Another Top Ten WORST British Sitcoms UK Sitcoms List

[@MrPHILDABASS]

‘Funny’ story about Holding The Baby. There was a joke in one episode about a character being different from a book because ‘at least a book has a spine’ and then the exact same joke was made the same evening in Red Dwarf VII.

[@kevinstoneham1245]

Hah ha - that’s great.

[@andyhinds542]

Did it have the same writers,by any chance??

[@lauraandrew7440]

Bet it was funny when Lister said it tho lol

[@kevinstoneham1245]

@@lauraandrew7440 Yes, I would have thought so.

[@pauldonaldson6067]

Surely Mrs Brown's Boys has to be on one of these lists, set in Ireland but made in the UK

[@Steve_P_B]

A bit too recent for this channel

[@catbwoy]

Words cannot express my dislike for that show, utter shite (I gave it a go at least)

[@gerrabath]

Like F.Ted then?

[@matthewhendy5785]

Absolutely the worst ever. A colleague at work loves it. He said ‘Well don’t you get the humour?’ I get it, it’s just not funny.

[@matthewhendy5785]

@@gerrabathFather Ted is hilarious.

[@al201103]

Close to Home - this might be the perfect place to tell my story. It's not brilliant, but it's all true. Back in the day I used to do extra work. I ended up on an episode of Close to Home where the daughter is trying to have a party, one of her guests is trying to get cosy with...an older woman, and there's also a murder mystery party going on in the same house. At one point I ended up standing behind Paul Nicolas and I remember I was doing AWFUL reactions to what was being said. Cringeworthy. But that's not the story. Lucy, who played the daughter - I met her on holiday when I was...16? 17? I don't think she'd really started acting yet, but knew that was what she wanted to do. At the time of the episode, I didn't realise it was her (not that she would have remembered me). So there's that weird coincidence. But then the teenager trying to get it on with the older woman, was Nigel Harman (who would later work in Eastenders) who played Oliver in the first (amateur) production I was ever in!! Again, I don't think I realised it was him at the time. But yeah, two people I'd encountered before in quite random situations were on the same episode I wound up on.

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Bad sitcoms were a different type of bad in the 80s than the bad we have today. A better standard of bad back then, if you like.

[@alexnobrasil3062]

They don't do bad like they did bad back then

[@brucedanton3669]

Yes really you are so right there too then of course for sure at that!

[@fallingmusic]

The Piglet Files was a decent sitcom

[@treguard1982]

Nicholas Lyndhurst can only really do two characters. Cockney sounding Lyndhurst and posh sounding Lyndhurst. Fair play to him for being in so much though

[@andrewbarratt7736]

Paul Nicholas and Nicholas Lyndhurst were in so many sitcoms between them in the late 70s to early 90s, it’s incredible! At least ten I can think of between them! I did love Piglet Files lol… but I was 8 when it aired so probably helps explain it. 😊

[@chrishilton1490]

Piglet Files were ok

[@LambsyLamb]

Nicholas Lindhurst didn't have to resort to racism to get laughs or denigrate women!

[@patrickdoherty4527]

And Nicholas Lyndhurst will apparently be in the new Frasier. What an omen!

[@andrewphippsphillips1455]

@@LambsyLamb or try to fiddle his tax,whilst having a good long moan about a certain F1 driver for similar reasons 🤔 Hate that vile twat. Shame he isn't in a "nick nick" for crimes against comedy 😕

[@monkeytennis8861]

​@@chrishilton1490you spelt absolutely pony wrong

[@plkrtn]

Nick Hancock who was literally famous for being the only famous Stoke supporter in the 90s

[@videolad3057]

This comment reminds me of the Netflix show Dark

[@gerbaldo90]

They Think It's All Over was absolutely legendary. I was only a teenager at the time but it was so funny. A different era, certainly.

[@Skibbitypappappa]

Errr hold on, he's famous for being the only famous Stoke fan? That doesn't make sense 😂😂 he'd have to be famous in the first place to be a famous Stoke fan you muppet

[@terryboland3816]

No, you could be famous for two things.

[@plkrtn]

@@Skibbitypappappa You can be famous for more than one thing. 1. TV host 2. Being the only famous Stoke supporter. Learn some comprehension.

[@FallofEdenRecords]

I scarcely remember any of these. Mind you, there were so many godawful sitcoms in the 80s and 90s, it would have been a hard job to single one out.

