British Sitcom History Podcast

In this episode we're looking at the somewhat ill-fated attempt to convert Al Murray's Pub Landlord character into the medium of sitcom. We're big fans of Murray and fellow writer Richard Herring so this one is a bit of a nostalgia fest for the heyday of the nineties. But how does the show hold up twenty years later?

It's part 2 of our look at eighties sitcom Dear John, starring Ralph Bates as the hapless divorcee surrounded by wacky characters.

In this episode we take a look at what the actors did before and after their time with Dear John and attend a party at Mrs. Boyd-Peter's house (don't mention her embarrassing problem).

Not all sitcoms are classics and this week we're going to prove it by looking at the somewhat forgotten Dear John.

Running for two series in 1986-87, it was written by John Sullivan (of Only Fools and Horses fame) and starred former Hammer Horror icon Ralph Bates. Over the top characters and pointless plots are all in store.

Part 2 of our look at Rising Damp sees us delve into the careers of Don Warrington and Richard Beckinsale as well as a pseudo-scientific analysis of who exactly is getting the laughs in this show.

Centred around one of the greatest performances in sitcom, Leonard Rossiter leads an excellent cast in seventies classic Rising Damp.

In this episode we look at Eric Chappell's play The Banana Box, which came to be Rising Damp and we look at the careers of Rossiter and Frances de la Tour.

In Part 2 of our look at One Foot in the Grave we continue to analyse our specific episode and break down the show as a whole. Eric Idle gets a bit of a bashing and we look at some of the comedy guest stars that turned up on the show.

Is One Foot in the Grave a timeless classic? We get stuck into the nineties sitcom and discuss who is the bigger git, Richard Wilson or David Renwick?

In Part 2 of our discussion of Bread, we try not to go on too much about how much we love Victor McGuire so we can find time to talk about the rest of the cast. We also look at the final episode and decide if the seven years hard work paid off.

This week we take a look at eighties classic Bread. Written by Carla Lane and becoming a de facto image of Liverpool, the show ran for several years, encompassing cast changes throughout.

But was it a sitcom or more of a soap opera with occasional gags? And of course we answer the ultimate question: Joey Boswell, sexy or smarmy?

It's part 2 of our look at Steptoe and Son, in which we finish looking at the episode 'Crossed Swords' and look at the legacy of Steptoe, including the American remake Sanford and Son.

We also see what happened to the writers and actors once their most famous creations had been put to bed.