So I got my blue-ray hooked up to stream netflix, and I have to say it is kind of cool. Really enjoying all the British tv programs I can stream. Watching Robin Hood atm, but do any of you who follow Brit tv have any recommendations?
Also, has anyone seen Neverwhere?
morzer
Yes Minister
Drop the Dead Donkey
Blackadder
Jeeves and Wooster
sven
I really enjoyed both Life on Mars and State of Play.
Jorge
qI!!!
sven
and Top Gear is a guilty pleasure.
El Cid
The new version of Sherlock Holmes done by the Doctor-Who relaunching Steven Moffatt is pretty damned awesome.
Shades
The League of Gentleman is pretty far-out.
MikeJ
Are you limited to what’s on BBC America or can you get real BBC stuff?
And on another topic, I hatehatehate family tech support. If you’re going to second guess me and and interrupt every time I try to do anything, do it yourself you stupid fuck.
Thank you.
jeffreyw
I thought MI-5 OK.
Jon H
IT Crowd
Torchwood
Mighty Boosh
MattR
Stephen Colbert must be making DougJ very happy right now.
Faisal
Unfortunately Sandbaggers is not available for streaming, but if you’re still getting the discs then Netflix has the whole series.
General Stuck
Here is very good Brit miniseries political thrillers, one of the best I ever saw.
The State Within – 7 episodes
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
Is there anything more annoying than someone who incorrectly believes that he is funny, and is really loud about it?
addie
I found Neverwhere to be fairly disappointing, not at all as good as the book.
Gina
@sven: Seconded on Top Gear.
For comedies, my son (11 y.o. but with a precocious sense of absurdist humor) and I both *love* The IT Crowd, dear husband doesn’t do humor – British or otherwise, so…We also loved The Mighty Boosh, but I don’t think it’s on Netflix yet.
We are currently enjoying Doc Martin for comedy – lighter, a “fish out of water” type with a major curmudgeon as the lead. For thriller/mystery: I’ve watched many episodes of Wire in the Blood, it’s interesting sometimes, but watching too many back to back just gets tiresome – I find it gets hard to believe there are so freaking many serial killers in that one small section of England. But I like Dr. Tony Hill, he seems like he’s on the spectrum for Aspergers or other high-functioning autism, love seeing his mind in action.
Life on Mars seconded also, the American version was just totally different and not nearly as profound. ShakespeaRetold is fun, modern versions of classic Shakespeare dramas, the Macbeth one still gives me the willies.
boredwiththeusa
Little Britain.
jeffreyw
I’m wondering if anyone has a rec for bluetooth ear buds for wearing under ear muffs, or bluetooth noise cancelling headsets. I want to listen to podcasts on an ipod while mowing. I’ve been using the wired kind but find that when mowing under and around bushes and trees the branches tend to yank the buds off. Once I had the ipod jerked out of my pocket and nearly ran the damn thing over.
Oh, and some stir fry.
Ben
My girlfriend LOVES Doc Martin.
Debbie(aussie)
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are both great. Along with Torchwood and Dr Who. Hubby loved State of Play.
drc
Life On Mars. Easily the best TV of the past four years.
Leszek Pawlowicz
If your connection is 5 Mb or faster, you might try adding some HD titles to your queue:
http://www.netflix.com/WiHD?pn=1&dev=PC&ftr=false
Gina
@MikeJ: You need this T-shirt.
CorgiFan
Another vote for Doc Martin.
DFS
Last I checked, there was a righteous doc in about five parts on the history of Monty Python. I think it’s the one called “Almost The Truth”? Goes into tons of detail and has comments from a bunch of interesting folks.
Emily
Wire in the Blood is great.
Gina
@jeffreyw: My husband got some noise proof headphones that plug directly into the iPod, he uses them for lawn chores, but also for the shooting range. He says they work very well, they weren’t too many ducats either. Here they go.
hilzoy
Dear God. I was just checking out my state delegates to see who I would vote for in the upcoming primary. We get three, and there’s only one challenger, so two incumbents will remain. And two of them aren’t just bad, they seem to be appalling.
One has a person who was convicted of crack possession as his campaign manager, and a bizarre record of introducing legislation that doesn’t pass, including a resolution “to designate the shillelagh, a heavy walking stick that doubles as a weapon, as “the State walking stick of statesmen and gentlemen”. And then there’s his domestic violence rap:
“The court file in the case reveals that Latesa Thomas, the ex-wife, swore that Conaway Jr. [my delegate, yippee] “threatened to kill” her, placed her “in fear of imminent serious bodily harm, and “pushed her face through [a] back door window.” A Baltimore County judge granted Thomas a final protective order, and was also convinced that Conaway Jr. was not taking his prescribed medications for bipolar disorder, ordering him to undertake hospital evaluations under police escort.”
Another of my delegates used to run an assisted living facility which was shut down when one of its developmentally disabled patients died of neglect. (This was a year after she stopped running it — her son took over — but apparently some of the violations that led to the death took place on her watch.) It was also fined over half a million dollars for wage violations — and I’m betting that in an assisted living facility, that means shorting the wages of people who don’t earn a lot of money at all.
One of these two will continue to represent me. Just shoot me now.
Mojotron
Coupling (except season 4, and season 3 is questionable, but 1& 2 are brilliant, the Girl with Two Breasts may be the funniest episode of any sitcom I’ve ever seen)
the IT Crowd
Spaced
if you can get em on Netflix Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace & Time Trumpet.
Note: these are all comedies.
edit: Celebrity Rape an Ape.
