British TV Show Reviews "B"

Babes In the Wood (1/99)
The "babes" here are Samantha Janus (Game On) and presenter Denise Van Outen who live in St. John's Wood, London in a flat next to randy bachelor Karl Howman (Mulberry). Most of the appeal of this ITV comedy is its obvious sex appeal, though the girls (and guys) are all stereotypes of one sort or another. Harmless but forgettable.

Back to School, Mr Bean (3/95)
Chris Ryan also appears when Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) takes in an open day at an adult education center and as usual causes near-disaster with comic results wherever he goes. But the ultimate indignity is suffered by his poor yellow car in the end.

Bad Boys (11/96)
BBC Scottish comedy/drama by the writer of Rab C. Nesbitt. Two ex-cons, one a Glasgow nightclub owner, the other a Cockney helping him out, get into misadventures each week, usually pitted against their bitter rival, yet another ex-con. These macho idiots try to outwit each other but the police aren't much better, plodding along ineptly. There are some great one-liners, as well as comedic set pieces.

Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned (11/01)
Two comics (David Baddiel - once half of the Newman and Baddiel team - and Frank Skinner) sit on a couch in front of audience without a script or anything prepared and just field questions and try to be funny.  They seem to know it's a risk (the theme song during the credits is "It'll never work")  but manage to pull it off (a "secretary" is recruited from each audience to keep track of the subjects on a board so they never repeat a topic). These guys are overpaid and know the show is a bit of a wheeze, but so should anyone tuning in.

Badger (1/00)
BBC drama series created by Kieran Prendiville (Ballykissangel) about a police officer (Jerome Flynn, Robson Green's old partner) who is often assigned animal-related cases in the country. A low-key family-oriented drama, no real surprises but competently made.

Bad Girls (1/00)
ITV drama series set in a women's prison featuring...well, the title pretty much says it all. Although the biggest villain is the male head guard who manipulates everyone for his own devices, lying through his teeth, and even covering up a suicide. Surprisingly, the emphasis is on the characters with an absence of any shower scenes.

The Baldy Man (9/95)
Scottish actor Gregor Fisher stars in this Mr. Bean-like series about a balding loser who gets into trouble. Like "Bean," this show isn't big on intelligible dialog, relying instead on physical humor to get the laughs. Either this sort of material works for you or it doesn't.

Ballbreakers On The Box (1/02)
Channel 4 documentary that looks at the images of strong women both on TV and in the movies.  Beginning with the image of the matron nurse from the "Carry On" films, to the women in Dynasty, this fascinating look at how a male-dominated medium often categorizes or makes cliches out of woman who are neither the love interest or maternal is quite enlightening.

Ballykissangel (11/96)
The BBC's answer to Northern Exposure comes in the form of this comedy/drama series set in a tiny Irish village whose new Catholic priest is a young, naive Englishman. "Where am I, the Twilight Zone?" he asks soon after he arrives, particularly when the rich businessman who runs the town arranges to have a high-tech confessional installed in the Church - complete with working FAX machine. Of note is the presence of Dervla Kirwan, essentially playing the same part she does in Goodnight Sweetheart - the owner of pub - only here she gets to wear contemporary clothes. This was a big hit in England and it's easy to see why, full of humor, interesting characters, and a generous dose of sentimentality.

(7/98)
The third season finds changes afoot with the imminent departure of the two principle actors (Dervla Kirwan and Stephen Tompkinson, now lovers in real life). It was probably for the best as things were coming to a head between Catholic priest Father Clifford (Tompkinson) and the beautiful pubtender Assumpta Fitzgerald (Kirwan), and any real relationship between the two would have set off howls of protests. But that just means the rest of the cast get to take up the slack, though throw in a moose and some snow and you'd swear you were in Alaska watching Northern Exposure.

Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer (9/99)
Comedy double act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer (Shooting Stars) essentially revive their sketch comedy show last seen as The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer. An awful lot of their humor consists of them hitting each other on the head with an assortment of rubberized weapons, but once in a while they hit the mark exactly with a sketch or far-out characterization, and there's no denying the huge amount of energy they bring to the screen together. Their family-oriented game show Families At War over on BBC-1 will bring them even larger audiences, as will their remake of Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased currently being filmed. Read my feature about Reeves and Mortimer.