[@spectralcav]

Don't remember a single one of these. I consider that a blessing 🙂

[@TBMartin]

What was the Nick Hancock joke about? He's a lifelong Stoke City fan

[@FatNorthernBigot]

He was everywhere in the 90s. I wonder what happened.

[@ftumschk]

That was the joke, I think. He's so well-known as a Stoke fan that saying he's a Spurs fan is incongruous.

[@markdaly1903]

@@FatNorthernBigot he left comedy and became an accountant

[@ricardosp7975]

@@FatNorthernBigot I remember a game show he presented on the BBC about 10 years ago which was decent for a daytime gameshow as far as I remember.

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

@@ricardosp7975 last thing I remember seeing him in was TV heaven Telly Hell with Sean Locke RIP. I just assumed he'd investing his They Think its all over money well and didn't need to work

[@TheEulerID]

Close to Home has Angharad Rees in it, and that's good enough for me. Also, based on the clips, the Piglet files wasn't that bad and it certainly had a strong cast. As for the worst of this lot, it surely has to be a contest between Up The Elephant and Round the Castle (who on earth thought that Jim Davidson could act?) and The Wright Way. Just awful beyond belief.

[@jeffreyromain7336]

Angharad Rees. ❤❤❤

[@Sou1defiler]

Nick Hancock is one of those guys who no matter how hard he tries and how hard I try to be charitable, just fails on every level to even make me raise a smile. Jim Davidson... Soon as I read his name it was time to switch over.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

Anyone who thinks the BBC can no longer do comedy should watch the current crop of comedians on "Live at the Apollo"... And have those thoughts confirmed. 😅

[@stephenguppy7882]

Agreed. It's as funny as a fire in an orphanage.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@stephenguppy7882 My brother made a similar comparison, when we silently watched a rosta of box-ticking alleged comedians die on their arse. "It's about as funny as finding a lump" he said.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@andymerrett They are produced by the same company and both designed to make us laugh. I was pointing out the BBC weren't particularly funny then, and they're not now. I wasn't comparing them beyond that.

[@lexiwilson9501]

@@andymerrett I suppose it's because many comedians end up in sitcoms. But it's apples and oranges really.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@andymerrett 😅He would definitely be making his own entertainment, then.

[@gimble447]

The writer of " Rich Tea and Sympathy" was one David ( hob) Nobbs, sorry I couldn't resist 😂 great video as always.

[@steveedwards4495]

You never seen Miranda? One joke-fall-over-sitcom 🤦‍♂️

[@GordonHeaney]

"Holding the Baby"...very early appearance of Sally Phillips, worth a mention

[@Steve157Oh]

Yep - well worth a mention. She's usually great in everything she appears in.

[@Summer21.]

I remember first seeing Sally Phillips in sketch show Smack The Pony on Channel 4 back in 1999 and then in comedy Rescue Me in 2002. I know she appeared as a friend of Miranda Hart in the sitcom of the same first name, but I’m not a fan of that programme.

[@Steve157Oh]

@@Summer21. Smack The Pony was amazing. Definitely one of the best sketch shows ever.

[@chriswilkinson7636]

Also Tim Metcalfe from Coronation Street 😂😂

[@GordonHeaney]

@@Summer21. First time I saw her was in 1997 in I'm Alan Partridge. She was great in Smack the Pony. Agree about Miranda, not my thing.

[@hiramhackenbacker9096]

Not one of these made it onto Australian television as far as I remember. THAT'S how bad they were.

[@brantnuttall]

0:29 this has a soft spot in my heart. When I worked in a chocolate factory, the only relief I had from the tedium was saying "hello" as I packed the hello boxes. don't ask.

[@NobletheSavage]

I still use the " Hello Alan" line now.

[@Toastrackman]

Out of all of these, the most tolerable imo was ' Up the elephant and round the castle' But only because I'm a fan of Jim Davidson.

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

I remember that story when he was doing pantomime in the early 2000s. Think it was in Bristol, he got blind drunk and got abusive towards the hotel staff and they told him to leave.

[@Toastrackman]

@Jean-Luc Picard Really? Who ever heard of a celebrity causing an upset in a hotel, the man should have been a Rock star LMFAO🤣

[@garyinspain]

up the elephant was of course complete elephant dung - but credit to JD he was pretty good in it. or do i mean init?

[@ianz9916]

The reviewer slagging off The Piglet Files is an idiot. Nicholas Lyndhurst gave an excellent performance and it was one of the better sitcoms on ITV.