Shelton Lankford
Neverwhere was a low-budget snore for me the two episodes I watched. On the other hand, I greatly enjoyed Doc Martin. We zipped through four seasons in a couple of weeks. The Missus has a real Sherlock Holmes jones. The Jeremy Brett series is the best version I have seen. Netflix is offering the best entertainment for your buck you can get, I think.
I also saw “State of Play” mini-series. Much better than the American-made movie version.
I absolutely refuse to sit through commercials, and since I have become habituated to Netflix versions, I can’t bear to watch commercial-ridden network TV, not that I am missing anything. I timeshift Keith and Rachel just enough so I can fast-forward through commercials there.
Shelton Lankford
Neverwhere was a low-budget snore for me the two episodes I watched. On the other hand, I greatly enjoyed Doc Martin. We zipped through four seasons in a couple of weeks. The Missus has a real Sherlock Holmes jones. The Jeremy Brett series is the best version I have seen. Netflix is offering the best entertainment for your buck you can get, I think.
I also saw “State of Play” mini-series. Much better than the American-made movie version.
I absolutely refuse to sit through commercials, and since I have become habituated to Netflix versions, I can’t bear to watch commercial-ridden network TV, not that I am missing anything. I timeshift Keith and Rachel just enough so I can fast-forward through commercials there.
JMC in the ATL
Neverwhere bordered on unwatchable. If it weren’t Gaiman, I wouldn’t have finished it, but I wanted to see how it played out versus the book.
Some BBC titles I’ve enjoyed:
Being Human
Sherlock
Jeckyl & Hyde (spelling)
Dr. Who
Being Human
Beautiful People (1st series only)
The Office
Being Human
Mike G
“Not the Nine O’Clock News” – BBC sketch comedy from the early 80s.
jeffreyw
@Gina: Those are interesting, thanks. Doesn’t eliminate the wires from the ipod, though.
arguingwithsignposts
There are two seasons of Top Gear (10 and 11) which I recommend. The Brits kick our asses in understated comedy). IT Crowd seconded. The original (and still the best) Office is also on there. And there are some Richard Attenborough docs that are worth a gander too.
I can see that BalloonJuicetamontstock will now need to have a multimedia tent. Sigh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
House of Cards, To Play the King and Final Cut, a mini-series/trilogy about politics, very dark, very cynical.
RC1
Allo, Allo is a great comedy when you’re in the mood to just laugh.
Are You Being Served is good too.
MikeJ
@JMC in the ATL: Series one of Being Human was disappointing. Never watched the rest. I don’t think they really had a clear idea of what they wanted to do with a very promising premise.
Fortunately, since a series is only 6 eps, it’s easy enough to get through one run.
JMC in the ATL
Fawlty Towers is always worth a rewatch, as well.
(Did I mention Being Human already?)
Kevin
If they have older shows, Red Dwarf.
Bondo
Definitely “Coupling”
Also MI-5.
philly71
It’s not BBC, but the Tudors
Ditto State Within.
I have been Streaming Netflix for a while whn things to watch were finite and that is when I tried Torchwood…nothing like that on american TV. Merlin and Robin Hood if you want it more family style. I am assuming you have seen the British Office. Couldn’t get into the IT crowd. ‘Pillars of the Earth’ and MI-5.
Kiril
Pulling. Karen FTW
freelancer
@General Stuck:
2nd3rd vote for The State Within.Starts kind of slow, but man, when it crests, there is nothing out there as electric. And yes, I’ve seen State of Play, which is a close 2nd to this BBC miniseries. It’s that fucking brilliant.
Also, just finished the second season of Veronica Mars. Awesome as well. (Watch the first 2 episodes of season 1 before you judge me.)
Pillars of the Earth has been decent so far (uploaded as they air on Starz)
Jennifer
I second (or 6th or 12th) the rec for the Moffat/Gatiss take on Sherlock Holmes.
sven
Apropos of nothing, the ‘wetsuit optional’ tag just came up and I realized we haven’t had a really hinky Republican sex scandal for a while.
Not just a closeted bigot or adulterous hypocrite, the downright bizarre trysts we sometimes get from the right.
I’m talkin’ daipers and prostitutes, crystal meth and male masseuse, airport bathrooms, wetsuits and asphyxiation, or teenage congressional pages…
Have I missed something or are we overdue?
I say we start a pool, one dollar per square, must specify the right-wing figure and the compromising act they will admit to before the mid-term elections…
I’m going with Dick Cheney, heart-attack during group sex.
John, if you will collect the money I’ll send you my dollar tomorrow.
Jon H
“Father Ted” is by the guy who does IT Crowd, so it might be good.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You might well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.
Agree with you big time on this series, which stars Ian Richardson as a fiendishly charismatic, devious British politician who plots his rise to power, occasionally turning to address the audience directly, as with the passage I quoted above. Or this little aside which could also apply to the Washington press corps.
You can’t help but root for the bad guy.
Jules
Neverwhere was enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as reading it or as enjoyable as it would have been of the BBC had actually spent any money making it.
TV shows….
Life on Mars
Wire in the Blood
Mighty Boosh
Black Books
MI-5, but I think the latter seasons (6-8?) with Hermione Norris are better then the earlier ones. Ros is is probably one of the most bad ass women characters on TV.
State of Play (not to be compared to the crap American movie) has got to be one of my favorite mini series ever. The cast (Bill Nighy, James Mcavoy, Jon Simms, Philip Glenister, Kelly Macdonald, David Morrissey) is superb and and the story great. Bill Nighy makes me happy.
Torchwood, the last of the series, Children of Earth, might have been some of the best TV scifi ever.
