• Judi Dench – No need to say more

    Judi Dench – No need to say more

    As if playing Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Lady MacBeth in MacBeth, Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown and Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love wasn’t enough, Judi Dench has been James Bond’s boss, M, has lent her voice to the animated children’s series, Angelia Ballerina and possesses ten BAFTA’s, seven Laurence Olivier […]

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  • As Time Goes By scores pop culture mention in Funky Winkerbean

    As Time Goes By scores pop culture mention in Funky Winkerbean

    Okay, it may not be the Simpsons, Family Guy or Southpark, but it is Funky Winkerbean with a not so subtle appointment television nod to Bob Larbey, Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench. A big shout out and thanks to Lisa C., long-time British comedy/drama fan in North Texas and frequent Tellyspotting contributor in the comment section, […]

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  • Doc Martin makes North Texas house call

    Doc Martin makes North Texas house call

    While I’ve never heard this “officially” anywhere and I’m guessing there’s a reason for this, I can’t help but watch Doc Martin and not think of Dr. Gregory House, the unconventional and extremely grumpy genius doctor on “another network”. The program has aired for some time on a number of public television stations around the […]

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  • Friday scattershooting – British style

    Friday scattershooting – British style

    Doing a quick search around the Internets, there’s a lot going on in the British television world, whether it be the not-so-breaking news that your favorite hotel from hell manager, John Cleese, has magically decided he likes Germans now after 35+ years, the news of yet another failed attempt at an American re-make or just […]

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  • Yes Prime Minister with a Blackberry

    Yes Prime Minister with a Blackberry

    In what seems to be a weekly occurrence these days, another classic British comedy has made the leap from the small screen to the live stage. Over the course of the last several months, the likes of Are You Being Served, Keeping Up Appearances and Dad’s Army have been adapted for the stage. After a short very […]

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  • Do's and don'ts of successful British comedy

    Do's and don'ts of successful British comedy

    Whether you’re a budding sitcom writer searching for that next great idea or you’ve a viewer that has enjoyed British comedy for many years wondering just what it is that keeps you coming back week after week, there is hope on the horizon that could solve both your issues. The folks over at geeks.co.uk leave […]

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  • Real-life Fawlty Towers matriarch passes at 95

    Real-life Fawlty Towers matriarch passes at 95

    Much as been printed over the years with respect to the fact that Donald Sinclair, owner of the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, was the model for the most infamous hotelier, Basil Fawlty, in the classic British comedy, Fawlty Towers. As the story goes, the Pythons were staying at the hotel during a May 1970 location […]

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  • Peter Bowles & Penelope Keith – 'Rivals' once again

    Peter Bowles & Penelope Keith – 'Rivals' once again

    In another of our “what are they doing now” features, we had to look no further than the classic Theatre Royal in Bath. Peter Bowles (Richard DeVere) and Penelope Keith (Audrey fforbes-Hamilton) have been reunited once again, this time in the stage production of Sheridan’s The Rivals at the Theatre Royal in Bath. You might […]

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  • British comedy – a 360° view

    British comedy – a 360° view

    Okay, this is just plain cool. From our friends over at the BBC Comedy blog comes this behind the scenes 360 degree view of the making of the long-running Britcom, Ideal. Not only is it a 360 degree view, it’s time-lapsed also. You can click and drag on the video and spin the camera in […]

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  • Happy Birthday / Anniversary, Mr. Bean

    Happy Birthday / Anniversary, Mr. Bean

    Sort of combined Happy birthday, Happy anniversary message to an individual who, in all his years on the small screen, barely uttered a word. Mr. Bean, brilliantly played by the genius that is Rowan Atkinson, is celebrating 20 years this year, having premiered on ITV in 1990. Much like the fact that there are only […]

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