More of The UK’s Forgotten 1970s Sitcoms While the 1970s in Britain are remembered for iconic sitcoms like Porridge, Fawlty Towers, this video revisits these overlooked sitcoms, highlighting their unique contexts and contributions to British comedy. youtu.be/3GuPayCsfwA

More of The UK’s Forgotten 1960s Sitcoms The 1960s. A decade defined by revolution in music, fashion, and culture. But while we all remember The Beatles, Carnaby Street, and the Moon landing, what about the comedies that kept Britain laughing? youtu.be/4XbLZ-wu9_s

This isn't 'the Government' remarking. Hansard is a transcript of commons debates, and this quote is attributed to Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour). No one challenged the Baroness, and the house continued the debate.

Christmas Advent Calendar: The Festive Leftovers Today, we’re diving into the brilliant ‘Festive Leftovers’. I’ve put together some of your requested favourite moments from a host of fantastic Christmas specials that just missed getting on the calendar. youtu.be/BcVFYarURqk

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 24 Today we’re celebrating the legendary three-part special from 1996, a true television event: the ‘Only Fools and Horses Christmas Trilogy’. youtu.be/l9CGIgDlW7Y

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 23 We’re heading to Barry Island and Billericay for the beloved ‘Gavin & Stacey’. Today, we’re celebrating the iconic 2008 Christmas special, which has been voted the second-best UK Christmas sitcom episode of all time! youtu.be/qMWwocZ4cvs

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 22 Behind today’s door is a special that brought a cultural phenomenon to a beautiful, and bittersweet, conclusion. The original UK version of The Office, and the unforgettable Christmas special from 2003 youtu.be/K56ngM6rD6o

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 21 Behind today’s door is a festive special from a show that redefined Irish comedy and gave us three of the most memorable priests in TV history. We’re heading to Craggy Island for Father Ted, and ‘A Christmassy Ted’ youtu.be/kMAB07vTcgI

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 20 Today’s door opens on an episode of Mollie Sugden’s ‘That’s My Boy’. Christmas is a time for family, but some of them are less than welcome when their contribution to the big day isn’t quite what was expected. youtu.be/Jz_HAIXG4hE

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 19 Today’s door opens to a show that captures the sheer terror of social awkwardness and the dark, neurotic comedy of internal monologue. We’re heading to Croydon with Mark and Jeremy in the brilliant Peep Show. youtu.be/RgH6IsSoSOc

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 18 Today we’re celebrating the first, and arguably most iconic, Christmas special of The Royle Family, from 1999. youtu.be/_NYjbMxHFpk

“Summer Wine Decanted” the book to accompany my YouTube series is available at Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLMCRY5C and many online book stores.

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar’ Day 17 We’re heading to the sleepy village of Dibley, where the only thing bigger than the local personalities is the appetite of its very own vicar; The Vicar of Dibley. youtu.be/OnA17IUnRjI

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 16 We’re heading to a squalid flat in London for a festive offering from two of comedy’s greatest anarchists: Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson in ‘Bottom’. youtu.be/SyfBbm33oYo

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 15 Today’s door opens to the final chapter for Andy Millman, the desperate actor trying to make it big. It's the star-studded conclusion of Extras, ‘The Extra Special Series Finale’ which aired at Christmas in 2007. youtu.be/vHf6ya5MwFw

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 14 Today as requested we’re visiting Pledges Pickle Factory to see what they have planned for Christmas. Nellie has entrusted Eli with the Christmas Club money; but that might not have been a good idea. youtu.be/qOqaJjbwJfg

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 11 Today we’re paying a visit see the preparations for a Christmas Nativity play, assisted by the eager but bungling effort of Frank Spencer. This episode features one of Michael Crawford’s many spectacular stunts. youtu.be/saHEEPSDcyI

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 10 Today we visit the long-suffering staff at the Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre in ‘The Brittas Empire’. Get ready, when Brittas is in charge, you know it’s going to be a Christmas catastrophe. youtu.be/xjBK_lIhyFA

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 9 Rob Pickles asked to see Harry Worth a BBC Christmas Night with the Stars programme. All three shows featuring Harry are missing from the archive, so here’s Harry in one of his own festive episodes, The Last Train. youtu.be/vqEbTEv4wtI

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 8 After a journey through some classic gems, it’s time to fast forward to a more modern favourite. Today, we’re opening the door to the 2013 Christmas special of Not Going Out, titled ‘The House’. youtu.be/TAivDDS8fc8

“Summer Wine Decanted” the book to accompany my YouTube series is available at Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLMCRY5C and many online book stores. It covers every major character and many of the regular and supporting characters appearing in the show’s 37 year run, plus an in-depth Trivia section.

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 6 It’s time to step back in time to the 1970s and visit Britain’s most beloved rag-and-bone men, Steptoe and Son. Get ready to enjoy the classic festive comedy of Christmas with Harold and Albert in Oil Drum Lane! youtu.be/5sdmTcFpr00

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 5 We’re taking a nostalgic trip to Grace Brothers department store for a festive ‘Are You Being Served?’ youtu.be/jcW8W53fSSA

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 4 We’re spending some quality time with the one and only Hyacinth Bucket. So, grab your best bone China with the hand-painted periwinkles, and let’s get into it! youtu.be/tOD9X803zgY

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 2 We’re re-visiting a timeless classic: ‘Last of the Summer Wine’. So, grab a cuppa and join Compo, Clegg, and Foggy as they bring their unique brand of Yorkshire mischief to the most magical time of the year! youtu.be/yVCXEdYs5Xc

Christmas Sitcom Advent Calendar Day 1 The first ever sitcom with a Christmas episode was Pinwright’s Progress back in 1946, that entire series is lost to time. So, for our first day, I’ve picked a truly legendary BBC show, ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’. youtu.be/GSVlWBbaroQ

I can finally announce! This Christmas Eve, 2:15pm, BBC Radio 4, a drama I've written - 'The Truth about Phyllis Twigg' - will inform, educate and entertain about the first ever radio drama! 103 years later to the day. If you like this classy image, you should see our cast...