[@treadingtheboards2875]

I quite enjoyed The Piglet Files, some people may have reasons to include it on here, but in my mind, Piglet Files is a far more intelligent television show than some of the so called sit-com's currently on air today. As an actor and writer, I am looking at it from that point of view. I have three of my one act comedies scheduled for performance this year, with another two being looked at.

[@AlexHughes-ej3uk]

Aren't you doing well : )

[@trolleysmith4465]

Agree TreadingTheBoards. Liked the running gag about Radio Rentals

[@lexicornfell7361]

Couldn't agree more. Granted, it was a bit hit and miss, but when it was funny it was very funny. ("When do the window cleaners normally come? Thought so. Have a word with security, will you, the bloody French are at it again.")

[@firebyrd437]

It's a case of what the person likes. Critics are often pompous cretins

[@sodorflubbs5000]

I liked the Piglet Files too.

[@monkeydust100]

All better than Mrs Brown's boys.

[@lukebale8550]

I do have a soft spot for the Piglet Files, I've always thought it was underrated

[@brianevans4200]

The only one I don't agree with you about is "Rich Tea and Sympathy". It wasn't a sitcom, it was a comedy drama with each episode running for an hour and not 30 mins. I very much enjoyed it at the time. Partly in seeing Jean Alexander as just about the first time she wasn't Hilda Ogden. Secondly, because it was the comeback of Anne Reid after bringing up her family - she was formally Valerie Barlow in "Coronation Street". Today, she is my favourite living actress and is superb with throwaway comedy.

[@brucedanton3669]

It ran for one series on ITV in June/July 1991-made by Yorkshire Television so too.

[@mauricehunt666]

Very harsh on the piglet files that was quite amusing

[@lukebale8550]

I do remember them filming The Wright Way in Stockport back in the day. The crew looked miserable then so think the writing was already on the wall

[@Phuc_Yhou]

"We apologise to our viewers in the North, it must be terrible living there..."

[@jingtvonline]

I was young when 'Up The Elephant & Round The Castle' came out and quite liked it at the time. Jim Davidson came across as a loveable cheeky chappy back then, rather than the bitter, abrasive figure he presents now.

[@andrewphippsphillips1455]

Completely! Has the gall to criticise a sportsman about evading tax, when he's got a dubious history with HMR&C himself. Tries disguising his dislike of said sportsman on the basis of many reasons, when he just hates anyone from an ethnic background. Davidson should just be honest and admit he has a big white hooded cloak and wants to burn crosses in the Deep Sarrrrf of the Thames

[@Weird.Dreams]

From the few recent clips I've seen, Jim just tells things like it is. We're living in snowflake clown world now after all.

[@iandawe948]

​@@Weird.Dreams Tells it like it is. Of course he does ffs 🤣🤣🤣

[@CricketEngland]

“Up the Elephant….” is no more than a bad copy of “Shelly”

[@TheYoungDoctor]

I really liked The Piglet Flies.

[@bobwallacejnr6852]

Fantastic video. the one thing all these shows have in common is they take someone who has recently been in a decent show and try to cash in. Very seldom works

[@Turnbull50]

With Regard to Land of Hope and Gloria. Plans for a second series were scrapped after Joan Sanderson died a month before the first series premiered.

[@lexiwilson9501]

She'd just read the script.

[@sleepytyphlosion5660]

I didn’t think that Dad was that bad to be honest.

[@ben________3156]

It was good. The clips they showed were decent too.

[@petebrennan6210]

I loved that show. Always used to say HELLOOOO ALAN to everyone at school

[@2760ade]

I thought it was pretty funny actually, and he failed to mention Kevin Mcnally who was later in amongst other things, Pirates Of The Caribbean!!

[@ghtqwrrt871]

Good to see Duck Patrol again... Hopefully it won't set off my night terrors again. Another really bad one to check out: The Peter Principle

[@montymole7114]

How dare you!! 🙂Peter Principle is excellent. Well i think so anyway.

[@Gazowen-qz5xy]

Only thing that saves it is Jim broadbent that's all

[@nickgodfrey1148]

I remember 2 awful sitcoms that were excruciating: Plaza Patrol with Cannon and Ball and Pay and Display with James Bolam and Matt Bardock. Pay and Display was so bad there were only 6 episodes made before it was canned.

[@andyhinds542]

Were they on ITV? I'm guessing they were because ITV can't create sitcoms for shite.

