From: zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd)
Newsgroups: alt.comedy.british
Subject: UK SITCOM LIST    A-F
Summary: at last!
Date: 6 Oct 92 15:02:52 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre


      The definitive UK sitcom list               Updated:  92-10-06
      =============================               part A-F 438 lines
 
      Please email me: anything missed off; any errors.
      Scope: Made anywhere, broadcast UK terrestrial TV.
      YES! I could look it all up in Halliwell, but that's no fun!
      Sitcoms only: no sketch/standup, dramatic comedy, comedy-drama
      [plot should complete in 1 episode, but background storyline
       may continue throughout series]                 NO CARTOONS
   <name>  entries are ones where we can't remember the name - can YOU help?
 
<name>
   Secretary+typist in greeting card factory
   Brigit Forsyth
<name>
   Arthur Haines  (Haynes ??)  tramp thing
<name>
   Rochester with Jack Benny??  If just part of Jack Benny Show, not sitcom
<name>
   funeral one, David Battley (REALLY old)
<name>
   Ian Lavender as a dentist
<name>
   Joanna Lumley & Jeremy Lloyd (early 70s)
<name>
   TAXI spinoff
A Bit of a Do
   Group of people go through complex series of relationships
   David Jason, Nicola Pagett, Gwen Taylor
A Fine Romance (81,82,83,84)
   Prickly relationship
   Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Susan Penhaligon, Richard Warwick
A Roof over My Head (77) [?sitcom]
   <synopsis>
   Brian Rix, Lynda Baron, Francis Matthews
A Sharp Intake of Breath
   Factory//diff scenario each episode: sitcom? sketch show?
   David Jason, Jacqueline Clarke, Richard Wilson
A Soft Touch (78)
   <synopsis>
   John Flanagan, Maureen Lipman
A Touch of Spice
   2 young women start a catering company
   <cast>
A Very Peculiar Practice
   University docs: old alcy; nasty tory; manipulative feminist; nice guy
   Peter Davison, David Troughton, Graham Crowden, Barbara Flynn
After Henry
   Widow has daughter upstairs and mother downstairs
   Prunella Scales, Joan Sanderson, Janine Wood
Agony (79,80,81)
   About an agony-aunt
   Maureen Lipman, Simon Williams, Maria Charles
ALF {USA}
   An Alien Life Form lives with a US family
   <cast>
Alice {USA}
   Divorcee works as waitress
   Linda Lavin, Vic Morrow
All at Number 20
   Woman takes in student lodgers
   Maureen Lipman, Gabrielle Glaister
All Gas & Gaiters
   General fun'n'games with bishops etc
   Derek Nimmo, Robertson Hare, William Mervyn
All Grace & Favour   [or is it just 'Grace & Favour' ?]
   Are You Being Served spinoff: big country house
   Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard
All in the Family {USA}
   US version of Till Death Us Do Part
   Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, Rob Reiner,
   Sherman Hemsley
Allo Allo (?,92)
   Resistance, Gestapo, everybody, eat at Rene's cafe in occupied France
   Gorden Kaye, Sam Kelly, Vicki Michelle, Carmen Silvera
An Actor's Life for Me
   An aspiring actor goes for many auditions and few jobs
   John Gordon Sinclair, Victor Spinetti
And Grandmother Makes Four  (exists?)
   (spinoff from next entry) Woman has a mother as well as 2 kids
   Wendy Craig
And Mother Makes Three (72,73)
   Woman has two kids
   Wendy Craig
And Mother Makes Five (74,76)
   spinoff from above, marries man with a child, to make it 5
   Wendy Craig
Andy Capp
   Hartlepool man: Dole, bookies, pub, snooker hall, telly
   James Bolam
Archie Bunker's Place {USA}
   Bar; spinoff from All in the Family
   Carroll O'Connor, Martin Balsam, Anne Meara
Are You Being Served
   Lots of double meanings etc in a department store
   Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard
As Time Goes By
   Couple attempt to rekindle old flame
   Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (isn't this really a drama with comic elements?)
