Britain's Best Sitcom

Britain's Best Sitcom is a 12-episode documentary series that BBC Two transmitted from 10 January to 27 March 2004. It was part of a nationwide media campaign and opinion poll conducted by the BBC in 2003 and 2004.

The BBC asked television viewers to select their favourite British situation comedies from a list of 100, with the option to supply one write-in candidate. In the first poll, conducted in August 2003, viewers could vote via telephone or the BBC's website; the second, conducted January–March 2004, added the option of voting by text message. This second poll coincided with the television programme, which celebrated the top 50 sitcoms from the first poll, and urged viewers to vote their preference from the top 10.

In the three-hour premiere episode, Jonathan Ross summarised the progress of the poll, and presented video clips from the 50 sitcoms that received the most votes. Each of the next ten weekly episodes, one hour in length, focused on one sitcom from the top 10. In each episode, a different presenter advocated a particular sitcom, delivering 20 reasons why it deserved viewers' votes. The sitcom's writers and actors, as well as celebrity viewers, also shared their own perspectives and memories. In the 90-minute finale, transmitted live, Jonathan Ross announced the top sitcom to be Only Fools and Horses.

Britain's Best Sitcom was preceded by the BBC Two programmes Great Britons (2002) and The Big Read (2003), each of which was also based on national opinion polls.

Structure of the polls Round one: Selecting the top 50

Before the opening the poll, the BBC compiled a list of 100 "top [British] sitcoms" based on input from "sitcom writers and TV comedy experts". This list constituted the nominees for the first of the two rounds of votes solicited from the public.

The BBC posted a homepage and ballot web page for the Britain's Best Sitcom poll to the BBCi website on 28 July 2003. In August, they advertised the poll in the Radio Times magazine, on the BBCi website, and via the national teletext service Ceefax, inviting the public to "have your say" and "play part in a major television event".

The ballot required voters either to select 10 sitcoms from the list, or to select nine and then nominate a write-in candidate. Voters could not rank their 10 selections by preference. Votes by telephone incurred a charge of 10 pence per minute. On 30 December 2003, the BBC published a press release promoting the forthcoming Britain's Best Sitcom series on BBC Two, and listing the 50 sitcoms that received the most votes. The list was alphabetical; it did not reveal the number of votes that any sitcom received, or its rank in the list. It contained no write-in candidates.

Round two: The top 10 The launch On 10 January 2004, the BBC published another press release to promote the series, which was to begin that night on BBC Two. The press release provided more details about the programme and the vote, including an alphabetical list of the 10 finalists, and a ranked list of the rest of the top 50 sitcoms. The premiere episode of Britain's Best Sitcom began at 9 PM and concluded at midnight. From Goodnight Sweetheart (number 50) to Father Ted (number 11), it counted down the first 40 of 50 highest-ranked sitcoms. The final 30 minutes of the programme comprised a preview of the 10 future episodes devoted to the finalists.

The vote Each of the next 10 episodes of Britain's Best Sitcom was one hour long, and devoted to one of the 10 finalists. The "celebrity advocate" in each episode gave 20 reasons why their sitcom was the best. Their arguments were illustrated by video clips from the sitcom. On-screen messages in the episodes, as well as web pages in the BBC's website, and listings in the Radio Times—informed viewers and readers that they could vote by telephone, by text message (SMS), or online. Voting by text message was only possible in this final round of voting. Votes by telephone were less expensive than in the first round, because they lasted no more than one minute. A vote by telephone cost 10 pence; a vote by text message incurred a charge of 10–12 pence, depending on the mobile network operator. For each of the finalists, online voters had access to an essay about the sitcom (from the BBCi Guide to Comedy), a selection of quotes from the advocate's arguments and from online comments, and an annotated video clip of a scene from one episode.

The poll opened at 9 PM on 10 January 2004 (when the Britain's Best Sitcom premiere began). The voting rules allowed up to five people per household to vote. After the transmission of each weekly episode, viewer's had an opportunity to change their vote. The BBC collected demographic profile data as part of the poll. It required online voters to answer three market segmentation questions: whether they are male or female; which region of the UK they live in, and which age group they belong to. Voting closed on the night of 27 March 2004.

The result Near the end of the live, final episode of Britain's Best Sitcom, Jonathan Ross announced Only Fools and Horses to be the top sitcom by popular vote. After the programme's conclusion, the BBC published a ranked list of all 100 sitcoms on their website, along with the official vote tally for the top 10.

