British Sitcom History Podcast
- Episodes
- 142
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
Looking back at the wonderful world of British sitcoms. @britcompod
Episodes 142
PhoneShop (Part 2)
It's part 2 of our look at PhoneShop and this week we get stuck into Martin Trenaman and Emma Fryer. there is a brief but memorable appearance from Kayvan Novak, and Gareth continues to be triggered by memories …
Show notes
It's part 2 of our look at PhoneShop and this week we get stuck into Martin Trenaman and Emma Fryer. there is a brief but memorable appearance from Kayvan Novak, and Gareth continues to be triggered by memories of mis-selling insurance to rubes.PhoneShop (Part 1)
Today we take a look at PhoneShop, something of a cult favourite, and certainly a favourite of Gareth, who spent much of his working life rising through the ranks at Carphone Warehouse. We investigate the shows …
Show notes
Today we take a look at PhoneShop, something of a cult favourite, and certainly a favourite of Gareth, who spent much of his working life rising through the ranks at Carphone Warehouse. We investigate the shows roots in the depths of E4, look at the writer/producer Phil Bowker and find out why Javone Prince and Andrew Brooke have such good chemistry.Ghosts: The Possession of Button House (Spoiler Free Review)
Here at Britcompod, we are ardent Ghosts fans so we were in the cinema on opening night for the new film, Ghosts: The Possession of Button House. This is a pretty quick review with no spoilers but basically we loved it!
To Hull and Back (Only Fools and Horses)
You can't talk about Only Fools and Horses without getting stuck in to one of the many christmas specials. We've chosen a fan favourite in To Hull and Back, which involves our boys getting involved with diamond …
Show notes
You can't talk about Only Fools and Horses without getting stuck in to one of the many christmas specials. We've chosen a fan favourite in To Hull and Back, which involves our boys getting involved with diamond smuggling. We also take a closer look at the career of John Challis.Only Fools and Horses (Series 4+5) Part 2
This week we delve further into series 4 and 5 of Only Fools and Horses as well as everybody's least favourite special, A Royal Flush. We also take a closer look at some of the major supporting characters like …
Show notes
This week we delve further into series 4 and 5 of Only Fools and Horses as well as everybody's least favourite special, A Royal Flush. We also take a closer look at some of the major supporting characters like Trigger and Mickey Pearce.Only Fools and Horses (Series 4+5) Part 1
We are back in Peckham! Having previously looked at the "Grandad Years", now we take on Uncle Albert and some of the other players who are starting to populate the world of Del and Rodney. Are these the peak …
Show notes
We are back in Peckham! Having previously looked at the "Grandad Years", now we take on Uncle Albert and some of the other players who are starting to populate the world of Del and Rodney. Are these the peak years of Only Fools and Horses?The Savages
This week we are following on from our Simon Nye connection to take a look at a much more obscure sitcom. 2001's The Savages is a pretty basic domestic sitcom but has some interesting elements, including Marcus …
Show notes
This week we are following on from our Simon Nye connection to take a look at a much more obscure sitcom. 2001's The Savages is a pretty basic domestic sitcom but has some interesting elements, including Marcus Brigstocke as the lead and Geoffrey Palmer as his dad.Is It Legal? (Part 2)
Here is Part 2 of our look at Simon Nye's Is It Legal? starring the great Imelda Staunton. This week, we take a close look at Patrick Barlow and have good things to say about the physical comedy in the show.
