Fawlty Towers named best British sitcom of all time

[Oliver_W]

Quite right too! <3

Fawlty Towers has been named as the best British sitcom of all time. (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/fawlty-towers-best-sitcom-british-list-only-fools-horses-father-ted-a8860986.html)

The BBC series topped the Radio Times magazine’s list, compiled by a panel of television experts, beating Father Ted, Blackadder, I’m Alan Partridge and Only Fools and Horses.

The judges called John Cleese a “six-foot-five comic genius” who made the show a hit playing the highly-strung Basil Fawlty, proprietor of a sub-par Torquay hotel.

Fawlty Towers ran for just two series of six episodes each in the 1970s.

Co-writer and co-star of Connie Booth told the publication: “Fawlty Towers succeeds, I think, because it allows infantile rage and aggression a field day in a buttoned down, well-mannered English society.

“It’s unique in being a farce, with all the plot surprises and precision that the style requires. And it doesn’t hurt that the star of the show is a six-foot-five comic genius. If he was shorter I can’t imagine how it would have worked.”

Cleese added: “I was very lucky to be working at the BBC when decisions were taken by people who had actually made programmes.

“What a cast. I’m proud we are up there with Porridge and Only Fools and Ab Fab and Blackadder and The Office and Reggie Perrin and The Thick of It.”

Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, penned by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, came second in the list, with I’m Alan Partridge coming third, and Blackadder fourth.

The list was voted for by 42 comedy experts, including lauded writers Mathews, Linehan and Richard Curtis, as well Barry Cryer and Alison Graham.

Graham said: “When we find a comedy that does make us laugh, that brings a quick hit of joy into our lives, and we treasure it for ever.

“In our memories, great comedies are pearls that become more burnished and beautiful through the years. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.”

[Tony Montana]

Alf will be chuffed then

[RileyH]

how old are the voters jfc

[Liam-]

Appalling

[Crimson Dynamo]

Appalling

You did not watch it so wtf

[Oliver_W]

how old are the voters jfc

I was born well after a decade after the show ended and I'd probably have voted for it.

[LaLaLand]

I mean it's okay but...

[Denver]

its not The Royle Family

[Liam-]

You did not watch it so wtf

Don’t assume things, it makes you look dumb when you’re wrong

[Denver]

Don’t assume things, it makes you look dumb when you’re wrong

Me to customer at work

[Crimson Dynamo]

Don’t assume things, it makes you look dumb when you’re wrong

Or I'm right

That is much more likely

[Marsh.]

Wow, overrated.

[LaLaLand]

I'm quite surprised in today's "snowflake society" that this has topped any charts tbh.

[Liam-]

Or I'm right

That is much more likely

Do you have a designated number of rows you have to meet or something? Bore off

[Amy Jade]

AbFab and Keeping Up Appearances are way better

[Barry.]

AbFab and Keeping Up Appearances are way better

Yes agreed but it is still good.

[Alf]

We had our own poll on this question last year, on this forum. The results were embarrassing.

[Nicky91]

amazing news :clap1: :clap1: my parents loved this, they got me into watching this and i also liked it a lot

well deserved this for fawlty towers

[Alf]

AbFab and Keeping Up Appearances are way betterMaybe to someone with the sense of humour of Jason Voorhees.

[Twosugars]

Do you have a designated number of rows you have to meet or something? Bore off
:clap2:

[smudgie]

Hmmmm, personal preferences I suppose.
But going by the success of a show it doesn’t really rate high up there.
12 episodes in total.:shrug:

[Marsh.]

Hmmmm, personal preferences I suppose.
But going by the success of a show it doesn’t really rate high up there.
12 episodes in total.:shrug:

Tbf 12 episodes because that's all the creator wanted to make. Not because it flopped and was cancelled.

A number of hugely successful shows only lasted 18 episodes over 3 series.

[Daniel-X]

I love Fawlty Towers but this should’ve been Ab Fab’s!

[Daniel-X]

I’m Alan Partridge coming third, we love taste!

