Best British Comedy TV Shows to Stream on Netflix UK, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, NOW, BritBox, All4
Looking for a laugh? Here are 50 of the greatest UK comedy shows to stream right now
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This list applies to UK streaming services
If you’ve had a tough day and need a laugh, this list’ll see you right. These are the British big guns. Big comedy guns, firing… laughter-bullets! AK-47s of mirth, spraying chuckles through… look, yes, okay, that’s terrible. A stop to that. Agreed. We’re all just trying to do our best here.
Helping us to keep a grip when the world seems a scary place are these excellent British comedies, all available to stream on the UK’s various platforms. Find a bunch of comforting and familiar favourites and some newer arrivals below.
We’ll keep this list updated as shows enter and exit the streaming catalogues. Parents may also like a look at our best kids’ TV streaming recommendations, while here are our picks of the best British TV dramas to stream in the UK.
After Life
Ricky Gervais comedies seem to fall into one of two camps: toe-curlingly awkward (see The Office, below) or hits-you-right-in-the-feels. After Life falls squarely in the latter: Gervais plays Tony, journalist at his local newspaper, who is struggling to cope with life after the death of his wife, who is played (via video messages) by Kerry Godliman, who was also a key part of Gervais comedy, Derek. Dark comedies don’t come much darker, so if that’s your thing, the good news is there are three series to enjoy.
Where to stream? Netflix
Black Books
Everybody’s met a Bernard Black, Dylan Moran’s misanthropic, alcoholic, shambolic Black Books character. The public-facing-people-hater is now every bit a comedy archetype as Basil Fawlty or Hyacinth Bucket. Moran is joined here by Tamsin Greig and Bill Bailey as Bernard’s friend and assistant Fran and Manny – two weirdos in their own right – in this big, heightened, oddball series. Here’s our pick of the best episodes.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Bottom
Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson’s most celebrated comedy series might be The Young Ones (also available to stream on NOW) but Bottom holds a special place in fans’ hearts. Not that heart has much to do with it. This is more of a ‘hitting people with frying pans’ thing than a ‘hit you in the feels’ thing. It’s Looney Tunes violence perpetrated by sordid overgrown man-children, and it’s brill. Here’s why we love it.
Where to stream? NOW
Brass Eye
Chris Morris and co. followed up brilliantly observed news satire The Day Today with this spoof investigative journalism series, which tackled the issues of the day with characteristic absurdity. Sex, crime, religion, drugs and yes, paedophilia, all went under the spotlight where they were smacked until they bled. Read about the BBC Radio 4 comedy series that preceded it all here.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Chewing Gum
Michaela Coel’s fully conceived, confident and very funny debut series tells the story of Tracey, an inexperienced London girl who would very much like some experience, please, specifically of the carnal variety. Watch Tracey navigate sex, boyfriends and family in this fresh, funny, bold and hugely likeable series.
Where to stream? Channel 4, Netflix, BritBox
Derry Girls
Ending after three near-perfect series, Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls is a lot of people’s favourite sitcom, and rightly so. Set in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s, it’s about a group of schoolfriends making their way against a backdrop of Take That concerts and political violence they’re forced to take in their stride. Nostalgia meets poignancy, with a cast of terrific comedic characters. Here’s our guide to some of the niche Northern Ireland in The Nineties references.
Where to stream? Channel 4, Netflix UK
Detectorists
Mackenzie Crook flinches at the word ‘gentle’ when describing Detectorists (thinking it sounds like a euphemism for unfunny) but that’s the word to describe this beautiful, idiosyncratic show about male friendship and unusual hobbies. It’s about Andy and Lance, who spend their free time sweeping the British countryside for buried treasure, and it’s a low-key delight. Great music too. Here’s more on why we love it.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, UK TV Play
Dinnerladies
The traditional studio sitcom may have been out of favour among comedy types for some time now, but even the biggest single-camera sadcom devotee has to admit the greatness of Victoria Wood’s Dinnerladies. It’s witty and clever, as you’d expect from Wood, with a terrific comedy cast (Anne Reid, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, a young Maxine Peake! We could go on) and a central character in Bren that you can’t help but love.