[@nickgodfrey1148]

@@andyhinds542 yeah both were on ITV. I seem to remember the bad sitcoms more than the good ones.

[@gstjersey5284]

"Doing what?.....delivering Milk Tray?" - In all fairness, that line you showed did make me chuckle from the Piglet Files

[@davem6749]

Got me to 😂

[@Delboy591]

To be honest all of these look better than anything on the telly now...

[@jackflash743]

i agree if they think that lot are the worst, do they ever watch the crap we have to suffer nowadays

[@tentipiwildcamping]

How about taking a look at “All quiet on the Preston front” and “ chance in a million” Cheers Darren

[@georgedonaldson1516]

Chance In A Million was a hoot.

[@brucedanton3669]

All Quiet was more of a drama series really-it ran on BBC1 from 1994 to 97 although it ended up as Preston Front. I don't think they ever reshowed it though oddly too-I wonder why not though of course too?

[@brucedanton3669]

@@georgedonaldson1516 It starred Brenda Blethyn and Simon Callow and was made by Thames at the time then too.

[@tentipiwildcamping]

@@brucedanton3669 I watched all 3 seasons broadcast and missed the final episode, never saw it repeated, one day I was in Morrisons near my home and the actor who played Pollson was in front of me at the checkout, found out he live on the next street to my friend, he kindly explained to me how it ended. Bought the DVD around 20 years ago, still good to this day.

[@brucedanton3669]

@@tentipiwildcamping Yes of course so too I am sure. I don't have that one on DVD myself but I am sure it is worth re-seeing too no doubt!

[@mrhaltonok]

Can I nominate Shane with Frank Skinner? It was reasonably watchable at the time but in retrospect, making the first episode about a 16 year old American student wanting to have sex with middle aged cabbie Frank was a pretty bad decision! They filmed a second series which has never been aired or uploaded anywhere, that on its own must be a pretty rare thing

[@fitz5487]

Yes I was wondering if that was going to appear in this list. I am a big fan of everything Frank has done, but that program wasn’t funny, really.

[@stephenjcuk7562]

The 'Piglet Files' was a victim of bad reviews rather than being actually bad. The comments I've read seem to agree.

[@InAMinMaths]

10:30 this sitcom is quite well known by hardcore Star Trek films - it was the first tv performance of Marina Sirtis, who became Counselor Troi

[@garrick3727]

I just found the episode on KZbin. I remember Up The Elephant being good, but wow did that video change my mind. Marina Sirtis is very appealing though.

[@Eddie-lm3jf]

She was in an episode of Minder before that.

[@gaskellr44]

@@garrick3727 I think I thought it was good at the time too and I hadn't had a brain hemorrhage. Diabolically awful is now the summing up of it, I think there was a spate of approx 15 years of terrible sitcoms between the mid-80s and early 2000s.

[@minanes6549]

She was in a Raffles episode back in the 1970s. She played an Italian servant running away from her employer.

[@AndrewHalliwell]

Spurs supporter? I doubt Nick would like that insult. Everyone knows he supports Stoke city. I liked him best as host of Room 101.

[@DBIVUK]

Re 'Up the Elephant', look up the story about Jim Davidson and David Thewlis [not Threlfall as I originally wrote] if you want to know what the Thames TV crew thought about it. Another one worth considering is the 1987 BBC Two effort 'A Small Problem', set in a world where short people are regarded as subhuman. That got terrible reviews.

[@timlewis8567]

If you're referring to the David Thewlis story I agree. Usually I would not condone violence but if it's true it's worthy of a Knighthood without his other work being a factor.

[@DBIVUK]

@@timlewis8567 Aye, that's the chap

[@mrgobrien]

@@DBIVUK i vaguely remember a small problem

[@CricketEngland]

As a huge fan of British comedy and could probably name at least 50 or more of them, these shows must have been crap as I have only heard of “up the Elephant….” And “the piglet files”

[@powderedground78]

Gosh, I had totally forgotten about The Wright Way. That's when Ben Elton had disappeared up his own arse and was dishing out real crap.

[@kickstart_1.3]

The On the Buses spin-off, Don't Drink the Water, was pretty dire.

