Without question, when a British comedy fan is asked what it is they like about British comedy, the first answer is “…the writing“. Ask any actor or actress what it is that sets British comedy apart from the rest of television as we know it, the answer is always “…the writing“. It’s intelligent television that makes you laugh, but also makes you think.

When you wake up this morning, we’ll  be moving one step closer to completing an incredible program for PBS with a new round of interviews this week in London. This show will pay tribute to the writers of your favorite British comedies of all time. The program will be broadcast in March 2011 on PBS stations nationwide. No official title yet, so if you have a genius idea for one, please e-mail me at tellyspotting@kera.org.

Finished two rounds of interviews at this point. Getting great insights from writers such as Richard Curtis (Blackadder, Vicar of Dibley), Bob Larbey (As Time Goes By, Mulberry, The Good Life), Roy Clarke (Keeping Up Appearances, Open All Hours and Last of the Summer Wine), Jeremy Lloyd (Are You Being Served?, ‘Allo, ‘Allo) and Carla Lane (Butterflies). Equally as brilliant, have been the interviews with Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Briers, James Fleet, Trevor Peacock, Josephine Tewson, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister and Gareth Gwenlan. Click the link for more photos from last Fall’s interviews at the tellyspotting flickr page.

This week’s line-up

This is going to be just the other side of very cool.

• Penelope Keith, The Good Life and To the Manor Born
• Roger Lloyd Pack, Vicar of Dibley and The Old Guys
• Clive Swift, Keeping Up Appearances and The Old Guys
• Karl Howman, Mulberry and Brush Strokes
• Harold Snoad, producer/director, Keeping Up Appearances
• John Howard Davies, producer/director, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Reginald Perrin and The Good Life

If that’s not enough, topping the week off will be long-sought after interviews with Dawn French and Dame Judi Dench.

I can’t begin to thank everyone that has either been interviewed or has agreed to be interviewed. Really, really busy individuals that have set aside time from both shooting schedules and holiday schedules. All of us involved cannot thank them enough for their time and for the gifts they’ve given us over the years on both sides of the camera.

Bookmark tellyspotting and stop in over the next couple of weeks for posts that will include production photos and interview highlights. If you have questions for any of those listed above that we are interviewing, would love to hear them and we will do our best to incorporate them into the questioning. You can e-mail questions to tellyspotting@kera.org and we’ll give it a go.

In: Actors/Actresses,Comedy