Our Top 10 Best British Sitcoms Ever (and the 'Rules' of Comedy)

Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville rank the 10 best British sitcoms ever, debating Fawlty Towers, The Office, Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder, Dad’s Army, Peep Show, Absolutely Fabulous and more. In this episode: Peter and Jimmy discuss Ann Droid and what makes a great sitcom How each episode of Fawlty Towers is constructed so well Why Dad’s Army has survived across generations How The Office became a timeless British comedy The cultural importance of Derry Girls Why Blackadder works despite its unlikeable central character Whether Only Fools and Horses deserves a higher place The enduring appeal of Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave The difference between British and American comedy Whether shorter series create a stronger television legacy Whether controversial sitcoms such as Till Death Us Do Part can still be watched today And the worst comedy note Jimmy ever received… Have a question, opinion or suggestion? Leave a comment on YouTube, find us on socials @InsidersTVPod, or email us at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a 5 star rating on your podcast app, subscribe to the show and share this episode with a friend — it really helps us grow. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and rules 03:39 Dad’s Army 06:15 Peep Show 08:10 Blackadder 10:43 Miranda 12:22 Fawlty Towers 16:03 One Foot in the Grave 18:14 Till Death Us Do Part 20:52 The Office 24:04 Only Fools and Horses 28:26 Absolutely Fabulous versus Not Going Out #BritishSitcoms #BestBritishSitcoms #FawltyTowers #TheOffice #OnlyFoolsAndHorses #Blackadder #DadsArmy #PeepShow #AbsolutelyFabulous #Miranda #OneFootInTheGrave #TillDeathUsDoPart #DerryGirls #AlanPatridge #FatherTed #AnnDroid #BritishComedy #TVComedy #Comedy #Television #TVPodcast #InsidersTVPod Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered and Episodes. In the US, Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 1997, which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer. Peter Fincham ran TalkBack, where he executive produced many of its biggest shows, including I’m Alan Partridge, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Da Ali G Show. He went on to be Controller of BBC1, Director of Television at ITV and co-CEO of Expectation, the company behind Clarkson’s Farm and Alma’s Not Normal. New episodes every Friday. YouTube: /@insiderstvpodcast Email: [email protected] Instagram: @InsidersTVPod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.