   Brit builders in Germany
   Jimmy Nail, Kevin Whately, Tim Healy
Bachelor Father
   A single foster father
   Ian Carmichael
Bagdad Cafe {USA}
   A slightly wacky small motel
   Whoopi Goldberg
Barney Miller {USA}
   US detectives
   Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Jack Soo, Max Gail, Ron Glass, Steve Landesburg,
   Ron Carey, Gregory Sierra, James Gregory
Batman {USA} [sitcom?]
   Caped crime fighter
   Adam West, Burt Ward
Benson {USA}
   Soap spin-off, Benson starts out as butler in governor's mansion
   Robert Guillaume, Rene Auberjonois
Bewitched {USA}
   Nice young couple - she's a witch!
   Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorhead, Dick Yorke(early),
   Dick Sargeant(later)
Big Boy Now! (76)
   <synopsis>
   Leslie Crowther, Fabia Drake, Ronald Lewis, Derek Farr
Big Break [sitcom?] [? Give Us A Break ?]
   Snooker
   Robert Lindsay, Paul McGann
Big Jim and The Figaro Club ([79],81)
   Building site supervisor vs. workers   [79 was a one-off]
   Norman Rossington, Roland Curram, David John, Priscilla Morgan
Billy Bunter (just Bunter? sitcom?)
   Kid's show from the famous books
   Jimmy Edwards?
Billy Liar (73)
   Compulsive liar works at undertakers
   Jeff Rawle
Birds of a Feather (90,91,92)
   Convicts' wives
   Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson
Blackadder: see The Black Adder, Black-adder II, Blackadder The Third,
                Blackadder Goes Forth
   also: (were these series or one-offs?)
   Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (88); Blackadder's Christmas Carol (88)
Blackadder II (86)
   Elizabethan
   Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny,
   Miranda Richardson, Patsy Byrne
Blackadder the Third (87)
   Regency
   Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Helen Atkinson-Wood
Blackadder Goes Forth (88)
   1st world war
   Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny
Bless Me Father (78,79-80,81)
   Cynical priest and young curate
   Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri
Bless This House (73,74?,76)
   Aging father versus modern youth
   Sid James, Diana Coupland, Sally Geeson
Bloomers (79)
   Resting actor works in florists
   Richard Beckinsale (his last role)
Blossom {USA}
   Girl growing up
   Miyam Bialik
Bootsie & Snudge (?,74,?)
   Employed at private club after leaving the army (cf.The Army Game)
   Alfie Bass, Bill Fraser, Clive Dunn
Born and Bred (78,80) [?sitcom]
   2 related S.London families, one respectable, the other not
   Max Wall, Rose Hill, James Grout, Joan Sims
Bottle Boys
   Dairy
   Brian Glover, Robin Asquith
Bottom (91)
   2 desperate morons share flat
   Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson
Brass (1 plot per episode?  if not, not a sitcom!)
   Dark satanic mills (yes I know Blake wasn't talking about cotton mills)
   Timothy West
Bread
   Scouser family
   Deborah Grant
Brothers-in-Law
   somebody said: 2 black brothers, one a policeman
   somebody else said: Richard Briers (but he's not black)
Brush Strokes (86,87,88-9,90,91)
   Decorators
   Karl Howman, Gary Waldhorn, Howard Lew Lewis, Jackie Lye, Kim Thomson,
   Elizabeth Counsell
Budgie [sitcom?]