Episodes

The Britain's Best Sitcom Top 100

+ Top 100 sitcoms Rank Title Years transmitted Channel Number of votes 1 Only Fools and Horses 1981–1996, 2001–2003 BBC1 342,426 2 Blackadder 1983–1989, 1999 BBC1 282,106 3 The Vicar of Dibley 1994–2000 BBC1 212,927 4 Dad's Army 1968–1977 BBC1 174,138 5 Fawlty Towers 1975–1979 BBC2 172,066 6 Yes Minister 1980–1984 BBC2 123,502 Yes, Prime Minister 1987–1988 7 Porridge 1974–1977 BBC1 93,902 8 Open All Hours 1976–1985 BBC1 67,237 9 The Good Life 1975–1978 BBC1 40,803 10 One Foot in the Grave 1990–2000 BBC1 31,410 11 Father Ted 1995–1998 Channel 4 12 Keeping Up Appearances 1990–1995 BBC1 13 'Allo 'Allo! 1982–1992 BBC1 14 Last of the Summer Wine 1973–2003 BBC1 15 Steptoe and Son 1962–1974 BBC1 16 Men Behaving Badly 1992–1998 ITV BBC1 17 Absolutely Fabulous 1992–1996, 2001–2003 BBC1 18 Red Dwarf 1988–1999 BBC2 19 The Royle Family 1998–2000 BBC1 20 Are You Being Served? 1972–1985 BBC1 21 To the Manor Born 1979–1981 BBC1 22 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em 1973–1978 BBC1 23 The Likely Lads 1964–1966 BBC1 rowspan="2" Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 1973–1974 BBC2 24 My Family 2000–2003 BBC1 25 The Office 2001–2002 BBC2 26 Drop the Dead Donkey 1990–1998 Channel 4 27 Rising Damp 1974–1978 ITV 28 dinnerladies 1998–2000 BBC1 29 As Time Goes By 1992–2002 BBC1 30 Hancock's Half Hour 1956–1961 BBC1 31 The Young Ones 1982–1984 BBC2 32 Till Death Us Do Part 1965–1975 BBC1 33 Butterflies 1978–1983 BBC2 34 The Thin Blue Line 1995–1996 BBC1 35 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin 1976–1979, 1982 BBC1 36 Phoenix Nights 2001–2002 Channel 4 37 Waiting for God 1990–1994 BBC1 38 Birds of a Feather 1989–1998 BBC1 39 Bread 1986–1991 BBC1 40 Hi-de-Hi! 1980–1988 BBC1 41 The League of Gentlemen 1999–2002 BBC2 42 I'm Alan Partridge 1997–2002 BBC2 43 Just Good Friends 1983–1986 BBC1 44 2point4 children 1991–1999 BBC1 45 Bottom 1991–1995 BBC2 46 It Ain't Half Hot Mum 1974–1981 BBC1 47 The Brittas Empire 1991–1997 BBC1 48 Gimme Gimme Gimme 1999–2001 BBC2 BBC1 49 Rab C. Nesbitt 1988–1999 BBC2 50 Goodnight Sweetheart 1993–1999 BBC1 51 Up Pompeii! 1969–1970, 1975, 1991 BBC1ITV 52 Ever Decreasing Circles 1984–1989 BBC1 53 On the Buses 1969–1973 ITV 54 Coupling 2000–2002 BBC2 55 George and Mildred 1976–1979 ITV 56 A Fine Romance 1981–1984 ITV 57 Citizen Smith 1977–1980 BBC1 58 Black Books 2000–2002 Channel 4 59 The Liver Birds 1969–1996 BBC1 60 Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 2001–2003 BBC2 BBC Choice BBC Three 61 The New Statesman 1987–1994 ITVBBC1 62 Sykes 1972–1979 BBC1 rowspan="2" Sykes and a... 1960–1965 63 Please Sir! 1968–1972 ITV 64 Dear John 1986–1987 BBC1 65 Barbara 1995–2003 ITV 66 Spaced 1999–2001 Channel 4 67 Bless This House 1971–1976 ITV 68 Love Thy Neighbour 1972–1976 ITV 69 Man About the House 1973–1976 ITV 70 Desmond's 1989–1994 Channel 4 71 Duty Free 1984–1986 ITV 72 All Gas and Gaiters 1966–1971 BBC1 73 Happy Ever After 1974–1979 BBC1 rowspan="2" Terry and June 1979–1987 74 Only When I Laugh 1979–1982 ITV 75 Brass 1983–1990 ITV 76 The Rag Trade 1961–1978 BBC1 ITV 77 Sorry! 1981–1988 BBC1 78 Kiss Me Kate 1998–2000 BBC1 79 Doctor in the House 1969–1970 ITV rowspan="6" Doctor at Large 1971 Doctor in Charge 1972–1973 Doctor at Sea 1974 Doctor on the Go 1975–1977 Doctor at the Top 1991 BBC1 80 I Didn't Know You Cared 1975–1979 BBC1 81 Shelley 1979–1992 ITV 82 Nearest and Dearest 1968–1973 ITV 83 Fresh Fields 1984–1986 ITV rowspan="2" French Fields 1989–1991 84 The Army Game 1957–1961 ITV 85 Robin's Nest 1977–1981 ITV 86 The Dustbinmen 1969–1970 ITV 87 Whoops Apocalypse 1982 ITV 88 My Wife Next Door 1972 BBC1 89 Never the Twain 1981–1991 ITV 90 Nightingales 1990–1993 Channel 4 91 Early Doors 2003 BBC2 92 Agony 1979–1981 ITV 93 The Lovers 1970–1971 ITV 94 Father, Dear Father 1968–1973 ITV 95 Hot Metal 1986–1989 ITV 96 ...And Mother Makes Three 1971–1973 ITV rowspan="2" ...And Mother Makes Five 1974–1976 97 Life with the Lyons 1955–1960 BBC1 / ITV 98 Marriage Lines 1961–1966 BBC1 99 A Sharp Intake of Breath 1977–1981 ITV 100 No Problem! 1983–1985 Channel 4

Notes

Background Britain's Best Sitcom was BBC Two's third television programme based on nationwide opinion polls between 2002 and 2004. It was preceded by The Big Read (18 October – 13 December 2003) and Great Britons (20 October – 24 November 2002). The Big Read was based on a poll asking for readers' favourite novels; Great Britons was based on the 100 Great Britons poll, which asked members of the public to nominate people who were born in or lived in the British Isles (including Ireland), and who "played a significant part in the life of the British Isles."

All three polls were conducted during the tenure of Jane Root as controller of BBC Two. Root served as the channel's controller (executive director of programming) from 1999 until 2004, when she left the BBC to head Discovery Networks in the United States.

Britain's Best Sitcom

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