Set your smiles to permanent.
Welcome to WatchMojo UK and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10
modern British sitcoms!
For this list, we’ve gathered the finest, funniest, most iconic and most important British
sitcoms.
As this is a countdown of the modern greats, to be in contention at least one series of
the show’s original run must have aired in the year 2000 or later.
For a countdown of the classics, be sure to check out our Top 10 Classic British Sitcoms
video, and if cult comedy is more your thing, then we’ve got you covered with another
clip as well.
Introducing Steve and Becky, an unconventional cute couple who rarely leave the modest comfort
of their London flat.
Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani take starring roles in “Him & Her”, loveably berating
each other to pass the time in between watching episodes of Inspector Morse.
A Best Sitcom winner at the 2014 BAFTAs, this show’s charm lies with the little things,
and the everyday humour which most couples see but most comedies steer clear of.
Annoying habits, awkward neighbours and oral sex gags; it’s all here.
A true to life triumph, it had everyone aiming to emulate the show’s central characters
– minus the constant spot-popping, perhaps.
“Two Pints” follows the lives of five post-millennium twenty-somethings all trying
to find their way through the trials, tribulations and triumphs of early adulthood – mostly
from the relative comfort of their trusty local, The Archer.
The show became a flagship programme for BBC Three throughout the 2000s, and although some
say it ran for longer that it should’ve done (with nine series in total), at its prime
it was must-watch TV.
Writer and series creator Susan Nickson, who was just 18 herself when commissioned by the
Beeb, always kept her audience at the heart of the show too – with viewer votes even
shaping some of the most major storylines.
Has there ever been a more loveable lot of social anomalies than these guys?
We think not.
Will, Jay, Simon and Neil are the ultimate high school underdogs in this E4 extravaganza
of cringeworthy comedy.
It falls to recently relocated Will to narrate us through the daily exploits of he and his
friends, including but not limited to punching a fish to death on a field trip, trading a
tramp his shoes to go clubbing, and trying and failing to get off with Charlotte Hinchcliffe.
In fact, the foursome found themselves thrown into enough chaos to warrant two post-series
feature films, sparking a mini-world tour and even more outrageous antics.
Bumders, bus wankers and football friends unite!
To TV’s best-loved long distance relationship and a comedy that leaves you laughing and
crying in almost equal measure.
“Gavin & Stacey” sees the title characters struggle to make their budding romance work,
as Gav lives in Billericay but Stacey is based in the Welsh seaside town of Barry.
Through the pair’s efforts to see each other, their families and friends meet and become
close – leading to hilarious, heart-warming and heart-breaking subplots.
From the Smithy/Nessa saga to the parents’ pains at seeing their children fly the nest
and Uncle Bryn’s unexpected gym habit, it’s the proverbial rollercoaster of real emotion
with a classic Christmas special to boot.
As with many of this list's’ entries, sitcoms can prove the springboard for a celebrated
comedy career.
And that’s certainly the case for Bolton’s own Peter Kay with “Phoenix Nights”.
A spin-off from an earlier spoof documentary series, “That Peter Kay Thing”, the show
sees Kay take on a variety of roles for a look inside The Phoenix Club, a working men’s
club in Farnworth.
With the story driven by club owner Brian Potter’s various plans to outdo his rival,
Den Perry at The Banana Grove, “Phoenix Nights” also proved a breakthrough moment
for Paddy McGuiness.
All in all, it’s two series and twelve episodes of endlessly quotable comedy gold.
We head back to class for today’s fifth-placer, and a Jack Whitehall comedy which took the
schoolroom by storm.
The award-winning funny man, otherwise known for “Fresh Meat” and “A League of Their
Own”, created and co-wrote “Bad Education”, while also starring in the series.
Whitehall is Alfie Wickers (or Dickers, depending on who you speak to) a history teacher tasked
with delivering lessons to an especially unruly crop of kids.
And while he’s by no means a born leader, his style strikes a chord with some of the
students at least.
A sitcom straight out of the staff room top drawer, the education’s bad but the entertainment’s
brilliant.
Meet Roy Trenneman, Maurice Moss and Jen Barber, the brainy, not so brawny, and belligerent
team in charge of IT at Reynholm Industries, a fictional and largely ambiguous London corporation.
Chris O’Dowd’s Roy is computer literate, but he’s otherwise lacking in other aspects
of life, while Richard Ayoade’s Maurice Moss takes geek chic to a whole new level,
although his intellect rarely translates to everyday problems.
And Katherine Parkinson’s Jen, well, she’d struggle to tell a mouse from a monitor, but
has bluffed her way to the top all the same.
Together they’re “The IT Crowd”, subject for one of Channel 4’s most successful sitcoms.
You can try turning it off, but you’ll simply have to turn it on again.
For Channel 4’s longest-running comedy, David Mitchell and Robert Webb star as Mark
and Jeremy, two dysfunctional flatmates with an uncanny attraction to awkward situations.
“Peep Show” sets itself apart with a POV style, inviting us into the most intimate
thoughts of its two central characters.
As such, Mark and Jez leave it all on the table – or should that be the ball pit?
The blundering pair are polar opposites in most ways, but it’s all but impossible to
imagine one without the other.
From Mark’s weird nuts to Jeremy’s even weirder wedding, their friendship is far more
than just a Christmas joke.
They’re in it for the long haul, whether they like it or not.
Our runner-up is also the oldest of today’s entries, with our first look inside the Royle
household coming in 1998.
Three series followed, including two acclaimed Christmas editions, as well as a string of
celebrated specials from 2006 to 2012.
A TV show based around a TV set, it sees Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston and Ralf Little star
alongside Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, the show’s creators.
Jim, Barbara, Anthony, Denise and David do precious little with their lives besides channel
hop and chat – but what more could we want?
A frank, funny and poignant telling of late-90s working class life, it turns the mundane into
the magnificent.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
We’re at Wernham Hogg Paper Company for today’s winner, and a monumental mockumentary.
“The Office” takes the often dull daily trudge of an uninspiring workplace, and turns
it into the best British sitcom this side of the millennium.
Ricky Gervais’ David Brent is the standout star, always on hand with unwanted advice,
dodgy dance moves and laughable lyrics.
But the likes of ‘where’s my stapler?’
Gareth Keenan and the perpetually unsure Keith, ensure that this is no one-man show.
And then there’s the Tim and Dawn love story, routinely making mincemeat of our emotions.
“Extras” was also great, but it couldn’t topple this.
Tapping into all the little things which make people tick, it’s uncomfortable, annoying
and pure, pure genius.