Where to stream? NOW, BBC iPlayer, BritBox
Drifters
Jessica Knappett, if anybody saw her on Taskmaster (see below), is very funny. Her comedy Drifters, about a trio of friends struggling to pull off their twenties with as much glamour, grace or disposable income as TV shows and magazines had led them to believe, is also very funny. Bonus: it also stars Bob Mortimer. What more could you want?
Where to stream? Channel 4
Extras
Following up The Office, the UK mockumentary that changed TV comedy for good, was a tall order for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but in Extras, they did it with aplomb. Aplomb, and loads of celebrity cameos who arrived courtesy of The Office‘s success. It’s the story of would-be actor Andy, his agent, his best friend, and Barry from EastEnders. At the very least, watch the David Bowie and Patrick Stewart ones.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
Father Ted
A classic that will never leave a generation of comedy fans, who will always recognise the ‘Drink! Feck! Girls!’ birdsong of a fellow devotee. It was Blackadder for the 1990s, basically, but instead of being set in the royal court, it’s set in a remote Irish Catholic parish with a scheming, self-serving one, a dopey one, and a sort of…wolf one. It’s all-out joy.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Fleabag
You probably haven’t heard of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, it’s barely ever talked about and its two series flew almost completely under the radar here and around the world. Do give it some love though, because this anonymous little story of a very sad woman who talks to herself deserves some attention. Flea-bag, rhymes with tea-bag, just to help you remember the name.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
Flowers
Depression, suicide, death… Will Sharpe’s comedy about a group of oddball yet hugely sympathetic characters led by the brilliant Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt, covers unusual ground for a comedy. It’s over-the-top yet poignant, really quite silly yet truthful about life’s absurdities and pain. It’s also (as you might be able to tell from these few lines) hard to describe. Best just to take our word for it.
Where to stream? Netflix UK
GameFace
An excellent example of the performer-created comedy (see also: basically every single comedy show commissioned in the last three years), GameFace is a beauty from Roisin Conaty. She plays Marcella, a budding actor getting over a major break-up, in this funny, inventive series that’s given to flights of Spaced-like cutaway fancy. Top cast, too.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Garth Morenghi’s Darkplace
Film and TV nerds are well-acquainted with the hubris and bitterness of the DVD director’s commentary, which is the starting point for Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade’s beloved cult spoof about a fictional 1980s horror TV show. Compiled as a talking-heads doc featuring footage of the haunted-hospital show itself, it’s a spot-on parody of about eight things at once. Brilliant. Here’s why we love it.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Ghosts
Sitcoms don’t come much more heartwarming than Ghosts. In this excellent ensemble show, Alison and Mike (Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe) play a struggling married couple who discover Alison has inherited an old mansion, which is full of the ghosts of people who have lived there over the ages, including upbeat Scout leader Pat Butcher, delightfully naive Georgian noblewoman Kitty and lovably daft cave man Robin. They couple discover the ghosts when Alison sustains a head injury, allowing her to see and talk to them, and then they all become one happy, silly, brilliant family. There’s four series to enjoy, and a fifth on the way, and the show has been successful enough to inspire a US version which is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
Green Wing
From the producers of sketch comedy Smack the Pony, this one-hour hospital-set comedy had a sketch show eclecticism to it. Weird interludes and tableaux interrupt the narrative, showcasing an odd collection of characters played by a terrific comedy ensemble including Michelle Gomez, Mark Heap and Pippa Haywood. You wouldn’t want them doing your hysterectomy though.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Him & Her
Written by Stefan Golaszewski (also the creator of Mum, see below), this low-key, one-location comedy is the story of slackers Becky and Steve (Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey), whose flat doesn’t so much welcome friends, family and neighbours, as admit them under duress. Kerry Howard as Laura, Becky’s awful sister, is brilliant.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
Inside No. 9
With seven series under its belt and two final ones on the way, there’s no stopping Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s Inside No. 9. It’s an endlessly inventive anthology series that tells a new story in a new location with new characters in perfect half-hour slices. Comedy, horror, drama… it’s done them all. Perfect viewing. The pair’s previous collaboration Psychoville, is also available to stream on Britbox.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, NOW
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge
Preceded by the BBC Radio 4 radio series of the same name (also top – dig that out if you can), this is Alan Partridge pre the Travel Tavern big plate days. It’s a spoof chat show hosted by Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci’s TV presenter character that skewers the light entertainment of the day. See Alan baffled by avant garde guests, feminists and precocious children played by the excellent ensemble cast. Pairs well with 2019’s This Time With Alan Partridge, available on BBC iPlayer.
