The Greatest British Comedy TV Shows Of All Time
by jackpittorino-6-215401 | created - 02 Dec 2019 | updated - 21 Aug 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy
The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle
Votes: 78,744
2. Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Votes: 100,079
3. Mr. Bean (1990–1995)
Not Rated | 25 min | Comedy, Family
Bumbling, childlike Mr. Bean has trouble completing the simplest of day-to-day tasks, but his perseverance and resourcefulness frequently allow him to find ingenious ways around problems.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Matilda Ziegler, Robin Driscoll, Matthew Ashforde
Votes: 133,189
4. Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973–1978)
30 min | Comedy
Accident-prone Frank Spencer fails to navigate the simplest tasks of daily life, while also trying to look after his wife and baby.
Stars: Michael Crawford, Michele Dotrice, Jessica Forte, Dick Bentley
Votes: 4,170
5. Spitting Image (1984–1996)
25 min | Comedy
A satire show using puppets that are caricatures of major public figures.
Stars: Steve Nallon, Kate Robbins, Chris Barrie, Jon Glover
Votes: 2,480
6. Horrid Henry (2006–2021)
TV-Y7 | 11 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
Horrible Henry, he lives an unfair life and feels that the rest of the world is against him and maintains a constant war with the adults.
Stars: Lizzie Waterworth, Tamsin Heatley, Emma Tate, Aidan Cook
Votes: 1,285
7. Up Pompeii! (1969–1970)
30 min | Comedy, History
Lurcio is a much-put-upon slave in the ancient Roman town of Pompeii. More often than not, Lurcio finds himself keeping his owner's family members apart, in order to keep them together.
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Elizabeth Larner, Kerry Gardner, Jeanne Mockford
Votes: 372
8. Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003)
TV-PG | 95 min | Comedy
Comedy that follows two brothers from London's rough Peckham estate as they wheel and deal through a number of dodgy deals and search for the big score that'll make them millionaires.
Stars: David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Roger Lloyd Pack, Buster Merryfield
Votes: 56,662
9. The Benny Hill Show (1969–1989)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
A skit based show with Benny Hill, often containing smutty humour.
Stars: Benny Hill, Henry McGee, Jackie Wright, Bob Todd
Votes: 5,509
10. The Goodies (1970–1982)
30 min | Comedy
The adventures of a crazy trio whose motto is "we do anything, anytime, anywhere."
Stars: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Corbet Woodall
Votes: 1,885
11. The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2020)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy
A boisterous female minister comes to serve in an eccentricly conservative small town's church.
Stars: Dawn French, James Fleet, Trevor Peacock, Gary Waldhorn
Votes: 15,465
12. Red Dwarf (1988– )
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.
Stars: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn
Votes: 37,266
13. The Two Ronnies (1971–1987)
Comedy
This long-running BBC comedy show consisted of sketches and humourous musical routines.
Stars: Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, The Fred Tomlinson Singers, John Owens
Votes: 3,583
14. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (1985)
26 min | Comedy, Family
The misadventures of a nerdish teenage boy as recorded in his personal diary.
Stars: Gian Sammarco, Stephen Moore, Bill Fraser, Lindsey Stagg
Votes: 538
15. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1987)
26 min | Comedy
Continuation of the rites of passage comedy drama about spotty teenager Adrian Mole. Set in the early 1980s, Adrian's mother and father are back together but while they are trying for a ... See full summary »
Stars: Gian Sammarco, Steven Mackintosh, Lulu, Stephen Moore
Votes: 181
16. Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (2001)
30 min | Comedy
The world's most uncomfortably awkward deluded intellectual teenager is grown up and battling the late 1990s.
Stars: Stephen Mangan, Alison Steadman, Harry Tomes, James Hazeldine
Votes: 155
17. Man About the House (1973–1976)
30 min | Comedy
Sitcom exploring the trials and tribulations created by one man and two women flat-sharing in the 70s.
Stars: Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce
Votes: 1,576
18. Dad's Army (1968–1977)
30 min | Comedy, War
A ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II.
Stars: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie
Votes: 7,226
19. The Lovers (1970–1971)
30 min | Comedy
The ups-and-downs of a young courting couple's relationship.
Stars: Paula Wilcox, Richard Beckinsale, Joan Scott, Robin Nedwell
Votes: 95
20. George & Mildred (1976–1979)
30 min | Comedy
George and Mildred Roper have just moved into a middle-class neighborhood.
Stars: Yootha Joyce, Brian Murphy, Norman Eshley, Sheila Fearn
Votes: 1,714
21. Robin's Nest (1977–1981)
30 min | Comedy
Now a qualified chef, Robin from "Man About the House" (1973) sets up home with his girlfriend, and a business with his girlfriend's father.
Stars: Richard O'Sullivan, Tessa Wyatt, Tony Britton, David Kelly
Votes: 814
22. The Good Life (1975–1978)
28 min | Comedy
Tom Good quits the rat race, and with wife Barbara turns the garden of their Surbiton house into a smallholding. Their neighbours, snobbish Margo Leadbetter and her conventional husband Jerry, feel variously amused, offended and impressed.
Stars: Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith, Paul Eddington
Votes: 4,015
23. The Young Ones (1982–1984)
TV-14 | 35 min | Comedy
The crazy and sometimes surreal comedic adventures of four very different students in Thatcher's Britain.
Stars: Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan
Votes: 16,438
24. Bottom (1991–1995)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy
Two perpetually bored and broke flatmates waste their days in a futile struggle to get laid, earn cash, and not kill one another.