Of course I’m not sure how much of what I mentioned is on the instant netflix thingee (which is a brilliant idea and I love it so much).
whetstone
Father Ted: the perfect sitcom, IMO
Brass Eye: Brutal newsmagazine parody. The one on pedophilia scares, which got the series canceled, is among the most berserk things you’ll ever see.
I’m Alan Partridge: Steve Coogan just owns.
The Armando Iannucci Shows: From the writer/director of In the Loop. Weirdo series about contemporary culture. Might have been more famous had it not debuted on 9/12/01. The show that led to In the Loop, The Thick of It, is also really good, though not as biting.
I don’t think any of those are streaming on Netflix, but The League of Gentlemen is, which is worth a shot.
Bonus British radio recommendation: The Department, starring John Oliver et al. Great political satire. Hard to find, but you can probably locate it on the Internets somewhere.
Jon H
Brass Eye
jon
This is why I can’t get enough of The Mighty Boosh. It’s just plain insane.
Also, look for Look Around You, the 1980s Robin Hood, and I would really love to find The Comic Strip. The Young Ones is pretty dated in some ways, but the music is still incredible.
And Jeeves and Wooster is incredible in book form, too. That stuff is genius in the way it makes fun of rich people, which is all many of us can do since the alternative is to become depressed and kill ourselves.
Joseph Nobles
Father Ted is on Netflix????!!!! Huzzah!
bly
Sadly, Being Human isn’t streaming yet. Still have to order the disks. But such a fun show.
I get the feeling that the Doctor and Torchwood may be to geeky for our host. Although my whole family loves them and all episodes are streaming.
Faulty Towers is streaming, always worth a revist.
The whole BBC Office is streaming, as well.
Gawd, there’s so much on Netflix streaming, it’s hard to leave the house sometimes.
sven
@Jennifer: I’m definitely going to have to check Sherlock out…
More recommendation threads please!
Science Fiction / Fantasy novels?
Overlooked films by genre?
Science books for the general audience?
(same for history)
LightsOut
As others mentioned, the IT Crowd is good. Give it a few episodes to get into it, though.
And I’m surprised Dr. Who isn’t getting more love here. Wankers.
Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim)
In honor of Ken Melman Coming Out Day, and since you and I are both gay also, John, I recommend past episodes of
Absolutely Fabulous
and
Keeping Up Appearances
Hilarious, and will help you edge your way out of the closet. It’s so much more sunny out here. Just ask Ken!
meander
I add another vote for State of Play, a complicated and suspenseful mini-series that really entertains. The look inside the British media is also fun, watching their approach to getting scoops, which seems pretty different from the U.S. approach (but maybe I’m being naive).
Little Britain has some brilliant moments (“computer says no” among them), but becomes a bit repetitious. Check out the first few episodes at least.
El Cid
There was recently a fantastic 35th anniversary special of Fawlty Towers with lots of in-depth retrospectives from Cleese et al on writing and making it.
A load of great BBC documentaries (and other specials).
One to kill yourself looking for: The Last of the Dambusters. Narrated by Stephen Fry, it takes one of the last surviving vets of the WWII British bombing raids on dams related to armaments production deep in Germany to find his former plane, where his colleagues died, and what happened where the bombs dropped.
May be the best documentary I’ve ever seen.
It’s not an accident that Stephen Fry is now writing the screenplay for Peter Jackson’s remake of the classic 1950s film “Dambusters”.
The transformation that the vet pilot goes through from start to finish is remarkable, and not at all anticipated.
bly
Also: Neverwhere wasn’t very good. I loved the book, so the show was a disappointment.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sven:
I’d like to second this bleg, for a dumb guy who regrets going all George W back in high school
Twisted_Colour
You’ve gotta go for Doctor Who. His latest travelling companion, Amelia Pond, is smoking hot!
El Cid
Don’t know if it’s on disc, but Guardian writer Charlie Brooker’s “Newswipe” is a hilarious commentary and parody of the TV news business, mainly focusing on the UK. Selections of video online.
Jules
@whetstone:
It makes me sad that The Thick of It is not available on a DVD format I can watch.
You are right Lights Out…I did not mention the Doctor because I just assumed that anyone making the effort to watch BBC shows would have Doctor Who at the top of the list. I watched Love and Monsters last night…the ELO makes me happy.
asiangrrlMN
OK, I really enjoyed Neverwhere until the ending, but I have to say I saw the movie before I read the book (which I also enjoyed) so that may have something to do with it. In addition, I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, so there’s that.
Father Ted is funny. I love the Prime Suspect series with Helen Mirren. I have not seen the last one yet because I hate reaching the end of anything. Anything with Alan Rickman, though YMMV, Fry & Laurie is very funny. That’s all I got.
jacy
Top Gear; Wire in the Blood; Truth; Gil Mayo Mysteries; Murphy’s Law; Black Books; Doctor Who, of course; Touching Evil; Cracker; Take Me; One Foot in the Grave: Torchwood; State of Play; Being Human; Creature Comforts; Little Britain; That Mitchell and Web Look (lets play Number Wang!)
Oh, I could go on all night. I’m a unrepentant anglophile.
philly71
@philly71: Forgot one of the better BBC shows…
Skins
their version of the Teen Drama. Has the kid from Slumdog Millionaire.
Jules
Sherlock will be on PBS/Masterpiece this fall and new Wallenders too!
So excited.
I can’t believe I forgot Prime Suspect…Helen Mirren need I say more?
(I love BBC detective/crime shows.)
tkogrumpy
My favorite from the BBC was House of Elliot, good for relaxing.I believe there were two seasons of episodes, it seemed to go on forever, but we really enjoyed it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@asiangrrlMN:
Oh yeah. BBCAmerica used to have “Mystery Monday”, which was great. Now it’s all Gordon Ramsey, all the time. And Star Trek, which I really don’t get.
sven
@jacy: Some nice recommendations; I’d completely forgotten about Touching Evil!
