History of British Sitcom
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- StarsBen LyonBarbara LyonRichard LyonBen Lyon, wife Bebe plus children Richard and Barbara play themselves handling everyday situations with any crisis taken care of. Aggie is their Scottish housekeeper and Florrie Wainwright their nosy neighbor.Six surviving episodes in archives.
- StarsTony HancockSidney JamesJohnny VyvyanTV 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.Surviving episodes on DVD (lovefilm).
- StarsHarry FowlerFrank WilliamsTed LuneThe exploits of a bunch of army conscripts.50/154 episodes survive (on DVD).
Spin off show, "Bootsie and Snudge"
Film spin off, "I Only Arsked"
Precursor to Carry On films. - StarsArthur AskeyRichard MurdochAnthea AskeySurviving but unavailable.
- StarsPeter BroughDick EmeryFreddie SalesApparently unavailable.
- StarsVic OliverBrian OultonTom GillNo information.
- CreatorFred RobinsonStarsPeggy MountDavid KossoffBarbara Mitchell66 Sycamore Street is home to the Larkins. Alf refuses to believe that he's henpecked. Ada's determined to make sure that he is.All episodes survive on DVD.
- CreatorMarty FeldmanBarry TookStarsAlfie BassBill FraserRobert DorningFormer Sergeant Major Claude Snudge meets up with Corporal Bootsie when they both start work at an exclusive Gentlemen's Club.Spin off of "The Army Game"
Many episodes on DVD. - StarsSidney JamesSydney TaflerRonnie BrodyIn the first series of this comedy programme, Sid James played a rather immoral man whose schemes never worked out. In the second and third series, his character became more sympathetic and well-intentioned.Unofficial spin-off of Hancock's Half Hour.
8 episodes exist on DVD (Lovefilm) - StarsDickie HendersonJune LaverickLionel MurtonA weekly TV comedy series of a British household with Dickie Henderson as the head of the family. Every week would feature a guest starApparently unavailable.
- StarsMichael MedwinBrian WildeCarmel McSharryEarly, now forgotten sitcom about a jazz musician with a frantic love life, written for Michael Medwin, then a TV comedy star following "Army Game, The" (1957). Brian Wilde left the series, and the role of Mike's flatmate, early on and was replaced by Bernard Fox (I): three of the cast from this, Medwin, Fox and George Roderick, re-teamed the following year in "Three Live Wires" (1961).No information.
- CreatorNorman HudisStarsFrederick PeisleyLeigh MadisonHattie JacquesNine incompatible people chip in together to purchase and inhabit a run-down house. Librarian Georgina Ruddy (Hattie Jacques) who must keep quiet at work all day so makes up for it by being extremely noisy at home with council official Simon Willow (Charles Hawtrey) and unemployable Daisy Burke (Joan Sims). The rest of misfits include young Norman Rossington as law student Gordon Brent; newlyweds; and a shy bank clerk and his violin-playing wife. Although series two of "Our House" had 26 episodes, ITV decided to stop showing them in the London area after just seven fortnightly airings. The remaining 19 episodes were seen on a weekly basis elsewhere in the country.Three episodes survive on DVD.
- StarsAnthony NewleyEdwin RichfieldJoy StewartGurney Slade wanders from place to place after breaking the fourth wall to escape from the mundanities of making a family sitcom.On DVD. youtube
- StarsDora BryanPete MurrayBryan ColemanNo apparent information.
- StarsDennis PriceWarren MitchellGeorge ToveyNo apparent information.
- StarsMichael MedwinBernard FoxGeorge RoderickLost.
- StarsTony HancockHugh LloydJune WhitfieldComedian Tony Hancock stars, in this BBC situation comedy TV series, as Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, a down-at-heel comedian living in East Cheam.DVD (Lovefilm)
- CreatorRonald ChesneyRonald WolfeStarsPeter JonesMiriam KarlinReg VarneyFenner Fashions makes women's clothing. Reg Turner (Reg Varney) is the downtrodden foreman on the shop floor. The machinists are all women, led by their union rep, Paddy Fleming (Miriam Karlin). The stories are all about the schemes the machinists get up to to make life hard for the boss, Henry Fenner (Peter Jones). The foreman's life is also made hard by the women, who have him around their little finger. Each week there is a special order to complete, and the machinists make heavy work of things.Some episodes exist on DVD (lovefilm) youtube
- CreatorHenry CecilStarsRichard BriersRichard WaringJune BarryOne episode exists in the archives.
