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.
written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, 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".
The cast of The Army Game would change over the years with actors such as Geoffrey Palmer, Bill Fraser, Ted Lune, Frank Williams, Harry Fowler and Dick Emery appearing in subsequent series.
[38] Writers for the 1960–63 episodes included Marty Feldman, Barry Took,[39] John Antrobus, Ray Rigby, David Cumming, Derek Collyer, James Kelly, Peter Lambda, Tom Espie, Jack Rosenthal, Harry Driver, and Doug Eden.
[55] With Milo O'Shea, and Yootha Joyce (Man About the House, George and Mildred) in the lead roles, Me Mammy was written by Hugh Leonard, produced by James Gilbert and Sydney Lotterby for the BBC and aired 1968–1971 for 21 episodes over 3 series.
and comedian Frankie Howerd's Up Pompeii!, which ran for 16 episodes (1969–70, 1975, 1991)[68] and starred several female stalwarts from the Carry On film series, including Barbara Windsor, Wendy Richard and Valerie Leon.
Starring Sid James of Carry On fame, with Diana Coupland and Sally Geeson, Bless This House was created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, but mainly written by others including Dave Freeman and Carla Lane.
It was created and written for the BBC by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft and stars Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, and John Inman, who of the original cast were to appear in all 69 episodes and the same five later featured in the sequel spin-off Grace & Favourwhich aired in 1991–1992.
[105] Created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC, Open All Hours ran for 26 episodes in four series (1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985) and starred Ronnie Barker and David Jason, with a regular supporting cast including Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole, Barbara Flynn, Maggie Ollerenshaw, and Kathy Staff.
[106][107] The programme, produced and directed by Sydney Lotterby and developed from a television pilot broadcast in Barker's comedy anthology series Seven of One (1973), centred around the antics of the eccentric and miserly owner of a traditional English corner shop.
Mayall was also the star of The New Statesman (1987–92), a series created by Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks, whose biggest success, Birds of a Feather (1989–98, 2014–20), also deviated from British practice in being scripted by a team of writers.
The alternative comedy genre continued with Blackadder (1983–89), mainly written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis and starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
"[127] In a 2004 BBC programme paying tribute to the series, it was revealed that Jay and Lynn had drawn on information provided by two insiders from the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, namely Marcia Falkender and Bernard Donoughue.
Evans spoke of: "[shows] such as Only Fools and Horses, which gets tremendous viewing figures but does inspire conventions of fans who meet in pubs called the Nag's Head and wander round dressed as their favourite characters.
Some of the biggest hits of the 1990s were Men Behaving Badly, 2point4 Children, I'm Alan Partridge, Goodnight Sweetheart, Bottom, The Brittas Empire, The Thin Blue Line, Mr. Bean and One Foot in the Grave.
[167] In retrospect, Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline called screenwriter Exton "the series' real star", saying his "adaptations come surprisingly close to capturing the flavour of the originals" by "retaining many of Wodehouse's most inspired literary similes.
[169] With Janine Duvitski in the main supporting role and a regular cast including Andrew Tourell, Sandra Payne, Michael Bilton and Paddy Ward, much of the humour was derived from flying in the face of expectations about how the elderly ought to behave.
"[180] Conversely, a retrospective review in The Guardian highlighted the series as "a gem from an era when the BBC took its black comedy seriously", praising both its dark content and humour, "a Richard Briers sitcom that's the opposite of The Good Life.
The show included cameos from many actors and celebrities, many appearing as themselves, and including Sarah, Duchess of York, Hugh Bonneville, Mel Giedroyc, Richard Griffiths, Miranda Hart, Alistair McGowan, Geraldine McNulty, Philip Whitchurch, Nicholas Le Prevost, Brian Perkins and Roger Sloman, Pam Rhodes, Kylie Minogue, Rachel Hunter, Terry Wogan, Jeremy Paxman, Martyn Lewis, Darcey Bussell, Sean Bean, Richard Ayoade, Orla Brady, Fiona Bruce, Annette Crosbie, Johnny Depp, Ruth Jones, Hilary Kay, Damian Lewis, Maureen Lipman, Jennifer Saunders, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, Stephen Tompkinson, Dervla Kirwan, and Emma Watson.
[192][193][194][195] Created, written and co-produced by Victoria Wood, who also starred as the main character, Brenda Furlong, dinnerladies is based on the lives and interactions of the employees of a works canteen and ran for a total of 16 episodes during 1998 and 2000.
The permanent cast occasionally featured guest actors, including Joanne Froggatt, Tina Malone, Dora Bryan OBE, Lynda Baron, Elspet Gray, Janette Tough, Simon Williams, Kenny Doughty and Eric Sykes CBE,[196] and Dame Thora Hird DBE.
[208] It also featured several guest stars including Paula Wilcox (Man About the House),[209] American actor George Wendt[210] and Dame June Whitfield (Happy Ever After, Absolutely Fabulous, Last of the Summer Wine).
[211] James Corden and Ruth Jones wrote the 20 episodes of Gavin & Stacey produced by Baby Cow Productions (2007–2010) for BBC Cymru Wales over three series which were directed by Christine Gernonmover.
[219] The series had a large ensemble cast,[220] which changed throughout its ten seasons and included Abigail Cruttenden, Adam Gillen, Alan David, Asa Elliott [af; arz], Bel Powley, Bobby Knutt, Charlotte Eaton, Crissy Rock, Danny Walters, Elsie Kelly, Geoffrey Hutchings, Hannah Hobley, Hannah Waddingham, Honor Kneafsey, Hugh Sachs, Jake Canuso, Janine Duvitski, John Challis, Johnny Vegas, Josh Bolt, Julie Graham, Kate Fitzgerald, Kathryn Drysdale, Kenny Ireland, Michelle Butterly, Nathan Bryon, Nicholas Burns, Oliver Stokes, Paul Bazely, Perry Benson, Selina Griffiths, Sheila Reid, Shelley Longworth, Sheridan Smith, Sherrie Hewson, Simon Greenall, Siobhan Finneran, Steve Edge, Steve Pemberton, Tim Healy, Tony Maudsley and many guest stars.
[223] Directed by Dewi Humphreys,[224][225] and produced by Jason, Alex Walsh-Taylor[226][227] Sarah Hitchcock,[228] and Gareth Edwards, the series continued the theme of Open All Hours while focusing on the life of a much older Granville, running his late uncle Arkwright's traditional English corner shop with his son's help.
[232] Took, with writing partner Marty Feldman with whom he collaborated for over ten years in radio and television, created the early sitcoms The Army Game in 1958 starring Alfie Bass (Till Death Us Do Part and Are You Being Served?)
He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi!.
[254] For four decades, he was a major influence as commissioning producer on shows such as[255] Fawlty Towers by John Cleese and Connie Booth, Galton and Simpson's Steptoe and Son, All Gas and Gaiters, The Goodies, and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
"[254] Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer were a comedy writing duo whose career began in radio with the critically acclaimed Round the Horne of 1968, and its sequel Stop Messing About created as a vehicle for Kenneth Williams of Carry On fame.
[256] A prolific composer for sitcoms, comedy productions, game shows and other programmes, Hazlehurst joined the BBC in 1961, and became a staff arranger; his early works included the incidental music for The Likely Lads and The Liver Birds.