Is It Legal? (Part 1)
This month we are looking at the somewhat forgotten mid nineties sitcom Is it Legal? Coming from Simon Nye while still riding high on the success of Men Behaving Badly, the show features theatre star Imelda …
Show notes
This month we are looking at the somewhat forgotten mid nineties sitcom Is it Legal? Coming from Simon Nye while still riding high on the success of Men Behaving Badly, the show features theatre star Imelda Staunton in a relatively rare lead role.James Gilbert Deep Dive
As part of our look at early Last of the Summer Wine, we came across the name of James "Jimmy" Gilbert, who was a big cheese at the BBC for many years. He played a big part in the satire boom of the sixties …
Show notes
As part of our look at early Last of the Summer Wine, we came across the name of James "Jimmy" Gilbert, who was a big cheese at the BBC for many years. He played a big part in the satire boom of the sixties, brought The Two Ronnies together, and commissioned some of your favourite sitcoms. I found an in depth interview with him and listened to it all so you don't have to! But if you want to anyway, you can find it here: https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/james-jimmy-gilbertSpanner's Eleven (Seven of One)
This week we're having a look at one of the episodes from Seven of One, an anthology series designed to find sitcoms built around Ronnie Barker. The series spawned two huge successes, Porridge and Open All …
Show notes
This week we're having a look at one of the episodes from Seven of One, an anthology series designed to find sitcoms built around Ronnie Barker. The series spawned two huge successes, Porridge and Open All Hours. But this one didn't. Written by Roy Clarke at the same time he was birthing Last of the Summer Wine, Spanner's Eleven sees Ronnie Barker as the incompetent manager of an incompetent lower league football team. Expect weak football puns and a surprising amount of seventies smut!Last of the Summer Wine (The Blamire Years) Part 2
Part 2 of our look at just the tip of the long-running Last of the Summer Wine. We finish our analysis of the episode, marvel at the technical set dressing of a church, and take a closer look at the work of …
Show notes
Part 2 of our look at just the tip of the long-running Last of the Summer Wine. We finish our analysis of the episode, marvel at the technical set dressing of a church, and take a closer look at the work of Michael Bates.Last of the Summer Wine (The Blamire Years) Part 1
This week we begin an epic journey into the world's longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine. We'll start by looking at just the first two series, after which Michael Bates left. Here, we talk about the …
Show notes
This week we begin an epic journey into the world's longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine. We'll start by looking at just the first two series, after which Michael Bates left. Here, we talk about the meandering and pointless nature of the first series, and we get a closer look at the careers of Peter Sallis and Bill Owen.Sex Lives of the Potato Men
This month we've been looking at Ideal so what better opportunity to take a look back at an early acting appearance from Johnny Vegas in the infamously bad Sex Lives of the Potato Men. Co-starring Mackenzie …
Show notes
This month we've been looking at Ideal so what better opportunity to take a look back at an early acting appearance from Johnny Vegas in the infamously bad Sex Lives of the Potato Men. Co-starring Mackenzie Crook, hot off The Office, and featuring surprisingly large supporting roles from Dominic Coleman and Mark Gatiss, this film is also packed with other Britcom cameos. It's also pretty crap and we get to make fun of it.Ideal (Part 2)
This week we continue our in-depth investigation into what exactly Ideal is and what it became as it carried on for several years. We also look at the career of Johnny Vegas and try and parse the blurred line …
Show notes
This week we continue our in-depth investigation into what exactly Ideal is and what it became as it carried on for several years. We also look at the career of Johnny Vegas and try and parse the blurred line between comedian and comedy character. And to top it all we have a report from the Ideal 25th Anniversary live stage show, which Allen went to see last year.Ideal (Part 1)
This week we find ourselves in the 21st Century to take a detailed look at cult favourite Ideal. Written by Graham Duff and starring Johnny Vegas, Ideal enjoyed a surprisingly long run for a slightly weird …
Show notes
This week we find ourselves in the 21st Century to take a detailed look at cult favourite Ideal. Written by Graham Duff and starring Johnny Vegas, Ideal enjoyed a surprisingly long run for a slightly weird little show with more interest in music than story structure. This is definitely one of the more interesting shows we've looked at and it sparks off discussions on the nature of art versus commercialism. Enjoy!Career of Caroline Aherne (with David Scott)
Writer David Scott has just released a new book looking at the career of Caroline Aherne so we got him into the virtual studio for a discussion. We go on at length about how much we love The Royle Family but …
Show notes
Writer David Scott has just released a new book looking at the career of Caroline Aherne so we got him into the virtual studio for a discussion. We go on at length about how much we love The Royle Family but also take on Mrs Merton, The Fast Show, The Fattest Man in Britain, and Dossa and Joe. Caroline Aherne: Rebel in Disguise is available in all good book shops, and some bad ones as well.Man About the House (film)
Released in 1974, the Man about the House film drops right in the peak of seventies Britcom film spin-offs. Usually that means reworked material and a few pairs of Bristols but that's not what we get here. Join …
Show notes
Released in 1974, the Man about the House film drops right in the peak of seventies Britcom film spin-offs. Usually that means reworked material and a few pairs of Bristols but that's not what we get here. Join us on a journey of discovery to see Robin and Chrissy getting closer than ever before and a deep dive on the history of Hammer Films.Man About the House (Part 2)