Q and A Thank you for all your interesting questions. My Q and A video will be a YouTube Premiere at 7pm (UK) on Sunday 23 November 2025. Don't forget to set a reminder! youtu.be/Hx1RDin0zDI

Mabel Constanduros and the Birth of Sitcom On a dismally wet February morning in 1925, a 45 year old woman walked along the Thames Embankment, anxious about the meeting she was about to attend. Mabel Constanduros would become a pioneer of British sitcoms and soap opera. youtu.be/sqBO9CnDEAM

ITC’s British–American Co-productions From the mid-1950s through the early 1970s, ITC Entertainment, pioneered lucrative American syndication alongside British broadcast. They also had a fascinating foray into sitcom and light entertainment co-productions and distribution deals. youtu.be/HSTN8uQ0DuQ

A Tribute to the cast of Last of the Summer Wine I’ve seen countless videos claiming to show how various actors died, but they’re often full of false information. So, let’s take a look at what really happened to the cast of Last of the Summer Wine. youtu.be/8GKvnueL-UI

Tribute to Prunella Scales Prunella Scales passed away peacefully at home in London, aged 93. Her sons said she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. youtu.be/FwBR15ckIaw

The UK's Least Funny Sitcoms – Viewers Top 3 You voted in your hundreds, and the results are in. Get ready to count down the three shows that you think are the least funny British sitcoms ever made. youtu.be/lch-Kogr4j8

The continued intransigence of BBC management - gatekeeping a resource that they are preserving on behalf of the public who paid for it - is staggering.

UK’s Least Funny Sitcoms 1990 – 1997 The 1990s. A decade that gave us Britpop, dial-up internet, and what many remember as the golden age of British comedy. I recently asked you to name the sitcoms that you found the least funny and the results are in: youtu.be/AOeZ4DRO9Qg

Sat opposite Don Warrington on the tube.

For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research. Reposts welcomed.

UK's Least Funny Sitcoms 1985 – 1990 The late 1980s. A time of big hair, shoulder pads, and for many people, the golden age of British sitcoms. We’re about to take a look at the sitcoms that your collective memory has deemed the least hilarious between 1985 and 1990. youtu.be/cRUbX3j0kDU

A tribute to actor, singer, national treasure, and the queen of ‘Keeping Up Appearances’, Dame Patricia Routledge, who passed away on 3 October 2025. youtu.be/jXiF6Yi4lYA

UK’s Least Funny Sitcoms 1968 – 1984 We’ve all got our favourite shows, but there are some shows that just didn’t hit the comedic mark for some people. In this video, we’ll explore why you voted these 1970s and 1980s sitcoms the least funny. youtu.be/uVAlwwJmmxI

Today, we're tackling two shows that are practically twins: 'Happy Ever After' and 'Terry And June'! Let's dive find out what made these cosy, comforting sitcoms so beloved, and what, if anything, people found not so charming! youtu.be/liM7PWYeaE4

Love It or Hate It: Not Going Out I asked all of you: which sitcoms do you absolutely adore, or hate? And among your suggestions, one show definitely made a strong appearance: ‘Not Going Out’! Let’s unpack what viewers and critics loved or hated about this very British comedy! youtu.be/p2xnRvAiok4

Love It or Hate It: Derek I’m always curious about your British TV opinions, so I recently threw out the question: which sitcoms do you absolutely love, or maybe hate? And among the fantastic suggestions that poured in, one name kept popping up: ‘Derek’! youtu.be/7P1VpudX2wk

Love It or Hate It I asked you all: which British sitcoms are your absolute favourites, and which ones just rub you the wrong way? And amidst all your brilliant suggestions, ‘Duty Free’ popped up time and time again! youtu.be/o1cIEoo8b-s

Love It or Hate It: To The Manor Born This beloved classic gave us the unforgettable duo of Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton and Peter Bowles as the self-made millionaire, Richard DeVere. So, what could possibly be controversial or disliked about a show like this? youtu.be/b0I9dGSgPDs

Love It or Hate It? I recently asked: which British sitcoms do you absolutely adore, or, let's be honest, totally can't stand? And out of the hundreds of replies I got, one title stood out: 'Sorry!' Let's find out what people loved and, perhaps, what they didn't quite forgive! youtu.be/vhfWouh9bHU

Love It or Hate It: ‘Allo ‘Allo! This classic British sitcom, that aired on BBC One back in 1982 and ran for nine hilarious (and sometimes controversial) seasons, transported us to Nazi-occupied France during World War 2. youtu.be/trikr_AWgfg

Failed US Remakes of Early UK Sitcoms We’ve already looked at the top British sitcoms that had terrible American re-makes, but that list was voted for by a contemporary audience, many of them might have forgotten some of the really good British sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s youtu.be/OPctx_KU2ls

Failed US Remakes of Fawlty Towers So far, we have seen how American re-makes of 19 of the best all-time British sitcoms have been terrible flops. Now it’s time to see what happened to Fawlty Towers when America tried to re-make it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXs5...