Great stuff - thoroughly enjoyed your review. You mentioned the 'Wild Wild Women' pilot in which Penelope Keith starred with Barbara Windsor - does a recording of this exist somewhere? I'd love to see it.

To the Manor Born starred Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles and was the smash hit of the late seventies and has stayed in the national consciousness as the classic "will they, won't they" story.

But given that it exists in a strange rural upper class bubble and it was already out of date forty years ago, will it stand up to the rigours of a 2022 examination?

To the Manor Born (Part 1)

Part 1 of our take on Phoenix Nights, a personal favourite for both of us so prepare yourself for some nostalgia and laughter but also we try and take an in-depth and completely speculative look at the psychology of Peter Kay.

Phoenix Nights (Part 1)

Part 2 of our breakdown of Phoenix Nights as we continue to struggle with the urge to quote every single line. We do love it so  but we take time to look at the further careers of writers Dave Spikey and Neil Fitzmaurice as well as asking the question: Peter Kay - git?

Phoenix Nights (Part 2)

Thanks to a listener poll, this week we are taking on the relatively obscure seventies sitcom The Other One. Richard Briers teams up once again with the writers Esmonde and Larbey in the immediate aftermath of their biggest hit, The Good Life. Michael Gambon makes a relatively rare sitcom appearance to make up the odd couple who meet and become friends on a package holiday to Spain.

This is a fascinating show that has a weird second series so there's plenty to talk about!

The Other One (Part 1)

Part 2 of our look at The Other one in which we delve into the very odd second series and have a closer look at the comedy career of Michael Gambon.

The Other One (Part 2)

This week we are doing our most recent sitcom yet with Ghosts. They officially closed off the series with a christmas special in 2023 so now is our chance to look back at what is arguably one of the best mainstream sitcoms of the last twenty years.

Ghosts (Part 1)

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!

Ghosts (Part 2)

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.

Till Death Us Do Part (Christmas special)

The boys are back with the penultimate James Bond movie (but for how long? Probably quite a while, honestly). It's finally time for Spectre (or SPECTRE?), in which Christoph Waltz amazes everyone with the shocking twist no one saw coming that he's playing Blofeld and James Bond finally finds love like he didn't already do that three movies ago. It's a real surprise of an episode where up is down, left is right and Calvin is the #1,000,000 James Bond fan on YouTube.

296 - Spectre

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.

Bonus Episode - Live Comedy Events 2024

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.

Bonus Episode - Ghosts Timeline

Looking back at the wonderful world of British sitcoms.
@britcompod

To the Manor Born (Part 1)

British Sitcom History Podcast

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