   Small time crook
   Adam Faith, Iain Cuthbertson
Butterflies (78,79,80,83)
   Housewife angst: nice hubby, 2 sons, fancies other bloke but afraid
   Wendy Craig, Geoffrey Palmer, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Andrew Hall,
   Bruce Montague
Can We Get on Now, Please? (80)
   Magistrate's court
   Sheila Steafel, Hugh Paddick
Car 54 Where Are You? {USA}
   US cops
   Fred Gwynne
Chalk and Cheese (79)
   <synopsis>
   <cast>
Chance in a Million
   Unlikely things happen to a man & his girlfriend
   Simon Callow, Brenda Blethyn
Charles Endell Esquire [some say comedy drama not sitcom]
   Budgie spinoff
   Iain Cuthbertson
Cheers {USA}
   Boston bar
   Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Woody Harrelson, John Ratzenberger,
   George Wendt
Chelmsford 123
   Roman Britain
   Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville
Chico & The Man {USA}
   Grumpy old bigot hires chicano to work in auto repair shop
   Freddie Prinz, Jack Albertson
Chintz (81)
   Suburbia
   Michele Dotrice, Richard Easton
Citizen Smith (77,78,78-9,79)
   Innocuous trotskyite
   Robert Lindsay, Mike Grady, Peter Vaughan, Hilda Braid
City Lights
   Scots bank clerk attempts to become a writer
   Gerard Kelly
Clarence
   Myopic man starts delivery business/delivery man retires to country
   Ronnie Barker,?(silent maid,DJason=gardener,MoiraFoote,JosephineTewson)
Close To Home
   Vet
   Paul Nicholas, Angharad Rhys
Coach {USA}
   College football coach deals with problems of life & players
   Craig T Nelson, Jerry Van Dyke
Colin's Sandwich
   BR complaints person tries to be a writer
   Mel Smith, Louisa Rix
Come Back Mrs Noah (77-8)
   Housewife & beaurocrats accidentally launched into space
   Mollie Sugden, Ian Lavender, Donald Hewlett, Michael Knowles, Joe Black,
   Gorden Kaye
Coming Home (81) [?sitcom]
   <synopsis>
   Roger Sloman, Philip Jackson, Linda Marchal, Muriel Maddocks
Comrade Dad
   If England was a communist state...
   George Cole
Cowboys (80a,80b)
   Incompetent builders
   Colin Welland, Roy Kinnear, David Kelly
Curry & Chips
   <synopsis>
   Spike Milligan
Cuthie (?1984)
   <synopsis>
   Bernard Cribbins
Dad's Army (68,?,72,73,74,75,77)
   Home Guard
   Arthur Lowe, John LeMesurier, Clive Dunn, Ian Lavender, James Beck,
   Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, Bill Pertwee
Dear John
   Therapy/encounter group for singles
   Ralph Bates, Belinda Lang
Dear John USA {USA}
   Therapy/encounter group for singles
   Judd Hirsch
Designing Women [satellite only?]
   4 women in business together as designers
   Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Dixie Carter
Desmond's
   Hairdressers
   Norman Beaton, Carmen Monroe
Diana
   Brit fashion consusltant moves to NY
   Diana Rigg, David Sheiner, Carol Androsky, Richard B Schull,
   Barabara Barrie
Diff'rent Strokes {USA}
   2 poor black kids adopted by rich white man
   Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Conrad Bain
Different World {USA}
   Cosby spinoff: daughter goes to college
   Lisa Bonet, Dawnn Lewis, Marisa Tomei, Jasmine Guy
Doctor at Large (72)
   continuation of above with new lead
   Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies
Doctor at Sea
   2 ships doctors
   Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies
Doctor in Charge (73)
   further continuation
   Ernest Clark
Doctor in the House (69-70,70,71,?)
   General hospital mayhem
   Barry Evans, George Layton, Richard O'Sullivan (1 season),
   Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies, Ernest Clark
Doctor on the Go (75,?76,77)
   <synopsis>
   <cast>
Doctor Down Under (81)
   2 Brit docs emigrate to Aus
   Geoffrey Davies, Robin Nedwell/or/George Layton
Doctor at the Top (91) [is this correct title for 'Doctors on Top' ?]
   <synopsis>
   <cast>
Doctors and Nurses (79-80)
   Hospital send-up, adult patients, kid staff
   <cast>
Doctors on Top
   Some of the old mates from other Doctor series together again, basically
   Robin Nedwell, George Layton
Doctor's Daughters (81) [sitcom?]
   3 venerable GPs upset when practise taken over by 3 young women
   Patrick Newell, Jack Watling, Bill Fraser, Richard Murdoch
Don't Drink the Water
   Blakey from 'On the Buses' retires to spain
   Stephen Lewis, Pat Coombes
Don't Forget to Write! (77,79)
   Playwright with writer's block
   George Cole, Gwen Watford
Don't Rock the Boat
   <synopsis>
   Nigel Davenport
Don't Tell Father
   Actor miffed when daughter falls for driving instructor
   Tony Britton, Caroline Quentin
Don't Wait Up
   Father & son doctors share flat
   Nigel Havers, Tony Britton
Doogie Howser MD {USA}
   Genius kid becomes doctor very young
   Neil Patrick Harris
Dora
   <synopsis>
   Dora Bryan
Double First (88)
   Mysteriously fallen ex-professor lives with Oxford uni acquaintances
   Michael Williams, Holly Aird, Ann Bell, Jennifer Hilary
Dream On {USA}
   Guy keeps getting movie clips in his brain
   <cast>
Drop the Dead Donkey
   TV newsroom
   Haydn Gwynne, Jeff Rawle
Duty Free (84?,?)
