[Great] British TV: An American Rebroadcast Wish And/Or Recommendations List

[TaraS1]

I would just like to plead with everyone to watch GameFace on Hulu.  I'd never heard of it, just came across it while searching for something new to watch and I am so thankful I did - it is hilarious!!  It's two seasons of six episodes each (S2 just came out on Hulu last week) and it's about an aspiring actress named Marcella (played by the insanely brilliant and hysterically funny Roison Conaty, who also writes the show).  Not an exciting description, I know, but trust me, SO, SO funny and well written!

[SVNBob]

On 7/20/2019 at 1:31 AM, SVNBob said:

Another "panel show" recommendation: Taskmaster.

Series 9 just ended, and the show's status is currently in the air.  But in a good way.   Their contract with UKTV/Dave ended along with the series, and other networks are interested in picking it up.  Channel 4 was interested, but now there's rumors that the BBC is also in talks.  It's a very popular show, so it is going to get picked up somewhere.

Relatedly, there's also now an official Taskmaster YouTube channel.  They've only got the first series uploaded and public right now, but further series are likely to get added once all the bleeping is done.

If you haven't seen anything about this show, and are still wondering if you should, well...

Watch this video excerpt from Series 1.  You have 6 minutes.  Your time starts now.

[proserpina65]

There are so many things I've read about from British and non-American television which I loved to see, that I so desperately wish BBC America actually still ran British tv shows rather than American movies & shows.

[Popples]

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

There are so many things I've read about from British and non-American television which I loved to see, that I so desperately wish BBC America actually still ran British tv shows rather than American movies & shows.

14 hours of Star Trek: The Next Generation and a couple of random movies is so infuriating. 

[ABay]

Everything British has more or less landed in Acorn, Britbox, or Netflix.

Edited November 18, 2019 by ABay

[proserpina65]

15 minutes ago, ABay said:

Everything British has more or less landed in Acorn, Britbox, or Netflix.

None of which I can afford to add to my budget.  It's deeply disappointing.

[ABay]

What I do with Acorn and Britbox is wait until there's something I really want to see and then subscribe through Amazon for 1 month. It takes a while for content to build enough, so I do it two or three times a year. I usually cancel a day or two after subscribing so I don't forget.

If you're a member of your local PBS, you get access to their stuff online. I can't remember the minimum but it's not more than $15 a month.

Edited November 18, 2019 by ABay

[Ceindreadh]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:32 AM, SVNBob said:

Series 9 just ended, and the show's status is currently in the air.  But in a good way.   Their contract with UKTV/Dave ended along with the series, and other networks are interested in picking it up.  Channel 4 was interested, but now there's rumors that the BBC is also in talks.  It's a very popular show, so it is going to get picked up somewhere.

Relatedly, there's also now an official Taskmaster YouTube channel.  They've only got the first series uploaded and public right now, but further series are likely to get added once all the bleeping is done.

If you haven't seen anything about this show, and are still wondering if you should, well...

Watch this video excerpt from Series 1.  You have 6 minutes.  Your time starts now.

Alex Horne tweeted that Channel four have picked them up. 

[Minivanessa]

Well, I don't think it's a "great" show - whatever that is. But, I'm enjoying late-night watching of The Repair Shop on Netflix. I wouldn't call it must-see TV, but it's positive and interesting to see how beat-up and damaged items are rehabilitated. And the obligatory teary scenes when the owners are reunited with the repaired items which have deep sentimental value to them.

I have no clue if this is all scripted and fake, or at least some of it features real people and real stories. I just suspend disbelief and enjoy watching the experts at work. I have zero interest in clocks and toys and stuffed animals in general but I have to say, I have liked watching those things being fixed and restored. 

It's kind of like that old Brit TV show, I think it was called Heir Hunters or something, that I also enjoyed via Netflix. Human interest, experts solving problems and untangling mysteries. 

[GaT]

6 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Well, I don't think it's a "great" show - whatever that is. But, I'm enjoying late-night watching of The Repair Shop on Netflix. I wouldn't call it must-see TV, but it's positive and interesting to see how beat-up and damaged items are rehabilitated. And the obligatory teary scenes when the owners are reunited with the repaired items which have deep sentimental value to them.

I have no clue if this is all scripted and fake, or at least some of it features real people and real stories. I just suspend disbelief and enjoy watching the experts at work. I have zero interest in clocks and toys and stuffed animals in general but I have to say, I have liked watching those things being fixed and restored. 

