Britain's Best Sitcom

Britain's Best Sitcom was a BBC media campaign in which television viewers were asked to decide the best British situation comedy. Viewers could vote via telephone, SMS, or BBC Online. This first round of voting was conducted in 2003, after which the BBC published a list of the top 100 selections. From this list, they produced a 12-episode television series broadcast by BBC Two from January through to March 2004.

Britain's Best Sitcom
Genre	Documentary
Written by	Robin Ince Steve Punt Lloyd Stanton Johnny Vaughan Andre Vincent Phil Wilding
Directed by	Andy Devonshire Steve Franklin Carry John Hughes Norman Hull Becky Martin Andrew Nicholson
Presented by	See list of episodes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	12 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Robin Ashbrook Ricky Kelehar
Producers	Gerard Barry Karina Brennan Will Bryant Stephen Franklin Alex Hardcastle Garry John Hughes Norman Hull Shirley Hunt Benson Verity Maidlow Stephen McGinn Andrew Nicholson Matt O'Casey Cybele Rowbottom Elaine Shepherd Mark Turnbull
Running time	60 minutes (180-min. premiere; 90-min. finale)
Production company	BBC Manchester
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	10 January (2004-01-10) – 27 March 2004 (2004-03-27)

The series was a retrospective that examined the history and qualities of the contending programmes. In the first episode, Jonathan Ross summarised the progress of the poll and presented video clips from the 50 sitcoms that received the most votes. Each of the next ten weekly episodes, one hour in length, focused on one sitcom. In each episode, a different celebrity presenter advocated a particular sitcom, delivering 20 reasons why it deserved viewers' votes. The sitcom's writers and actors, as well as celebrity viewers, also shared their own perspectives and memories. In the 90-minute series finale, transmitted live, Jonathan Ross announced the top sitcom to be Only Fools and Horses, with Blackadder in second place and The Vicar of Dibley in third place.

Notably, all finalists were BBC productions, with ITV and Channel 4 sitcoms not appearing (Father Ted, the highest-ranked non-BBC sitcom, was at number 11).

Episodes

No.	Title	Presented by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The Launch"	Jonathan Ross	–	10 January 2004 (2004-01-10)
Jonathan Ross recaps the 50 top British sitcoms, as determined by an electronic poll conducted in 2003.
2	"Blackadder"	John Sergeant	Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson	17 January 2004 (2004-01-17)
John Sergeant advocates Blackadder, a historical farce that premiered in 1983 on BBC1.
3	"Fawlty Towers"	Jack Dee	John Cleese and Connie Booth	24 January 2004 (2004-01-24)
Jack Dee advocates Fawlty Towers, a comedy set in a dysfunctional hotel that premiered on BBC2 in 1975.
4	"The Good Life"	Ulrika Jonsson	John Esmonde and Bob Larbey	31 January 2004 (2004-01-31)
Ulrika Jonsson advocates The Good Life, a sitcom about a middle-class English couple who make an attempt at farming at their house in the southwest London suburb of Surbiton. It premiered on BBC1 in 1975.
5	"Yes Minister"	Armando Iannucci	Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn	7 February 2004 (2004-02-07)
Armando Iannucci advocates Yes Minister, a political satire that premiered on BBC2 in 1980.
6	"One Foot in the Grave"	Rowland Rivron	David Renwick	14 February 2004 (2004-02-14)
Rowland Rivron advocates One Foot in the Grave, a dark comedy about the trials of an elderly curmudgeon and his longsuffering wife. It premiered on BBC1 in 1990.
7	"Porridge"	Johnny Vaughan	Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais	21 February 2004 (2004-02-21)
Johnny Vaughan advocates BBC1's Porridge (1975–1978) and its sequel, Going Straight (1978). The programmes concern different aspects of prison life, including – in Going Straight – acclimatisation to a changed family life and outside world.
8	"Only Fools and Horses"	David Dickinson	John Sullivan	28 February 2004 (2004-02-28)
David Dickinson advocates Only Fools and Horses, which centres on an ambitious Cockney market trader called Del Boy. It premiered on BBC1 in 1981.
9	"Open All Hours"	Clarissa Dickson Wright	Roy Clarke	6 March 2004 (2004-03-06)
Clarissa Dickson Wright advocates Open All Hours, which premiered on BBC2 in 1973. It concerns a South Yorkshire shopkeeper and his wistful nephew.
10	"The Vicar of Dibley"	Carol Vorderman	Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer	13 March 2004 (2004-03-13)
Carol Vorderman advocates The Vicar of Dibley, in which Geraldine, the buxom new vicar of a small village in Oxfordshire, lives among a colourful cast of characters there – and encounters some opposition. BBC1 premiered The Vicar of Dibley in 1994.
11	"Dad's Army"	Phill Jupitus	Jimmy Perry and David Croft	20 March 2004 (2004-03-20)
Phill Jupitus advocates Dad's Army, a comparatively long-running comedy that first aired on BBC1 in 1968. Set during the Second World War, it introduces viewers to an unlikely group of Home Guard volunteers on England's south coast.
12	"The Live Final"	Jonathan Ross	–	27 March 2004 (2004-03-27)
Jonathan Ross announces which British sitcom received the most votes from viewers.

Results

No.	Title	Years broadcast	Number of votes
1	Only Fools and Horses	1981–2003	342,426
2	Blackadder	1983–1989	282,106
3	The Vicar of Dibley	1994–2007	212,927
4	Dad's Army	1968–1977	174,138
5	Fawlty Towers	1975–1979	172,066
6	Yes Minister	1980–1984	123,502
7	Porridge	1974–1977	93,902
8	Open All Hours	1976–1985	67,237
9	The Good Life	1975–1978	40,803
10	One Foot in the Grave	1990–2000	31,410

Further reading

• Lewisohn, Mark (2003). Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy (Revised 2nd ed.). BBC Consumer Publishing. ISBN 0-563-48755-0. OCLC 52830784.

External links

• Radio Times billings
• Britain's Best Sitcom at IMDb