All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.6: The Office. Released 18 December 2025.

Despite having hardly any experience in television, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created an indelible series which not only set the stage for a couple of decades of mockumentary and/or cringe comedy but which inspired versions in countries all over the world. We’re watching the first two episodes since this is an ongoing story. If you’d like to watch along, everything is available now on iPlayer.

Next time we’ll be watching The Day Today which is not currently streaming but many episodes and dozens of clips can be found on YouTube. There are only six episodes and we’re going to watch the third and the sixth.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

All British Comedy Explained is produced by The Spontaneity Shop. If you enjoy this podcast, why not check out The Guilty Feminist with Deborah Frances-White, Tom’s other podcast Best Pick all about movies, or Abigoliah’s other podcast Neurodivergent Moments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun and Tom Salinsky

Geoff Posner Explains Victoria Wood As Seen On TV. Released 11 December 2025.

Geoff Posner has worked with some of the all-time greats of British comedy, from working alongside Paul Jackson on The Young Ones, to helping Steve Coogan give birth to Paul and Pauline Calf, he was there at the birth of Blackadder and he directed every episode of Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. We chatted to him about life, television, comedy and role models.

• Geoff’s recommendation for us to watch is Steptoe and Son.
• Geoff’s charity of choice is Children in Need. Donate here: https://donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk

Next time we’ll be watching The Office – the original UK version – which is all freely available on iPlayer. As it’s a continuous story we’re going to watch the first two episodes.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

All British Comedy Explained is produced by The Spontaneity Shop. If you enjoy this podcast, why not check out The Guilty Feminist with Deborah Frances-White, Tom’s other podcast Best Pick all about movies, or Abigoliah’s other podcast Neurodivergent Moments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.5: Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. Released 4 December 2025.

With no female role models at all, Victoria Wood just focused on what she found funny. Her second attempt at bringing her style of humour to television is still among her most successful and enduring, and she wrote every word of these 13 episodes herself – highly unusual for a sketch show. We had planned to watch the fifth episode of the first series and the first episode of the second series, but we ended up watching the sixth episode of the second series by mistake.

If you want to watch more Victoria Wood then all 13 episodes of As Seen on TV are on NOW, along with her follow-up series of single comedy-dramas Victoria Wood and all 16 episodes of dinnerladies.

Next time we’ll be watching The Office – the original UK version – which is all freely available on iPlayer. As it’s a continuous story we’re going to watch the first two episodes.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

All British Comedy Explained is produced by The Spontaneity Shop. If you enjoy this podcast, why not check out The Guilty Feminist with Deborah Frances-White, Tom’s other podcast Best Pick all about movies, or Abigoliah’s other podcast Neurodivergent Moments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun and Tom Salinsky

Ben Elton explains The Young Ones. Released 27 November 2025.

Ben Elton is one of the most significant voices in the British comedy landscape and has been for over forty years. We spoke to him largely because of The Young Ones but his list of TV writing credits is incredible and that’s before you get into his stand-up, novels, plays and other work besides.

• Ben’s recommendation for us to watch is The Liver Birds.
• Ben’s charity of choice is Scope. Donate here: https://donate.scope.org.uk
• Buy What Have I Done by Ben Elton from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3LHFzZd

Next time we’ll be watching Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, season one episode five and season two episode one.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

All British Comedy Explained is produced by The Spontaneity Shop. If you enjoy this podcast, why not check out The Guilty Feminist with Deborah Frances-White, Tom’s other podcast Best Pick all about movies, or Abigoliah’s other podcast Neurodivergent Moments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.4: The Goon Show. Released 20 November 2025.

The one British comedy show to which all roads ultimately lead. Spike Milligan’s lunatic flights of fancy changed the game and he found ideal comrades in Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers. The show ran for ten years and hundreds of episodes. We listened to The Lost Gold Mine from the fifth series and The Mysterious Punch Up the Conker from the seventh series.