Man, I’m going to have to see if it’s available at the library!
asiangrrlMN
Oh, I also watch all the Poirot movies/series, but that’s because I’m a huge Poirot and David Suchet fan. The adaptations themselves aren’t very true to the source material.
@Jules: I got your back. Helen Mirren, indeed.
Joseph Nobles
Oh, you can’t stream Father Ted. Down with this sort of thing.
You can’t stream the Prime Suspect series, either. Boo.
Rekster
MI 5 (Spooks in GB) It is the bestest.
Also, State of Play is fantastic.
Ditto to Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes
Kiril
Oops, can’t stream Pulling.
LiberalTariam
I like their mysteries. And of course, Little Britain.
JGabriel
asiangrrlMN:
I enjoyed Neverwhere, possibly because, like Asiangrrl, I saw the show first.
The producion values, as noted in many other comments, are, well, let me put this way: the BBC probably spends more on its radio shows than they spent on Neverwhere. It looks like sub-par Dr. Who circa 1973.
So, if you like Gaiman, but haven’t read the book, and enjoy the occasional grungy-looking el-cheapo sci-fi, then give it whirl.
.
John W.
State of Play might be my favorite mini-series ever. Doctor Who and Torchwood are great. Top Gear. Etc. A lot of BBC stuff I haven’t seen but it all looks good. I loathe reality TV in general and Gordon Ramsay’s American persona is especially ugly, but the series produced in Britain – Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares – is a guilty pleasure, I have to admit.
So basically everything BBC.
Cris
I’m a Gaiman fan who enjoyed Neverwhere, but it is kind of silly.
FWIW, the book is based on the BBC miniseries, not the other way as one might expect.
Jules
@Joseph Nobles:
Boo is right.
BUT the good thing is Netflix adds to the Instant View all the time…
I’m not really sure how they decide.
asiangrrlMN
@Cris: Really? Maybe that’s why I preferred the miniseries to the book. Huh.
El Cid
@John W.: The British version of Kitchen Nightmares had many great, great moments. Partly because many of the locations and people had such fascinating history & traditions.
The US versions, mainly tacky confrontations.
LanceThruster
See if you can locate the “Masterpiece Theatre” mini-series “Private Schultz”.
Funny as hell.
“I, Claudius” is awesome too.
And the original BBC “Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy”
RobertB
I’ll throw another vote out for Top Gear. Someone’s doing a US version, but dollars to doughnuts that it’ll suck bad. I’ve never seen a US television show where they just absolutely slam a potential advertiser’s product, whereas the BBC guys aren’t the least bit shy about calling a car garbage.
The F Word is really good, but I’m not sure if they’re still showing it.
Both flavors of Kitchen Nightmares are good. I’d side with El Cid on the British ones being a little bit better, but IMO just because the British goofus archetypes are a novelty to me compared to your garden variety American douchebag.
JMC in the ATL
OMG, How could I forget The Catherine Tate Show? I am bovvered!
(And, in all seriousness, she deserved a BAFTA for her performance as Donna Noble. I get teared up just thinking about it.)
LanceThruster
Jonathan Miller – The History of Atheism
Brachiator
@LightsOut:
I heartily recommend this iteration of Doctor Who. I was not really a viewer of the previous series, but was curious when I read some UK reviews that almost unanimously went from “Will this new guy ever be able to even remotely compare to David Tennant?” to “Oh, yeah, Matt Smith is the Doctor.”
So I downloaded the first episode from iTunes and was immediately hooked. The new series is not only clever, but also touching. And the new companion, Amy Pond is smoking hot, but with an intriguing back story.
And Alex Kingston’s River Song. Oh, my yes.
LanceThruster
“Dead in the Water” (the attack on the USS Liberty)
El Cid
@RobertB: I’m so far quite impressed with the US version of MasterChef hosted by Gordon Ramsay.
Nothing can match the MasterChef Australia series, but this is very, very well done for a US series. A little bit too much contestant-to-contestant cattiness.
LanceThruster
Jean Marsh of “Upstairs, Downstairs” used to host some “International Animation Festival” with the cool euro toons and stop motion with no dialog so no captions needed. Lots of that dark east block stuff.
Kind of like when Krusty replaced “Itchy and Scratchy” with “Worker & Proletariat”.
LanceThruster
Does Canada count?
Get “LEXX” – I think it’s Canada, or maybe Germany. Same only dif, right?
LanceThruster
If/when you do watch LEXX, you’ve got share which Zev/Xev you think is hotter.
El Cid
@Brachiator: I love Matt Smith. I think he’s really doing a great job.
El Cid
@Brachiator: I wouldn’t be surprised to see that River Song gets her own series. She certainly could anchor it.
I think the only other female lead in the new series which could match the Doctor was Sophie Myles in “The Man in the Fireplace.”
Bhall35
Peep Show.
Peep Show.
Peep Show.
LanceThruster
“Smiley’s People” (does it matter if they made it to PBS here?)
Lavendar Hill Mob
The Ladykillers
(Is it only Brit TV series’ or things shown on Brit TV – check out whatever of their old comics they have – some are classic)
Anne Laurie
Lovejoy. A (comparatively) young Ian McShane as a curmudgeonly Robin Hood of an antiques expert, with a wonderful supporting cast as well. Light as a good souffle, and some of us old pharts will cringe when the horrible 1980s fashions give us unfortunate flashbacks, but always fun.
El Cid
@Bhall35: Fuck yeah! I take them for granted!