Where to stream? NOW
Lovesick
Once this one had shaken off the laddish reputation it had been unfairly saddled with as a result of its original title – Scrotal Recall (a solid pun but not the right fit for this wistful rom-com), it blossomed. See Johnny Flynn in an early role as a romantic lead forced to track back through his past sexual encounters when he’s diagnosed with chlamydia. Lovely stuff.
Where to stream? Netflix UK
Man Down
Comedian Greg Davies stars in this chaotic sitcom about Dan, a frankly terrible schoolteacher who is having an infinitely amusing midlife crisis. Davies also wrote the four series of Man Down, alongside his fellow cast members Roisin Conaty and Mike Wozniak, who play Dan’s friends Jo and Brian. It’s full of Davies’ pleasingly scathing takedowns, and gets serious bonus points for featuring the legendary Rik Mayall, who played Dan’s mischievous father in series one before his untimely death in 2014.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Man Like Mobeen
Good news! A fourth series of Guz Khan’s Man Like Mobeen is due to arrive in late 2023, so you’ve got time to catch up on (or re-enjoy) the first three brilliant series of this Birmingham-set comedy about the lovable and laugh-out-loud funny Mobeen (Khan), who is trying to take care of his little sister Aqsa and his two friends Nate and Eight while escaping his former life as a drug dealer.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, Netflix
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
This needs no introduction. It’s all four series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus (plus two of the films). Consider it a comedic education for your kids. Get them to learn Bruce’s Philosopher’s Song by rote and consider that a home-education GCSE module taken care of.
Where to stream? Netflix UK
Moone Boy
Chris O’Dowd’s fond, funny sitcom is charm itself. Set in the late 1980s/early 1990s in the West of Ireland, it’s the story of a boy with an imaginary friend that weaves silly fantasy (Johnny Vegas plays another imaginary friend, wrestler Crunchie Haystacks) with day-to-day family comedy. Nostalgia meets loveliness. Here’s why we love it.
Where to stream? NOW
Motherland
Warning: parents might find some scenes of Motherland a bit close to home, especially if you’re having a stressful day. Anna Maxwell-Martin (Line of Duty) leads the cast in this at times unbearably honest portrayal of the stress of juggling work and bringing up small children, especially if you have a useless partner. Though distinctly middle class, the bonds formed by the friendship group are nonetheless very relateable, with Diane Morgan a particularly hilarious highlight as the zero-f***s-given Liz.
Where to stream? Netflix
Mum
Come for the cast (Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan!) and stay for the urgent poignancy of Mum‘s characters, who can be divided into the likeable (Cathy and Michael), the likeable idiots (Jason, Kelly and Derek), and the horrible-but-stick-with-them-and-they’ll-reveal-hidden-humanity-couched-in-extreme-loneliness-and-pain (Pauline). Another terrific single-location comedy from Him & Her‘s Stefan Golaszewski.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, BritBox
Murder in Successville
The premise doesn’t necessarily sell this one – celebrities improvise their way through a comedy murder investigation – but its blessed daftness combined with Tom Davis’ straight-faced DI Sleet is wonderfully escapist fun, something we could all use from time to time. The US version was fun too, but failed to quite reach the heights of the original.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
My Mad Fat Diary
Rae Earl‘s two-volume teenage memoirs are terrific reads – funny, honest, a little bit heartbreaking, funny again… and with a bit of a time-shift (late 1980s becomes mid-1990s) they were turned into this terrific funny, honest, heart-breaking show. Sharon Rooney plays the lead, a bright, music-loving girl in treatment for mental health issues, with a cast including the young Jodie Comer and more stars of today. Here’s more on why it’s worth your time.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Nathan Barley
Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker imagined a hellscape, and lo, it came to pass. Back in 2005, they dreamt up this satirical comedy about self-facilitating media node Nathan Barley, an online video prankster slavishly following every moronic trend, backed by a whole raft of South East London wankers doing things ironically, yeah? In short, Morris and Brooker are witches who should be burned at the stake. Keep it foolish.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Nighty Night
Julia Davis’ comedy creations are all monstrous, but are any more monstrous than Nighty Nighty‘s Jill? A sociopathic hairdresser from hell who schemes her way into neighbour Cathy’s home to seduce her husband, she’s in a league of her own. With Rebecca Front, Ruth Jones, Kevin Eldon and Mark Gatiss among the cast, it’s a black comedy joy.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
Peep Show
Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong’s Peep Show is a modern classic. Following the low-key lives of flatmates Jez and Mark, its point-of-view camera and inner monologues let us in on what’s happening inside their heads and spoiler: it’s rarely heroic. Robert Webb and David Mitchell are brilliant, and joined by the equally terrific Matt King, Olivia Colman and Isy Suttie.