[@peterjpcritchley173]

The use of critical reviews from the newspapers to do the heavy lifting is lazy. I would imagine that there are few comedies that escaped a critical review from somebody somewhere. “Fawlty Towers” received a fairly cool reception when it aired, The Daily Mirror's review of the show being summed up by the headline "Long John Short On Jokes". “Dad’s Army,” too, received criticism. Critics, frankly, are not reliable; they are experts by way of nothing other than their own preferences and prejudices. There are comedies in this list that are far from being bad. That said, 90% of everything is rubbish. There are no guarantees when it comes to the creative process. It’s easy to point to the failures. It’s impossible to know what may or may not succeed. I wouldn’t waste time making derisive comment at the expense of the failures.

[@skyblazeeterno]

Dare I say it that the early seasons of Only Fools And Horses are dodgy too

[@nigefal]

I was wondering was some of ‘The piglet files’ used for the basis of ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ ? Double lives etc.

[@sdmcustoms]

I remember enjoying the piglet files but probably just cause Lyndhurst was playing parallel universe Rodney as he always seemed to. Up the elephant wasnt that bad at the time ... although a zippy voice is so cringe ... at least he didn't say "oohh Betty"

[@RichardPhillips1066]

I remember everyone going around saying "oooh Betty " all the time :)

[@sdmcustoms]

@@RichardPhillips1066 oooh Betty and I don't really know - the Les Dennis story 😁

[@stephenwalker2924]

The Up-The-Elephant-and-Round-The-Castle street set looks like 10 Rillington Place circa 1940s.

[@MrPolicekarim]

ROTFL! Unlike the show itself!

[@bradfry5403]

I only ever watched one episode of The Wright way but was obviously written by Ben Elton, don't get me wrong, back in the 80s Ben Elton doing stand up had me in stitches, but The Wright way was just a load of old jokes and cast members from The Thin blue line (an earlier Elton sitcom)

[@JimShadyUK]

I always thought Ben Elton's writing went off the rails just after the mid eighties. "Happy Families" was the last truly decent thing he wrote. Fame and exposure went to his head and affected the quality of his output because he wouldn't reign himself in. Or he burnt out early, seeing how little we hear of him these days.

[@ticketyboo2456]

Brad Fry The Thin Blue Line was pretty shite too.

[@JimShadyUK]

@@ticketyboo2456 Elton lived off our Young Ones goodwill for far longer than he deserved. This is why he wasn't blacklisted after the atrocity of "Filthy, Rich And Catflap".

[@terryboland3816]

Lots of people slag off Ben Elton nowadays and I'm one of them. Thirty years of being an unfunny hypocrite.

[@bwc1976]

@@ticketyboo2456 Loved Thin Blue Line! Although I can see Wright Way recycled the wet trousers gag.

[@jingtvonline]

I can imagine 'The Wright Way' probably seemed funny when written down on paper, but a lot of the gags fell flat when performed. David Haig is a great actor though and did the best with what he was given.

[@l.salisbury1253]

How's this for a future list: The Worst American Versions of UK Sitcoms! Mainly 'cause right now we Yanks are recovering from "Call Me Kat"- a TERRIBLE watered-down version of "Miranda"! And there have been THREE attempts at a US Fawlty Towers: "Snavely" (1978), "Amanda's" (1983) and "Payne" (1999)... and they all SUCKED! Fortunatly, a lame attempt at a Yank "Being Served" -"Beans of Boston" (1979) only lasted one episode!

[@philipwalsh837]

Carla Lane's last sitcom from the mid 1990s- Luv- was her worst, probably the worst bits of Bread turned into a whole series in effect. Honey for Tea- 1994- Felicity Kendall is divine but cannot keep up an American accent. Laura and Disorder- poor Wendy Craig, a show so bad Smith and Jones did an apology sketch for it. Help- pointless 1986 BBC1 'hilarious Scousers' sitcom. Troubles and Strife- 1985-86 typical ITV guff once again over reliant on comic female grotesques. Constant Hot Water- 1985- no way for Pat Phoenix to sign off TV and and you can see why Prunella Gee gave up showbiz.

[@brucedanton3669]

I remember most of those too. Luv was Carla Lane's last BBC1 sitcom in 1993-94; after Screaming in 1992 as well of course as all the ones she did before that. However, she did then do Searching on ITV in 1995, which I am sure was the last series she wrote on tv alas too really of course.

[@Mors_Inimicis]

The worst by far was the suburban farce ‘Whoops , where’s my trousers ‘

[@peterleschinski9758]

The pterodactyl joke in the vet show was pretty funny tbf.

[@bryemycaz]

The Daughter in The Wright Way is Beattie Edmondson, not great in spite of her famous parents.

[@Foebane72]

I was STUNNED at the mashup between Victor Meldrew and the 10th Doctor Who!!!