It's part 2 of our look at Man About the House and this week we're focusing on Richard O'Sullivan and what happened as the series progressed. In a fairly unusual move for a sitcom, the show has a definitive …
Show notes
It's part 2 of our look at Man About the House and this week we're focusing on Richard O'Sullivan and what happened as the series progressed. In a fairly unusual move for a sitcom, the show has a definitive ending, not that we necessarily like where it goes. We address the "Norman Eshley problem" and have a side by side comparison with the American remake, Three's Company.Man About the House (Part 1)
Now in video! We're back and it's a soft relaunch as we go full time into the sitcom game. We start up with an absolute classic of the early seventies in Man About the House. Ostensibly about the absolute …
Show notes
Now in video! We're back and it's a soft relaunch as we go full time into the sitcom game. We start up with an absolute classic of the early seventies in Man About the House. Ostensibly about the absolute scandalous idea of two birds living with a fella, the series soon becomes a will they/won't they between Robin and Chrissy, played by the sitcom powerhouses of Paula Wilcox and Richard O'Sullivan. Here we make a close inspection of Paula Wilcox's career and get stuck into the writers, Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. But will we appreciate the outdated political ideas and double denim on show? How many times will we accidentally say Ronnie O'Sullivan? Watch and find out!I'm Sorry, Prime Minister (theatre review)
Allen has been to see the latest sitcom related stage show - I'm Sorry, Prime Minister. An updated look at the characters from Yes, Minister, the play is written by the show's original creator Jonathan Lynn and …
Show notes
Allen has been to see the latest sitcom related stage show - I'm Sorry, Prime Minister. An updated look at the characters from Yes, Minister, the play is written by the show's original creator Jonathan Lynn and stars Griff Rhys Jones and Clive Francis. Is it a faithful addition to the canon or a Fawlty Towers style cash-in?Ghosts Christmas Special
It's christmas so we're heading back to Button House for a family get-together. Julian finds that the true meaning of christmas is learning to love again and Mike's family have come round to wind him up. All …
Show notes
It's christmas so we're heading back to Button House for a family get-together. Julian finds that the true meaning of christmas is learning to love again and Mike's family have come round to wind him up. All this and more in our special festive edition looking at Ghosts!Are You Being Served? 2016 Reboot
We promise this is our last venture into the world of Grace Brothers but this 2016 reboot was too good to miss. Loads of top comedy actors and a seemingly genuine attempt to recreate the magic that actually …
Show notes
We promise this is our last venture into the world of Grace Brothers but this 2016 reboot was too good to miss. Loads of top comedy actors and a seemingly genuine attempt to recreate the magic that actually works pretty well. But at the end of the day, what's the point?Blackadder II Historical Context
As we recently looked at series 2 of Blackadder, we thought we'd go over it in a bit more detail and see just how historically accurate it all is.
Grace & Favour (plus Beane's of Boston)
To get even further into the Are You Being Served universe, we take a look at the frankly unnecessary retooling that was Grace & Favour, getting the band back together for one last tour. But before that, we …
Show notes
To get even further into the Are You Being Served universe, we take a look at the frankly unnecessary retooling that was Grace & Favour, getting the band back together for one last tour. But before that, we take a quick look at the failed pilot for an American remake, entitled Beane's of Boston, and a slightly more successful Australian remake.Are You Being Served? Film Spinoff
If you had a successful sitcom in the seventies then the only logical thing to do was to send your characters on holiday for the silver screen version. Are You Being Served was no exception and in the 1977 film …
Show notes
If you had a successful sitcom in the seventies then the only logical thing to do was to send your characters on holiday for the silver screen version. Are You Being Served was no exception and in the 1977 film spinoff we get all our favourites enjoying the baking hot sun of Elstree Studios. Okay, it's not a great film overall but is it true to the spirit of the show?Trollied (Part 2)
This week we pop into Valco in Warrington for a big shop that includes Carl Rice and Beverly Rudd. We also take a look at what happens in the later series as the show goes from sketch-like o soap-like. But we …
Show notes
This week we pop into Valco in Warrington for a big shop that includes Carl Rice and Beverly Rudd. We also take a look at what happens in the later series as the show goes from sketch-like o soap-like. But we still like it for some reason.Trollied (Part 1)
This week we're taking a look at the Sky sitcom Trollied. Set in a supermarket in Warrington, the show ran for several years in the 2010s but because it wasn't on proper telly we didn't really notice. But it's …
Show notes
This week we're taking a look at the Sky sitcom Trollied. Set in a supermarket in Warrington, the show ran for several years in the 2010s but because it wasn't on proper telly we didn't really notice. But it's actually quite good so let's get up to speed.The Marriage Lines (Part 2)
In part two of our look at The Marriage Lines, we get up close and personal with the career of Prunella Scales and get nostalgic about the 1960s (even though neither of us were born then).
The Marriage Lines (Part 1)
This week, we take a look at early domestic sitcom The Marriage Lines. The first big hit for sitcom royalty Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, the show ran for five series but only two remain on record today.
These are the latest 40 of 142 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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