   2 couples on holiday, one of each pair fancy each other.
   Keith Barron, Joanna Van Gyseghem, Neil Stacy, Gwen Taylor,
   Carlos Douglas
Educating Archie (did this really make it to TV?)
   Ventriloquism
   <cast>
El CID (91) [sitcom? atleast1voteagainst]
   2 ex-cops retire to the Costa del Sol and do some private eyeing
   Alfred Molina(notlastseries), John Bird, Donald Churchill
Empire Road (78,79) [?sitcom]
   W.Indians & Asians in industrial inner city
   Norman Beaton
Empty Nest {USA}
   Pediatrician has 2 grown daughters
   Richard Mulligan
Evening Shade {USA}(sitcom?)
   <synopsis>
   Burt Reynolds, Marilu Henner
Ever Decreasing Circles
   Compulsive organiser
   Richard Briers, Peter Egan, Penelope Wilton
Executive Stress (86,87)
   Wife gets job at same publishing firm as husband, has to pretend not
   Penelope Keith, Geoffrey Palmer(1st ser), Peter Bowles(2nd ser),
   Paul Boyle, Harry Ditson, Elizabeth Counsell
F Troop {USA}
   US Cavalry
   Forrest Tucker, Ken Barry, Larry Storch
Fairly Secret Army
   Attempt to start private army in England home counties; Perrin spinoff
   Geoffrey Palmer
Family Ties {USA}
   Family stuff
   Meredith Baxter-Birney, Michael J Fox, Justine Bateman, Michael Gross
Farrington of the F.O. (86)
   British woman diplomat in banana republic
   Angela Thorne
Father Dear Father (7x?, Aus 7x?)
   Man has 2 daughters
   Patrick Cargill, Natasha Pine, Sally Conabere, Sigrid Thornton
Father's Day
   Televisation of the Hunter Davies column from Punch
   John Alderton, Dominique Barnes,
Fawlty Towers
   Nutter runs small hotel
   John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Feet First (79) [?sitcom]
   Footballer hits stardom but is out of his depth
   Joe Melia, ? McGann
ffizz
   Wine company
   Richard Griffiths
Fiddlers Three (91)
   Office comedy, ripoff of The Squirrels
   Peter Davison, Paula Wilcox, Charles Kay, Cindy Day
Filthy, Rich & Catflap
   Actor, minder, and agent
   Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer
First of the Summer Wine
   What the guys from Last Of The Summer Wine did in their youth
   <cast>
Foley Square {USA}
   NY DA's office
   Alex Harrington, Margaret Colin, Hector Elizondo
Foreign Bodies
   N Irish med student to marry S Ireland nurse
   <cast>
Forget Me Not (76) [?sitcom]
   <synopsis>
   Patricia Brake
Foxy Lady
   Woman editor of 50s provincial newspaper
   Diane Keen
Frank's Place {USA}
   New Orleans restaurant run by guy from Boston
   Tim Reid, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Robert Harper, Francesca P Roberts
Freddie & Max
   Ageing American actress/writer living swank hotel, young woman
       biographer/gopher
   Ann Bancroft, Charlotte Coleman?
French Fields (89,90)
   French continuation of next entry
   Anton Rodgers, Julia MacKenzie, Pamela Salem, Liz Crowther,
   Robin Kermode
Fresh Fields (83,84,85,86)
   Accountant & wife after kids have left home
   Anton Rodgers, Julia MacKenzie, Anne Beach, Fanny Rowe


              Have another day    [Armageddon, the musical] 
  Dave Budd, MCC, Oxford Rd, Manchester, England   (44|0)61-275-6033  
Newsgroups: alt.comedy.british