[@SkunkMantraTechnoSkunk]

Do you think Nicholas Lyndhurst went onto Good night sweetheart after the First spy failure one did not go down too well.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

6:05 - glad to see you used the episode I uploaded! 🙂

[@TFOOS]

Yes, I've been subscribed to you for quite a while. I do apologise for not asking first, I generally do if there's an email address in the "about" tab on the channel but there isn't one on yours.

[@davidfrancis6491]

I actually liked up the elephant round the castle it should have got a better run at least you can get it on dvd 😄

[@prk55]

I was in the audience for the taping of the studio parts of one episode. It was terrible, they had a comedian telling us jokes and taped the laughter "in case we didn't laugh enough at the scenes" one scene they did twice because we didn't laugh hard enough. Jim Davidson was horrible . Took the piss out of audience members. Who were mostly sixth formers and oaps. At the last 'Cut' he ran off and disappeared with his then girlfriend Alison something .

[@lexiwilson9501]

My mum laughed herself silly at this. But then again she is easily pleased.

[@Toastrackman]

Jim Davidson was best for his stand-up comedy, I saw him on stage twice, he was very funny imo. But then the pc brigade came along, and now with the millennial's snow❄️ attitude towards what we can say and what we can't, he's very much a Generation X memory. I liked him on ' The generation game and 'Big break' also. I'm still a fan of his to this day.

[@prk55]

@@Toastrackman He’s the man that asked for disabled audience members to be moved so they wouldn’t put him off.

[@Toastrackman]

@Philip King Well I liked him anyway, and so did a lot of people. And I don't believe everything the press says, most of it is twisted lies.

[@simonkennedy6116]

Ponting out the unique acting ability of Nick Hancock reminds me of another one of his attempts in You, Me and him with Punt and Dennis. It could be in either list of worst or forgotten sitcoms. Or both.

[@Edgel-in6bs]

I liked the piglet files (great theme tune too)

[@excelents]

08:36 "Up The Elephant & Round The Castle" for the Star Trek fraternity was the first TV appearance of Marina Sirtis aka Counselor / Cmdr. Deanna Troi.

[@rdjhardy]

Well before that, she was in the first series of Minder.

[@minanes6549]

She was in an episode of Raffles, with Anthony Valentine, back in the 70s, I think.

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

She was also in some saucy films where she got her bristols out

[@ZuluRomeo]

She was also in the famous Cinzano advert with Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

You all keep forgetting an episode of Sherlock holmes.

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

I remember a few of them : Dad(with George Cole - which wasn't funny), Up the Elephant 'Round the Castle was quite popular with viewers back in the day(Davison had a higher profile back then) and The Wright Way(which was terrible, and came after Ben Elton's "Blessed" - which was also bad).

[@arthurvasey]

George Cole also starred in the similarly-titled Comrade Dad, set in the USSR-GB - an alternative Britain under Russian rule - quite topical today, if Vladimir Putin has a say in the matter!

[@dermmeehan5255]

Why are people laughing at someone saying your lunch is on the table?

[@West.Ham1964]

I remember Forces TV showed some of these. God I miss that channel.

[@lukebale8550]

It was amazing channel

[@56postoffice]

@@lukebale8550 What, that channel's gone?

[@Eddie-lm3jf]

@@56postoffice It shut down in June last year.

[@martymart6143]

It was good for Blake's 7 then the channel went off air just as the repeats with Danya started 😡

[@AtheistOrphan]

I only discovered it just before it shut down!

[@mikepalmer8]

Just goes to show that it really all is in the writing. A host of really talented comedy actors (and Nick Hancock) in some terrible sitcoms

[@I_Don_t_want_a_handle]

Whatever happened to Hancock?

[@organfairy]

Nonetheless 'the Piglet files' were exported - it was shown on Danish television in the early 90's. I kinda enjoyed it.

[@skyblazeeterno]

No mention of Come Back Mrs Noah - what a weird af series that was - Molly Sugden in space

[@bobbieboothroyd8531]

I'm surprised my Family not been their and in a nother 20 years Maybe Meranda will be in a list like this People on Telly love it but I just cringe.

[@Summer21.]

Miranda is definitely cringeworthy as a comedy with the overacting, unfunny scenes and dialogue. Miranda, herself looking at the camera, falling over, silly running, pretending to blame an imaginary dog of her breaking wind, even the Croft and Perry ending with “You have been watching” and the cast individually looking at the viewers and waving is equally cringeworthy.