THAT MITCHELL & WEBB SHOW, SEASONS 1 & 2
Watch it. Live it.
And once you’ve seen enough of those, then check out their movie, “Magicians”.
burnspbesq
Making strange music choices tonight.
Listened to “Bitches Brew” and “Band of Gypsies” back to back. Got me thinking about what wondrous stuff might have emerged if Hendrix had lived long enough to get together with Miles in the studio.
Kiril
@RobertB: Also, the British version of Kitchen Nightmares is more GR instructing the restaurateurs and helping them do for themselves, while the American is like a game show where you let Gordon yell at you until you freak out and then he’ll buy you a bunch of new stuff — and those cheesy montages at the end, oy!
Brachiator
@El Cid:
Yep. He is fun to watch. And it may sound a little dumbass, but I am so glad that veteran Who viewers gave Smith a chance and weren’t stuck in a Tennant or nothing mode.
And Moffat has done a great job of running the show. I like his style and have gone back to download the earlier show episodes he wrote, particularly Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.
You mentioned the Moffat take on Sherlock Holmes. Is this a multi-episode series? If it is available via netflix, I may have to get a setup that lets me get this rather than wait for Masterpiece Theater.
ExNewYorker
As others have pointed out, Neverwhere works pretty well if you don’t read the book before seeing the TV version. If you were a very small tyke growing up on Tom Baker Dr. Who, it isn’t that hard to ignore the low quality special effects, and get to the reasonably clever story underneath. And heck, how can you not like a series where the antagonist destroyed Atlantis?
freelancer
@sven:
if you have netflix instant…
Confederate States of America
The Dead Zone (TV series) S1-3 (so far)
Zulu
The Pluto Files
Waiting for Armageddon
Firefly
Serenity
Gomorrah
PBS: The Atom Smashers
World’s Greatest Dad
District B13
Our Brand is Crisis
The King of Kong
Let the Right One In
Full Battle Rattle
The Big Lebowski
Miller’s Crossing
Cool Hand Luke
MST3K: The Final Sacrifice
The Right Stuff
When We Left Earth
The Wright Brothers
Veronica Mars
The Most Dangerous Man in America
That’s My Bush!
Ken Burns’ Documentaries
The State Within
Rachel Getting Married
This American Life
COSMOS
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Mythbusters
Man on Wire
Pillars of the Earth
Dear Zachary
Blade Runner
South Park
Frontline (any available)
Roxanne
The Jerk
Being John Malkovich
Arrested Development
Hell House
The Sandlot
Contact
Dollhouse
Touching the Void
this list is by no means all-inclusive, these are just movies/TV that I have told my movie buff buddy he needs to see (many of which he hasn’t yet)
Violet
“The Inbetweeners.” BBC America showed it this spring and it’s pretty funny. They edited out the bad words (mostly, although some slipped through the censors) and shortened it. If it’s on Netflix streaming, give it a try.
@Bhall35:
Peep Show is really funny, but takes a bit of getting used to.
Brachiator
@El Cid:
Yep. The opening sequence of Time of Angels, which featured River, reminded me of a Doctor Who version of the pre-credit sequence of a James Bond movie.
Ach! Another early Who episode I’m going to have to check out. Thanks.
Bill Murray
I used to love Time Team (BBC 4 show) when History International showed it. It is still on so may be netflixable
nickgb
I don’t have the ‘flix, but hulu has a great little show called Kingdom (starring Stephen Fry), they may have it too. Think “Ed” meets “House” meets “Fawlty Towers”
Bhall35
@Violet:
True , but damn if it isn’t hilarious & psychotic at the same time. I can’t really describe how they manage it.
@El Cid: Mitchell & Webb is next on the list, for sure.
philly71
Hotel Babylon seasons 1 and 2 also…
WaterGirl
@MikeJ: I’m sorry, but I laughed at your post about family tech support. It really can be very trying!
Have you seen “middle ages tech support” on youtube? You’ve just got to see it – it captures the essence of tech support perfectly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE&feature=related
john smallberries
second or third or whatever on Life on Mars,
Thought Ashes to Ashes would have been more interesting if I hadn’t seen it as Life on Mars.
Most of the rest that I would recommend are on BBC America
ammonid
Its old, but I’ve been watching the Day of the Tryffids recently and been enjoying it. Most of my other recs have been said already. Jeeves and Wooster I recommend but you have to get the DVDs because Netflix doesn’t stream it.
I would recommend the three Wallace and Gromit shorts if you haven’t seen them, which are streaming on Netflix.
dlwchico
Foyle’s War is very good. Doesn’t look like you can stream it on Netflix, but it’s worth getting the dvd for.
Viva BrisVegas
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Our Friends in the North.
Porridge.
Callan.
When the Boat Comes In.
The Likely Lads.
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
The Goodies.
However if you want to go to the wellspring of all post war British comedy, try to get hold of a radio show called The Goon Show. All else flows from this.
While on the subject I’d like to put in a little word for Spike Milligan being the greatest comic genius of the 20th century.
Lesley
Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are classics. Worth buying.
Some Mothers Do Have ‘Em is another classic. (probably not available but if you can get it, blissful comedy)
Mistresses is good (BBC).
