15 Best British Sitcoms of All Time (Including Some Lesser-Known Ones)

Love British comedy?

Here are 15 of the best British sitcoms of all time:

15. Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

Starring Ralf Little, Sheridan Smith and Will Mellor, the show followed the lives and loves of a group of ordinary twenty-somethings in Runcorn. Full of great dialogue, it regularly featured the group in their local pub or at home grappling with the complexities of life.

14. Outnumbered

Are we laughing at this show because it's about the endless battle that is parenthood, or because the family are middle class and everything is going wrong for them? Either way, the semi-scripted nature of the show gave it a comedic realism.

13. Green Wing

A slightly anarchic mix of soap opera, sketch comedy and visual effects, Green Wing must be seen to be understood. It's set in a hospital, but that doesn't seem to have any real bearing on the plot. It's worth a look, and it's like nothing you've ever seen before.

12. Perfect

Satirical and cleverly written, this show follows the lives of three disabled people in Liverpool. Forced to attend an utterly pointless work preparation scheme, the trio bond as they constantly battle against a system that appears of no real benefit to them.

11. Fawlty Towers

Madcap mayhem in a Torquay hotel. It’s character comedy at its best and one of the most slapstick shows to hit the mainstream. Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) is the worst part of all of us. Which is probably why we can’t help but love his idiocy.

10. The Vicar of Dibley

Quintessentially English, this is a comedy about small-minded thinking and committees. At the heart of it is a vicar (Dawn French) who is progressive and wants to introduce her parishioners to a wider world. The juxtaposition works well and the final joke in every show became something to look forward to.

9. The New Statesman

Coming at the height of the Thatcher years, Rik Mayall played Alan B’Stard, MP in this satirical take on the UK government of the time. A comic genius, Mayall’s facial expressions, tone of voice and all-round performance perfectly captured the sleaze and scandal of the time.

8. Car Share

Setting an entire show in one location is tough. Making that location the inside of a car where the two characters can’t move makes it even harder to make great comedy. Yet, with great writing, magical chemistry and some beautiful touches involving the radio and some billboards, this was both gentle and hilarious in equal measure.

7. Peep Show

Mitchell and Webb brought writing we could resonate with and a new style of filming that combined to produce one of the finest sitcoms ever. The premise is pretty simple – two average men leading normal lives in a standard flat – but the whole is definitely worth more than the sum of the parts.

6. Bottom

Another show about two flatmates. Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson star in a show that had all the madness of the Young Ones but with a more mature way of writing and presenting its comedy. Predominantly focusing on Richie Richard (Mayall) and Eddie Hitler (Edmondson), a cast of recurring characters added to the nihilistic humour.

5. Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge

Our first encounter with Steve Coogan’s arrogant, annoying and somehow loveable narcissistic chat show host. It was ground-breaking comedy that introduced the idea of awkwardness being absolutely hilarious.

4. The Royle Family

Comedy works best when it’s an exaggerated form of reality. This was like a little slice of what we knew; a glimpse at our own lives through the lens of the odd bunch who managed to represent us and the traits we don’t like in others. As a depiction of real family life, this show tackled some tough subjects with sensitivity and always managed to bring it back to a funny moment.

3. The Thin Blue Line

While the plotlines were generally pretty basic, exquisite performances, superbly written characters and the sort of one-liners we associate with anything written by comic genius Ben Elton made this police station comedy just brilliant.

2. Blackadder

Historical (loosely), satirical (absolutely) and packed with jokes from start to finish. This is comedy writing at its absolute best brought together perfectly by great casting and performances. It’s a show you can watch over and over again, and still belly-laugh even though you know what’s coming.

1. The Office

The show that made Ricky Gervais famous. Anyone who has ever worked in an office can see their own lived experience reflected back at them. And everybody thinks they’re Tim. But they’re really a mixture of Gareth Keenan and David Brent. Yes, even you.