There's nothing like 'em! With the number of channels becoming available through DBS and cable, someone should start a network that shows nothing but old British TV shows! So sit back, turn on the telly, and get ready for stuff that beats the pants off of all that schlock on American TV now!
And a big thanks to Kathleen, who corrected us on a couple of our synopsis. That's the problem with the sporadic airing of these series on public TV-they change the air times (as well as the selection of shows) constantly, so it's hard to really get to know the ins and outs of each show.
DRAMAS
THE AVENGERS
John Steed, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, Tara King, Mother, and all that jazz. Encore's Mystery channel runs them once in a while, and there are teriffic remastered episodes available on DVD. THE NEW AVENGERS Hey, wanna see Joanna Lumley WAY before her Absolutely Fabulous days? Well, she stars in the revamped version of The Avengers when network execs must have decided some fresh blood was needed. She stars along with Patrick MacNee, and Gareth Hunt (taking over some of the action, probably because MacNee was a little older at this point.)
THE AVENGERS MOVIE: Don't let those dumb critics keep you away. If you love the original Avengers TV series, you'll love the movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. It's got just as much style, just as many campy situations, along with a little more adventure thrown in. We loved it.
MYSTERY!
PBS runs many of the various mystery movies they have imported from British television under this title. Your favorite Avenger, Diana Rigg (Emma Peel) introduces each episode and keeps you up to date on what's happened previously.
THE PRISONER
RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY
Formerly played as one of the shows on PBS's "Mystery", there must be plenty of episodes, since it has become it's own show. It's about an English barrister, solving mysteries of course.
SITCOMS
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!
One of the most popular shows to come from England, who knows how to begin explaining the show's premise?! 2 women who are best friends get into all kinds of misadventures because of their complete lack of values. The neat thing about this show is the role reversal between mother and daughter. The mother is the irresponsible one, drinking day and night, doing drugs, and other stuff like that, while the daughter is the prim and proper one, constantly trying to keep mother in line. Avengers fans will recognize Joanna Lumley as Patsy. Why oh why were there only 18 episodes made??
ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
The antics of the salespeople in the men's and ladie's departments of Grace Brothers department store.
ARE YOU BEING SERVED AGAIN?
This series originally aired with the name "GRACE AND FAVOUR" on the BBC. (It was probably changed to "ARE YOU BEING SERVED AGAIN" because American television programmers figured the American viewing audience would be too stupid to recognize everyone from the original series in a new show.) The store has been sold and the Grace Brothers salespeople find out their pensions were invested in a country estate, which they run as a tourist destination. Are You Being Served: The Book There is a great book out for anyone who is hooked on Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe and all the Grace Brothers gang. "Are You Being Served?" was written by Adrian Rigelsford, Anthony Brown, and Geoff Tibballs; and published by KQED, a California public television station. Most often, you'll see this book offered when it's pledge time on your local public television station, and usually it's a gift for a pledge of $50. The book has cast info, episode synopses of both series, games, a dictionary of British terms for Yanks that can't understand their witty dialogue, and much more.
AS TIME GOES BY
A man and a woman who had been in love in the 50's but lost touch after the Korean Conflict run into each other again 40 years later when both of them are available again.
BLESS ME FATHER
The misadventures of a parish priest, set in the 1950's.
CHEF!
A chef, his wife, and the restaurant staff deal with the day to day problems of running a fancy restaurant.
COME BACK, MRS. NOAH
Mollie Sugden (Mrs Slocombe of Are You Being Served?) stars as Mrs. Noah, an elderly lady who somehow ends up on a spaceship in outer space.
FAWLTY TOWERS
John Cleese plays the owner of an inn that never seems to have an ordinary day. This sitcom was one of the first from England to become popular in America.
GOOD NEIGHBORS
A husband and wife decide to leave the rat race and try self-sufficency while still at their home in suburban London. Their next door neighbors, while great friends, have difficulty living next door to pigs, a goat and chickens.
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
A woman, Patricia Routledge, tries desperately to act as though she's part of the upper crust, driving her neighbors and poor husband batty and avoiding her relatives, who most certainly are from the bottom crust.
LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE
A group of retired elderly men who live in a small town find new ways each episode to get into mischief.
MURDER MOST HORRID
Dawn French (who also wrote for AbFab) writes and stars in this dark humored sitcom. She plays a different character each week who is somehow involved in a murder. Really neat plot twists make this a fun show to watch!
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE
The new Cosby show was based on this show about a sour old man, forced into retirement because of his age, and his wife whom he drives mad with his puttering around the house all day.
RED DWARF
TAKE A LETTER, MR. JONES
John Inman (Mr. Humphries of "Are You Being Served?") plays a female executive's male secretary.
TO THE MANOR BORN
A formerly wealthy woman, Penelope Keith, is forced to sell the mansion she lives in and moves into the guest house.
TWO'S COMPANY
An American writer, Elaine Stritch, living in London has a hard time dealing with her proper English butler, Donald Sinden.
THE VICAR OF DIBLEY
The trials and tribulations of the vicar of a small town Church, played by Dawn French.
OTHER STUFF
PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS
Every Sunday at 9pm, C-SPAN broadcasts a tape of Questions to the Prime Minister from the British House of Commons. This is really fun to watch because even though the business is serious, everyone there seems to really enjoy themselves. The United States Congress should be half this interesting to watch.
Back to TV ShowsBack into the Litterbox
Get your own Free Home Page