[Alf]

Tbf 12 episodes because that's all the creator wanted to make. Not because it flopped and was cancelled.Or it could have been that the writers were going through a divorce to each other around about that time, I'm sure that would have played a part in the quantity of episodes.

Ricky Gervais always does 12 episodes in his sitcoms, because he's such a big Fawlty Towers fan, but I bet he never took in to consideration that there would have likely been more if Cleese and Booth weren't going through a break-up.

[smudgie]

Tbf 12 episodes because that's all the creator wanted to make. Not because it flopped and was cancelled.

A number of hugely successful shows only lasted 18 episodes over 3 series.

Aye, true enough Marsh.
But I think it was too limited, inside a hotel, whereas other comedy shows had far more scope.
I loved Fawlty Towers but loved others more.:blush:

[Oliver_W]

I remember when I was in year 7 or something it was being re-run. Most of my form was talking about the episode all the way up to about lunchtime, everyone loved it. (the specific episode was Wedding Party, when the guests thought Basil was with Manuel and Basil didn't want them to share a room because they were unmarried)

[thisisdanny]

I watched for the first time on Netflix not long ago and I loved it

[Alf]

:hee:I watched for the first time on Netflix not long ago and I loved itI've never watched it on Netflix, but I'd like to know if it's been censored, I reckon it probably has. There's language in it that isn't tolerated today, particularly from The Major.

[Rob!]

I'm quite surprised in today's "snowflake society" that this has topped any charts tbh.

I wouldn’t say it’s especially “snowflake” sensitive though. The worst thing that could be gleaned from it is Basil’s abuse of Manuel.

Tbh I don’t think it’s aged especially well. Sybil is basically a violently abuse partner :laugh:

[Rob!]

:hee:I've never watched it on Netflix, but I'd like to know if it's been censored, I reckon it probably has. There's language in it that isn't tolerated today, particularly from The Major.

Oh yeah I forgot about that whole “w*g” speech.

[Oliver_W]

To be fair the audience isn't meant to be like "yeah, black people ARE ****!" the scene is poking fun at people who are like the Major.

[Rob!]

It was the seventies. That scene of Basil in the hospital being horrified at the idea of being looked after by a black doctor is mad to think of now.

[Oliver_W]

It was the seventies. That scene of Basil in the hospital being horrified at the idea of being looked after by a black doctor is mad to think of now.

Was he though? He did a double take, I always took that as Dr Finn making him jump. There was nothing else to suggest Basil didn't want him.

[Rob!]

Was he though? He did a double take, I always took that as Dr Finn making him jump. There was nothing else to suggest Basil didn't want him.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but I thought the inclination was that it was because he was black. It would certainly fit Basil’s character. Black characters were rarely cast in sitcoms in those days without there being some sort of connotation behind it.

[Alf]

'The Kipper and the Corpse' is my favourite episode, if I had to choose one, although all 12 episodes are brilliant.

[Alf]

Oh yeah I forgot about that whole “w*g” speech.I'm fairly sure he also uses the N word in that bit aswell, when he's describing the different cricket teams. He does on the DVD I have anyway.

[Rob!]

I'm fairly sure he also uses the N word in that bit aswell, when he's describing the different cricket teams. He does on the DVD I have anyway.

Oh yeah you’re right. For sure would be cut from any broadcasts now.

[Tom4784]

It's overrated, it's good but it's not the GOAT.

[Alf]

These polls are quite pointless if you're not that interested in the history of British Sitcom, because if you've never watched the entire 8 series of Steptoe and Son, then how can you claim that Alan Partridge is better and expect to be taken seriously?

Most people who watched Steptoe and Son are likely to be dead now, so they don't get to vote in these polls. The people that are voting have probably never seen some of the classics from the Golden age of British sitcom.

[Oliver_W]

These polls are quite pointless if you're not that interested in the history of British Sitcom, because if you've never watched the entire 8 series of Steptoe and Son, then how can you claim that Alan Partridge is better and expect to be taken seriously?
I see your point but if I watched a random episode from each with no context, I'd probably like Alan Partridge more.