The Bare Necessities (9/96)
ITV pilot for a series about male strippers. When the local mine closes, five men turn to stripping to earn a living. You have to wonder how far television has to go until one day we have a show simply titled: "Let's watch naked people."

Barking (11/98)
Late-night comedy sketch show is a very much hit-or-miss affair, with a chorus of writers and presenters doing a mixed bag of material.

BBC Promos (5/94)
The BBC is currently running (to death) a new short promo featuring Julie Walters wandering all over the BBC looking for the complaints department. It has cameos from just about every BBC star (including a bemused looking Ian Richardson in full Francis Urquhart mode). Very clever and not a little bit self-congratulating.

Beachy Head (9/95)
Short film about an attempted suicide and the young man who tries to stop him from leaping off a cliff. Rather funny in a way, and not without a few twists. It's amazing what you learn about the characters in just 10 minutes.

Beast (1/01)
BBC sitcom written by Simon Nye, and very reminiscent of his other office comedy, Is It Legal? (which struggled for three years - and two networks - before finally being taken off), starring Alexander Armstrong (half of the Armstrong and Miller double act) as a veterinarian who doesn't really like animals (or people, except young women). Doon MacKichan (Smack The Pony) plays his matter-of-fact office manager, and there is the usual assortment of office loonies and characters. There's been two seasons so far, no doubt the BBC is hoping for another success like Nye's Men Behaving Badly but this show has a long way to go before reaching the comic heights of that classic series.

Bedtime (3/02)
Six half hours in the lives of three neighboring couples as they prepare for bed each night.  Among the stories are Stephen Tompkinson (Ballykissangel) as a new dad whose wife suspects he is having an affair, and Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) as a tabloid reporter who wants a naive New Zealander to squeal on her lover, a famous TV chef.  But things, and people, are not as they seem as each half hour unfolds.

(7/04)
Andy Hamilton's low-keyed serial drama set in successive evenings in adjacent houses returns as a three part Christmas special that includes an older couple (Sheila Hancock and Timothy West) visiting their new grandchild for the first time, and a Muslim shopkeeper (The Kumar's at No. 42's Vincent Ebrahim) who survives a violent encounter that might be connected with his uptight businessman neighbor (Neil Stuke).

The Beggar Bride (11/97)
Two-part BBC drama about a working class mother who decides the only way out of poverty is to impersonate an upper class woman, marry a widowed Lord and take him for all he's got. Her plan works but her real husband increasingly becomes uncomfortable with the arrangement, particularly when she has to pass off their new son as belonging to the Lord. Further complications from the Lord's family lead to kidnapping, blackmail and a mystery involving the Lord's previous wife.

The Beiderbecke Affair (5/93)
Along with The Beiderbecke Tapes, these two comedy/mysteries by Alan Plater from 1980s were repeated in 1993. The first is a six-part story about a jazz-loving school teacher (James Bolam) and his girlfriend (Barbara Flynn - "Dr. Rose" from A Very Peculiar Practice) who get involved in a bizarre conspiracy when he tries to buy some Bix Beiderbecke records from a door-to-door saleslady. This show SCREAMS that uniquely British style of wit and pacing, with clever and odd characterizations from everyone. Great fun. Followed by its sequel set two years later, this time two 90-minute episodes. A third story was made as well.

Being April (9/03)
Pauline Quirk stars as the free spirit mother of at least three children all with different fathers (including a gay one) where together they are all one big happy family (sort of) in this BBC comedy/drama series.  Of course this is completely unacceptable to the conservative parents of her son's girlfriend, but April's "All you need is love" philosophy keeps her going (although oddly, her day job is as a receptionist for a large corporation -- she's no hippie).  I suppose the message is that it takes all kind in this world and tolerance is a great thing but I can't see this becoming a big fav among "family values" right wing Republicans.

Belfry Witches (7/00)
BBC children's series about two apprentice witches who get thrown off Witch Island and take up residence in a small English village's church, much to the chagrin of the young vicar.  The young witches are completely irresponsible, which makes for a refreshing program in which kids are allowed to get away with things, more or less without consequences.  Not bad flying effects, but the whole thing (not too surprisingly, considering the target audience) is a bit juvenile.