[@JeromekJerome1972]

Cant say I watch too much terrestrial telly these days but remember as a youth every other show being a twee middle class sitcom. Nostalgia is a terrible thing, I'd probably watch some of these if they were rerun

[@danielmatthewjames4920]

I remember Gary Linekar taking the piss out of Nick Hancock for Holding the Baby on They Think It's All Over.

[@ghtqwrrt871]

Totally justified too

[@Valveus]

Gary Lineker's got no right to take the piss our of anyone

[@l.salisbury1253]

This is USA again... As much as I hate to say this perhaps the post-Compo episodes of Summer Wine should be included here. While there are a few diamonds-in-the-ruff (ie the one with the singing garden gnome) Bill Owen was the glue that held that show together and they really should have called-it-quits without him.

[@jackflash743]

we used to have good comedy here in the uk, but nowadays it crap unfunny, filthy vulgar, if youve never seen the old show, stanly baxter, thats what you call funny, loof on you tube, especially the little thing he did , the towering inferno

[@FreakinSweet86]

Can't say I've seen Piglet Files but it does feel like a precursor to Goodnight Sweetheart

[@RichardPhillips1066]

I'm 48 ..I can't remember any of this , it's like a huge void :)

[@rikrob]

I do remember Up The Elephant & Duck Patrol, both bad but nowhere near as much as the PTSD-triggering Wright Way! Probably the worst thing I've ever seen on TV. Shame as Mina Anwar scrubbed up pretty well in it, but not enough to make the bad acting & even worse scripts worthy of watching!

[@bwc1976]

She was in that as well? I loved her on Thin Blue Line.

[@frankbrodie5168]

Most of these are better by a considerable margin than anything currently showing on the TV. They were probably all a little bit poor for the times though.

[@craigdickinson1796]

In the shadow of imho,the greatest of them all...(roll)..George & Mildred.Not an ounce of unfunny in every episode.Geofrey Fourmile's gorgeous wife Anne had some killer quips i recall and Yootha Joyce was peerless.

[@wojtek1765]

I always tried to get my mum to watch Wentworth because one of her favourite shows was prisoner cell block H . But she is not a fan of remakes or re-imaginings

[@PeteTash32]

45 years old and finding myself completely hooked on this channel Edit, Subscribed !!!

[@markjones-gu2fj]

Up the Elephant and round the castle had future soap stars with Anita Dobson playing Jim's neighbour , Brtan Capron (Richard Hillman) , Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts)

[@martinworld7214]

@Sarah yet you don't ask who Anita Dobson is ???

[@AmIDeadYet]

Nick Hancock & Tony Slattery back in the day were always on tv and in your face? nowadays that's Katherine fucking Ryan!

[@chriswilkinson7636]

My god these shows really do look dire😂😂😂

[@clearspira]

I have to say from this short clip you showed, The Piglet Files looks pretty good. Sort of like Goodnight Sweetheart. Its true what others are saying on here: Bad then was better than bad now.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Stressed Eric - I loved that back in my student days

[@AtheistOrphan]

Same here!

[@Knappa22]

Brilliant video. And so well researched and put together. Some memories revived for sure - I think I remember five of them, and they were shocking!

[@chrisb9360]

That Jim Davidson show was filmed on the Eastenders Queen vic set by the looks of it.

[@EddiePedalo]

As the self-appointed arbiter of what other people should find funny, I approve of this list. My one exception would be Up the Elephant and Round the Castle. I recently rewatched a couple of episodes and really enjoyed them, despite my personal opinion of the very talented but contemptible, wife-beating neo-Nazi Jim Davidson. Fun fact; Up the Elephant featured an early appearance by Marina Sirtis, who went on to play Counsellor Deanna Troi in Star Trek the Next Generation.

[@80ssynthfan48]

She was in one of the Death Wish films too. I think the one just before TNG started.

[@gingernutpreacher]

I found the piglet files ok

[@EddiePedalo]

@@andymerrett He's a brilliant stand-up... If you removed the 10% of his act that is racist and misogynistic I'd be a fan. Bernard Manning was a talented comedian... but also a complete ****. Richard Prior did things that make Jim look like a saint, and he's still a legend.

[@jackflash743]

i like jim, hes a patriot , and funny,

[@AffectedArea]

"neo-nazi" lmao antifa in the comments.

[@brantnuttall]

9:18 I liked this. Hey guess what? It's the OXO dad again! He got around, didn't he?

