If you’re a fan of British comedy at any level, you are keenly aware that the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Carol that’s set for Christmas day broadcast in both the UK and the US is not the first adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale that has a British comedy twist. Perhaps the best, and maybe […]
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The brilliance of The Office ranks right up there with the genius of Fawlty Towers in the fact there were only 12 episodes (plus, two 45-minutes specials) ever produced. Since quitting the Wernham Hogg Paper Company and leaving the world of David Brent and his life in Slough, Berkshire behind, Ricky Gervais has been a busy, […]
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Hard to believe that one half of the brilliant British comedy duo almost hung it up before he got started. Ronnie Corbett says he thought long and hard about abandoning show business before he met his long-time professional partner, Ronnie Barker. As the story goes, Corbett thought about giving up a career in show business […]
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A British couple comes to the U.S. to oversee their successful British comedy being remade by an “American network” — and ruined. Sounds more like a documentary than a comedy to me. Can you blame me? I can name all the British comedies that have had American re-makes on one hand, and have two fingers […]
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British situation comedy. Whether it’s Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, The Office, or the classics of Keeping Up Appearances or Are You Being Served, these are programs that we’ve all watched for years but probably never gave a second thought as to why we laugh. Aside from the brilliant writing, no one really has simplified the mechanical structure […]
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Seems as though it has merely been days since we were getting exhausted just hearing of Judi Dench’s daily work schedule. She’s just back from India where she spent a month filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is based on a book by Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things. It follows a group of British […]
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As we reported here several months back, BBC4 has commissioned a pilot for a sitcom based on the late Douglas Adams’ great post-Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. To quickly refresh your minds about all-things Dirk, the series is based on the original BBC 4 Radio adaptation of Adams’ first book […]
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Keeping Up Appearances icons, Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift recently (ok, it was almost 20 years ago) sat down with BBC Radio broadcaster, Judi Spiers, for a really fun behind the scenes conversation about the iconic British comedy, Keeping Up Appearances, where they allude to their upcoming (at the time) journey aboard the QE2 as […]
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As much as I have always liked the American version of The Office, I have to take exception with the Telegraph’s Ceri Radford and her planting of the flag for the American version versus the British original. Admittedly, the American version of The Office comes as close to being as good as the original British […]
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For those that reside east of the Atlantic, the BBC has given the world a hint of what you’ll be treated to on Christmas Day 2010 with a really top-notch trailer below. As we’ve talked about at great length, schedulers at The Beeb take their jobs extra serious on this day, recognizing the desires of […]
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