The entire series of Poirot with David Suchet
Identity (a new show)
The Office (Ricky Gervais’ creation)
Extras
The Ricky Gervais Show (with Karl Pilkington)
Bill Murray
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: @sven:
Science books really depends on what type of science you are most interested in. Some I like would be
Phil Plait “Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End”
Karin Sanders “Bodies in the Bog and the Archaeological Imagination”
Naomi Oreskes “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming”
Almost anything by Stephen Jay Gould but my faves
Mismeasure of Man
The Richness of Life (although his various collections of Natural History essays are quite good)
Jerry Coyne “Why Evolution is True”
Brian Fagan “Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans” or some of his older work
Hugh Salzburg “From Caveman to Chemist: Circumstances and Achievements”
William Dunham “Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics”
Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld “The Evolution of Physics”
Joe Giblin
Try “Open Doors” and “The Royle Family”…two great comedies that really capture (in a funny, sweet way) the experience of life in the North.
El Cid
@Brachiator: So far I’ve seen 3 episodes, but let me tell you — each episode is good enough, complex enough, long enough, and cinematographic enough to have been its own theater release.
I’d be willing to guess it would have gotten better response than that dreck with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Fight Club John Woo Holmes.
Each episode I’ve seen of Sherlock has been incredible. The way it’s been brought to a modern context is wonderfully clever. The actor playing Holmes is perfect, as is Watson.
Warren Terra
After watching some through Netflix, I’ve become a huge fan of British television, to the point that I recently bought a cheap region-free DVD player to watch some they haven’t released in Region 1 format.
Some recommendations, in no particular order, most of which are also upthread:
Drama
State Of Play
House Of Cards (the 2nd and 3rd of the trilogy are weaker)
Life On Mars
Shameless, Series 1 (Series 2 isn’t as good; I haven’t seen the rest)
Prime Suspect
Inspector Morse mysteries (good, not as great as those dramas listed above)
Wire In The Blood (also good but not great)
Sci-Fi
The relaunched Doctor Who, obviously
Torchwood (series 1 is better than the rest, as Barrowman just takes over the show and gets dry lazy)
Jekyll, written by Stephen Moffat
Neverwhere is better than it’s being credited in this thread, though definitely made on the cheap – and the complaints that the book is better are funny, as Gaiman wrote the screenplay first and then adapted it frame-for-frame to the book, not even adding internal monologue or special effects that are hard to do on screen.
The older Doctor Who sometimes has it’s charms, but is very different from the modern one.
comedy
This is where British TV really stands out. Some not to be missed:
Blackadder
Yes, Minister
Jeeves And Wooster
Fry And Laurie
Mitchell And Webb
Steve Coogan’s shows, especially Knowing Me Knowing You
People Like Us
Red Dwarf (especially the earlier episodes, though I’ll be a hypocrite and say the novelizations are better)
League Of Gentlemen – just outstanding
Thick Of It (not released in Region 1)
Absolute Power (not released in Region 1)
QI (not released in Region 1)
sven
@Bill Murray: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You’ve got a number of archeology related books listed which I will definitely need to check out…
One science-related book I just finished is Newton and the Counterfeiter, by Thomas Levenson. It was both a fascinating peek into a relatively unknown part of Isaac Newton’s life and a great taste of the world of the early enlightenment.
Actually, Thomas Levenson shows up in comments here at BJ periodically so I hope more people here will support him by reading his book.
Relatedly, Mr. Levenson is a Professor of Science Writing at MIT. Maybe JC can convince him to write a few things on how we improve coverage of science by journalists…
Warren Terra
Oh, and one other show that’s not released in Region 1: Mark Steel’s lectures. Funny but also fact-filled, and he put (low resolution) downloadable videos of about eight of them on his website, along with the excellent lectures that he previously did for the radio.
patrick II
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It sounds like you might be interested in a readable general science book. I would recommend Asimov’s New Guide o Science. This link refers to the paperback with a publication date in 1993 and I do not know if that version was updated from the hardback version that I own which was last revised in 1984. The book is nearly 900 pages long and just a great and enlightening read.
Also, if you take an interest in physics at all, you might consider The Feynman Lectures on Physics (3 Volume Set) which were based on a intro physics course Richard Feynman gave back in 1966. Just a brilliant work.
These are obviously not new books, but for basic science they are still hard to beat.
And in the spirit of netflix streaming and old science, “Cosmos” is at netflix.
TooManyJens
@JMC in the ATL: God damn it, I still miss Donna.
JGabriel
John Cole, one piece of information regarding Coupling that you might find particularly relevant: one of the stars is Gina Bellman. I seem to remember you liking her in Leverage.
.
Emerald
It doesn’t stream yet, but you can get the complete DVD series of “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin,” old BBC satire from the mid-seventies with Leonard Rossiter.
Hilarious.
moe99
Doc Martin is great, and to see Martin Clune’s (the lead) versatility you should watch a few episodes of Men Behaving Badly. Character is 180 degrees from the repressed surgeon in Doc Martin.
Warren Terra
@ JGabriel
Gina Bellman is also one of the two female leads in Stephen Moffatt’s Jekyll.
Bobby Thomson
Skins
The Office
Coupling
Anne Laurie
@Jules:
Money is one metric. From what I’ve read, Netflix buys the streaming rights separately from the right to rent discs. So what they can “stream” depends partially on what the owners of each ‘block’ of stream-media decides to rent out, at least at a price Netflix feels will attract enough viewers to make it worthwhile. That’s why stuff goes off the Instant Watch list, too — either the owners (usually big corps like Starz or HBO) decide to let their rights lapse, or they decide to hike the tag on a newly profitable property & rather than pay up Netflix lets a whole batch of long-tail vids go off the board along with the Hot Topik.
Which means, of course, that if you’re a Netflix subscriber, it pays to pester them to acquire the stuff you want to see. Free Markets, fvck yeah!
Brit_in_BRD
Late to the party, but I third the suggestion of Skins, at least the first two series. It does take a bit of getting used to, though: to start with it seems to be trying far too hard to be hip, with the teenage sex-‘n’-drugs angle, but it turns into something much more interesting as it goes on. (And the series are short, as is typical for the UK.)