[@DynamixWarePro]

I have only seen a few episodes of Up the Elephant and Round The Castle and I found it OK, nothing amazing though. I have seen a few episodes of the Piglet Files and found it decent and liked it a bit more because Nicholas Lyndhurst was in it. I have seen a bit of Duck Patrol and found it boring. The rest of these I have never heard off.

[@mattw8332]

Nick Hancock - he used to be on the telly all the time but has disappeared since the mid 2000s. The female actress in the Piglet Files clip with Nicholas: is she the same person who played Sergeant Fowler in Ben Elton sitcom 'The Thin Blue Line'? Apologies, don't know her name. On the subject of sitcoms written by Ben Elton: it's a shame that 'The Wright Way' didn't get a bit of Richard Curtis magic sprinkled into the mix. Not that I'm much of a fan of ideologically woke writers.

[@mattw8332]

@@andymerrett Thanks! 🙂

[@bryemycaz]

Serena Evans and Nicholas was in The Two Of Us with her father Tenniel Evans.

[@bryemycaz]

@@andymerrett Sorry wrote that reply wrong. I meant Serena Evans was her name. While Nicholas also appeared with her Father in The Two of Us. Janet Dibley was the other lead in The Two Of us.

[@thefrecklepuny]

Up The Elephant and Round The Castle. I remember it as a kid. Bloody awful. And it had an odd plinky plonky intro theme as well!

[@Musichead1968]

Written and performed by Keith Emerson, Fact Fans! Apparently they were really good pals. Who'd've thought it, eh?

[@kdee8166]

Mrs Brown's Boys is the worst I've ever seen closely followed by Last Of The Summer Wine. Absolutely hideous.

[@paulosullivan3472]

To be fair to Up the Elephant and Round the Castle the critics always hated everything Jim Davidson did but it was still popular. I never saw it myself as I was always out so I have no idea but a lot of people seemed to like it.

[@LambsyLamb]

Anything with Jim Davidson the racist is bound to be sleazy and unfunny!

[@al201103]

Bizarrely this has dredged up a long forgotten memory of Bobby Davro, who so desperately wanted to be Jim Davidson, on a kids TV show. I think the kids were cooking? Or presenting a hobby or something and he was going to each one to get their names and ask what they were doing. He got up to a black girl, asked her name. Nadia. He then repeated it in Jim Davidson's "Chalky White" voice. I would have been fairly young at the time, but I still knew it was a dreadful lapse of taste and decency!

[@Toastrackman]

Jim Davidson is from a time before the pc brigade took over, a time when people had a sense of humor and weren't such snow❄️'s about everything. And a time before Britain lost its identity.

[@Summer21.]

I like Bobby Davro and he is likeable and funny man, unlike Jim Davidson who has had a face like thunder when he has not been the centre of attention, especially when around black people, or when the subject involved black people. Not all people are snowflakes or of the PC brigade complaining about him and his old school so-called comedy.

[@Toastrackman]

@@Summer21. Well i liked his so called old school comedy, because i am old school, but don't carry a chip on my shoulder with it.

[@Toastrackman]

Seems like double standards that a few black stand-up comedians over the years are allowed to get away with racist jokes ripping at White people, and nothing is said about it. But if a white comedian from the 70s era is accused of racism then all hell breaks loose about it. Hypocrisy pure and simple.

[@devonhalley54]

Piglet Files had a brief run on my local PBS station in the US. Didn't remember it being all that bad, probably don't want to revisit it though.

[@bumheadfilmreviews]

Got to admit, those clips of the Wright Way cracked me up.

[@Larry]

Have you done Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors yet? One of the actor's mother was a supply teacher at my infant school, and she brought him in once thinking we'd all be star struck, there just just dead silence all around :D

[@SenisPucker]

A Larry comment without the obligatory 'hey, it's Larry!' reply? Not on my watch, bub.

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

Now if he was in Teenage Ninja Turtles or the Transformers that would have been a different story.

[@scottscott232]

5:18 - Vinegar t*ts in Prisoner Cell Block H. 🙂 that was so funny.

[@rosemaryfarell5264]

Vinegar tits was another Screw. Ferguson was 'The Beast'

[@Toastrackman]

Bloody ell Doreen.

[@RichardPhillips1066]

I just watched an episode of Elephant, Jim wasn't too bad , playing himself ..cheaky chancer..I've seen worse, the reviewer was probably a snob