At 82, Patricia Routledge, the star of Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, has not slowed one bit. Following up her 1995 series-ending role as Hyacinth, then moving on to play the crime-solving Hetty Wainthropp, Ms. Routledge continued a long, storied career in both film and musical theatre, including her most recent role as […]
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Probably a bit of an overkill statement, but even with its ups and downs, British situation comedy is still king of comedy on telly….bar none. A big part of which I attribute to the writers. The concept of good writing has never been more important…and needed…than it is today competing in an over-saturated world of […]
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For many, Friday the 13th may be the one day where your actions (or inactions) range from staying inside, avoiding black cats, walk way out of your way to prevent you from walking under ladders, or even attempting to avoid buildings that have a 13th floor. Unfortunately, for Basil Fawlty, every day is Friday the […]
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This is a long one folks so bear with me…. After almost three years of tellyspotting, I continue to have a thought regarding a genre that I’m particularly fond of….British situation comedy. Having grown up on the likes of such classics as Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Good Neighbors, To the Manor Born, Keeping Up Appearances, […]
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Longtime British comedy fan and faithful tellyspotting reader, Lisa Cox, has compiled a brilliant list that leaves the likes of Jeff Foxworthy in the rearview mirror not knowing what hit him. No matter what corner of the globe you find yourself in, I’m banking on the fact that you are a big British comedy fan […]
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Daily, I take a brief moment to thank whomever I can that there are extremely creative people on the planet with an incredible amount of time on their hands. First their was Jimmy Fallon and Downton Sixbey, then, there was Downton Arbys. Now…. For those that have spent an agonizing last couple of years marveling […]
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The greatness of The Simpsons have finally jumped on the Benedict Cumberbatch bandwagon. Seems as though the actor, known forever to all of us as the ultimate consulting detective, Sherlock landed a voice role in the animated sitcom following a chance meeting, reported In Style magazine. “I was at a meeting in the same place […]
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Arthur Mathews, one-half of the brilliant Father Ted writing team, alongside Graham Linehan, has written a new comedy for BBC Radio 4 about life in BBC Broadcasting House in the 1930s. The Golden Age will star Robert Bathurst who played Sir Anthony Strallan in that little-known series, Downton Abbey, and BAFTA winner Vicky McClure, from […]
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British situation comedy series come in all shapes and sizes. There are those that litter the airwave alleys which should have been commissioned for another season but weren’t for some unexplained reason (insert Whites, Dirk Gently and Grass here), there are those that have hung around too long (insert Two Pints of Lager and a […]
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Following our 2009 interview with Penelope Keith on the stage of the Theatre Royal in Bath for the PBS special, More Funny Ladies of British Comedy, we spent a bit of down time getting the full understanding of the importance of regional theatre in the UK from one of the grand dames of British comedy. […]
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