September 19, 1975 — a day that will live on in history as the day one of the most brilliant situation comedies of all-time debuted on the BBC. Born out of a seemingly uneventful trip to the Torquay Gleneagles Hotel by the original members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers is comedy greatness that has not seen its […]
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Still Open All Hours, the sequel to the iconic BBC sitcom Open All Hours, which originally ran from 1973 to 1985, will return later this year for a Christmas special one-off followed by a third series with a targeted transmission date of January 2017. Starring original OAH cast members, David Jason, Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole and Maggie Ollerenshaw, Still Open All Hours is written by […]
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Who’s up for a bit of ‘science, Monty Python-style’ this Christmas? If you are, then The Entire Universe will be the perfect BBC2 Christmas gift to unwrap this holiday season. International Man of Science, Brian Cox, and the comedic greatness of Eric Idle will join forces what will appear to be a scientific lecture going weird. Really weird […]
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It’s fitting that the series which originally laid the groundwork for the current 60th celebration of the BBC sitcom, turned out to be a gem of a find in a lost Hancock’s Half Hour script. It was 1956 when one of the most popular shows in the UK made the unheard of scary leap from radio to television, […]
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As most of us ‘smegheads’ are painfully aware, it’s been a long, long four years since we last visited with the boys aboard Red Dwarf, the mining vessel owned by the Jupiter Mining Corporation. It’s hard to believe but it was way back in October 2012 when Red Dwarf X graced the small screen with some brilliant […]
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Young Hyacinth premiered last week as part of the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season along with other ‘tip-of-the-hat’ specials including Goodnight Sweetheart, Porridge and Are You Being Served?. Having now had the opportunity to be able to screen all of them, I thought the Keeping Up Appearances prequel starring Kerry Howard worked exceptionally well. Even though the one-off was brilliantly written by […]
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Buried smack dab in the middle of the current sitcom reboot/remake/prequel overload comes a really promising new comedy pilot offering airing tonight at 10p on BBC2. Motherland, starring Anna Maxwell-Martin (Bletchley Circle, Death Comes to Pemberley, And Then There Were None), Lucy Punch (Doc Martin, Hot Fuzz), Diane Morgan (Mock the Week, Mount Pleasant) and Paul Ready […]
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It appears that the ‘perfect storm’ we all thought it would take to get another comedy vehicle for John Cleese might be on the horizon. First, earlier this week, it was revealed that John Cleese’s fellow Monty Python member Eric Idle is to return to the Beeb this Winter. He will star in a new Christmas comedy […]
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Every so often, I feel the need to get a weekend dose of the greatest British comedy of all time, Fawlty Towers. Perhaps this is because FT is as close to comedy perfection as there is, even after some 40 years since it was produced. In between, there’s nothing better than a bit of Monty Python and […]
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Sunday night on BBC1, as part of the channel’s Landmark Sitcom Season, it’s Are You Being Served, Again”… again. This time, however, it’s 1988 but we’re not on a farm of any kind. Grace Brothers is re-opening its doors and Young Mr Grace is determined to drag the flagship department store into, well 1988, but he has a […]
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