Stephanie Cole, has sadly passed away at the age of 84 following several years with Alzheimer’s. From internment camps to sleepy corners of Yorkshire, from West End stages to the world’s smallest airline on Radio 4, her career wasn’t just long – it was foundational to British drama and comedy. In this video, we look back at the remarkable life and career of a true icon.
The TV Pilot Graveyard: Lazy, Stubborn, and Chaotic – Un-seen TV Sitcom Pilots
We have already explored some never-broadcast pilots based in the workplace. Now, get ready to punch in again.
There’s Neville Buswell as a lazy and lascivious insurance rep, Derek Nimmo trying to sell his relish to the French, chaotic cartoon airline staff, Rob Rouse trying to stop pub hooligans, and ‘Private’ shop owner Rich Fulcher, who thinks The Internet will just be a fad! Join me as we uncover the shows that aimed to be your next water-cooler conversation, but instead, just gathered dust in the network vaults.
The TV Pilot Graveyard: The 14-Year Journey of a Trainee Monk
This episode is a bit different, as we’re focusing on one specific, persistent attempt, to bring a concept to the small screen. We’re diving deep into the multiple efforts to adapt a radio comedy pilot about a layabout who takes a job as a monk because it includes free meals and accommodation.
How many times did they try to make this premise work for radio and television? What went wrong each time? So why did it never get commissioned for a tv series. I spoke to one of the writers to find out what happened…
The TV Pilot Graveyard: Mid-life Crisis
We’re delving into a universally relatable, often humorous, and sometimes painful phase of life: the mid-life crisis. Get ready to meet characters who are questioning everything, making debatable choices, and desperately trying to recapture their youth or find a new purpose. These are the pilots that aimed to capture the messy, funny, and sometimes poignant reality of getting older and realising life hasn’t quite turned out as planned.
Tribute to the Cast of ‘Mind Your Language’
This video revisits ITV’s 1977 sitcom ‘Mind Your Language’ and its talented international cast. Though its broad cultural stereotypes sparked debate, the show’s huge ratings owed much to the performers who brought it to life – especially Barry Evans as English teacher, Mr Jeremy Brown. Evans later years were troubled, and his mysterious death left a career cut short. Join me as we remember Barry Evans and the late cast members behind this controversial classic.
Love It or Hate It: Mrs. Brown’s Boys
A year ago, when I ranked the sitcoms loved by viewers and hated by critics, there was never really any doubt about number one. Mrs. Brown’s Boys wasn’t just near the top of the list. It was number one. The one show that seemed to sum up the whole argument in a single title. Critics have spent more than a decade treating it like the death of comedy itself, but millions of viewers still turned it into a Christmas institution.
But this time, I don’t just want to repeat the case against it. I already made that video. I already covered the basic contradiction: massive ratings, savage reviews, public-voted awards on one side, critical disgust on the other. What makes this follow-up more interesting is that the show now feels like it has reached its endgame. The audience is smaller. The criticism has changed. And the question is no longer simply, “How did this become a hit?” It is, “How did this survive for so long – and what exactly is it now?”
Love It or Hate It: Carla Lane, ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Bread’
This video features the second- and third-most voted sitcoms that channel viewers Loved or Hated – and the writer behind them.
Carla Lane was a prolific and hugely successful sitcom writer, known for blending comedy with pathos and for exploring the lives of women in particular. Her shows – especially ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Bread’ – drew huge audiences but also sparked fierce debate among viewers and critics.
So how did the writer of the much-loved 1960s sitcom ‘The Liver Birds’ become such a divisive figure through ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Bread’?
Love It or Hate It: Miranda
Our fourth most-voted Loved or Hated sitcom is ‘Miranda’, starring Miranda Hart, which originally aired on BBC1 between 2009 and 2015.
The debate here is largely about taste and style: do you find its old-fashioned, fourth-wall-breaking slapstick charmingly nostalgic, or completely grating?
The Renegade Polymath: A Tribute to Bill Oddie
On 25 July 2026, the UK lost one of its most wonderfully unpredictable, multi-talented broadcasters. Bill Oddie passed away at the age of 85, leaving behind a legacy that stretched across generations.
To many he was the nation’s favourite “twitcher”, but long before he was introducing us to the local wildlife, Bill was a cornerstone of British television comedy, a top-tier satirist, a chart-topping pop star, and a fierce advocate for nature.
He was, in the best possible sense, a renegade polymath. Let’s look back at the extraordinary career of Bill Oddie.
Love It or Hate It – Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’ is in fifth place as voted by my channel viewers as their most loved – or hated sitcom, so it’s no surprise that it also featured at number three in my video of sitcoms hated by critics.
In this video we try and find out why it was so loved and what some people hated about the show.