It's kind of like that old Brit TV show, I think it was called Heir Hunters or something, that I also enjoyed via Netflix. Human interest, experts solving problems and untangling mysteries. 

I'm hoping Netflix gets the rest of the seasons. I think these are the actual first two just because the show started as a half hour show & then changed to an hour. There are two more seasons so far, so here's hoping.

[SVNBob]

17 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Well, I don't think it's a "great" show - whatever that is.

"Great" as in Great Britain.  It's a joke about the country of origin these shows, and not necessarily a comment about the quality.

[lurkerbee]

Found it. Never mind.

Edited December 27, 2019 by lurkerbee

[Silver Raven]

I've been binge-watching "Vera".  Not only is Brenda Blethyn epic (an iron fist in a silk glove), but so many of the shows end with you sobbing in sympathy for the person who got arrested.

 

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I've been binge-watching "Vera".  Not only is Brenda Blethyn epic (an iron fist in a silk glove), but so many of the shows end with you sobbing in sympathy for the person who got arrested.

 

It is a terrific show.  The only episode I didn't care for was the one where I read the book first.

[SVNBob]

In this time of social distancing/staying at home and getting bored and/or lonely, trust a couple of British panel show hosts to come to the rescue.

To counter boredom, Taskmaster creator and the Taskmaster's assistant (little) Alex Horne will be giving out tasks to do on Twitter, using the hashtag #HomeTasking.  He put out a video on the Taskmaster YouTube channel explaining how the whole thing will work.  First task will be announced within a few hours of this post, and will have a time limit of 30 hours.

To counter loneliness, QI and Bakeoff host Sandi Toksvig has just started a new YouTube channel called Vox Tox, where she basically invites the audience into her home library for a pleasant chat about something she finds interesting.  First video (of 3 or 4 at time of posting) is below.

 

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, SVNBob said:

To counter loneliness, QI and Bakeoff host Sandi Toksvig has just started a new YouTube channel called Vox Tox, where she basically invites the audience into her home library for a pleasant chat about something she finds interesting.  First video (of 3 or 4 at time of posting) is below.

Thank you for the link. That was delightful. She would have been a great history teacher. lol

[praeceptrix]

20 hours ago, SVNBob said:

In this time of social distancing/staying at home and getting bored and/or lonely, trust a couple of British panel show hosts to come to the rescue.

To counter boredom, Taskmaster creator and the Taskmaster's assistant (little) Alex Horne will be giving out tasks to do on Twitter, using the hashtag #HomeTasking.  He put out a video on the Taskmaster YouTube channel explaining how the whole thing will work.  First task will be announced within a few hours of this post, and will have a time limit of 30 hours.

To counter loneliness, QI and Bakeoff host Sandi Toksvig has just started a new YouTube channel called Vox Tox, where she basically invites the audience into her home library for a pleasant chat about something she finds interesting.  First video (of 3 or 4 at time of posting) is below.

 

I, too, thank you for sharing these. I wasn't familiar with Sandi Toksvig, but I think I adore her now! I'm a history professor, so I quite admire her skills as a raconteur. I particularly liked her references to Charlotte's French accent, as I often indulge in silly accents when lecturing. A woman after my own heart. 

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Thank you for the link. That was delightful. She would have been a great history teacher. lol

Also adding my thanks to @SVNBob for the link to Sandi’s YT channel. This was delightful, entertaining and comforting. I will miss her on GBBO.

Had to edit my post to say thanks for #hometasking. I will be lost for ages watching what all these clever people around the world do for each task. So fun!

Edited March 24, 2020 by Spunkygal

[TaraS1]

I just started Vera about a month ago and believe me when I tell you I am going to be bereft when I finish the two seasons I have left.  I love it!  Strange I know, but it's been pretty comforting to me the last few weeks.  

[Silver Raven]

4 hours ago, TaraS1 said:

I just started Vera about a month ago and believe me when I tell you I am going to be bereft when I finish the two seasons I have left.  I love it!  Strange I know, but it's been pretty comforting to me the last few weeks.  

Does that include season 10?  Britbox is airing those right now, though there are only four episodes.

 

[TaraS1]

@Silver Raven Yeah, I just finished S8, so I’ve got 9 & 10 left. It kills me that they only do four episodes a season, I need at least six or ten lol

[SVNBob]

I'm glad that there was a positive response to the two YouTube recommendations I made earlier.  The #Hometasking looks like people are having a lot of fun, and it's nice that the Taskmaster himself is involved with the scoring.  Sandi's show is a delight, and I want her to continue doing it even after things return to normal; even if it reduces to a weekly chat instead of a daily.