Believe Nothing (1/04)
The New Statesman team of writers Marks and Gran collaborate again with Rik Mayall in this ITV sitcom.  Mayall plays "quadruple professor" Adonis Cnut (can't wait to see what my spell check does with that one!), apparently the smartest man in Britain, but still can't get in the trousers of neurotic colleague Hannah Awkward.  Cnut is also part of the secret cabal that actually runs the world, and this allows the series to tie together such diverse elements such as global warming, Watergate, and digital watches with hilarious precision.  Cnut is also advisor to Tony Blair and George W. Bush (though he merely tries to trick the later into invading Cuba), and rival to a Richard Branson-like billionaire.  Unlike most other British sitcom heroes, Cnut isn't a loser, and with the exception of conquering Prof. Awkward, pretty much succeeds with every plan he puts into action.

Bella and the Boys (3/05)
Future Doctor Who companion Billie Piper stars in this BBC TV movie about a reunion at a foster home by the now-adult children who grew up there.  And it wouldn't be dramatic if there weren't secrets to be revealed and other shoes to be dropped where love is concerned, would it?

Belonging (2/06)
Kevin Whately and Brenda Blethyn star in this TV movie by Alan Plater about a couple taking care of elderly parents whose relationship implodes suddenly one day.  He's been having an affair and just leaves Blethyn one day to be with her, sticking her with all the caregiving duties.  However, the grass may not always be greener as kids and other responsibilities are not far behind either.  Meanwhile Blethyn copes as best she can (one of Britain's great sufferers), trying to put her life together again.

The Ben Elton Show (9/98)
Writer (Black Adder) and performer Elton goes back to stand-up with a half hour series of his monologues in front of an audience about whatever is bothering him. What is unique about this series is the weekly appearance of Ronnie Corbett (The Two Ronnies) who does a two minute piece from an easy chair as if this were some Christmas special from the 1970s. The contrast between their two styles and approaches to comedy says volumes, but Elton continues to bring him on every week as a revered comic veteran. And you either like Elton's stand-up bits or you don't. Always amusing are the parodies of the BBC's new hot air balloon logo that lead into each show, and the way he turns "BBC ONE" to read "BEN ELTON".

Best of Both Worlds (1/02)
Three part BBC drama series about an airline stewardess who has a restauranteur husband in London, and somehow manages to acquire a second husband, a businessman in Italy.  Her schedule allows her to spend part of each week with the two men in her life who are blissfully unaware of the other's existence.  But she has no exit strategy, and the businessman begins to get suspicious.  What surprised me the most was the ambiguous ending, wherein our heroine doesn't take the fall we are all expecting, although she forfeits a certain amount of control in her life.

The Best Show In The World...Probably (3/98)
Game show hosted by Tony Hawks (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) based on advertising with many classic examples presented which must be cogitated by the celebrity guests, including team captain Alan Davies (Jonathan Creek). The clips are fun to watch though the series is no Have I Got News For You. At least not yet.

Beyond Fear (7/97)
Channel 5 debuted in England with this true-story about a woman who is abducted, held prisoner, and raped, and the subsequent events after she is released. Hounded by both the media and the police, she slowly attempts to put her life back together as she recalls the events. Sylvester McCoy plays her assailant, who is never clearly seen until in the dock, charged with another murder. Imagine that! Kindly old Doctor Who as a serial killer! What a world.

Beyond Narnia (4/07)
Anton Rodgers (May to December) stars as C.S. Lewis in this dramatic movie about how his despair in later life was eventually broken when he fell in love with American writer Joy Gresham and agreed to raise her two boys. 

Big Bad World (1/00)
ITV drama series starring Ardal O'Hanlon (Father Ted) as a single writer who hangs around with a married couple who try to either get him matched up with someone or at least quit hanging around all the time. The contrast between single and married life is tightly drawn, and while the series in no great shakes (and a bit of a knock-off of Cold Feet), it goes down harmlessly enough.

Big Cat (1/99)
BBC TV Movie about a shy woman who thinks she has met the man of her dreams, but flashbacks reveal he is greatly disturbed and she is slow to realize what a nutter he is until after they are married.