You shouldn't have to watch every episode of a show to be able to decide which you like more.

[Alf]

I see your point but if I watched a random episode from each with no context, I'd probably like Alan Partridge more.

You shouldn't have to watch every episode of a show to be able to decide which you like more.I love Partridge, definetley one of the best of its time (my time) but it's not in the same league as Steptoe.

You can't just judge a Steptoe off one episode, you have to get to know the characters warts and all. You have to watch steptoe, or any good sitcom, multiple times to really understand it, there's so much you won't take in with just one or two viewings.

[Tom4784]

The best sitcoms are timeless, Fawlty Towers isn't timeless nor is Steptoe.

If you can watch an episode of an old sitcom today and it's just as funny as it was then without having to have experienced those times for it to be funny then it stands the test of time.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Trash

[Aaliyah]

catherine tate and little britain are better oh and the royle family and keeping up appearances

[Marsh.]

Keeping up appearances was pretty much a sketch show. It was the same jokes each week but in a different order.

[Denver]

The best sitcoms are timeless, Fawlty Towers isn't timeless nor is Steptoe.

If you can watch an episode of an old sitcom today and it's just as funny as it was then without having to have experienced those times for it to be funny then it stands the test of time.

This is why The Royle Family stays winning

[Alf]

Keeping up appearances was pretty much a sketch show. It was the same jokes each week but in a different order.No, definetly a sitcom, that was just the writers style. He also wrote Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours, which also had recurring jokes, and catchphrases every episode.

[Liam-]

It’s no One Foot In The Grave or Gavin and Stacey

[Marsh.]

No, definetly a sitcom, that was just the writers style. He also wrote Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours, which also had recurring jokes, and catchphrases every episode.

I'm aware.

I meant that it's an almost identical script every week so it's more like a sketch show.

Once you've seen one KUA you've seen them all. :hee:

[Alf]

This is why The Royle Family stays winningEvery great sitcom after The Royle Family owes a debt of gratitude to it, it changed the game. Just in the same way Steptoe and Son did when it first aired in the early sixties.

[Alf]

I'm aware.

I meant that it's an almost identical script every week so it's more like a sketch show.

Once you've seen one KUA you've seen them all. :hee:I agree, it's definetly overrated, it's hard work to get through the box set, and it doesn't make me eager to re-watch it, as others do.

[Oliver_W]

The best sitcoms are timeless, Fawlty Towers isn't timeless nor is Steptoe.

If you can watch an episode of an old sitcom today and it's just as funny as it was then without having to have experienced those times for it to be funny then it stands the test of time.
I've not experienced those times and I can still find it funny.

[Marsh.]

I enjoyed Harry H Corbett in Carry On Screaming.

[Alf]

I enjoyed Harry H Corbett in Carry On Screaming.Before he got type cast in Steptoe he was a revered actor, he was known as the British Marlon Brando. But Steptoe was so popular, that it took over his career. He probably should have gone on to be an Hollywood superstar.

[Mystic Mock]

I've only seen a couple of episodes of the programme and it did make me laugh quite a lot tbf.

My favourite UK Sitcom is The IT Crowd.

[Alf]

This was the full top twenty list to the poll in the OP

1 Fawlty Towers
2 Father Ted
3 I'm Alan Partridge
4 Blackadder
5 Dad's Army
6 Only Fools and Horses
7 Porridge
8 Royle Family
9 Absolutely Fabulous
10 Dinnerladies
11 The Thick of it
12 The Office
13 Peep Show
14 Vicar of Dibley
15 Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
16 The Young Ones
17 Gavin and Stacey
18 The Good Life
19 The Detectorists
20 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

[Alf]

I think old Alf should do a countdown thread of his top 50.

[bots]

Fawlty towers was a piece of sheer genius in it's time. I remember waiting for each new episode with excitement. No other sitcom has done that for me :shrug:

[Shaun]

Pretty hard to argue with the result.