But another big name panel-show host has also joined in.  Jimmy Carr is now doing the Little Tiny Quiz of the Lockdown.  Each day, he's doing two videos; the first asks the questions, and the second has the answers.  The link above goes to the announcement trailer, but the video below is the questions for Day 1.

Not a bad little quiz.  I scored 10 out of a possible 11 points.

 

[SVNBob]

Two bits of bad news, with one bit of good.

First bad: Jimmy announced on Twitter that he's no longer doing the LTQOL.  I guess this means he finally did run out of questions from his stockpile.

Second bad: Sandi announced at the end of April that she's ending the daily Vox Tox show.

The one good bit: Vox Tox is now a weekly show on Fridays.  Sandi had forgotten that April 30th was a Thursday, which meant that the 1st was a Friday, and thus the first day of the new weekly format.  Next episode is this coming Friday.

Both of these web shows ending/slowing could mean that they're slowly getting back to their actual shows on the BBC.  Or at the very least preparing to do so.

[Silver Raven]

I wish they'd come out with new episodes of Shetland.  That's another good show.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I wish they'd come out with new episodes of Shetland.  That's another good show.

It was renewed for two more seasons in Dec. 2019 but I don't think they finished shooting before the pandemic hit so it might be a while before we get more eps.

[proserpina65]

On ‎03‎/‎23‎/‎2020 at 9:35 PM, praeceptrix said:

I, too, thank you for sharing these. I wasn't familiar with Sandi Toksvig, but I think I adore her now! I'm a history professor, so I quite admire her skills as a raconteur. I particularly liked her references to Charlotte's French accent, as I often indulge in silly accents when lecturing. A woman after my own heart. 

I loved her on Whose Line Is It Anyway.

[Hiyo]

Absolutely Fabulous. Especially the first 3 seasons.

Yes, I know it's made it to the US before, but always worth a re-watch.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Hiyo

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Absolutely Fabulous. Especially the first 3 seasons.

Yes, I know it's made it to the US before, but always worth a re-watch.

I wasn't as enamored of Ab Fab as a lot of people, but there are some episodes which were hysterical.  The one in Morocco is always worth watching.  "Who is Jesus these days?"  "Uh . . . Charles Dance."

[zoey1996]

On 12/28/2015 at 3:22 PM, LucyHoneychurch said:

My people!

 

I just finished watching River on Netflix. Highly recommended.  I'm a little upset that Lifetime is going to be showing War and Peace instead of PBS or HBO.  Even with a DVR I can't deal with the commercials.  

 

Any word on if/when Doctor Foster might make its way to the US?  

I don't know when it first appeared here, but I saw the first episode on Netflix last night. An early unexpected twist already.  I don't think I've seen any of the actors in anything else.  I'm intrigued enough to keep watching.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

On 12/28/2015 at 3:22 PM, LucyHoneychurch said:

My people!

 

I just finished watching River on Netflix. Highly recommended.  I'm a little upset that Lifetime is going to be showing War and Peace instead of PBS or HBO.  Even with a DVR I can't deal with the commercials.  

 

Any word on if/when Doctor Foster might make its way to the US?  

I don't know when it first appeared here, but I saw the first episode on Netflix last night. An early unexpected twist already.  I don't think I've seen any of the actors in anything else.  I'm intrigued enough to keep watching.

I just mainlined River this weekend. Wow! Nicola Walker is my new favorite actress. She's been brilliant in everything I've seen her in. She's also been a cop in everything I've seen her in. lol I can't recommend the show enough. Nicola is phenomenal in Unforgotten (which is a cold case detective show). 

Also loved Doctor Foster which I watched after falling in love with Suranne Jones after watching Scott and Bailey. 

Between Amazon Prime and Netflix I've uncovered a whole world of British tele I didn't even know existed. I love British tele so it makes me very happy. 

I've also finally dived into the wild world of Midsomer Murders, which is clearly the Law and Order of England in that every actor in the country has appeared on it at some point. Pluto is showing Midsomer Murders round the clock on it's on channel. I think I've seen them all at least twice by now. 

[zoey1996]

@Mabinogia, where did you find River? Love Nicola Walker!

[Mabinogia]

57 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

where did you find River? Love Nicola Walker!