- StarsHugh LloydTerry ScottVi StevensTerry Scott is a youngish bachelor who wants to achieve wealth without putting in any hard work. The scheming Terry lives with his mother at 33, Lobelia Avenue in Tooting, London. They have a simple and easily led lodger, Hugh Lloyd, who works at a local aircraft factory. The two often try to make money through one of Scott's schemes. Their next door neighbours, the Crispins and the Wormolds, also make frequent appearances. Mr Crispin is a loud mouth who thinks violence will solve a problem, Mrs Crispin is a snob and their daughter Norma is constantly chased after by men. On the other side, the Wormolds are an old couple with Harold being very doddery. In the last episode of the fifth series, Hugh won £5,000 on the Premium Bonds (the highest prize at the time) and the following series showed the two of them undertaking a world cruise. The neighbours and mother had left the show.Some episodes survive.
Apparently unavailable. - StarsJimmy JewelBen WarrissLance PercivalIt's a Living placed long-time comedy double-act Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warriss in a small general store who are hard-working, thrifty and law-abiding trying to make a living. They are assisted by Ben's wife Bertha and their daughter Betty.No information.
- StarsWilfrid BrambellHarry H. CorbettFrank ThorntonBritish 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.All episodes on DVD (Lovefilm) youtube
Two spin off films (lovefilm) - StarsRichard BriersPrunella ScalesEdward de SouzaNewlyweds Kate and George Starling begin with George toiling as a junior clerk and Kate toiling as a homemaker; she's is soon bored with domesticity and he longs to go out with the boys. After several years, daughter Helen joins them.Actual start in 1963 (61 pilot). Series 1 and 3 survive on DVD. (Lovefilm) first four on youtube.
- StarsJoan HicksonDonald SindenHarry FowlerThe trials and tribulations of the Vicar of the village of Felgate.Mostly lost/unavailable.
- StarsMiriam KarlinNorman RossingtonDeryck GuylerNo information.
- CreatorRonald ChesneyRonald WolfeStarsThora HirdFreddie FrintonBarbara MillerThe humorous ups and downs of a middle-aged married couple.17 episodes exist in archives.
- StarsAlfred MarksJoe BakerSydney BromleyRevolves around the Croppers End Fire Station, complete with it's incompetent firemen and their 60-year-old fire engine, called Bessie.No apparent information.
- StarsJames BolamRodney BewesDon McKillopTerry and Bob have been friends since childhood. Bob is the sensible one, trying hard to get on with his job and life. Terry is the wild one, always ready to lead Bob astray.Some surviving episodes on DVD (lovefilm) youtube
- StarsAlfie BassBill FraserNicholas PhippsSequel to Bootsie and Snudge.
Unavailable. - StarsFrank ThorntonRobin HunterRichard CaldicotNo existing episodes.
- StarsHugh GriffithFelix AylmerHazel HughesAn unlikely friendship is formed between two elderly men, a retired sea captain and a retired schoolmaster.No information.
- StarsBill FraserIrene HandlAngela CrowLost.
- StarsCharlie DrakeHenry McGeePercy HerbertIn twenty years Charlie has had a thousand jobs. Each week sees Charlie attend the Labour Exchange to try and get a new one.DVD
- StarsArthur LoweBetty DriverJoy StewartSitcom spin-off from Coronation Street following Leonard Swindley (Arthur Lowe) and his misadventures as a department store deputy manager.DVD.
- StarsSheila HancockDerek NimmoDilys LayeSheila Ross is a dreamy typist and lives in a bedsit. Her neighbour is Dilys, who's literally a high flying air hostess. Sheila is envious of Dilys's life and never seems to be able to better her when looking for a man.
