British Sitcom History Podcast

We had so much to talk about when we watched Ghosts that we've come back for more. In this bonus episode, we take a deep dive on the timeline of the Ghosts and get a bit of contextual history around their specific time periods.

Just a quick bonus as we prepare for the new series. Allen has been immersing himself in the world of comedy and going to a few live events and meeting the big nobs from the world of light entertainment. Here he shares his experiences. In this episode we talk about Su Pollard: Fully Charged; An Afternoon with Gloria ( Melvin Hayes); Why We Love Steve Brown; and Hambledon Productions take on Hancock's Half Hour. With a quick bonus meeting with Marks and Gran.

For this year's christmas special we are venturing back to the Garnett household in 1966 where the family are upholding all the christmas traditions such as falling out and throwing stuff at the wall.

Part 2 of our look at Ghosts, which we're classing as very recent history in the world of sitcom. This week we are taking a look at some more of the actors such as Simon Farnaby and (spoiler alert) going all the way to the end and discussing how they closed it all off. This is the end of our regular series for now but there will be a Christmas special next week so enjoy!

This week we are doing our most recent sitcom yet with Ghosts. They officially closed off the series with a christmas special in 2023 so now is our chance to look back at what is arguably one of the best mainstream sitcoms of the last twenty years.

Part 2 of our look at The Other one in which we delve into the very odd second series and have a closer look at the comedy career of Michael Gambon.

Thanks to a listener poll, this week we are taking on the relatively obscure seventies sitcom The Other One. Richard Briers teams up once again with the writers Esmonde and Larbey in the immediate aftermath of their biggest hit, The Good Life. Michael Gambon makes a relatively rare sitcom appearance to make up the odd couple who meet and become friends on a package holiday to Spain. This is a fascinating show that has a weird second series so there's plenty to talk about!

Part 2 of our breakdown of Phoenix Nights as we continue to struggle with the urge to quote every single line. We do love it so but we take time to look at the further careers of writers Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice as well as asking the question: Peter Kay - git?

Part 1 of our take on Phoenix Nights, a personal favourite for both of us so prepare yourself for some nostalgia and laughter but also we try and take an in-depth and completely speculative look at the psychology of Peter Kay.

Part 2 of our look at Desmond's and this week we get up close and personal with the writer and creator Trix Worrell and of course we take a look at the (lesser) sequel/spin-off, Porkpie.

Desmond's was the culmination of a big push in the 80s (mostly by Channel 4) to have wider cultural and racial representation on TV. But this was no box ticking exercise; at its heart it is a down-the-line family sitcom but it does it oh so well. Norman Beaton, Carmen Munroe, Rom John Holder; these were performers at the top of their game captured in a perfect recipe for comedy.

Part 2 of our look at Whoops Apocalypse takes us to the White House and the Kremlin and we also take a look at the film version of the same idea (but it's not a spin-off). We also take a closer look at Richard Griffiths and find out he's not quite what we expected.

Today we go back to the eighties and Cold War paranoia with the relatively obscure Whoops Apocalypse. More interesting for its position in the history of comedy than for its actual content, could this show be the glue between the sixties satire boom and the alternative comedy of the eighties?

Part 2 of our look at Keeping Up Appearances and we do our best not to be too negative!

Maybe it's just our age but it feels like Keeping Up Appearances was almost ever present when we were growing up. But how does it hold up in the cold light of day? Could it be a timeless classic or is Hyacinth Bucket a true britcom villain?

Allen went to the opening night of the brand new West End show Fawlty Towers - The Play and gives us his totally objective review. Is it going to be the sitcom successor to the Only Fools and Horses Musical and take theatreland by storm? Or is it a lazy cash grab from John Cleese?

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?