News

While not all of the American populace purports to always understand British humor, it’s been an indelible part of the cultural landscape for decades. Whether the sophisticated stylings of Noel Coward or the outrageous offerings of French & Saunders, British television comedies (aka Britcoms) have provided countless hours of entertainment to legions of fans, and have even occasionally been adapted into historic mega-smashes (without ‘Til Death Us Do Part and Man About the House, we’d never have seen the likes of All in the Family and Three’s Company, after all). Fifteen of those shows will always immediately spring to mind and provide copious memories of cherished moments in front of the tube (or the telly, as it were).

15. To the Manor Born (1979-81)

Formulaic though it may have been (widowed aristocrat gives up ancestral estate after purchase by a supermarket magnate of Bratislavic descent, and moves with butler...

Blackadder

By Kieran Kinsella

Click here to friend Best British TV on Facebook or here to follow us on twitter.

Without butlers the British would never have been able to solve any murders that involved the rich and famous. British TV butlers have always been key figures in both period dramas and anything involving Agatha Christie. With so many men in black to choose from, narrowing down the 10 best British TV butlers was no easy task but here are our men.

Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) in Blackadder III. Blackadder III (to use his American name) treated all men in the same manner – with complete contempt. His dislike for fellow man was understandable given that he worked for a playboy prince (Hugh Laurie) and a man called Sod-off (Tony Robinson).

Angus Hudson (Gordon Jackson) in Upstairs Downstairs. In The Great Escape Gordon Jackson caused Richard Attenborough to get killed as a result...