Amazon Prime. It was excellent

[SVNBob]

Taskmaster recently announced the contestants for Series 10, the first series on Channel 4.  They also announced that 95% of the shooting was done before the UK lockdown, and that the remaining 5% were team tasks that took the new rules about social distancing and everything else into consideration when they did finally shoot those.

 

And for American audiences, Series 8 is premiering on The CW on Sunday.  For that, I have a task preview.

 

[TaraS1]

I have three words for you all:  Charity Shop Sue.  Has anyone else seen this absolutely brilliant series on YouTube?  OMG, it is so hilarious and fabulous.  I'd never heard of it until Vicky McClure (Kate from Line of Duty) shared a clip on Instagram.  Apparently she's one of the producers and she even did a cameo in the show.  It's a mockumentary about the manager of a thrift store in the UK and her team of volunteers.  Believe me, that description doesn't begin to do it justice, but you will not be disappointed.  The actress who plays Sue is simply an international treasure.  There are 18 episodes (and a Christmas special) and they're all between 6-12 minutes long.

Charity Shop Sue

[Llywela]

Do you guys get Gardener's World (or anything like it) over in the States? Gloriously relaxing show for a Friday night - especially through lockdown! It's been on since the '60s with multiple presenters and co-presenters who are all lifelong gardeners and the show is basically an hour of people talking about their passion for gardening, showing off their own gardens, visiting other gardens, swapping tips and hints about gardening, sharing best practice, teaching viewers how to get started with gardening, and so on. During lockdown, the presenters have been filming themselves with the help of their families, which adds an extra dimension, and since their capacity for getting out and about filming segments on location is limited, they've been encouraging viewers to send in little videos of their own gardens, which has been just lovely. The entire nation mourned when presenter Monty Don lost his beloved golden retriever Nigel back in the spring.

Really lovely show, thoroughly recommend.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Llywela

[VCRTracking]

 

 

[Kromm]

On 11/9/2019 at 4:32 AM, SVNBob said:

Series 9 just ended, and the show's status is currently in the air.  But in a good way.   Their contract with UKTV/Dave ended along with the series, and other networks are interested in picking it up.  Channel 4 was interested, but now there's rumors that the BBC is also in talks.  It's a very popular show, so it is going to get picked up somewhere.

Relatedly, there's also now an official Taskmaster YouTube channel.  They've only got the first series uploaded and public right now, but further series are likely to get added once all the bleeping is done.

If you haven't seen anything about this show, and are still wondering if you should, well...

Watch this video excerpt from Series 1.  You have 6 minutes.  Your time starts now.

It's a shame Taskmaster only lasted one episode on American TV, because it's so damn good.  So much of it is up for free, legitimately on Taskmaster's YouTube channel, that I guess it lasting only one episode on The CW doesn't much matter.

Oddly enough there was a one season outright US adaption already (as opposed to the aborted try on The CW to air the UK episodes) on Comedy Central in 2018.  Alex Horne was STILL the show producer disguised as the assistant, but the main host was Reggie Watts instead of Greg Davies. It only lasted 1 season.

 

[GrammyPammy]

The British shows that have saved me from pandemic despair are:

Last Tango in Halifax (Netflix)

Very British Problems (Amazon Prime Video)

Miranda (IMDB)

I also loved to watch “Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords on Netflix but they have taken it off.

[janie jones]

On 10/16/2020 at 10:57 PM, GrammyPammy said:

Last Tango in Halifax (Netflix)

I've never seen this show and always assumed it took place in Nova Scotia.

[Popples]

11 minutes ago, janie jones said:

I've never seen this show and always assumed it took place in Nova Scotia.

I thought so too before I watched it. It turns out there is a Halifax in West Yorkshire.

[Zella]

14 minutes ago, janie jones said:

I've never seen this show and always assumed it took place in Nova Scotia.

I thought that too at first! 😄 

[Kromm]

If you find them via the usual methods, some British shows have returned, just with partitions or distancing.

Taskmaster (discussed above - on their own YouTube channel) - https://www.youtube.com/c/Taskmaster
Have I Got News For You
The Graham Norton Show (on BBC America)
The Russell Howard Hour (on Russell's own YouTube channel) - https://www.youtube.com/user/russellhoward
QI
Spitting Image (on their own YouTube channel) - https://www.youtube.com/c/SpittingImage
Mock The Week

Edited October 24, 2020 by Kromm

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, Kromm said:

If you find them via the usual methods, some British shows have returned, just with partitions or distancing.

