It\u2019s\u2026 Monty Python\u2019s top honour for comic genius<\/p>\n
It gave us the dead parrot sketch, the lumberjack song and the Spanish Inquisition.<\/p>\n
Now Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus has done a silly walk to first place in a poll of the most influential comedy series in British broadcasting history.<\/p>\n
The programme, which ran from 1969 to 1974, blew a big raspberry at modern shows such as The Office and The Vicar Of Dibley in a poll of 4,000 viewers.<\/p>\n
They were asked to choose from a shortlist of 30 sitcom, sketch, panel and satirical shows assembled by a panel of comedy performers and writers such as Barry Cryer.<\/p>\n
Python, written and performed by John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones, was chosen by 26 per cent of those who took part.<\/p>\n
Respondents praised the way in which the show revolutionised television comedy by incorporating strands of animation and doing away with traditional techniques such as punchlines.<\/p>\n
Others said it \u201csingle-handedly created a new language for comedy\u201d and encouraged the first wave of alternative comedians throughout the following decade.<\/p>\n
In second place is the long-running David Jason sitcom Only Fools And Horses, which was praised for creator John Sullivan\u2019s strong writing and its memorable catchphrases such as \u201clovely jubbly\u201d.<\/p>\n
Next, on 6 per cent each, come Blackadder, Little Britain and The Royle Family. Blackadder fans cited its strong characterisation, such as the revolting Baldrick, and its innovative use of different historical periods.<\/p>\n
They also pointed out how the series pushed many of its cast and crew including Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson, Ben Elton,<\/p>\n
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie to greater success.<\/p>\n
Little Britain was praised for its global popularity and strong characters.<\/p>\n
The Royle Family was widely admired for its innovation in creating a half- hour sitcom simply out of a family sitting in their living room and watching television.<\/p>\n
The rest of the top ten was made up of The Morecambe And Wise Show, Spitting Image, The Young Ones, The Office and The Vicar Of Dibley.<\/p>\n
Shows which narrowly missed out on a top ten place in the poll commissioned by UKTV Gold included Hancock\u2019s Half Hour, The Day Today, Brass Eye, Not The Nine O\u2019Clock News and Have I Got News For You?<\/p>\n
James Newton, channel head of UKTV Gold, said: \u201cThe list clearly shows the massive breadth and depth of British comedy and is a celebration of the abundance of UK talent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s\u2026 Monty Python\u2019s top honour for comic genius It gave us the dead parrot sketch, the lumberjack song and the Spanish Inquisition. Now Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus has done a silly walk to first place in a poll of the most influential comedy series in British broadcasting history. The programme, which ran from 1969 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p54TBn-8n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=958","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":0},"title":"Rowan takes the comedy proud crown","author":"admin","date":"11 December 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A new survey by British broadband supplier Plusnet has revealed that 44% of us Brits are most proud of Mr. Blackadder himself Rowan Atkinson (when polled against other great British comedic greats). When asked to name the comedian they were most proud of, Rowan came out tops, followed by Python\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":482,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=482","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":1},"title":"Blackadder named best TV finale","author":"admin","date":"11 June 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"On the back of Sky One\u2019s recent no. 9 placing of Blackadder Goes Forth in the best TV endings ever list, I\u2019d like to remind everyone that Blackadder is already the best TV finale and so Sky\u2019s doesn\u2019t count :p Souce: BBC.co.uk (from 2004) The poignant finale of sitcom Blackadder\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Series"","block_context":{"text":"Series","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":460,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=460","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":2},"title":"Rowan to perform at Charles\u2019 60th birthday bash","author":"admin","date":"6 October 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is potentially a very exciting story as Rowan performed the King\u2019s Birthday sketch as Charles\u2019 50th birthday televisual spectacular some ten years ago. So here\u2019s hoping that Rowan brings Eddie out of retirement one more time. UPDATE: No, he didn't bring out Edie one more time. Source: Telegraph.co.uk Comedy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1549,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=1549","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":3},"title":"Richard Curtis teases \u201cgorgeous\u201d Reunion","author":"admin","date":"26 June 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Blackadder co-creator and bloody good egg Richard Curtis is currently doing the press tour for his latest movie Yesterday (which he wrote) - it's about a guy from East Enders who sings songs by The Beatles (I know, I'm really selling it). I haven't seen it yet, but I've been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=415","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":4},"title":"Blackadder Goes Forth to the West End","author":"admin","date":"28 December 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"A week in the life of Rowan Atkinson. On Christmas Day, he and his wife Sunetra slipped quietly into a school in Kennington, south London, to bring some cheer to 2,000 troubled children brought together by the charity Kids Company. The comedian\u2019s eyes welled up with tears, said one witness.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":837,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=837","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":5},"title":"Blackadder voted best British TV show EVER!","author":"admin","date":"6 June 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While this is something I have always known, it seems others also share this belief as Blackadder has been voted the best British TV show ever in a recent poll ahead of such classics as Sherlock, Dr. Who and Father Ted. Two more comedies \u2013\u00a0 Fawlty Towers and Father Ted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Series"","block_context":{"text":"Series","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}