A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series set in ancient Pompeii and broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991 and a film adaptation was released in 1971.
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and white from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974 in colour. The lead roles were played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon, in Portugal as Camilo & Filho, and in South Africa as Snetherswaite and Son. Two film adaptations of the series were released in cinemas, Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973).
Derek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom All Gas and Gaiters (1966–71).
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 128 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010. In all, 27 sitcoms started from a pilot in the Comedy Playhouse strand.
William Mervyn Pickwoad was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters, the old gentleman in The Railway Children and Inspector Charles Rose in The Odd Man and its sequels.
Julie Wilson Nimmo is a Scottish actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Miss Hoolie in the BBC Children's series Balamory, Mrs Sawdust in CBeebies show Olga Da Polga and DC Megan Squire in the BBC Scottish comedy series Scot Squad.
Joan Sanderson was a British actress. During a long career on stage and screen, her tall and commanding disposition led to her playing mostly dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intense Shakespearean roles. Her television work included the sitcoms Please Sir! (1968–72), Fawlty Towers and Ripping Yarns (1979) and Me and My Girl (1984–88).
The Dad's Army missing episodes are lost episodes and sketches of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. The programme ran for nine series from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. Three out of six episodes from the second series and two of the four Christmas sketches are missing because, at that time, the BBC routinely reused videotape as a cost-saving measure.
John Robertson Hare, OBE was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, All Gas and Gaiters.
Ruth Kettlewell was an English actress. She was, by her own admission, a "character bag"; that is, a face recognisable to regular television viewers, but not a household name.
The Misfit is an ATV sitcom series starring Ronald Fraser, Patrick Newell and Simon Ward. It was written by Roy Clarke and was broadcast from 1970 to 1971 on ITV.
Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect.
Oh, Brother! is a British television sitcom starring Derek Nimmo, which aired on BBC1 from September 13, 1968 to February 27, 1970.
Pauline Devaney is a British actress, writer, and artist, best known for her television writing in partnership with Edwin Apps.
Edwin Apps was an English television actor and writer. He appeared in many British and French television series and films, which include Whack-O!, I Thank a Fool, Danger Man, The Avengers, Steptoe and Son, My Wife Next Door, Special Branch, Katts and Dog, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Vatel, Joséphine, ange gardien, 15 ans et demi and others.
Penny Spencer is a retired British actress, best remembered for her performance as coquettish schoolgirl Sharon Eversleigh in the LWT television comedy series Please Sir! (1968–1970).
Our Man at St. Mark's is a British comedy television series which originally aired on ITV between 1963 and 1966. Today the series is largely lost, with only 8 out of 46 episodes remaining in the archives.