I'm surprised Only Fools didn't finish top five, though, that strikes me as "the most beloved" sitcom or whatever.

And Father Ted continues to be overrated I see...

[Crimson Dynamo]

good list except the atrocious

9 Absolutely Fabulous

Is someone having a laugh or what?

[Marsh.]

good list except the atrocious

9 Absolutely Fabulous

Is someone having a laugh or what?

Yes, all the viewers watching Ab Fab are having a reet laugh!

[Daniel.]

Keeping up Appearances is massively underrated.

[Toy Soldier]

To be fair I think at this point Fawlty Towers works OK as a "period comedy"; you could consider it a comedy deliberately set in the mid 20th century.

Father Ted I think is timeless because part of the joke is them being "out of touch" on their little island... Like you can imagine that it's set in 2019 and the rest of the world has broadband and smartphones but they're still sat round a CRT TV using their land line, and driving a 30 year old car. It actually makes it funnier :joker:.

[Oliver_W]

To be fair some seaside towns are a bit "time frozen", and there's not really any situations in Fawlty Towers where modern technology would change the plot. Basil's a bit of a fuddyduddy who probably wouldn't bother with a mobile phone, especially as it would give Sybil more means to hassel him!

[Crimson Dynamo]

For me The Office, RF and AP and Phoenix Nights would be at the top but I loved The Good Life, Rising Damp, Fall and Rise of RP as I watched and laughed with me old dad.

So you have your own ones and you have ones you watched with your Dad as he loved them and you kind of knew what was going on :joker:

[Toy Soldier]

To be fair some seaside towns are a bit "time frozen", and there's not really any situations in Fawlty Towers where modern technology would change the plot. Basil's a bit of a fuddyduddy who probably wouldn't bother with a mobile phone, especially as it would give Sybil more means to hassel him!I dunno, the fashion is 70's through and through there's no escaping that and also you have things like WW2 references that only work in that time frame (long enough from the end of the war for the world to have moved on, but still within recent-ish living memory). The Germans episode ovciously but also the entire character of the retired military guy who seems to live there (I can't remember his name... Just that the best bit of the entire series is when he thinks the moose head is talking to him)

[Tony Montana]

I think old Alf should do a countdown thread of his top 50.

Here for it :clap1:

[Rob!]

I agree with KUA being pretty much the same week in week out. There's a few amazing episodes like the boat one but there's a lot of repetition.

[Tony Montana]

Alf, how do you feel about Alf Garnett and crew not being on the list?

[Alf]

Alf, how do you feel about Alf Garnett and crew not being on the list?Well it's bleedin' scandalous innit?

Innit fair eh? Innit bloody fair?

You work hard all your life, as God as my witness, and
this is how they treat ya. Well they can sod orf!

[Epic.]

:hee:I've never watched it on Netflix, but I'd like to know if it's been censored, I reckon it probably has. There's language in it that isn't tolerated today, particularly from The Major.

GZY0SdiNzfw

[GiRTh]

A list of top twenty British sitcoms without Yes Minister. I'd prefer it to about half of that list.

[Alf]

A list of top twenty British sitcoms without Yes Minister. I'd prefer it to about half of that list.Probably would just miss out on my top 10, but definitely top 20 without a doubt.

Steptoe and Son, Allo Allo and One Foot in the Grave are the biggest omissions for me on that list.

[Aaliyah]

Keeping up Appearances is massively underrated.

sis you're absolutely ****ing right

[Aaliyah]

I agree with KUA being pretty much the same week in week out. There's a few amazing episodes like the boat one but there's a lot of repetition.

NOT true!

[GiRTh]

Probably would just miss out on my top 10, but definitely top 20 without a doubt.

Steptoe and Son, Allo Allo and One Foot in the Grave are the biggest omissions for me on that list.Yes Minister would be in my top ten maybe even top five. I'm Alan Partridge was good but wouldn't make my top twenty, I only liked the first series, top three is laughable. Gavin and Stacey should be no where near any top twenty list and the most laughable one, Dinerladies, wouldn't make my top 50 never mind 20.