Where to stream? Channel 4, Netflix UK, BritBox
People Just Do Nothing
One of the best British comedies to surf the mockumentary wave (see also: This Country, below), People Just Do Nothing is about a group of friends running pirate radio station Kurupt FM, out of a flat in Brentford, West London. Meet self-aggrandising MC Grindah and his girl Lady Miche, Beats, Steve and modern-day Del Boy, Chabuddy G. Top performances, top characters and every so often, surprisingly emotional.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, Netflix UK
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf requires no introduction on these pages. It’s a stalwart British sci-fi classic that’s been around since the 1980s, making new episodes as recently as 2020, featuring the original cast of Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn as the hapless survivors/evolved feline beings/robot butlers picked up along the way of a spacecraft disaster.
Where to stream? UKTV Play
Rev.
Tom Hollander and Olivia Colman star in James Wood’s wry comedy about a vicar struggling with his faith in an inner city London parish. It’s a beautiful piece of work, part cringe-comedy, part honest reflection of the eternal questions, with a top supporting cast of clergy and parishioners.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, BritBox
Sex Education
The heartfelt, deeply funny forays into the intimate sexual dilemmas of the students of Moordale Secondary School has earned Sex Education a huge and loyal fanbase, with over 55 million viewers by its third series in 2021, and the hotly anticipated Series 4 on the way. The central cast began as relative unknowns (Gillian Anderson a notable exception) but now its lead actors – including Connor Swindells, Aimee Lou Wood, Emma Mackie, and fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa – are household names and BAFTA winners. Read about how the Sex Education cast is taking over the world.
Where to stream? Netflix
Shameless
The OG Shameless, the British original with the cast of now-bonafide movie stars (James McAvoy, Anne Marie Duff, Maxine Peake…) led by proper Shakespeare actor David Threlfall, is available in its entirety on Channel 4. Revisit the Chatsworth Estate and the Gallagher family in Paul Abbott’s raucous comedy-drama.
Where to stream? Channel 4
Spaced
Jessica Hynes, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s Spaced recently turned 20 (not a typo, you really are that old). It’s two perfect series of pop culture spoofs and weird cutaway scenes, following the lives of 20-something slackers Daisy and Tim and their mad cast of friends and neighbours. It’s the sitcom that launched a thousand ships/other sitcoms that aspire to achieve the same heightened, imaginative energy.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Stath Lets Flats
One of the very best British sitcoms of recent years, Jamie Demetriou‘s series about hapless (is there a word for more-than hapless? Gormless? Witless? Both of those apply) Cypriot lettings agent Stath is a must-watch. It’s cringe-comedy with great performances and a surprisingly sweet centre. Bonus: also stars Jamie Demetriou’s sister Natasia (What We Do in the Shadows) and later down the line, her comedy partner Ellie White.
