed one lonely series in 1987. With Ben Elton writing and the funny three from The Young ones all involved, what could possibly go wrong? Gareth steps up to the mic to give his analysis of the show and his controversial opinions of Rik Mayall.

It's Halloween and that means it's time for a spooky special. Unfortunately, British sitcoms haven't particularly embraced this particular holiday so it's slim pickings. But a good excuse to look at Bottom.

Starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson, After Henry was a big hit for ITV back in the eighties but it's pretty much forgotten now. Perfect fodder for a new episode of Forgotten Sitcoms.

After our recent look at The Inbetweeners, we decided to team up with our friends at Diminishing Returns Podcast to review the film spin-offs. They were some of the most successful British comedies of all time but how do they measure up to the series?

It's Part 2 of our look at The Inbetweeners and this week we conclude our review of the episode "The Field Trip" and see what the actors have been doing since the show ended.

To round out series 2, we're taking on a modern classic. The Inbetweeners seemed to speak to every 6th former in the country and spawned new catchphrases with every episode. But does it still hold up after ten years?

In part 2 of our look at Sorry! we continue our analysis of an episode and take a look at the other actors as well as a sitcom spotlight on Ronnie Hazlehurst.

This week we take on eighties Ronnie Corbett vehicle Sorry! We do a big old biography section on Corbett himself and try to work out if Phyllis Lumsden is the most horrific villain in sitcom history.

It's part 2 of our look at classic sixties sitcom The Rag Trade and this week we delve into the career of Reg Varney and evaluate the LWT remake from the seventies.

We're going all the way back to the early sixties this week to look at the original incarnation of The Rag Trade starring Miriam Karlin and Sheila Hancock with Reg Varney.

It's Part 2 of our look at the first three series of Only Fools and Horses and this time we'll be looking at the early years of Nicholas Lyndhurst and continuing our dissection of The Long Legs of the Law.

Here it is, the big one. Too big actually so we've had to break it up for parts. Here we tackle Only Fools and Horses - The Grandad Years, encompassing the first three series of John Sullivan's British institution.

In part 2 of our look at The Thin Blue Line, we continue our analysis of the show itself but also put Ben Elton on trial. Has he sold out or is working with Andrew Lloyd Webber not so bad?

This week we take a look at the Rowan Atkinson sitcom The Thin Blue Line. Made in the mid-nineties, the show is certainly fixed in its time and place but is writer Ben Elton also harking back to a different era?

It's part 2 of our look at classic seventies sitcom Fawlty Towers. Here we look at the careers of Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales as well as finding out what became of Basil the Rat.

It's series 2 and we're opening with a true classic. Can farce work on TV? Is it as good as you remember it? Come with us as we check in for a couple of weeks at Fawlty Towers.

As a little aperitif to series 2 of the British Sitcom History Podcast, here are some selected cuts from series 1.

We've got a two for one special today as we look at the office politics of mid seventies Eric Chappell show The Squirrels. And as a cheeky bonus we also look at the remake from the early nineties, Fiddlers Three.

From the creator of Reginald Perrin, Dogfood Dan and Carmarthen Cowboy was a failed sitcom that got one series back in 1988. It follows two lorry drivers who are unknowingly having an affair with the other's wife. Hilarity ensues. Or does it?

The Wackers didn't even complete it's first series back in 1975 before it got cancelled due to poor audience reaction. But why didn't it land with the viewers and how similar is it to Bread?

A little bonus for you between series; here is our tie-in episode with film review podcast Diminishing Returns. We talked about the film spin-off of Steptoe and Son and a bit about sitcom films in general. Find more from Diminishing Returns at dimreturns.com

Sitcoms come and go but not many of them stand the test of time. We try and celebrate (or denigrate) those that have been forgotten over the years. Get Well Soon managed one lacklustre series in 1997 but it has an interesting backstory as it is based on the real life experiences of sitcom legends Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

In this round up of all the shows we looked at in Series One, Allen challenges Gareth with a music quiz and tests his memory on everything we've learned over the last twelve episodes.

It's part 2 of our look at Time Gentlemen Please in which we discuss the life and career of Richard Herring and find out what happened to the Pub Landlord after the show.

In this episode we're looking at the somewhat ill-fated attempt to convert Al Murray's Pub Landlord character into the medium of sitcom. We're big fans of Murray and fellow writer Richard Herring so this one is a bit of a nostalgia fest for the heyday of the nineties. But how does the show hold up twenty years later?

It's part 2 of our look at eighties sitcom Dear John, starring Ralph Bates as the hapless divorcee surrounded by wacky characters. In this episode we take a look at what the actors did before and after their time with Dear John and attend a party at Mrs. Boyd-Peter's house (don't mention her embarrassing problem).

Not all sitcoms are classics and this week we're going to prove it by looking at the somewhat forgotten Dear John. Running for two series in 1986-87, it was written by John Sullivan (of Only Fools and Horses fame) and starred former Hammer Horror icon Ralph Bates. Over the top characters and pointless plots are all in store.

Part 2 of our look at Rising Damp sees us delve into the careers of Don Warrington and Richard Beckinsale as well as a pseudo-scientific analysis of who exactly is getting the laughs in this show.

Centred around one of the greatest performances in sitcom, Leonard Rossiter leads an excellent cast in seventies classic Rising Damp. In this episode we look at Eric Chappell's play The Banana Box, which came to be Rising Damp and we look at the careers of Rossiter and Frances de la Tour.

In Part 2 of our look at One Foot in the Grave we continue to analyse our specific episode and break down the show as a whole. Eric Idle gets a bit of a bashing and we look at some of the comedy guest stars that turned up on the show.

Is One Foot in the Grave a timeless classic? We get stuck into the nineties sitcom and discuss who is the bigger git, Richard Wilson or David Renwick?

In Part 2 of our discussion of Bread, we try not to go on too much about how much we love Victor McGuire so we can find time to talk about the rest of the cast. We also look at the final episode and decide if the seven years hard work paid off.

This week we take a look at eighties classic Bread. Written by Carla Lane and becoming a de facto image of Liverpool, the show ran for several years, encompassing cast changes throughout. But was it a sitcom or more of a soap opera with occasional gags? And of course we answer the ultimate question: Joey Boswell, sexy or smarmy?

It's part 2 of our look at Steptoe and Son, in which we finish looking at the episode 'Crossed Swords' and look at the legacy of Steptoe, including the American remake Sanford and Son. We also see what happened to the writers and actors once their most famous creations had been put to bed.

In this episode of the British Sitcom History Podcast, we take a look at the origins of Steptoe and Son and the early days of writers Galton and Simpson. We look at a specific episode to break down what made the show so popular.