If you want to listen to more episodes of The Goon Show, copies of many episodes in various qualities are floating around YouTube and other parts of the internet. But for the best listening experience we recommend getting the compilations on Audible, which are free with an Audible subscription.

Next time we’ll be watching Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, season one episode five and season two episode one.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

All British Comedy Explained is produced by The Spontaneity Shop. If you enjoy this podcast, why not check out The Guilty Feminist with Deborah Frances-White, Tom’s other podcast Best Pick all about movies, or Abigoliah’s other podcast Neurodivergent Moments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.3: Not Only But Also. Released 6 November 2025.

Following the success of Beyond the Fringe, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore came to television with three series in a more whimsical tone than the biting stage show which shot them to fame, but still infused with Cook’s astonishing wordplay and Moore’s immense charm. We watched a selection of favourite sketches.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

Join us next time for The Goon Show. We’ll be listening to series 5 episode 2, The Lost Goldmine and series 7, episode 19, The Mysterious Punch Up The Conker. Both are readily available on Audible, on CD or floating around the internet.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.2: The Young Ones. Released 23 October 2025.

The first full expression of the anarchic style of alternative comedy was BBC2’s The Young Ones. 12 episodes were broadcast between 1982 and 1984 and they’re all currently available on iPlayer. The show made stars of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson and kickstarted Ben Elton’s career as a comedy writer.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

Join us next time for Not Only But Also. We’ll be watching a compilation of famous sketches, many of which you can find on YouTube. Our list comprises One Leg Too Few. Pete and Dud Famous Ladies. Bargo. Masterpiece. Alan A’Dale. A Bit of a Chat. Teaching Ravens to Fly Underwater. North Circular. Pete and Dud at the Art Gallery.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

1.1: Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Released 9 October 2025

The seminal comedy show which ran for 45 episodes between 1969 and 1974 on BBC1 (first three series) and BBC2 (final series). It made stars of writer-performers Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and animator Terry Gilliam. We watched series two, episode two and series three, episode ten.

Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

Join us next time for The Young Ones. We’ll be watching series one, episode two Oil, and series two, episode one, Bambi.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All British Comedy Explained… to Abigoliah Schamaun, by Tom Salinsky

Episode 0: In the Beginning.

To kick off our journey through British comedy, we surveyed our first set of eight shows, all LANDMARKS of the genre.

1. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (which influenced all the comedy after it)

2. The Young Ones (which brought anarchic alternative comedy to the BBC)

3. Not Only But Also (early TV incarnation of Britain’s foremost satirists)

4. The Goon Show (who inspired all of the foregoing)

5. Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (incredible stand-up and sketch from someone with no role models to look up to)

6. The Office (created a whole new genre of sitcom)

7. The Day Today (birthplace of so many modern comedy legends)

8. I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue (ridiculously long-running masterpiece of silliness)

That’s our plan for the next eight episodes. We do hope you can join us. Here’s a long list of social media systems where you can find the podcast and us.

The podcast

• https://substack.com/@allbritishcomedy
• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Abigoliah Schamaun

• https://abigoliah.com
• https://www.youtube.com/Abigoliah
• https://www.instagram.com/abigoliah
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abigoliah

Tom Salinsky

• https://tomsalinsky.co.uk
• https://www.facebook.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.instagram.com/tomsalinsky
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tomsalinsky1972
• https://bsky.app/profile/tomsalinsky.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@tomsalinsky

Join us next time for our first proper episode on Monty Python’s Flying Circus. We’ll be watching series two, episode two and series three, episode ten.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/jnPC56
• [email protected]
• https://allbritishcomedy.com
• https://www.youtube.com/@AllBritishComedyExplained
• https://www.instagram.com/britishcomedypod
• https://www.tiktok.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://bsky.app/profile/allbritishcomedy.bsky.social
• https://www.threads.com/@britishcomedypod
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/allbritishcomedy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.