[Oliver_W]

Why do so many gays love AbFab and KUA so much? They're both good, but I don't leak ejaculatory fluids at the very mention of them like some seem to.

[Alf]

Yes Minister would be in my top ten maybe even top five. I'm Alan Partridge was good but wouldn't make my top twenty, I only liked the first series, top three is laughable. Gavin and Stacey should be no where near any top twenty list and the most laughable one, Dinerladies, wouldn't make my top 50 never mind 20.You're not alone, Yes Minister would make a lot of people's number 1

It won the Bafta for best sitcom for 3 straight years in 81, 82 and 83. I don't think there's been a more prolific Bafta winner in that catagory. Was the number 1 of its time.

[Daniel-X]

Why do so many gays love AbFab and KUA so much? They're both good, but I don't leak ejaculatory fluids at the very mention of them like some seem to.

KUA is nothing great but Ab Fab is brilliantly written (besides Bubble) and I’ve watched every episode at least five times and still find myself in stitches at most.

[Daniel-X]

The biggest crime here is Nighty Night being omitted

[Marsh.]

The biggest crime here is Nighty Night being omitted

Omg THIS!!!!

[Alf]

KUA is nothing great but Ab Fab is brilliantly written (besides Bubble) and I’ve watched every episode at least five times and still find myself in stitches at most.Is Bubble the one played by Jane Horrocks? She's the best thing in it.

[Jake.]

The biggest crime here is Nighty Night being omitted

Nighty Night was bloody brilliant but it’s more of a cult show than anything else.

[Alf]

Nighty Night was bloody brilliant but it’s more of a cult show than anything else.Yeah, it's not something that's gonna get the entire nation to tune in. Far too dark for a family to sit down and watch.

[GiRTh]

Nighty Night was bloody brilliant but it’s more of a cult show than anything else.Agree with this but it was just too graphic.

[Jake.]

Yeah, it's not something that's gonna get the entire nation to tune in. Far too dark for a family to sit down and watch.

Same as Peep Show for example. Fantastic sitcom but too narrow of an audience.

[GiRTh]

You're not alone, Yes Minister would make a lot of people's number 1

It won the Bafta for best sitcom for 3 straight years in 81, 82 and 83. I don't think there's been a more prolific Bafta winner in that catagory. Was the number 1 of its time.Yeah I agree. I was liking the list till I realised it was not on there.

[Mystic Mock]

Probably would just miss out on my top 10, but definitely top 20 without a doubt.

Steptoe and Son, Allo Allo and One Foot in the Grave are the biggest omissions for me on that list.

I liked Allo Allo from what I've seen of it.

[Alf]

I liked Allo Allo from what I've seen of it.I'm watching it right now as we speak.

[Aaliyah]

Why do so many gays love AbFab and KUA so much? They're both good, but I don't leak ejaculatory fluids at the very mention of them like some seem to.

this is so generalist and homophobic. my mother, a straight woman, loves both of those shows

[Oliver_W]

this is so generalist and homophobic. my mother, a straight woman, loves both of those shows

Maybe it's more of an "attracted to men" thing then :dance:

[Aaliyah]

Maybe it's more of an "attracted to men" thing then :dance:

sis are you calling my mother a man?

[Crimson Dynamo]

sis are you calling my mother a man?

are you calling Oliver a girl?

[bots]

where is "on the buses"? :fist:

[James]

Red Dwarf is my favourite. I have to say that I haven't watched all the shows in the top-twenty.

Fawlty Towers is kind of the default answer in these polls. Not only do people like it, but they know others say it is the best ever.

Having said that though, it is very well written and performed.

[Alf]

where is "on the buses"? :fist:It gets such a bad name, but it's very underrated. Yes! it's massively out of date and hugely sexist, but there's lots of laugh out loud moments, mostly the moments involving the relationship between Arthur and Olive.

"You stupid great lump"

cOfqFKw2RK8

[Oliver_W]

sis are you calling my mother a man?

Not unless you like AbFab and you're attracted to your mother?