Brit_in_BRD
Also, for comedy: Outnumbered, about a couple with three kids. Here’s a scene with the little girl playing ‘Gordon Ramsey’ : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcgCx7tVBRo
lawnorder
Top Gear, Merlin, Dr Who, The IT Crowd…
Watch the special 1 hour shows on Top Gear, hilarious.
The Mighty Boosh and Little Britain might be a tad too much for a grumpy old geezer who wants all off his lawn ;)
The Grand Panjandrum
I will tip my cap for Doc Martin as well. A bit predictable but Martin Clunes in the lead role is often literally LOL funny.
twiffer
i use my xbox more for netflix and zune than games of late. also watching robin hood right now. enjoyable enough, but too many plot points seem to depend on people being remarkably stupid.
other recommendations, likely repeated:
-doctor who (round 2) (caught up with the entire relaunch and seriously jonesing for more)
-older who
-red dwarf
-blackadder
-jeeves & wooster
-if it’s available (haven’t checked, cause i have the disks), brother cadfael mysteries
neverwhere, i read the novelization but only caught one episode. i think i enjoyed it, but i can’t remember. book was good though.
jon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWn_1yOFpfU
RobertB
@Kiril: True. But I do remember him reaming out quite a few people on the British version as well.
After looking at the schedule on BBC America, they’re not showing “The F Word” anymore, which is too bad.
TR
I really want to mash Neverwhere and Constantine together, and get something greater than either. Set it back a sesquicentennial and throw in Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrel. Heck, there’s even room for a Harry Potter cameo and a Tom Holt story in that setting.
Anonymous Baltimorean
@hilzoy: Whoa! 40th District, right? I think I know where you read that. I read it too. Conaway was the only qualm I had about moving into this district (I used to live further downtown).
toujoursdan
Another “Doc Martin” fan.
Also loved “Shameless” and “Teachers” which are brilliant comedies. Not sure they have made it to Netflix yet.
“Vicar of Dibley” is good too. If you’re a Dawn French fan her latest show “Roger and Val Have Just Got In” is funny in a very subtle way.
Chat Noir
Absolutely Fabulous
Extras (a combo BBC/HBO series that ran for two seasons and is very funny)
snarkypsice
“QI” is exceptional – weird and wonderful quiz show that I can’t even describe but hosted by Stephen Fry.
if they have it, “Come Dine with Me” is right up your alley. 4 strangers cook dinner for each other and then score each other’s meals. Sounds dull but it has foodies, humor, social drama, and the ability to snoop around inside peoples’ houses – doesn’t get much better than that.
Finally, “DIY SOS.” Imagine ‘Extreme Home Makeover’ only with understated storylines, hilarious humor, and really likeable builders.
Maybe too British, but truly wonderful:”Early Doors”, “Ideal” (the only sit com I’ve ever seen about a drug dealer) and “The Royal Family.”
phein
Father Ted — has some of the funniest lines about religion this ex-Catholic has ever heard.
Neverwhere — Watch it all at once, and remember that it was made on a budget of about $0. (It helps to read some of Gaiman’s comments on the production.) Think community theater.
And if you don’t watch it, you’ll always wonder what it was like.
In the same vein, the 80’s version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is also on Netflix. Slightly higher budget, same BBC preference for stage acting.
Another vote for House of Cards, and of course, for Black Adder: Very broad, very funny, early Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry.
Wombat
Coupling
Chef
QI
rec
This is sort of old, but I still have a warm spot in my heart for Chancer – Clive Owen’s breakout role from 1990.
Haven’t seen it in 20 years, so it may be dated, but at the time I thought he was so cool.
Patrick
Dr. Who
Jeckyll
Torchwood (especially Children of Earth)
Life on Mars
Ashes to Ashes
Top Gear
The State Within
Primeval
Cat
If you like procedural crime dramas try to catch “Waking the Dead”.
If you liked Quincy “Silent Witness” is pretty good as well.
The only quibble I have with any of the recommendations so far is about the new “Sherlock”. The second episode fell off a cliff in the last 30 minutes. I was very relieved when the 3rd episode was as good as the first one.
Certified Mutant Enemy
Also, has anyone seen Neverwhere?
Not yet. I read the book (which was based on the series). I’ve acquired the TV series last night and will likely get around to watching it this weekend.
BTW, the book is definitely worth reading.
DaddyJ
@Brachiator: I’ll second that. I respect a lot of what Russell Davies did in the Doctor Who re-boot, but he occasionally exhibited Peter Jackson Disease (throwing plot, character and sense out the window in order to indulge some tacky personal fetish). Moffat has a much firmer grip on narrative and character.
Unfortunately, Moffat’s DW “Season 5” episodes are not only not streaming on Netflix, the discs aren’t yet available. You can download them via iTunes if you have an iOS device.
Chris G.
Seconding Waking the Dead if you like procedurals.
The Invisibles was a fun little caper of a show and had a fantastic opening credits sequence.
People Like Us was a very funny mockumentary series worth watching just for the insanely clever narration.
If you enjoy the Russell T. Davies Doctor Who, check out some of his earlier, less-known work like Casanova (starring David Tennant), The Second Coming (starring Christopher Eccleston), and Bob and Rose, which is just a sweet and lovely little series. All three are peppered with appearances by actors who will turn up through out Davies’ run on Doctor Who.