- CreatorJohnny SpeightStarsWarren MitchellAnthony BoothUna StubbsA working-class Cockney bigot with a biased and experienced opinion of everything shares them bluntly and carelessly.Some episodes exist - youtube. DVD
Pilot not available. Series starts 1966. - StarsJune WhitfieldReg VarneyPat CoombsRose Garvey, and her husband Gerald, live next door to her sister Lana Butt, and her husband Harry, in the fictional Larkworthy Road, Muswell Hill, North London. Gerald is an underpaid junior executive, while Harry is a well-paid fitter. The slightly snobbish Gerald makes sure that he and Rose keep up a pretense of doing well even though they are not. Meanwhile, the Butts' relative wealth encourages Lana to put on airs and graces, although Harry remains down to earth.
- StarsRobertson HareWilliam MervynDerek NimmoClerical comedy centered on hapless curate Mervyn Noote.
- StarsPeggy MountSidney JamesJohn Le MesurierColonel Maynard has a problem when it comes to housekeepers - his chauffeur. George has an eye for the ladies, and his behaviour has seen sixteen housekeepers hand in their resignations. One solution is to find somebody that he couldn't possibly fancy, and Gabrielle Dragon fits the bill perfectly.
- StarsJohn BluthalJoe LynchBernard SpearSitcom about two tailors, one Catholic and the other Jewish.
- StarsAlastair SimRoy DotriceAvice LandoneA court that is frequently presided over by the increasingly amused Mr Justice Swallow and Mr Haddock's long-suffering adversary Sir Joshua Hoot QC.
- CreatorP.G. WodehouseStarsRalph RichardsonStanley HollowayMeriel ForbesClarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, lord and master of Blandings Castle, wants nothing more than to talk to his prize pig and potter about in his gardens. Reality intrudes in the form of family duties and his strong-willed sisters.
- StarsWendy CraigJill RiddickRonald HinesTypical married couple from the sixties and their various mishaps with three growing children.
- StarsDerek NimmoGwendolyn WattsElizabeth KnightDavid (Derek Nimmo) lives alone in a flat in a converted house in Hampstead in this comedy. His neighbours include Brenda and Karen. who always bickered. and a lady called Suzy.
- StarsPaul DanemanBarbara MurrayNyree Dawn PorterNo information.
- StarsDerek NimmoFelix AylmerPatrick McAlinneyBrother Dominic is a new monk who approaches every task with good intentions. But frequent mishaps occur, exasperating the head of the monastery, Father Anselm, and head of novices, Father Bernard.
- StarsPatrick CargillNatasha PyneAnn HollowayA comedy of the life of a divorced father and his two daughters.
- StarsHugh LloydTerry ScottRex GarnerSequel to sitcom Hugh And I, Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd appear as two rather clueless friends who unwittingly become involved in espionage and double-dealing.Sequel to Hugh and I.
Lost. - CreatorHarry DriverVince PowellStarsHylda BakerJimmy JewelJoe GladwinOn the death of their father Joshua, siblings Eli and Nellie Pledge inherit the family business, Pledge's Purer Pickles, at Colne, Lancashire, in the north of England. Their faithful workers include the myopic Stan Hardman, Bert Taylor and Grenville. Transport is provided by Storm the cart horse. Never far away are second cousin Lily and her husband Walter. While Nellie works hard to keep the business going, Eli prefers to indulge in the delights of beer, cigarettes and young women.
- StarsAnton RodgersJulian HollowayMarian SpencerStanley Featherstonehaugh (pronounced "fan-shaw") Ukridge is a quick-witted idler who is always working on his next get-rich scheme. This may lead to him opening a dog-training school, insuring fiddles, rigging horse races, or just hitting up his hapless chum Corky. Based on the stories by P.G. Wodehouse.
- CreatorJohn EsmondeBob LarbeyStarsDeryck GuylerNoel HowlettJoan SandersonA hapless but caring teacher tries to control his class of unruly kids. The teacher sees much good and potential in his pupils, much to the dismay of his fellow teachers who have lost hope in these kids.
- CreatorJimmy PerryStarsArthur LoweJohn Le MesurierClive DunnA ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II.
- StarsMilo O'SheaAnna ManahanYootha JoyceBunjy Kenefick is an Irish mother's boy living in London. He is a high-powered executive and lives a bachelor lifestyle. However, his old-fashioned Catholic mother often puts a stop to his plans, many of them involving his girlfriend Miss Argyll.
- StarsNerys HughesPolly JamesMollie SugdenThe lives and loves of Beryl Hennessey (Polly James) and Sandra Hutchinson (Nerys Hughes), two young, single women sharing a flat in Liverpool.
