Great British television.

[Calico Jack]

You fellows should netflix "Foyle's War," a series of mysteries set in wartime Britain. Good fashions, good sense of period and politics, etc.

Black Adder IS incredible, as is the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series.

I'm a big fan of the BBC/A&E Horatio Hornblower movie series. If you liked Master and Commander, you'll like this.

The Sharpe's series is not as good, but still pretty fun. The camera work leaves a lot to be desired sometime, the main character is not always very likeable, and it takes a while before you stop noticing the electric guitar on the score, but it is a fun show and a good Napoleonic adventure series.

 

[Corey]

Coupling

Concur with everyone who liked The Office ... great stuff. Haven't seen the American version; I like Steve Carell from his days on The Daily Show, but I'm just too afraid to ruin my memories of the BBC version.

Another great BBC sitcom that I used to catch occasionally when stationed overseas was called Coupling. Imagine a slightly racier version of Friends, but funnier. They tried an American version of it a couple of years ago, but it died after only a few episodes. The British version made it through four seasons and all are currently available on DVD. I've also caught a couple of episodes in the wee hours of the morning on the local PBS station.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/

 

[Senator Jack]

As a fan of Secret Agent, The Saint, The Avengers, etc., I recently broke down and bought the DVD set of a British show I had never got to see - "Department S". It's from 1968 and it's about three investigators who are called in whenever there is a completely unsolvable mystery. Peter Wyngarde portrays Jason King, a swinging 60s sleuth/mystery writer, always impeccably dressed, always on the make. It's not as fun or cheeky as the Avengers and not nearly as well-written as Secret Agent (in my view, the apex of writing for a half-hour series) but Wyngarde holds it all together with a lot of help from his smarmy moustache. They eventually gave Wyngarde/King his own show, which is supposed to be really over the top, but unfortunately it's not yet available on DVD.

BTW, has anyone ever seen "Man in a Suitcase", it's supposed to be another great Brit 60s spy show and I was thinking of getting that one too.

Kind regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Hemingway Jones]

"The Prisoner" is one of my favorite shows of all time. I own the complete set of DVDs. That show was years ahead of its time. Patrick McGoohan was so strange and yet somehow cool at the same time. Awesome show.

And of course, there will always be Tom Baker's "Dr. Who." I realize there were other Dr. Who's, but beside Peter Cushing, who cares?

Also, my guilty pleasure is "The Monarch of the Glen" although I can barely understand what they're saying. I am a sucker for Old Rovers, Tweeds, Barbour jackets, and the scenery.

 

[BellyTank]

Speaking of The Prisoner, I visited Portmeirion, in Wales a couple of years ago, the 'village' where the show was filmed.
Weird place- a giant folly...

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

B
T

 

[MrBern]

I'm a fan of the 90's British show , Goodnight Sweetheart.
A lot of you would appreciate it.
A henpecked husband dashes out for a drink, wanders down a foggy street into a 40s theme pub. After a bit he realizes that its not a theme, somehow he went back in time. So he follows the same route to go back & forth. Eventually he has a double life & starts a business called BLITZ & PIECES selling mint antiques. He falls for the bar maid & becomes a time travelling bigamist.
Its all VERY clever w/ a lot of homage to the trials endured to the wartime generation. And lots of juxtapostions , like singing Beatles songs in the tube during bombings.
And its one of the rare, sci-fi shows that has no CGI or special FX to speak of.

And of course the show , Absolutely Fabulous is a scream.

-bernard

 

[BellyTank]

Yep, that was a fun one- Nicholas Lyndhurst.
I didn't realize you guys had access to and an appreciation of, so much British TV.

B
T

 

[DanielJones]

How about Father Ted?

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

And yet another great and stylish series, Agatha Christie's 'Poirot'.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[BellyTank]

Father Ted

"No Dougal- they aren't tiny, tiny cows- they're just very far away..."

B
T

 

[nightandthecity]

Father Ted had me in stitches from the start of episode one. If you have ever lived in Ireland or for that matter rural Britain you recognize every character and incident. Where I live in West Yorkshire we have an annual "gala" that is so like the Craggy Island funday it isn't funny....

