Only Fools and Brotherly Forces

This episode we discuss the long running and immensely popular family comedy first released in the year 2000, "My Family". This was our first proper family comedy show and lead to a really unique and interesting discussion, full of tangents, random anecdotes and early 21st century nostalgia. The show features a great cast of actors and interesting characters that was dismissed by the critics while being a huge hit with audiences. Although it did perhaps overstay its welcome with a whopping 120 Episodes...

This Episode we discuss the 2012 series Bad Education, written by and staring Jack Whitehall. The show finds itself landing dangerously close to the likes of "The Inbetweeners" and another show staring Jack Whitehall, "Fresh Meat", and its fair to say the comparisons do not do this show any favours. The fact this show managed three seasons and a movie is a surprise only surpassed in magnitude by its recent relaunch, maybe we've missed something here? Safe to say it wasn't exactly our cup of tea but as always we had fun discussing it.

Another year rolls past which means another chance for us to step outside our usual format and look at a UK Comedy film. This year we watch the funniest UK Comedy Film EVER! (As per a decade old channel 4's poll). Monty Pythons 'The Life of Brian' was as controversial at the time as it was funny. The film experienced issued getting the green light from production studios and even after it was made would be banned in multiple countries for a long, long time. Listen to our episode to find out the good, the bad, the ugly and the great of this absolute classic. Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In this episode we tackle the incredibly joke heavy 'Not Going Out'. Written by Lee Mack and surprisingly the second-longest-running British sitcom (number of series), the word play, one liners and consistent punch lines make it one of the easiest watching shows around. But with so many jokes, is there much story and character intrigue to keep us engaged? All will be revealed in this weeks brotherly forces rewatch.

In this episode we watch the long running and 129 episode deep Birds of a Feather. Another female led comedy showcasing the acting prowess of Pauline Quirke along side childhood friend Linda Robson and larger than life Lesley Joseph. This series certainly looked to exceed expectations with similarities to some of our best loved shows, but will it be able to keep up the pace through its many series? Listen to our take on this classic to find out

In this episode we discuss the seminal 2001 comedy " The Office", created by the now world renowned Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. The Office while not universally loved, was an instant classic and ubiquitous almost to a fault from its inception. The commitment to detail and insistence of its creators to have full control, lead to a show that appeared as instantly fully formed as anything we've previously discussed. The blend of reality, relatability and comedy seems perfectly woven into the sometimes unbelievable characters and their often despicable actions. The shows popularity and impact on comedy are often very highly stated, we try to pull this back down to earth and provide context into the world that The Office entered, discussing some of its predecessors and hopefully heaping deserved praise and fair judgement in our usual fashion.

Its what so many of us have been waiting for, a brand new comedy written by and staring the legendary Dylan Moran. When we both found out this was to be released last year we were of course overjoyed and quickly decided to break our randomator format to tackle this fresh series. Coupled with another of our favourite female comedy actors, Morgana Robinson, it has all the ingredients to be an instant hit. At only 15 minutes a piece, the episodes are very short and there is only 5 of them in total, so will this long awaited return to the screen give us what we've been craving for 2 decades?? or does disappointment loom. Listen to our breakdown of this very uniquely formatted series to find out.

Another Brotherly Forces ambitiously named Christmas Extravaganza. We catch up a little about our year and the different circumstances we find ourselves in compared to last years special when we covered the same dickens story performed by the muppets. In this episode we follow the classic story with one of our favorites Rowan Atkinson as Ebenezer Blackadder and visit his ancestors from past and future.

In this episode we discuss a piece of English comedy history with French and Saunders first regular sitcom roles. They both write and star along with Ruby wax and Tracey Ullman in the classic comedy format of unlikely housemates. While parallels to Young Ones are abound, it's very much its own show with some new ideas and welcome new voices. A fascinating origin story for this collection of now much loved female comedians .

In this episode we discuss a 90s favourite; One Foot in the Grave. Far from just another geriatric comedy, we questioned how we'd missed it the first time around! J oin us as we discuss the brilliant portrayed Victor and Margaret Meldrew, with a mixed bag of supporting roles as the they work their way through life thats a mixture of mundane retirement and surprising/shocking moments, brilliantly woven together with outstanding writing.

In this weeks episode we watch the first series of the entirely whacky Toast of London. It is as mad as you might expect coming from the weird and wonderful mind of Matt Berry. Sometimes out and out surreal, sometimes seemingly very much in the real world, this was quite a unique series for us to break down. Listen to hear our verdict on this fairly modern UK Sitcom.

As far as British comedy goes, it doesn't get much more juvenile than the 90's slapstick comedy, Bottom. Two of our favourites, Rick Mayall and Adrian Edmundson team up together one last time to continue their legacy of mindless violence and knob gags - what more could you want? somewhat of a right of passage for many in our age group but its unlikely that everyone was unboard. In this episode we talk about Rick and Ade through the years, the many little subtleties that really gave prestige to the series and the many lubricous highlights of this lighthearted show.

A random but inarguably very British comedy this time with the 2010, very of its time show - PhoneShop. We join the quote unquote 'Rude Boyz' Jerwayne and Ashley who are paired up with the much more quiet, straight-laced Chris aka ‘New-man’ as they try and teach him how to survive and thrive in life on the high street. It's a bit more niche but there is undoubtably some very clever writing and great laughs from the cast and crew. Definitely earns its place on our list and was fun to talk about the show and all its madness.

On this episode we journey through the decades with one of the most sarcastic and devious characters in British comedy, Edmund Blackadder. Dipping into a couple episodes of each series, we discuss the shows evolution, its highs and its lows. We resist the temptation to go down too many history rabbit holes and talk about the production, the cast and what it is that makes this one of the most loved UK comedy classics.

Task Master Greg Davies writes and stars in this semi autobiographical slapstick comedy full of larger than life characters, all perfect cast. This week we discuss how this group of likeable comedians come together to create this often silly, occasionally witty but ultimately sadly underwhelming sitcom.

After life combines laugh out loud comedy with incredibly poignant emotion in a magically unique way. Ricky Gervais, writes, directs and stars in this ground breaking show as a man who believes he's lost everything. This week we discuss how Gervais expertly brings his acting entourage together to fill our screens with a diverse and brilliantly portrayed set of meaningful, interesting and occasionally insane characters. We focus as always on season one, however we do share our thoughts on the series as a whole following the recent release of the third and final season.

Fawlty Towers is unquestionably one of Britains most famous and beloved sitcoms. Nearly 50 years later this short lived treasure about a chaotic Torquay hotel is still lightning quick and unrelenting in its ability to induce laughter. This week we discuss the unforgettable and unique characters and the fabulous talents that brought them to life.

Leave your Humbugs behind and join us for a very Merry Christmas special as we talk about the brilliant "The Muppet Christmas Carol". A perfect mix of the immortal Charles Dickens, national treasure Sir Micheal Cane and the amazing comedy family that is The Muppets. This week we enjoy a glass of mulled wine and break down this family favourite in our usual way; combining strong opinions, with moderately interesting facts and a few laughs a long the way.

The Brittas Empire was a hugely popular and long running 90s comedy that seems to have fallen away from public consciousness. It stars the brilliant Chris Barrie and fits neatly into the English comedy timeline of styles and ideas and is described by many as a televised farce. This week we discussed why the show, despite being so popular at the time seems to have such a limited legacy and reveal whether this is a show many have maybe missed out on, or if it should be given a miss.