- StarsFrankie HowerdElizabeth LarnerKerry GardnerLurcio 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.
- StarsChristopher BeenyThora HirdColin Farrell1920s set sitcom following the misadventures of the accident-prone Billy Henshaw and his auntie Ivy as they try to run the family firm of undertakers.
- StarsSidney JamesVictor SpinettiBill PertweeComedy series about two frustrated office workers who decide to leave behind their 9-to-5 lifestyle for the simpler life of living in the countryside and running a farm.
- StarsPeter JonesSheila HancockJanet BrownThe comedy concerns the relationship between boss Roland Digby (Peter Jones) and his adoring, loyal secretary Thelma Teesdale (Sheila Hancock), who totally indulges him.
- CreatorAlun OwenStarsRonnie BarkerFrank GatliffJosephine TewsonHark at Barker was a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by LWT.
- StarsSpike MilliganEric SykesKenny LynchA Pakistani Irishman Kevin O'Grady arrives in England and joins the workforce at a novelty objects manufacturers. He also shares digs with his factory manager. He quickly becomes bemused with British labour practices and suffers the slings and arrows of racism.
- CreatorRonald ChesneyRonald WolfeStarsAnna KarenBob GrantStephen LewisJack-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.
- StarsHarry H. CorbettJune WhitfieldBob ToddCockney wide-boy, Alfred Wilcox, works as a salesman for a plastics firm. He values his independence and will take any opportunity to get to the top. As far as he is concerned, the best things in his life are the opposite sex, wealth and prosperity and he doesn't care in which order they may come.
- CreatorRichard GordonStarsBarry EvansRobin NedwellGeoffrey DaviesMedical students' antics and flirtations with nurses exasperate their professor, despite their good intentions
- StarsBryan PringleTrevor BannisterGraham HaberfieldAdventures encountered by a group of refuse collectors.
- StarsKenneth ConnorJohn JunkinJohn NormingtonFollows the problems of foreman Charlie, top man Gussie and the team of characters who are building a upmarket housing estate.
- StarsIan CarmichaelIan JohnsonBriony McRobertsA wealthy bachelor becomes a foster parent to five children.
- CreatorHarry DriverVince PowellStarsIrene HandlWilfred PicklesBarbara MitchellThe series gently charts the relationship between Yorkshireman Walter Bingley and Londoner Ada Cresswell, septuagenarians who meet while Ada is visiting her late husband's grave.
- CreatorJack RosenthalStarsPaula WilcoxRichard BeckinsaleJoan ScottThe ups-and-downs of a young courting couple's relationship.
- StarsArthur LoweKen JonesPatricia HayesFactory worker Clifford Basket inherits a title of the Earl of Clogborough, a rundown mansion at Little Clogborough-in-the-Marsh and a faithful servant, Bodkin
- StarsWendy CraigValerie LushRobin DaviesSally Harrison is a harassed, well-meaning but scatterbrained young widow doing her best to bring up two boisterous sons.
- CreatorFrank TarloffMelville ShavelsonStarsShirley MacLaineJohn GregsonKim SmithShirley Logan (Shirley MacLaine) is a globe-trotting magazine writer-photographer, and Dennis Croft (John Gregson) her London-based editor.
- StarsSheila HancockDonald HoustonLiz EdmistonClare and Harry love (Donald Houston and Sheila Hancock) going through the ups and downs of dealing with their adolescent daughter.
- CreatorJilly CooperStarsJoanna LumleyJane CarrElizabeth KnightFour posh girls share a flat in London.
- CreatorHarry DriverVince PowellStarsSidney JamesDiana CouplandRobin StewartSid and Jean struggle to understand their teen kids' progressive ways. The couple lives in London with protest-loving son Mike and trendy daughter Sally.
- CreatorJohn EsmondeBob LarbeyStarsPeter CleallCarol HawkinsDavid BarryThe lives and adventures of the pupils of class 5C from 'Please Sir', after they have left Fenn Street School.
- CreatorRichard GordonStarsBarry EvansGeorge LaytonGeoffrey DaviesFollowing his student misadventures in Doctor in the House (1969), Michael Upton (Barry Evans) starts out on an equally fun-filled but disaster-prone solo career. He moves through a variety of jobs in general practice, including one with Dr. Maxwell (Arthur Lowe), before returning to St. Swithin's Hospital as a junior registrar.
