If I thought of all the TV shows I’d watched over the years, all the hours I’d spent sat down and switching on to switch off, I probably wouldn’t sound like a very productive person (a matter of perspective maybe). The last couple of months have been a real journey of discovery into (almost exclusively) British comedy shows I’d never seen, or never wanted to commit any time to. Side note…these are all quite short shows, and as of yet accessible for free.
1. Green Wing – Green Wing is one of those off the wall shows with not one serious bone in its body. Despite being set in a hospital, none of its plots are medically related, and it’s characters spend their screen time cartwheeling or playing out romances that feel like caricatures of those in more serious shows, and are just as gripping to watch.
2. Spaced – continuing the channel 4 comedy route, Spaced has been one I’ve watched on repeat for years now, once again during my time at home. It’s constant references to pop culture seem fresh in a modern TV world convoluted with geeky stereotypes who eye roll every time someone says they haven’t watched Star Wars.
3. Black Books – More 4. I know. At this point, you start spotting many of the same actors in each, and there’s a nice kind of familiarity with that. Bernard and Manny are great polar opposites as serial pessimist and serial optimist, while Fran offers the perspective of somewhere in between. Its fast and chaotic at times, exaggerated in its principle setting of a cluttered book shop.
4. The League of Gentlemen – today, some of the characters used in The League of Gentlemen, as well as some of the jokes, do seem quite outdated. But the black humour is niche, and simply reflects the attitudes of the time (some of the characters are meant to be somewhat socially isolated, after all). The characters span between the weirdly mundane to the wacky and offensive, each independent and rarely (if ever) meeting. It is bizarre, and difficult to explain why this kind of humour is so addictive to me, and I think thats part of the charm.
5. Inside No 9 – sticking with Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, Inside no 9 is an anthology…well it’s difficult to define it besides that. Comedy, horror, crime, drama…everything, really. Each as unique as the last. As a fan of older anthologies such as Hammer House of Horror and Tales of the Unexpected, I believe anthologies can never get old.
6. The Mighty Boosh – probably the most outlandish of the lot, it’s humour deviates from relatable and typical to funny words, quite beautiful imagery and total randomness. The characters are all bizarre or exaggerated versions of stereotypes we might be familiar with, but besides that it is a world in and of itself.
Honorable mentions
1. Car Share – I watched this in the space of one evening. I love any TV show or movie that can create something from one principle setting, and rely entirely on dialogue to create what it’s meant to.
2. Psychoville – I think you have to be fan of Shearsmith and Pemberton for this, but that’s just my point of view. Much like The League of Gentlemen, several characters are played by the same actors, and once again the humour comes from the mundane characters who are essentially oddballs. And it is, in places, genuinely creepy. To me, anyway.
3. Ghosts – Unmistakably British I think, with a number of typically English stereotypes such as the stuff upper lip WW2 captain, the sleazy politician, and the anguished poet. It’s jokes are fast paced, and its humour is silly and occasionally essentially adult.
Paint a Mental Picture 