Take a tour of the British Isles in accents

From a drama standpoint, have you ever wondered as you were watching the likes of MI-5, Doc Martin, Scott & Bailey, New Tricks, Case Histories, Call the Midwife, Father Brown or Eastenders how where the show is set will dictate the accents used in the show? How about from a comedy standpoint with Last of […]

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From the Friday Vault: Porridge with Ronnie Barker

‘Doing porridge’ is British slang for serving a prison sentence, partly due to the fact that porridge was once the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. Voted number seven in the 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms, this mid-70’s series, Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, tells the story of one, Norman […]

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British sitcoms salute the labor force

Since the beginning of time, well, at least since 1946 when Pinwright’s Progress premiered on the BBC, the British sitcom has always saluted the labor force. After Pinwright’s Progress, the evolution of how the situation comedy dealt with the workforce really took off. Up next in the mid-50’s was Hancock’s Half Hour where Tony Hancock seemed […]

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Life imitates Art in The Good Life

Over the course of our Behind the Britcom interviews with Richard Briers and Penelope Keith from The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the U.S.), it was quite clear not only from the actors point of view, but also from the writer, Bob Larbey, that Tom and Barbara Good’s concept of self-sufficiency is more relevant today […]

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Roy Clarke discusses the last of Last of the Summer Wine

As we reported here earlier this summer, the world’s longest running situation comedy on television, Last of the Summer Wine, is coming to a close in the UK this coming Sunday, 1 August. Transmission is scheduled to begin on many U.S. public television stations as early as November 2010. How does one begin to bring to […]

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Arkwright 1, Apu 0

Combining their unique ability to create “best-of” lists for just about anything with their definite love for the small screen, the British have done it again. This time, it’s Britain’s favorite television shopkeeper. According to a recent poll conducted by consumer watchdog, Which, and reported on in WalesOnline, Ronnie Barker’s portrayal of Arkwright in Open […]

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The minds behind the brilliance of British comedy

Some of you know, some don’t, that we are currently in production on a PBS special to air in March 2011 across the U.S. that will attempt to pay homage to what many of us feel is the number one reason as to why British comedy is brilliant – the writers. In the special, we’ll hear […]

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