So, you want to watch more British TV shows? If you're actually British or just a hardcore anglophile, this list may be stating the obvious. But, if you're one of the uninitiated getting a little bored with American TV and are currently preoccupied with waiting for Season 2 of "Stranger Things", myself and Netflix are here to guide your hand. While I'm sure most people have at least a cursory understanding of the biggest shows to cross the pond - "Doctor Who", "Downton Abbey", and "Sherlock", to name a few - there's a good many that you may have overlooked. Let's not forget that American networks have a nasty habit of rebooting successful British shows with very mixed results, the primary success story of course being "The Office". So, in the interest of being a purist, let's have a look at a few great shows in their true form prior to any abduction by American copycats. While most of the titles on this list are strictly comedies encompassing the UK's trademark dry wit, there are a few BBC and Netlfix originals you may choose to seek out if you're up for something a little more heady. Check out BBC's "Luther" starring Idris Elba as a tormented homicide detective, or the ITV crime drama "Broadchurch" following David Tennant and Olivia Colman as detectives investigating the death of a young boy in a small coastal town. Though I personally haven't seen that one yet and that's why it's not in the list, Doctor Who fans will rejoice at the presence of Tennant and, fun fact, "Broadchurch" creator Chris Chibnall will be taking over for long-time Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat after Season 10. That's a whole different ball of wax though, so let's stay on topic and get rolling.
1. Peep Show (2003 - 2015)
British TV shows are notorious for having relatively short runs, presumably so they don't get stale as well as due to smaller crews and budgets. I figured I'd start off with a show that is not only my personal favorite but has one of the longest runs of the others listed here at nine series and 54 episodes. "Peep Show" follows the lives of two twenty-something roommates, the straight-laced and prudish Mark (David Mitchell, left) and slacker wanna-be musician Jeremy (Robert Webb, right). The show is packed back to front with the kind of cringe-worthy situational humor we've come to recognize from "The Office". Between Jeremy's blunderous attempts at adulthood and Mark's pining love for officemate Sophie (Olivia Colman), you'll feel the awkwardness burn in your stomach. The show also has an interesting filming style owed to its namesake - with the exception of exterior establishing shots, every one of the camera's views are from the POV of the characters, mostly Mark and Jeremy. This puts you right in the middle of every agonizing, hilarious moment. Seasons 1-8 are available to stream on Netflix, while the ninth is still currently unavailable.
2. The Inbetweeners (2008 - 2010)
MTV attempted to adapt this one into an American version back in 2012 but, like their many other attempts to regurgitate perfectly good shows, let’s pretend that didn’t happen. “The Inbetweeners” is a single-camera coming-of-age comedy following four teenagers attempting to survive high school in suburban London. Posh, bookish nerd Will (Simon Bird) is the new kid trying to adapt to his new school, only to find himself amongst the school’s other social outcasts – naïve everyman Simon (Joe Thomas), obnoxious skirt-chasing Jay (James Buckley), and good-natured simpleton Neil (Blake Harrison). The crew’s attempts to fit in, get laid, and avoid certain destruction at the hands of school headmaster Mr. Gilbert (Greg Davies) are constantly foiled by their own ineptitude and outrageous coincidences that always bring them back to the bottom of the social pile. Ever get drunk and projectile vomit in front of your crush all over her kitchen while your friend teaches her seven year-old brother about dirty bombs in the living room? Well you’ll feel like you had. Though cruelly limited to three seasons and 18 episodes, all three seasons as well as two feature length movies that take the foursome abroad are all available on Netflix.
3. Black Mirror (2011 - )
Let’s take a break from comedy and talk about the Peabody and International Emmy Award-winning series “Black Mirror”. Originally a Channel 4 production, this is a sci-fi/drama/horror anthology series a la The Twilight Zone bringing to life horrific what-if scenarios surrounding socio-political phenomena, dystopian futures, and the power of media technology in culture. The first episode, entitled The National Anthem, is no doubt the most notorious. After a beloved member of the Royal Family is kidnapped, Prime Minister Michael Callow is faced with a horrifyingly symbolic proposition – either the Princess dies, or he shows his humility by having sex with a pig live on national television. Let that sink in. With two seasons and seven hour-long episodes, the feeling is much more like you have seven short films to take in, each as devastating as the last. I recommend taking a break between each episode to compose yourself. Season 3 broadcast rights have since been acquired by Netflix, and will be released there for your binge-hungry eyes on October 21st.
4. Detectorists (2014 - )
Let’s ease back into comedy with this under-the-radar (pun very much intended) series from BBC Four, “Detectorists”. The series follows two lonely metal detector hobbyists in rural England and their struggle to legitimize their obsession and maintain a tenuously heated relationship with a rival club. The series’ two stars are some recognizable faces even to those less familiar with British film and TV. Mackenzie Crook both writes and directs the series while also starring as Andy Stone, a newly minted archaeologist whose relationship with his wife is often strained by his commitment to being a detectorist. You may remember him as a certain pirate who has trouble keeping track of his wooden eyeball in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. Opposite him is the prolific and always exceptional character actor Toby Jones as Lance Stater; detectorist extraordinaire, mentor to Andy, and amateur musician. The series is beautifully shot in the rolling hills of Suffolk, England, though set in the fictional town of Danebury, Essex. The cinematography is patient and expansive in encompassing the picturesque setting. The series itself hinges around the stilted comedy of a small and almost futile detectorist club in a tiny rural town, but takes careful measure of the quiet and sometimes depressing lives of these two men in their pursuit of buried treasure. While both seasons and all 13 episodes are available now, the future of the show still remains in question.