- CreatorRichard GordonStarsRobin NedwellGeorge LaytonGeoffrey DaviesThe continuing misadventures of Duncan Waring (Robin Nedwell), Dick Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies), and Paul Collier (George Layton) see them move further up the promotion ladder, but there's no change in their fondness for slacking off and trying to chat up girls, nor in their ability to drive Professor Loftus (Ernest Clark) round the bend. But there's more trouble for the boys in the form of brown-noser Lawrence Bingham (Richard O'Sullivan), who trots about after Loftus hoping to crawl into his good books.
- StarsBeryl ReidRichard O'SullivanJohn CaterUpon her husband's death, Marigold Alcock inherits his businesses, operating under the grand name of "The Alcock Group of Companies". The companies, whose headquarters are above a strip club in Soho, include entities such as "Alcock's Racing Service Ltd", "Alcock's Marriage Bureau" and "Alcock's Detective Agency". The illiterate Ernest is her office assistant, while her partner is Richard Gander. Gander was given partnership in the company after an "Alcock Continental Coach Tour" went wrong and he arrived as the representative of the tour group to demand their money back.
- CreatorJeremy LloydDavid CroftStarsMollie SugdenJohn InmanFrank ThorntonThe misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.
- StarsEric SykesHattie JacquesDeryck GuylerEric Sykes and Hattie Jacques portray twins who live together in East Acton and enjoy a slightly surreal life, bothering their snobbish next-door neighbour Mr. Brown and getting into frequent difficulties with the local constable.
- CreatorBob BlockStarsRoy BarracloughEllis JonesLynette ErvingHal Adden works at Mr. Cobbledick's hardware store and spends his days dreaming of romance with his boss's daughter. Hal's mundane existence gets changed forever when he finds a watering can in the store that comes with its very own Genie.
- StarsHarry WorthBrian OultonSinéad CusackWilliam Boot, a mild-mannered contributor of "Nature Notes" to a national newspaper, is mistaken for a famous foreign correspondent and dispatched to Ishmaelia to cover a war.
- StarsJimmy JewelLarry MartynCharlie HawkinsTommy is an older man in the Autumn of his years who takes young boy Charlie under his wing.
- CreatorBrian ClemensRichard WaringStarsJohn AldertonHannah GordonTim BarrettDivorced ex-couple George and Suzy Bassett separately move to the country for separate fresh starts, then find out that they have moved into adjoining cottages. One 1973 episode won a British Academy TV Award.
- CreatorRonald ChesneyRonald WolfeStarsArthur MullardQueenie WattsJames BeckOriginally intended as a comedy vehicle for the star of series 1 + 2, James Beck, more famous as Private Walker in 'Dad's Army'. Bert Jones and his wife Betty live on a caravan site in the midst of an economic crisis-hit 1970s Britain. Betty (Jo Rowbottom) has ideas above her station, including telling her mother she lives a life of luxury instead of squalor. Her mother is equally shocked by her daughter's living conditions. On her first visits, they feed her their neighbour Wally's pet chicken Florey. The series follows the misadventures of the Joneses and their busybody neighbours, Wally and Lily Briggs (Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts). The layabout families live side by side; the neighbour spats come fast and plenty. From series three, following Beck's untimely death, two new characters were brought in: Jeremy and Susan Crichton-Jones. Mullard and Watts went on to a spin-off, 'Yus, My Dear', from the creators of 'On the Buses.'
- CreatorHarry DriverVince PowellStarsJack SmethurstRudolph WalkerNina Baden-SemperA white working-class socialist has his world turned upside down when an educated black man moves in next door.
- StarsJames BolamRodney BewesBrigit ForsythReturning from the Army, Terry finds his best mate Bob is marrying Thelma, Terry's former partner. Their lives intertwine as Terry reintegrates, challenging the relationships between the three.
- StarsLeslie PhillipsJan HoldenYolande TurnerPR man Henry loves his wife, but can't help being a serial womanizer. In order to keep his marriage together, he leads a double life, but never manages to avoid the most awkward, farcical situations imaginable.