5 Britcoms I want on Region 1 DVD!

Some of the best stuff I’ve seen come out of the UK has been in a small, grainy box on Youtube and that needs to change in a hurry.  Come on BBC video, get cracking and get these shows ready for me to purchase!

The Mighty Boosh is a splendidly surreal trip into the universe of Vince Noir and Howard T.J. Moon (Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt).  Each episode finds the duo faced with a bizarre foe (often played by Fielding or Barratt) who often wants, or steals, something ridiculous from them.  Loaded with big laughs from the stars along with Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and a guy in an ape suit, the Boosh is a must have for my DVD collection.  Favorite characters include the Hitcher, the Crack Fox, Saboo, local crocodile Eric Phillips, and, of course, Old Gregg.  Look into this one if you love bizzarre comedy.

Peep Show series one is available but there are four more series out on DVD in the UK.  What happened?  Get those discs out.  A look inside the twisted minds’ of best friends, Mark and Jez (David Mitchell and Robert Webb), Peep Show pushes the boundary of good taste with each episode and I love it.  How can such horrible characters keep me wanting to see more of their story?  The best sopporting character has got to be Super Hans.

A similar case is I’m Alan Partridge starring the brilliant Steve Coogan.  Alan’s mock talk show Knowing Me, Knowing You and series one of I’m Alan Partridge are available but where is my series two?  Long before Ricky Gervais made you cringe uncomfortably, Alan was getting himself into some pretty awkward situations.  The biggest blowhard since Ted Baxter, Partridge is a great program that I want to see properly and in its entirety, please.  Fantastic stuff.

From Father Ted creator Graham Linehan comes the hilarious I.T. Crowd.  Moss and Roy are socially inept computer geeks who work in the basement of Reynholm Industries; their new boss, Jen, knows absolutely nothing about computers.  The set-ups in this sitcom are fantastic.  Roy trapped under a desk or Moss attempting to extinguish a fire don’t sound particualarly funny, but they are.  Snappy writing and great performances (especially Richard Ayoade as Moss) highlight the 12 episodes produced thus far.

Another sitcom featuring, and directed by, the aforementioned Richard Ayoade is Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.  The show is a bit high concept, which may explain why it lasted only one series, but it is ace.  Back in the 80s, schlock horror writer Garth Marenghi (the brilliant Matthew Holness) created a TV show which never saw the light of day, except for a brief run in Peru.  In the new millenium, however, the network asked him to release six episodes of the program spliced together with interviews of the cast.  A hilarious send up of cheap 80s sci-fi/horror, Darkplace needs to be on a shelf in my living room.

If you can find any of these shows anywhere on the world wide internet, watch them immediately.  Otherwise, wait and see if they arrive on this side of the pond for purchase as proper DVDs.  You will not be disappointed.

Honorable mention:  Nathan Barley and The Inbetweeners.  The first is a cult hit and the second is quite recent.