Stars: Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Steven O'Donnell, Christopher Ryan
Votes: 14,173
25. Blackadder (1982–1983)
TV-PG | 195 min | Comedy
In the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray, Tim McInnerny
Votes: 41,052
26. Blackadder II (1986)
TV-PG | 176 min | Comedy
In the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 49,856
27. Blackadder the Third (1987)
TV-PG | 180 min | Comedy
In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Helen Atkinson Wood
Votes: 47,057
28. Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)
TV-PG | 175 min | Comedy, War
Stuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie
Votes: 56,819
29. The Mighty Boosh (2003–2007)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
Surreal British comedy in which Vince Noir and Howard Moon have adventures filled with oddball characters while working as Zoo Keepers, before pursuing a musical career and running a second-hand shop.
Stars: Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher
Votes: 24,021
30. Shameless (2004–2013)
TV-MA | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The lives and relationships of a group of siblings and their estranged father Frank Gallagher on a rough Manchester estate.
Stars: David Threlfall, Rebecca Atkinson, Alice Barry, Nicky Evans
Votes: 18,462
31. The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996)
30 min | Comedy, Crime
Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus, Serena Evans
Votes: 7,941
32. Love Thy Neighbour (1972–1976)
30 min | Comedy
A white working-class socialist has his world turned upside down when an educated black man moves in next door.
Stars: Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper, Kate Williams
Votes: 782
33. On the Buses (1969–1973)
30 min | Comedy
Jack-the-lad bus driver and conductor Stan and Jack enjoy the female employees more than their work and Inspector Blake is relentless in his attempts to make their lives a misery.
Stars: Anna Karen, Bob Grant, Stephen Lewis, Reg Varney
Votes: 2,651
34. Steptoe and Son (1962–1974)
TV-PG | 45 min | Comedy
British sitcom about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in London. The intergenerational divide between the miserly Steptoe and his ambitious son results in comedy, drama, and tragedy.
Stars: Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett, Frank Thornton, Tim Buckland
Votes: 3,421
35. Ripping Yarns (1976–1979)
TV-PG | 30 min | Adventure, Comedy
This show is a collection of tales that make for "ripping good" television. Sir Michael Palin played a different lead character in each yarn.
Stars: Michael Palin, Charles McKeown, Barbara New, David Griffin
Votes: 1,701
36. Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy
A snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connections and the constant chagrin of her long suffering husband.
Stars: Patricia Routledge, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Hughes, Judy Cornwell
Votes: 17,857
37. Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1960)
30 min | Comedy
TV version of the popular BBC radio show of the same name, with Tony Hancock as the modern man of the world (in his own eyes). Sid James is there to bring him back to earth.
Stars: Tony Hancock, Sidney James, Johnny Vyvyan, Alec Bregonzi
Votes: 591
38. The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968–1977)
Comedy
The Morecambe & Wise Show was a long running and massively popular sketch series starring British comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, plus a string of top-name international celebrity guests (of a bygone age), like André Prévin.
Stars: Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Ann Hamilton, Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen
Votes: 1,056
39. The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978–1983)
30 min | Comedy
The Morecambe and Wise Show was a comedy sketch show originally broadcast by BBC television and the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise.
Stars: Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Frank Coda, Gemma Craven
Votes: 1,021
40. Peep Show (2003–2015)
TV-MA | 25 min | Comedy
Mark and Jez are a couple of twenty-something roommates who have nothing in common - except for the fact that their lives are anything but normal. Mayhem ensues as the pair strive to cope with day-to-day life.
Stars: David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Matt King, Olivia Colman
Votes: 66,525
41. The Inbetweeners (2008–2010)
TV-14 | 25 min | Comedy
Follows four friends and their antics during their final years of school.
Stars: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas
Votes: 94,300
42. A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987–1995)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
Comedians Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie perform a variety of comedy skits and the occasional musical number.
Stars: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Deborah Norton, Geoffrey McGivern
Votes: 9,917
43. Miss Jones and Son (1977– )
30 min | Comedy
The tribulations of a young woman who suddenly finds herself a single mother to her son.
Stars: Paula Wilcox, Christopher Beeny, Luke Steensil, Cass Allen
Votes: 38
44. ...And Mother Makes Three (1971–1973)
30 min | Comedy
Sally Harrison is a harassed, well-meaning but scatterbrained young widow doing her best to bring up two boisterous sons.
Stars: Wendy Craig, Valerie Lush, Robin Davies, David Parfitt
Votes: 68
45. ...And Mother Makes Five (1974–1976)
30 min | Comedy
Newly remarried Sally Redway (formerly Harrison) finds that her children, now augmented by the daughter of her new husband, may be a little older, but are just as troublesome as before.
Stars: Wendy Craig, Richard Coleman, Robin Davies, David Parfitt
Votes: 58
46. Shirley's World (1971–1972)
30 min | Comedy
Shirley Logan (Shirley MacLaine) is a globe-trotting magazine writer-photographer, and Dennis Croft (John Gregson) her London-based editor.
Stars: Shirley MacLaine, John Gregson, Kim Smith, Burt Kwouk
Votes: 64
47. Father, Dear Father (1968–1973)
30 min | Comedy
A comedy of the life of a divorced father and his two daughters.
Stars: Patrick Cargill, Natasha Pyne, Ann Holloway, Noel Dyson
Votes: 195
48. Bless This House (1971–1976)
30 min | Comedy
Sid and Jean struggle to understand their teen kids' progressive ways. The couple lives in London with protest-loving son Mike and trendy daughter Sally.
Stars: Sidney James, Diana Coupland, Robin Stewart, Sally Geeson
Votes: 1,054
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