SUNDAY SEVEN: 7 BRIT SHOWS YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING
Orphan Black began last week and Finn and I are totally hooked (we overdosed watched last week to catch up). Of course most of you who know me also know that I am a big Whovian as well. Here are Seven of my favorite BBC shows that you should catch up on that don’t include Doctor Who, Sherlock or Orphan Black. So, of course, I have to ask…what are yours?
Coupling: I will start off with a Steven Moffat show though. Following the lives of Steve Taylor (Jack Davenport) and Susan Walker (Sarah Alexander) and their best friends Jeff, Sally, Patrick, and Jane, it made me laugh far too much. It has a cast that you would recognize (Gina Bellman who plays Jane was also on one of my fave shows Leverage as Sophie), the wit is sharp, and the stories quite funny and even touching at times. There is even a science fiction store called the Hellmouths in it.
Primeval: I remember when it first aired I could not get into it. The concept is interesting…rifts in time allow dinosaurs and such to come into our world. But it didn’t really grab me. And then E started watching it and knowing my love for all things BBC asked me if I had seen it because he was really digging it. So I started watching with him and got hooked. The first few episodes are rough, but keep with it because it turns into something marvelous. Andrew Lee Potts is adorable. Season Two is crazy and I kind of miss it.
Spaced: My friend John had me watch Spaced mostly due to my love of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Also as a fellow nerd, he knew it would make the girly geek very happy. And boy did. The show follows Daisy and Tim (Pegg) who meet at a café while they are both trying to find a flat. Even though they don’t know one another they pose as a young professional couple in order to get a cheap flat. A bit of an odd couple they discover what they want to do with their lives and go on plenty of surreal adventures. To date one of my favorite episodes involves playing far too much Resident Evil and starting to think that your friends and roommates might be zombies.
IT Crowd: I had heard about the IT Crowd but didn’t really get around to watching it until E and I started dating. Why on Earth did I wait so long? Seriously one of my favorite shows full of geeky awesomeness (I want Moss and Roy’s office), E says when I use my serious voice I sound like Jen, and we are constantly quoting the show. “I want to go back to being weird. I like being weird. Weird is all I've got. That and my sweet style.”
Mitchell and Webb Look: I blame this show on E. And far funnier than Snuff Box which I just couldn’t get into. Starring comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb this sketch show has sketches such as Numberwang, Ted and Peter (ooh and that’s a bad miss), The Helivets, Lazy Writers, and Wacky History. When we watched the Veronica Mars movie they even referenced a sketch (Are we the baddies?). Seriously funny.
Being Human What do you get when you have a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost be housemates. Sounds like the opening line of a joke right? What this show was (at least up until the last series) something touching and funny and heartbreaking. I fell in love with George, Annie, and Mitchell. I loved wanting to be normal despite being something preternatural. Mitchell broke my heart, George made me smile, and I desperately wanted Annie’s wardrobe. A great show.
Smack the Pony Another sketch comedy, this one was by the ladies. Featuring sketches like Dating agency videos and Irritating Flatmates, it also featured parody songs at the end of the episodes. I really wish I had this one on DVD.
Honorable Mentions: Misfits, Merlin, Jekyll, Luther, and Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan
Coupling: I will start off with a Steven Moffat show though. Following the lives of Steve Taylor (Jack Davenport) and Susan Walker (Sarah Alexander) and their best friends Jeff, Sally, Patrick, and Jane, it made me laugh far too much. It has a cast that you would recognize (Gina Bellman who plays Jane was also on one of my fave shows Leverage as Sophie), the wit is sharp, and the stories quite funny and even touching at times. There is even a science fiction store called the Hellmouths in it.
Primeval: I remember when it first aired I could not get into it. The concept is interesting…rifts in time allow dinosaurs and such to come into our world. But it didn’t really grab me. And then E started watching it and knowing my love for all things BBC asked me if I had seen it because he was really digging it. So I started watching with him and got hooked. The first few episodes are rough, but keep with it because it turns into something marvelous. Andrew Lee Potts is adorable. Season Two is crazy and I kind of miss it.
Spaced: My friend John had me watch Spaced mostly due to my love of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Also as a fellow nerd, he knew it would make the girly geek very happy. And boy did. The show follows Daisy and Tim (Pegg) who meet at a café while they are both trying to find a flat. Even though they don’t know one another they pose as a young professional couple in order to get a cheap flat. A bit of an odd couple they discover what they want to do with their lives and go on plenty of surreal adventures. To date one of my favorite episodes involves playing far too much Resident Evil and starting to think that your friends and roommates might be zombies.
IT Crowd: I had heard about the IT Crowd but didn’t really get around to watching it until E and I started dating. Why on Earth did I wait so long? Seriously one of my favorite shows full of geeky awesomeness (I want Moss and Roy’s office), E says when I use my serious voice I sound like Jen, and we are constantly quoting the show. “I want to go back to being weird. I like being weird. Weird is all I've got. That and my sweet style.”
Mitchell and Webb Look: I blame this show on E. And far funnier than Snuff Box which I just couldn’t get into. Starring comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb this sketch show has sketches such as Numberwang, Ted and Peter (ooh and that’s a bad miss), The Helivets, Lazy Writers, and Wacky History. When we watched the Veronica Mars movie they even referenced a sketch (Are we the baddies?). Seriously funny.
Being Human What do you get when you have a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost be housemates. Sounds like the opening line of a joke right? What this show was (at least up until the last series) something touching and funny and heartbreaking. I fell in love with George, Annie, and Mitchell. I loved wanting to be normal despite being something preternatural. Mitchell broke my heart, George made me smile, and I desperately wanted Annie’s wardrobe. A great show.
Smack the Pony Another sketch comedy, this one was by the ladies. Featuring sketches like Dating agency videos and Irritating Flatmates, it also featured parody songs at the end of the episodes. I really wish I had this one on DVD.
Honorable Mentions: Misfits, Merlin, Jekyll, Luther, and Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan
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