Taskmaster (discussed above - on their own YouTube channel) - https://www.youtube.com/c/Taskmaster

This one is very interesting, and a very auspicious start on their new channel.  To begin with, the live studio audience is not present; it's only the contestants, the Taskmaster, and his assistant on set.  The studio audience watched the episodes "live on tape" after the original recording sessions, but before broadcast.  And they're currently doing the same thing for Series 11 recordings.  The contestants' chairs are all spread out in a larger arc than the previous series, and further away from the Taskmaster.  And Greg and Alex are also separated.  They even moved the table with the Taskmaster trophy in-between the two of them, which is a nice touch.

Typically only two tasks per episode, the top of episode prize task and the end of episode live task, are done in the studio with the assembled cast.  They've had to make some changes to the live tasks, to account for the very pregnant Daisy May Cooper.  (She found out she was pregnant while shooting her tasks, and gave birth to a healthy child after all the studio recordings were completed.)  The majority of the tasks have always been pre-recorded and done individually, and they were all apparently completed before UK lockdown. 

But there are some "team tasks", where the contestants have to interact with each other.  One team, Richard Herring and the aforementioned Daisy May Cooper, was luckily able to record their team tasks before social distancing was required in the UK.  The other team; Johnny Vegas, Katherine Parkinson, and Mawaan Rizwan, had to record their team task attempts after distancing was required.   This required the production team to make some alterations to the tasks.  But it the one team task aired so far is any indication, not a whole lot was changed, so it's still fair* to compare the two teams.  (*As fair as the Taskmaster chooses to be.)

[TimothyQ]

Just discovered the wonderful Gavin & Stacey this week on Amazon Prime and binged all the three series, plus purchased the 2019 Christmas special. Wow, every character on the show is just delightful. Really wish they had made another series or two. 

[Kromm]

The Last Leg appears to be back too. And Celebrity Juice. 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Kromm

[Llywela]

On 10/23/2020 at 6:26 PM, Popples said:

I thought so too before I watched it. It turns out there is a Halifax in West Yorkshire.

Pretty sure you'll find that the Halifax in West Yorkshire came first (the settlement was first documented in 1091, in fact! It's a beautiful town. The Piece Hall there is stunning) and the Nova Scotian one was named after it 😉 

[Popples]

3 hours ago, Llywela said:

Pretty sure you'll find that the Halifax in West Yorkshire came first (the settlement was first documented in 1091, in fact! It's a beautiful town. The Piece Hall there is stunning) and the Nova Scotian one was named after it 😉 

I figured that, so many North American cities are named after British ones. The one in Nova Scotia is just the one I'm more familiar with. 🙂

[Zella]

42 minutes ago, Popples said:

I figured that, so many North American cities are named after British ones. The one in Nova Scotia is just the one I'm more familiar with. 🙂

Same. I also figured the one in England came first, but it was just not on my radar in the way the Canadian one was. Where I'm from, we have lots of towns/cities named after places in the UK. Like Leicester.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Zella

[Kromm]

Good lord.  Anyone else here ever see a show called "Snog, Marry, Avoid"?

It's both trainwrecky and fascinating at the same time.  A lot of it is clearly overly cheekily produced over the top deliberately.  But there are nuggets of real gold hidden in the middle.  The quality of the episodes DO vary a lot however.  In a nutshell, they have a faux "make under computer" engineer makeunders for British women wearing fake tans and slutty outfits.  When the show is doing this sincerely, it often works.  The times when it's all being done as just a joke, for example, whenever they drag on a celebrity known for looking cheap--insert name of random Essex Girl with a Media Profile--it typically fails hard.

But even the failures are kind of interesting viewing.  Cruel at times (the computer personality is very cutting), but when the makeunder actually works, and the person accepts it (some don't), kind of uplifting at that point.

Also, seek out the newer episodes.  I've noticed the newer ones are usually better.  They construct it more as a real story and not just as a confrontation, and the qualities of the makeunders are better.

Edited November 4, 2020 by Kromm

[Kromm]

More bad, trainwrecky British TV to  "recommend". If you stumble across a currently airing piece of rubbish called "The Wheel", it will both horrify and oddly fascinate you. In theory there's nothing inherently cringy about 7 celebrities on a big wheel helping contestants in the middle answer quiz questions.  In practice, it's AWFUL, arguably to the extent where it's utterly unintentionally hilarious.