5 British sitcoms I’ve watched & loved lately

Hello friends and happy Sunday! Long time no see around here… I spoke on twitter a little bit about losing my blogging mojo the last couple of months. Stepping back for a little while was definitely helpful to think about and define what I wanted to do with my blog and where I wanted it to go. I feel like I’m finally in a good place with my full-time job as well, and I have found how to make blogging work alongside that. So here’s to new beginnings!

Today’s post is all about TV shows. During my summer break and throughout September we watched a lot of newly-produced British sitcoms – and I’ve just got around to putting the list together to share them with everyone!

5) Avoidance

Let’s start with Avoidance, starring Romesh Ranganathan! It’s probably the one that took me the longest to warm up to, I didn’t get into it until probably three episodes in (out of six…) but by the end, I was really enjoying it! It follows the story of Jonathan, who is struggling after his partner Claire decides to break up with him. He tries to navigate shared custody of their son, and has to move in with his sister and her wife.

This whole dynamic works so well, it’s hilarious! Jonathan’s character is SO unlikeable at first, I disliked him so much I didn’t want to carry on watching – but actually, it works very well for the show and makes for very good comedy! It wouldn’t have worked as well if he’d been more loveable. This show really isn’t like any other I’ve watched before, it’s very much its own thing and honestly, the ending was so good and fit really well with the vibe of the show. I loved the actors, they picked very good people to play the main characters, and I loved that there was LGBTQ+ representation with Jonathan’s sister Danielle and her wife Courtney. A very good watch!

4) The Witchfinder

Next on our list, we have the Witchfinder! In 1645, during the English Civil War, Thomasine Gooch is suspected to be a wtich. Gideon Bannister, a witchfinder, is escorting her across East Anglia to stand trial. But the road to the trial proves to be a rocky one!

In terms of British sitcoms, this show is definitely up there for us! The best part was definitely the actors and how they portrayed their characters. We have really talented comedy actors in the lead roles, with Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper, who do a fantastic job together. The dynamic and dialogue between the two are absolutely hilarious! It’s visually very nice also, the costumes and different decors made the show feel unique and immersive, as it’s not a historical period that you’d expect to find a lot of comedy.

The show does a great job at highlighting the absurdity of the situations that the characters find themselves in. The Witchfinder doesn’t take itself too seriously, which helps in draw the attention to what makes the show great – the two lead characters! Bannister’s inflated ego and dry sarcasm coupled with Thomasine’s constant pedantic comments and no-nonsense attitude make for a hilarious combination! It’s a true laugh out loud show and we enjoyed it very much!

3) The Cleaner

We watched The Cleaner in one weekend. This tells you all you need to know!  The Cleaner is a comedy written by and starring Greg Davies, that follows “Wicky” who gets to know various people as part of his profession as a crime-scene cleaner.

I loved the selling point of the show: there is a guest star character every episode! Over the course of the season, we get to see Greg Davies interact with Helena Bonham Carter, David Mitchell and Layton Williams to name a few. Each episode is very unique, as each guest star obviously have their own strengths in acting, and that makes the show remarkable and have its own vibe! The show is very typically Greg Davies, if you know what I mean, it’s very similar to other programmes he’s done, it’s of his very solid, very funny British sitcoms! We have situational comedy at its finest here! We definitely recommend it to anyone who loves Greg Davies!

2) the Outlaws

Next we have The Outlaws, a now two-series comedy created by and starring Stephen Merchant! This one was incredibly well made, it had a much more in-depth and interesting storyline than you typically get with this type of show: we follow five people, young and old, who are doing community service for various low level crimes. The cast absolutely nailed their performances. The big name in the show is of course Christopher Walken, who utilised his quirky style to full affect as the ex(ish)-conman, Frank. The rest of the cast more than held their ground amongst the Hollywood royalty though, and each of the main characters felt as if they had a lot of depth as the show progressed.

The jokes were great and there were some really great scenes, some even so dramatic that you almost forget you are watching a comedy! The stakes get higher as the series goes on and you really start to feel a sense of danger for the characters! That being said, the highlights were still the quieter scenes, that had two or three of the main cast bouncing off each other, with Merchant’s signature comedic style coming through!

This was definitely the most visually stunning programme, it was just really well made and directed. While initially it may not stand out, this is a great example of a show that’s whole is much greater than the sum of its parts – it was really well put together! We definitely recommend it!

1) Here We Go

I kept the best one for last: we absolutely loved Here We Go! This was probably the funniest new comedy we watched amongst the five. It follows the Jessop family, as youngest son Sam documents his family’s (mis)adventures in the form of a filmed documentary for his drama class.

I loved everything about this show: it had a great cast – Jim Howick, Katherine Parkinson, Alison Steadman and Tom Basden are obviously established actors who know how to bring characters to life. The characters themselves are all very distinct from one another, they all have unique characteristics that make them funny and real. The whole group together works so well and have such good chemistry! Everything about the series was just pure fun, the jokes were good, the situations were funny, and the fact that it was from the point of view of the son made the whole thing have a really unique aesthetic and added lots of opportunities for visual humour as well. Overall, one of the best new British sitcoms we watched this year and we can’t recommend it enough!

Have you watched any good sitcoms recently?

Em ♥