5. Black Books (2000 - 2004)
Moving on to a more traditional style TV comedy, we come now to “Black Books”, a three-camera sitcom chronicling life inside of a small book shop owned and operated by the surly, misanthropic Bernard Black, played by veteran comedian Dylan Moran (you may remember him having his insides torn out Liz’s wet-blanket roommate David in “Shaun of the Dead”). Black delights in berating his customers and actively hates pretty much everyone else, except his oafish sole employee/friend Manny (Bill Bailey) and lovely neighboring shop owner Fran (Tamsin Greig). The series follows the standard sitcom formula with the three friends encountering and sometimes avoiding total disaster at the hands of misunderstanding, but the core cast are a distinctly charming and compelling combination. Dylan Moran’s Bernard Black is a perpetually drunk and cranky mess, quick with witty and cutting insults that make one wonder why anyone would set foot in his shop, let alone hang out there. But as with all gruff characters, there’s a soft underbelly there that Manny seems to be most adept at finding. Manny is a middle-aged former accountant who decided to give up everything for the simple, stress-free life of working in a little bookshop and always has a way finding how to make life fun. Lonely-heart Fran offers a foil for them both, calling them on their B.S. and attempting to help them be normal, functioning adults, often in vain.
6. Cuckoo (2012 - )
While not at all a classic or as widely-known a series as most of the shows on this list are, this BBC Three series (distributed in the US by Netflix) has a lot to offer. The show stars the unmistakably tall and funny comedian Greg Davies as Ken Thompson, the patriarch of a typical English family comprised of wonderful and doting wife Lorna (Helen Baxendale), angsty teenager Dylan (Tyger Drew-Honey), and college-aged daughter Rachel (Tamla Kari in season one, Esther Smith from season two onward). After a year abroad, Rachel comes home with a surprise - she's married an American hippie named Cuckoo (played by none other than Andy Samberg) and he's moving in. Cuckoo instantly ingratiates himself with the rest of the family, but becomes a constant thorn in the side of the more traditional and closed-minded Ken, who struggles to begrudgingly accept his new son-in-law. Cuckoo's absurd spiritual eccentricities drive a wedge between Ken and the family, where hilarity always ensues. After Season 1, Samberg's busy schedule rendered him unable to continue with the show, and his hilariously naive illegitimate son Dale (Taylor Lautner) was introduced. Dale, being raised his whole life in a cult, tracks down his "mom" Rachel, and decides to stay with the family, adjusting to life in the real world with unusual results. Rachel's conflicted feelings toward Dale take the show in a quite serious direction at times, humanizing the family and the largely comic relief-centered Dale. Cuckoo is funny, sad, and endearing all at once. All three seasons are currently on Netflix with a fourth coming down the pipeline some time next year.
7. The IT Crowd (2006 - 2013)
Saving arguably the best for last, we round out the list with the much-loved comedy, The IT Crowd. This is another more traditional TV comedy, a three-camera workplace sitcom. Don’t let the laughtrack fool you, this show is pure gold. Corporate ladder-climber Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is unwittingly crowned the new head of the IT department at a large faceless corporation. Her new coworkers down in the IT basement are career slacker Roy (played by the now quite famous Chris O’Dowd of “Bridesmaids” and “Calvary”) and super-nerd Moss (the incomparably funny Richard Ayoade). More or less ignored by the oblivious, megalomaniacal company head Douglas Reynholm (Matt Berry), Jen looks for ways to move her career forward while Roy and Moss constantly find themselves mixed up in ridiculous cross-sections of happenstance and misunderstanding. The show is an absolute comedy gem, and anyone who’s ever worked either as an IT person or in a large corporation in general will find something relatable, though of course this is not a requirement to enjoy the show. Pop culture/comic nerds and casual comedy fans alike will find a lot to love in the snappy dialog and creatively outlandish characters (e.g. Noel Fielding plays a depressed vampire who lives in a closet in the IT department office. No further explanation required). All four complete seasons are on Netflix now, and recently the streaming site added the final hour-long capstone episode entitled “The Internet Is Coming”, a slightly meta conclusion to the beloved series.
Still can't get enough? Here's a few more great series not available on Netflix you should track down:
- Little Britain – Surreal sketch comedy skewering British idiosyncracies from the minds of David Walliams and Matt Lucas
- Blackadder – Classic medieval comedy from the 1980’s featuring the one and only Rowan Atkinson in the titular role. In the UK he's perhaps more famous for this role than Mr. Bean.
- Spaced – The humble beginnings of the comedic trio of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and writer/director Edgar Wright about a slacker comic book artist (Pegg) and the odd tenants of his apartment building. If you're a fan of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this is well worth a look.