Where to stream? Channel 4, BritBox
Taskmaster
One of TV’s funniest comedies (more on that here), Taskmaster is the brainchild of co-presenter Alex Horne. Adapted from his Edinburgh stage show, it takes five comedians and sets them a series of mostly pointless, absurd tasks, then plays the results in the studio for evaluation and scoring by the Taskmaster himself (Greg Davies). There have been well over a dozen series and two ‘Champion of Champions’ so far, with Series 15 on the way. Family friendly viewing too, if the odd swear doesn’t bother you.
Where to stream? Channel 4, UKTV Play
The Goes Wrong Show
First it was a hit stage show which spawned several other theatre productions, then it was a Christmas TV special, and now Goes Wrong is a full-on six-part series. The premise: an amateur dramatics group put shows on, but they go wrong. It’s lovely, giggly family viewing suitable for all ages (not a huge amount of that about), totally undemanding but skilled stuff, with a silly Airplane-style sense of humour.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
The IT Crowd
Have you tried turning it off and on again? Reynolm Industries’ IT department is the setting for this adored comedy starring Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Chris O’Dowd. From the co-creator of Black Books and Father Ted, it’s a heightened world peopled by strange caricatures (Noel Fielding plays a vampire, Matt Berry wears electric sex pants), and another modern alt-classic.
Where to stream? Channel 4, Netflix UK
The League of Gentlemen
This is where it all started for the creators of Psychoville, Inside No. 9 and Sherlock. Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson populated the town of Royston Vasey with a cast of grotesques in this cult dark comedy, recently revived for a lengthy stage tour. Read more about its peculiar genius here.
Where to stream? BritBox
The Mighty Boosh
First an Edinburgh stage show, then a BBC radio series, then three series of this adored bonkers comedy, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding’s The Mighty Boosh captured the hearts of electroboys and electrogirls everywhere. It’s set in a strange fantasy world of shamen and talking gorillas, and mixes excellent musical numbers in with colourful animation and mad comedy creations. Unbridled invention. Here’s more on that.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
The Office
Slough paper merchant Wernham Hogg is the seat of action for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s mockumentary comedy about working life. David Brent became a comedy archetype the second he arrived on screens, and The Office has the rare boast of having a US remake that’s genuinely great and also available in full to Amazon Prime and Netflix subscribers.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, NOW
The Royle Family
Before watching television about other people watching television was a thing, Craig Cash and the much-missed Caroline Aherne did it with The Royle Family, a low-key Manchester-set comedy series about the Royles, a family whose lives play out around the box. Simply put, it’s a modern classic, with top tier comedy performances from Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston and, well, everybody.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, NOW
The Thick of It
If Nathan Barley foresaw the advent of the hipster, then Armando Iannucci’s political satire The Thick Of It foresaw everything else. Set behind-the-scenes in the inner workings of British government, it predicted countless real-world political fuck-ups as well as actual policy (the bedroom tax, for one). Sharp, tuned-in, brilliantly performed and taking expletives to another level in the balletic swearing of one Malcolm Tucker, watch it, rewatch it, and then watch excellent US spin-off Veep on NOW TV.
Where to stream? BritBox
The Trip
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing not-really-them versions of themselves pottering around Europe eating at fine-dining restaurants while doing impressions for each other and eyeing up the waitresses may sound teeth-itchingly smug, but it isn’t. It’s great, funny, sometimes poignant and almost always beautiful to look at. Think of it as a much-needed continental tour from the comfort of your sofa.
This Country
Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper’s BBC mockumentary is lovely comedy stuff. Its third and final series made a graceful exit on BBC One, and all episodes are available to stream there. It follows Kerry and Kurtan Mucklowe, two cousins played by the real-life brother and sister creators, whose lives in a rural village is being documented by a film team, along with that of Scary Mandy, Kerry’s ‘peeper’ dad, the Vicar and more.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer
W1A
Specificity makes comedy, and you can’t get much more specific than this satirical mockumentary set behind the scenes at the BBC. It’s a follow-up to London Olympics-based series Twenty-Twelve, also narrated by David Tennant, and continuing the travails of Ian Fletcher, Head of Deliverance and colleagues. More jargon, disasters, meetings and joy from John Morton’s comedy brain.
Where to stream? BBC iPlayer