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Speaking of The Prisoner, I visited Portmeirion, in Wales a couple of years ago, the 'village' where the show was filmed.
Weird place- a giant folly...

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

B
T

I've always wanted to go there. It looks like such a strange place. Of course, were I to go, I would bring a half-deflated weather balloon!

 

[DanielJones]

Good one BT..

"No Dougal- they aren't tiny, tiny cows- they're just very far away..."

B
T

"Dougal, is there anything on your mind?..... Let me rephrase that."

Cheers!

Dan

 

[BellyTank]

Feck!

Thanks

B
T

 

[Raffles]

I heartily reccomend the 1990's Jeeves and Wooster boxed set. Not only is it halarious but it has some great outfits!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

"No Dougal- they aren't tiny, tiny cows- they're just very far away..."

B
T

Many thanks. I headn't heard that for years. Brings back all the memories :cry:

Just found this thread. Here's some of my favourites:

The Sweeny
Boys from the Black Stuff. Gi's a Job
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister
Phoenix Nights - one that i don't think made it to the US. Peter Kay, excellent
Lord Peter Wimsey. The actor is too old but he does it okay

bk

 

[Michael Mallory]

The first time I went to England I was expecting non-stop really great television. What we got were reruns of "The Fall Guy," a hopelessly ragged morning show featuring a petulant Irish newsreader, and (my favorite) televised darts! But in addition to "The Avengers" (my favorite show from any source) and mystery programs like "Morse," "A Touch of Frost," and a really terrific one called "Anna Lee" that seems to have disappeared, I have a great fondness for a 1971 series called "The Persuaders," starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. It was kind of Avenger-ish, but not as bizarre. The two played rich adventurers, one a British lord and the other a former Bronx street kid, who teamed up to solve crimes that fall through official police cracks (a judge gives them their assignments). They were played almost like a comedy team, with Curtis the comic and Moore the straight man. As a bit of trivia, this was the show that brought Moore to the attention of Cubby Brocolli and Harry Saltzman, who were then shopping for a new James Bond.

 

[Zach R.]

The Sharpe's series is not as good, but still pretty fun. The camera work leaves a lot to be desired sometime, the main character is not always very likeable, and it takes a while before you stop noticing the electric guitar on the score, but it is a fun show and a good Napoleonic adventure series.

Quite right.

I didn't know there was a British version of "The Office," but from what I've read it seems to be less over-the-top than the American version with Steve Carell.

I don't watch much British comedy, besides some Monty Python I've been catching through the On-Demand system we have with our cable company, but their dramas are much better than any American studios have put out, the aforementioned Sherlock Holmes and Sharpe series for example.

I think I'll check out this Jeeves and Wooster though.

 

[John in Covina]

'Foyle's War' is about homicde detective work in England during WWII and is excellent. His fedora is mezmering!

I loved 'Rumpole of the Bailey' and 'Fawlty Towers'.
Brett's Holmes was superb.


Austin Powers
"Hey Buddy are in in a Band?" "No, I'm English." "Oh."

 

[Kt Templar]

And of course, there will always be Tom Baker's "Dr. Who." I realize there were other Dr. Who's, but beside Peter Cushing, who cares?

Also, my guilty pleasure is "The Monarch of the Glen" although I can barely understand what they're saying. I am a sucker for Old Rovers, Tweeds, Barbour jackets, and the scenery.

Ah, Hem! 41 years of history shot down with one line! Many, many people would disagree with you. Maybe try and watch some of the latest series and then go back and look at the classics. Look past the dodgy sets and cheap costumes, some of the stories are amazing.

Arrgh, "Monarch of the Glen" unfortunately falls into the strange twilight world of sunday evening TV in the UK along with that would be soppy stuff like "Ballykissangel","Last of the Summer Wine" and "Heartbeat" and to some extent "The Darling Buds of May" though that has the advantage of having Catherine Zeta Jones before she became polished and brittle.

Instead try "Minder", "Between the Lines", "Dads Army", "The Good Life", "Only Fools and Horses" and even "Upstairs Downstairs".

Regards,

KT