Comedian Joe Wilkinson grew up obsessed with sitcoms and has even written a couple of them himself – Rovers, The Cockfields – so he knows a thing or two about British situation comedies. “Embarrassingly,” he says, “I regularly spout lines from some of my favourite sitcoms in my everyday life, which must be unbearable to be around,” reports BritPanorama.
Here he selects his five favourites of all time, and their most memorable lines.
Porridge (1974-77)
I used to watch this every week with my whole family. Ronnie Barker was my hero and Richard Beckinsale was taken too soon. I just wanted to hang out in a prison with them. I think that if, as a young person, you want to go to prison off the back of a sitcom, that’s pretty amazing. I got to meet the writers, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, for Joe and David’s Magical Sitcom Tour and I was like a rabbit in the headlights. My favourite bit is when Fletch (Barker) berates “’Orrible” Ives (Ken Jones) and calls him a “nerk” or a “scrote”. I love to do the same to my mum as I thank her for the delicious meal she’s just made for us all that evening. Luckily she’s also a fan of the show.
Streaming on BBC iPlayer
Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003)
I cannot get my head around the fact that one person, John Sullivan, wrote all of those episodes. Sixty-four of them. The stories are brilliant, the ideas are brilliant. The episodes are just so, so clever. And it’s the most obvious thing to say, but what a bunch of characters. My favourite line is, ‘Play it cool, Trigger, play it cool.’ These are the instructions Del Boy (David Jason) gives Trigger (Roger Lloyd Pack) as they eye up a couple of attractive young ladies before Del unceremoniously falls through the bar. I love repeating this to myself as I am waiting to enter a meeting – or any gathering really.
Streaming on ITVX Premium
Father Ted (1995-98)
Brilliance from Arthur Mathews and Graeme Linehan. I had the pleasure of meeting Arthur a while back. For sheer mad ideas that you can kind of relate to in some weird way, nothing touches it. I think Father Ted is just so bonkers and brilliant that I have to put it in the top five. “The best line? ‘Feck off!’ This is what the lunatic Father Jack (Frank Kelly) mainly hollers at Father Ted (Dermot Morgan). Thanks to him I have an acceptable way to swear in front of youngsters.
Streaming on Channel 4
The Royle Family (1998-2012)
