British Sitcom History Podcast

It's Part 2 of our look at the second series of Blackadder, in which we take a closer look at Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson. Plus, Gareth refreshes his hot take on Rik Mayall.

After a disappointing first series, Blackadder was reborn with the help of Ben Elton and became one of the iconic pieces of British sitcom. Here we discuss how Blackadder got sexy and the evolution of the characters.

Part 2 of our look at No Job for a Lady. Expect thirty year old political references and inevitable comparisons to Yes, Minister.

No Job for a Lady may not be the best remembered show but it is a fascinating snapshot of the world of British politics in the early nineties. Here we get up close and personal with George Baker and ask the important questions, such as "How posh is Penelope Keith?"

Part 2 of our look back at Are You Being Served? including an attempt to understand the strange and wonderful life of writer Jeremy Lloyd.

Are You Being Served? is an absolute classic of British sitcom and part of the very large catalogue of work from David Croft. As such, it has way too many characters and goes on about five years longer than it should have... but does it hold up for today's sophisticated audience or is it as wet as Mrs. Slocombe's pussy?

We had so much to talk about when we watched Ghosts that we've come back for more. In this bonus episode, we take a deep dive on the timeline of the Ghosts and get a bit of contextual history around their specific time periods.

Just a quick bonus as we prepare for the new series. Allen has been immersing himself in the world of comedy and going to a few live events and meeting the big nobs from the world of light entertainment. Here he shares his experiences.

In this episode we talk about Su Pollard: Fully Charged; An Afternoon with Gloria ( Melvin Hayes); Why We Love Steve Brown; and Hambledon Productions take on Hancock's Half Hour. With a quick bonus meeting with Marks and Gran.

For this year's christmas special we are venturing back to the Garnett household in 1966 where the family are upholding all the christmas traditions such as falling out and throwing stuff at the wall.

Part 2 of our look at Ghosts, which we're classing as very recent history in the world of sitcom.

This week we are taking a look at some more of the actors such as Simon Farnaby and (spoiler alert) going all the way to the end and discussing how they closed it all off.

This is the end of our regular series for now but there will be a Christmas special next week so enjoy!