British sitcom
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-cameras were first used in the US by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball for their American show I Love Lucy in 1951 and the system was adopted in the UK. Several are made almost entirely on location and shown to a studio audience prior to final post-production to record genuine laughter. In contrast to the American team writing system, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's huge successes were of such quality that they became the paradigm for British sitcom writing.
By the time the television set had become a common part of home furnishing, sitcoms were significant expressions of everyday life and were often a window on the times of enormous social changes in the British class system and its conflicts and prejudices. The period from 1970 to 1979 in particular is often considered the 'Golden Age' of British sitcom, with Fawlty Towers being "the British sitcom by which all other British sitcoms must be judged". Since the turn of the century however, many are filmed on a single-camera set-up or entirely on location, with no studio screening or laugh track, such as The Royle Family, and PhoneShop.
A subset of British comedy consciously avoids traditional situation comedy themes, storylines, and home settings to focus on more unusual topics or narrative methods. Blackadder and Yes Minister moved what is often a domestic or workplace genre into the corridors of power. A later development was the mockumentary genre exemplified by series such as The Office, which also heralded the modern trend of the single-camera sitcom dispensing with live audiences.
A 2004 poll by the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 in the 12-episode documentary series Britain's Best Sitcom, produced a list topped by traditional sitcoms with Only Fools and Horses holding the first place, and included favourites such as David Croft's Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, and Hi-de-Hi!. It was not until The Royle Family in place 19 that a show without a live studio audience was featured.
British Christmas TV programming has a long-standing tradition of heavily featuring comedy and sitcoms in the schedules, often with episodes that capture holiday spirit, and sometimes emotional moments. In her review in The Guardian of the 2024 Gavin & Stacey grand finale Rachel Aroesti states "...our greatest sitcoms tend to bow out at their peak, but the festive revival traditionally comes to the rescue, extending the lifespans of iconic shows such as The Royle Family and Only Fools and Horses by a decade or more. If there’s still any doubt, Gavin & Stacey belongs firmly in the same modern classic category." The 2024 Gavin & Stacey Christmas Day special, serving as the grand finale, peaked the ratings and further solidifies Britcom's legacy as a staple of British festive television.
On a suggestion to Miranda Hart by sitcom writer Abigail Wilson, who collaborated with comedy actors Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, the 2009 Miranda series staged a highly successful comeback for the 'old school' 20th century concept of sitcoms with live audiences and multiple cameras.
From the late 1950s to the late 1980s situation comedy proved to be one of the richest sources of public discourse on class in British life. Writing for the British Film Institute in 2003, Phil Wickham, film and TV critic and author of several books about British TV, concludes:
Early years
Beginnings
The origins of British TV sitcoms trace back to radio comedies of the 1940s and 1950s like Hancock's Half Hour, which aired on BBC Radio in 1954, British TV sitcoms were initially inspired by American comedy formats, but they quickly developed their own style that highlighted dry wit, social satire, and the nuances of British life. Early shows of the 1950s often featured archetypal British characters such as the staff and pupils in Whack-O! and the various facets portrayed in Hancock's Half Hour, and set the stage for what would become the British TV sitcom genre. They were set in post World War II working-class or domestic environments, highlighting issues of class, family dynamics, and British culture, while The Army Game, ITV's first sitcom, parodied the life of army conscripts during the last years of the National Service which ended in 1963.''Pinwright's Progress''
Written by Rodney Hobson, Pinwright's Progress was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom. Broadcast live in black and white by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, it was about J. Pinwright, the proprietor of a small shop. Storylines involved his hated rival and his staff, who only added to his problems by attempting to be helpful. The series featured an ensemble cast including James Hayter as J. Pinwright, Clarence Wright as Aubrey, Daphne Maddox as Miss Peasbody, Doris Palmer as Mrs Sigsbee, and Leonard Sharp as Ralph. Further roles included Benita Lydal as Mrs Rackstraw, Charles Irwin as a salesman, and Jill Christie as Pinwright's daughter. and produced and directed by John Glyn-Jones. The script editor was Ted Kavanagh, who during the World War II years also wrote the BBC Radio comedy series It's That Man Again, which according to Foster and Furst was "entirely new, breaking away from the conventions of both radio and music hall comedy".''Hancock's Half Hour''
Transferred to television in 1956 after 48 episodes on BBC radio which began in 1954, Hancock's Half Hour by [|Galton and Simpson] was the first modern TV sitcom. Whilst moving away from audio variety towards character development, the radio series had been influential in the development of TV situation comedy. The radio series continued to be produced alongside the TV version. Tony Hancock played a fictionalised version of himself, a loser whose plans and aspirations are continually ruined by bad luck. Its only other regular cast member was the more worldly sidekick played by Sid James, later of Carry On fame and Bless This House. Other occasional participants included John Le Mesurier, Kenneth Williams, and Patricia Hayes. Hancock's biographer John Fisher dates the first use of the term 'situation comedy' in British broadcasting to a BBC memo dated 31 March 1953 from radio comedy producer Peter Eton, suggesting the format as the ideal vehicle for Hancock's comedic style. According to Phil Wickham, writing for the Britiah Film Institute, "Hancock's persona of the pompous loser out of his depth in an uncomprehending society still informs many programmes today". The final BBC series of this show was broadcast under the shorter title Hancock. In 1963, Hancock changed his writers and moved to ITV for a further 13-episode series also named Hancock. The series, though relatively well received, has been described as "clearly not up to the standard of BBC work".''Whack-O!''
Stars Jimmy Edwards in the lead role as Professor James Edwards, Whack-O! and was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden. The series is about the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at the fictitious Chiselbury public school "for the sons of Gentlefolk". From 1956 to 1960 and 1971–1972, it ran for 60 episodes over 8 series. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best", alluding to the frequent and traditional punishment of disobedient pupils in the UK by caning which was the butt of many jokes. The BBC sums up this aspect of Whack-O! with: "Watching the series now is a little painful in one respect – we're too sensitive to find canings amusing – but it's right on the money in other ways, mainly because finding over-privileged kids vile hasn't gone out of fashion."Only six of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971–72, slightly retitled Whacko! and with less emphasis on the caning. Other members of the cast included Arthur Howard,
Julian Orchard,
Kenneth Cope,
Norman Bird,
John Stirling,
Peter Glaze,
Edwin Apps,
Peter Greene,
David Langford,
Keith Smith,
Brian Rawlinson,
Gordon Phillot, Harold Bennett,,
Frank Raymond,
Gary Warren, and
Greg Smith. A feature film, Bottoms Up, was made in 1960.