The Best UK sitcoms of the 21st century so far…Spaced (1999-2001)

Spaced is the story of Tim and Daisy, two young people in need of somewhere to live.

Daisy is a frustrated writer, keen to escape life in a squat. Tim is a small-time cartoonist who has been forced to move out after discovering his girlfriend has been having an affair with his best friend.

Together they hatch a plan. Despite not being a couple or even friends really (they have met by chance in a café), having spied a reasonably priced flat to rent advertised as being only available to “professional couples only,” they decide to present themselves as a happily married couple to the apartment’s landlady.

This in essence is the premise of Spaced. Although as Tim himself would say, “it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

Spaced ran for two series on Channel 4 in 1999 and 2001 and proved the perfect calling card for its two writers and stars, Simon Pegg (Tim) and Jessica Stevenson (now Jessica Hynes, who plays Daisy) with the show’s unseen force, the hugely talented director, Edgar Wright also making an impact.

Straddling the millennia, technically only the second of the two series is a 21^st century sitcom and thus eligible for this list. But who cares? Both series are great anyway, for a number of reasons…

Firstly, whether its Tim railing against the evils of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (a film which Peter Serafinowicz who plays his hated love rival, Duane Benzie actually features in), Daisy attempting to write her masterpiece to the theme from Murder She Wrote, or Wright skilfully evoking memories of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Spaced is packed to the brim with clever popular culture references.

Secondly, many of the episodes are masterpieces in their own right. Tim and his war-obsessed friend Mike played paintball, long before the guys on Peep Show or US shows like Big Bang Theory and Community did it. Another episode skilfully turns the TV show, Robot Wars into a real life conflict while ‘Gone’ sees the stars engaged in an ingenious mimed gun battle governed by ‘masculine telepathy’ at the end of a drunken night out. And that’s not to mention the celebrated Epiphanies episode in which Tim’s odd friend Wheels (Michael Smiley) takes the gang clubbing.

Then, there’s the brilliant supporting cast. Pegg’s real life best friend and flatmate, the then unknown Nick Frost plays Tim’s war-obsessed pal, Mike, a man once expelled from the Territorial Army for “stealing a tank and attempting to invade Paris”. Or Brian (Friday Night Dinner’s Mark Heap) an eccentric artist who has an ‘arrangement’ with landlady, Marsha (Julia Deakin). There’s also a supporting cast which includes a whole host of rising comedy stars including David Walliams, Paul Kaye, Bill Bailey and Ricky Gervais.

But finally there’s the best reason of all: Spaced is likeable, endless quotable, highly watchable and very, very funny.

DVD review: The Moaning of Life 2 with Karl Pilkington

Warning: Karl Pilkington does not moan like he used to.

Don’t worry: he hasn’t stopped completely and still retains his distinctive, unique and often hilarious world view. But, on this evidence at least, his reputation as a serial moaner is undeserved. Pilkington is often understandably bewildered by many of the strange people and bizarre practices he encounters here, but he embraces most of what he sees and confronts many challenges (night-club dancing, ironing in a remote and precarious American location and even going on patrol as a superhero), head-on.

Probably the main difference from his earlier series, An Idiot Abroad, is the absence of the sometimes cruel presence of Pilkington’s old comradres Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Rather than being sent to random locations as to their whim, here Pilkington is able to travel to some marvellous places to meet some often very odd people in the hope of gaining enlightenment on a range of topics including Art, Identity and How To Live Your Life. Through it all he remains, his usual self: both very ordinary and also unique, devoted to his girlfriend back in the UK and often and seemingly unintentionally, very very funny.

He meets some strange types here including as Utah man who has five wives, an Indian who offers an unconvincing argument as to the merits of drinking urine, a 91-year old woman skydiver and a young lady who specialises in vomiting up her own works of art. If some of this sounds crude, well, it sometimes is. The worse thing about the show is that the director seems obsessed with showing someone vomiting, at least once in every episode.

But through it all is Karl. Whether railing against solar power, defending the Dickens character, Ebeneezer Scrooge or being totally astonished to find that he actually quite likes wearing a wig, Karl Pilkington is the key to the show’s success.

And despite what I said earlier: her does still moan quite a bit.

DVD: The Moaning of Life 2 with Karl Pilkington

Release date: November 23rd 2015

BBC Worldwide

Eight UK TV comedies than either soared or flopped on the big screen

A decade after The Office finished, Ricky Gervais’s most famous creation, the excruciatingly awkward “chilled out entertainer” David Brent is to return, this time on the big screen. Gervais is adamant that Life On The Road which focuses on Brent’s post-Wernham-Hogg existence as a salesman cum wannabe musician is NOT a full blown Office sequel. But which other small screen British comedy characters have attempted to break out into the world of cinema? And which have triumphed and which have failed?

1. Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)
Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke’s sex-starved teenage creations followed the “going on holiday” formula favoured by many British sitcom movie adaptations ranging from On The Buses to The Inbetweeners, this time going to the party island of Ibiza where they run into a malevolent club DJ played by Rhys Ifans.
VERDICT: Neutral

2. The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (2005)
With a tricky postmodern plot in which the creators of the TV series decided to destroy their own creations, the Royston Vasey cast made an awkward transition to celluloid, the cast later moving onto work on dark TV successes Sherlock, Psychoville and Doctor Who.
VERDICT: Failure

3. Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie (1997)
Loved by some, hated by others, Rowan Atkinson’s hapless hero performed well in his feature debut directed by the late Mel Smith. A sequel, the self explanatory Mr. Bean Goes On Holiday appeared a full decade later.
VERDICT: Success

4. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)
A-ha! Norwich’s favourite son played by Steve Coogan was transposed to a siege setting in this enjoyable film version of a dramatic event in the egocentric local radio DJ’s life. Partridge seems cooler and even slightly younger than in recent TV outings although never loses his essential naffness. Long suffering PA Lynn (Felicity Montagu) and Sidekick Simon (Tim Key) return although Mike the Geordie (Simon Greenall) appears to be killed off. A sequel is expected.
VERDICT: Success. “Lovely stuff” (not my words. The words of Shakin Stevens).

5. Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie (2014)
Despite receiving appalling reviews, the movie version of the gender-bending Mrs. Brown’s Boys proved a modest hit with fans of the controversial and (let’s face it) truly awful BBC sitcom.
VERDICT: Failure

6. In The Loop (2009)
This well received version of the excellent BBC political sitcom kept its most memorable character, foul mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) but other regulars from the series such as Chris Addison appeared under new names to accommodate the “Special Relationship” themed storyline. Tom Hollander crops up as an inept minister while American actress Anna Chlumsky made an appearance paving the way for her role in the US sitcom Veep (also largely penned by Armando Iannucci).
VERDICT: Success

7. Guest House Paradiso (1999)
Certainly very very very close to being the film version of slapstick sitcom Bottom starring Ade Edmonson and the late Rik Mayall (and yes, it still hurts to write that). But technically the names were changed. And this wasn’t very good.
VERDICT: Failure

8. The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)
Proof that British sitcoms really can work on the big screen, the tale of four sex-obsessed lads going mad in Crete was a big hit, despite resorting to the overused “holiday” formula (see also: Holiday On The Buses, Kevin and Perry Go Large, Mr. Bean Goes On Holiday). It also doesn’t end properly. It enjoyed the biggest box office opening weekend for a British comedy film ever, however, and the sequel (out now) seems to be doing even better
VERDICT: Success