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Recommended British TV shows ?


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Thanks for all the great suggestions. Looks like we will subscribe to both Britbox and Acorn through Amazon Prime so we can manage the subscriptions on a monthly basis. I now have a list of over 30 TV shows to look out for and I appreciate the help as many of them I have never heard of.

Stan

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10 minutes ago, foster461 said:

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Looks like we will subscribe to both Britbox and Acorn through Amazon Prime so we can manage the subscriptions on a monthly basis. I now have a list of over 30 TV shows to look out for and I appreciate the help as many of them I have never heard of.

Stan

Stan,

i would be interested in knowing what you go for and what you think about the programs you watched.

 

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Stan, I don’t think it has been mentioned but Vera is worth watching and, I understand from friends, is available in the US

..... Andy 

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2 hours ago, AndyR100 said:

Stan, I don’t think it has been mentioned but Vera is worth watching and, I understand from friends, is available in the US

..... Andy 

Thanks Andy. I have added Vera to the list. When I look at my list I am surprised that so many of the suggested shows are police/crime dramas. Is that just a function of the forum demographics or is that the predominance of British TV ?

 

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:)  You are right, to be honest, police/crime-related drama does tend to be very popular... comedies can be variable, depending on particular taste!

....... Andy

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Prime Suspect, Trial and Retribution, Cracker, Broadchurch to name a few more....

Tim

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11 hours ago, foster461 said:

Thanks Andy. I have added Vera to the list. When I look at my list I am surprised that so many of the suggested shows are police/crime dramas. Is that just a function of the forum demographics or is that the predominance of British TV ?

 

As Hercule says you need to exercise those little grey cells.

 

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Broadchurch and Yes Minister (and Yes Prime Minister) . . . YES

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All of the above (well, almost ...) plus "Rumpole Of The Bailey"

Cheers, Richard

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11 hours ago, Crawfie said:

Another couple to ponder with.....

Lovejoy and Pie In The Sky

Lovejoy was excellent, we watched that series while we were in the UK from 83 to 86 and I now have every episode via Netflix a few years ago. Also enjoyed seeing Ian McShane in the John Wick movies. Have not heard of Pie In the Sky so I added it to the list.

Stan

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Porridge!  Last night there was a hour-long programme that reviewed Ronnie Barker's life and work.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pm6lw/the-many-faces-of-series-2-1-ronnie-barker  He was a genius, writing his own scripts (under pseudonyms). acclaimed as a Shakespearian actor, and a sublime comic.     Any of his work is worth watching, especially with Ronnie Corbett or David Jason (Open All Hours), and Porridge was the apex.   Wonderful ensemble acting, bitingly funny scripts and Barker at his best.

Edited by john.r.davies
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2 hours ago, john.r.davies said:

Porridge!  Last night there was a hour-long programme that reviewed Ronnie Barker's life and work.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pm6lw/the-many-faces-of-series-2-1-ronnie-barker  He was a genius, writing his own scripts (under pseudonyms). acclaimed as a Shakespearian actor, and a sublime comic.     Any of his work is worth watching, especially with Ronnie Corbett or David Jason (Open All Hours), and Porridge was the apex.   Wonderful ensemble acting, bitingly funny scripts and Barker at his best.

^ +  1 ...Although if John Cleese ever watched back his contribution to the programme about Barker and comments about Ronnie Barkers "similarity" to Benny Hill in his bawdier moments, it was carping and frankly felt the Cleese was purely jealous about Barkers eventual capacity and elevation well beyond the ability of Cleese himself...unedifying.

As for Ben Elton I many years ago had relegated  him to a "better writer than performer" decision and nothing he came out with during the programmes convinced me I was wrong. His "hopping from foot to foot" trying to make himself guilt free made me laugh, when I remember the disgraceful asides and snide remarks made by himself and the "new age of comedians" of that time about The Two Ronnies, Terry Scott and June Whitfield, Benny Hill, and especially Bob Monkhouse. Monkhouse when he was dying from Prostate cancer gave an assembled room purely of comedians and writers a masterclass in the art of comedy which when I saw clips of it in the Monkhouse tribute programme brought me to tears...not of mirth. The underlying sadness in his eyes as Monkhouse set up and delivered his lines seemed to say "this is what I was trying to show you...do you get it...yet" ?

Mick Richards 

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3 hours ago, john.r.davies said:

Porridge!  Last night there was a hour-long programme that reviewed Ronnie Barker's life and work.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pm6lw/the-many-faces-of-series-2-1-ronnie-barker  He was a genius, writing his own scripts (under pseudonyms). acclaimed as a Shakespearian actor, and a sublime comic.     Any of his work is worth watching, especially with Ronnie Corbett or David Jason (Open All Hours), and Porridge was the apex.   Wonderful ensemble acting, bitingly funny scripts and Barker at his best.

 

I'd like to argue with you John, but I can't 

Ronnie was, as you say a genius, anything he undertook, starting with The Navy Lark, is repeatedly listenable or watchable

 

I put him at the top of the charts, up with Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.

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1 hour ago, wjgco said:

I put him at the top of the charts, up with Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.

And he never, ever embarassed himself with something like "Curry & Chips"!

 

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6 hours ago, john.r.davies said:

And he never, ever embarassed himself with something like "Curry & Chips"!

 

 

Spike sometimes had difficulty with connecting his ideas and the prevailing reality

V

Curry and chips would have worked well in the concert parties

Edited by wjgco
I put Vurry, for crying out load
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19 hours ago, Motorsport Mickey said:

^ +  1 ...Although if John Cleese ever watched back his contribution to the programme about Barker and comments about Ronnie Barkers "similarity" to Benny Hill in his bawdier moments, it was carping and frankly felt the Cleese was purely jealous about Barkers eventual capacity and elevation well beyond the ability of Cleese himself...unedifying.

As for Ben Elton I many years ago had relegated  him to a "better writer than performer" decision and nothing he came out with during the programmes convinced me I was wrong. His "hopping from foot to foot" trying to make himself guilt free made me laugh, when I remember the disgraceful asides and snide remarks made by himself and the "new age of comedians" of that time about The Two Ronnies, Terry Scott and June Whitfield, Benny Hill, and especially Bob Monkhouse. Monkhouse when he was dying from Prostate cancer gave an assembled room purely of comedians and writers a masterclass in the art of comedy which when I saw clips of it in the Monkhouse tribute programme brought me to tears...not of mirth. The underlying sadness in his eyes as Monkhouse set up and delivered his lines seemed to say "this is what I was trying to show you...do you get it...yet" ?

Mick Richards 

Saw that master class programme, and like you Mick, thought it quite moving, but he had them all in the palm of his hand.

One joke from that night;-

'I had an affair with an optician, but she drove me crazy,

it was always - is it better like this or like this?'

Or  the last time he was on Parkinson;-

'I don't mind dying, but you are so bloody stiff in the morning!'

John.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Brief update. We went with the 30 day free trial of Acorn via Amazon Prime and have been watching episodes of Lovejoy, Pie in the Sky and Foyles War. All excellent. I shared my spreadsheet with some friends that also enjoy British TV shows.

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