BenA
I’ll 9th or 10th Top Gear…. Especially the longer episodes…
Where they buy a car site unseen based on a classified ad in South America and then are expected to drive it through the rain forest… or the one where they only have a set amount of money to purchase a motorcycle in Viet Nam and then drive the length of the entire country.
mac
Foyles War
Prime Suspect
Poirot
Mrs. Marple
If you like murder mysteries
scav
Ah, nobody’s mentioned the 2005 version of The Quatermass Experiment, which has Tennant and Gatiss in it for those that want names in their SciFi. Remake of the ’53 TV program, so somewhat dated in parts of dialog but interesting in that (for some) and it was originally transmitted live which (again, for some) adds a whole weird feel of urgency to it. Not for everyone, but I find it very interesting. I think Tennant learned he would be the Doctor while they were working on this, again, a factoid for the rabid Whovians among us. Sherlock is brilliant and has one of the best filmed snits ever filmed.
lawnorder
@BenA:
And the North pole one! <3
Fenster
I also dig The State Within.
Also highly recommend Wallander. You usually can’t go wrong with Kenneth Branagh.
redactor
I will add another endorsement for House of Cards.
Apparently not available for streaming but available on DVD (at least the first three seasons), and technically Channel 4, not BBC, Cold Feet is pretty brilliant. This show gets unfairly lumped in with Friends, which it is nothing like. (Although Helen Baxendale, who played Ross’s British fiancee for a while, is one of the stars.) Also, there was a US remake that was, by all accounts, abysmal. Don’t let these associations discourage you: the British original is witty and smart and all the things you associate with good British TV comedy. I will say that Fay Ripley’s Mancunian accent takes some getting used to.
LanceThruster
@Chat Noir:
Extras is exceptional.
Mike
Feel ridiculous watching a show about 16-year-olds, but Skins is fantastic. Great show.
Also, MI:5, Brit version of 24 without the time gimmick or near the absurd plots.
Lunarmovements
I love British TV in general. I really do. I’m practically glued to BBC America most days. And, as such, I have watched a few episodes of the show Top Gear with interest. But, after I watched the episode where they traveled across the American south (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWHeF0W-l0I), I decided that I will absolutely not watch the show ever again. I have never seen such profoundly irresponsible and disgusting behavior displayed by people who, I presume, think of themselves as civilized. I was even more shocked that the show’s producers saw nothing wrong with the direction this episode took, but, in fact, actively encouraged it.
At the beginning of this segment Jeremy states,
“It says here that we must not be shot or arrested as we drive across the proud state of Alabama. But we will get bonus points if we can get one of the others shot or arrested.”
This didn’t sound like a bad idea to anyone on the show’s staff? Surely, if you believe that engaging in a particular activity might put you in danger of being shot or arrested, then said activity is, by definition, a BAD IDEA? Apparently no one on staff felt that way. And so they proceeded to paint the most provocative crap possible on each others vehicles and brazenly piss (metaphorically) on the people of Alabama with every mile they drove within its borders.
Now, I do not consider myself to be from Alabama, but I did live there for a few months as a young teenager. I found that there were plenty of kind-hearted and decent human beings living there at that time. There were also plenty of assholes. And, in my opinion, the same could be said for any locale anywhere on the face of the earth. I will admit that there is a distinctly more conservative culture, by and large, in the Deep South than there is in other parts of the United States. But the people who hold these values have the right to do so. And people who don’t share those values are free to live elsewhere. And surely as ‘Jeremy and friends’ live in an entirely different country, on a different continent, no one was forcing them to submit to this culture that they found so abhorrent?
But apparently they couldn’t be happy enough that they didn’t have to live in Alabama and quietly be on their way. Instead, they went to a foreign country and visited an area where the mores were – *gasps in shock* – very different from their own. They felt compelled to let the world know how much this displeased them. And while there, they decided the people were so inferior to them that it was necessary and appropriate – nay, even humorous – for them to boldly wander through the countryside insulting the intelligence of everyone they met. Can anything be more arrogant and boorish?
And the people they were insulting were very much aware of it, let me tell you. When they pulled into a gas station, armed with their firm belief in all the negative stereotypes about southern folks that were ever uttered and arriving in their vehicles liberally emblazoned with purposefully inflammatory language, they fully expected to get a rise out of the ‘natives’. One such native demonstrated clearly that she had seen this kind of ‘redneck baiting’ before by approaching them immediately and making this inquiry:
“Are y’all gay, [and] lookin’ to see how long it takes to get beat up in a hick town?”
She knew that she was dealing people who had preconceived notions about how people in this area think and feel and act. She probably assumed that they were from some big city in the north and were in her neighborhood for no other reason than to make fun of all the ‘hicks’ and ‘rednecks’. I don’t blame her for her anger. I don’t blame her for verbally confronting them. Their behavior was a very high-quality imitation of the stereotypical “Ugly American”. And it was every bit as repugnant to the residents of Alabama as it is to people throughout the rest of the world.
I’m still on the fence about the (literal) rock throwing that followed. I normally abhor violence for any purpose other than self defense. And I’m not sure I would have taken it that far. But, in a sense, those people actually were defending themselves. The Top Gear crew actively sought to incite a riot in that area. Literally. Should I have pity on them because they succeeded? I don’t know. Should I avoid watching these self-righteous butt-wipes in the future? Most definitely. Everyone else can judge for themselves whether or not to waste their time on those buffoons.
chaucer
it seems i remember you like architecture. if so, you will like the series grand designs. it’s must-see tv for us.
SciVo
Of course Doctor Who and Torchwood are great, Neverwhere is fine if you focus on the story and completely ignore the production values, yadda yadda, but I have to disagree about Coupling. The laugh track was so ham-handed that I wasn’t even able to get through the first episode, and I really wanted to like it.