The Big One (9/93)
Sandi Toksvig (the short blonde one on Whose Line Is It Anyway?) and Micheal [sic] McShane (the large American guy) team up for this "Odd Couple"-like comedy. Not a great series but I like it in parts.

Big Train (5/99)
Writers Graham Lineham and Arthur Mathews (Father Ted) make the jump to BBC-2 with this fast-paced sketch comedy series with regulars including Kevin Eldon (Fist of Fun) and Simon Pegg (Faith In The Future). Not every sketch they do is a winner (but neither did Monty Python), but their batting average is over .500 and the more bizarre sketches (such a look at the home life of Ming The Merciless, which is utterly middle class and banal) usually score. The only running joke in every episode is an animated staring contest that is narrated as if it were the most important sporting event in the world.

Big Women (11/98)
The history of the women's liberation movement in Britain, as chronicled by Fay Weldon (based on her novel "Big Girls Don't Cry") in this Channel 4 mini-series. Beginning in 1970, we meet the feminists who begin Medusa Press to advance the cause of the women's movement, much to the dismay of most of the men around them (and society in general). Each episode advances the story through the 80s and 90s, with one of the original character's daughters reaping the rewards of the previous generation's work. Directed by former Dennis Potter collaborator Renny Rye, with a great eye to the period details, and fine performances from the cast.

Bill Bryson's Notes From A Small Island (9/99)
Bryson, an American who lived for many years in England, wrote a book about his perspective on British life, and now turns it into a roving commentary as he travels across the country in this ITV series. Obviously I agree nearly 100% with all his observations, although he dwells more on the architecture than I would.

Bill’s New Frock (7/99)
Andrew Davies (Game On, To Play The King) wrote this children’s special about a young teen who wakes up one day in a world where everyone thinks he’s a girl. Why does this remind me of a John Hughes story that appeared in “National Lampoon” in the late 70s called “My Vagina”? Needless to say, this new version isn’t quite as rude, but a clever turning-the-tables fantasy.

Births, Marriages & Deaths (9/99)
Writer Tony Grounds treads a much darker path in this BBC mini-series about three childhood friends, now adults and married, whose secrets and lies are about to unravel their entire lives. Ray Winstone has the part Warren Clarke usually plays in Grounds' series (Gone To The Dogs), as the blow-hard who is a self-made man, although his private life is a mess.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie (3/89)
In the long-established tradition pioneered by The Two Ronnies, Alas Smith & Jones, French and Saunders, etc., the two Black Adder alumni do their sketches with plenty of gusto. Starring Stephen "Lord Melchett" Fry and Hugh "Prince George" Laurie. They hold their own here, and prove their worth as more than supporting characters. Read my feature about Hugh Laurie.

The Biz (3/95)
Short subject combining animation and live action about a pretentious filmmaker attending a party of movie industry types after the screening of his movie.

Blackadder: Back and Forth (11/00)
This 45-minute special was made for the Millennium Dome in London and recently shown on Sky TV. Set in contemporary times, Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson, of course) persuades his dinner companions (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Miranda Richardson) that he has built a time machine and he and Baldrick will go back and retrieve various historic items they specify. It's all a Blackadderian scam of course though the irony is Baldrick's machine actually works and whisks them to various epochs. They encounter Wellington, Elizabeth the First, and Robin Hood (Rik Mayall) before returning to the present where certain changes have occurred... A fitting send-off for the series, written as usual by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, with some great production values.

Black Adder's Christmas Carol (3/89)
This 45-minute Christmas treat sets the tale in a Dickens-Victorian era but flashes back to Adders II & III. A must for fans.

Black Books (11/01)
Father Ted co-writer Graham Lineham teams up with Dylan Moran (How Do You Want Me?) for this Channel 4 sitcom about the world's worst bookseller (Moran) and his crazy world.  Bill Bailey is also on hand as a burned-out accountant who helps around the shop, while Moran perfects his Irish don't-give-a-damn loser persona.  Not quite up to the standards set by Ted but amusing enough in its own right.

Black Cab (9/03)
Ten minute shorts featuring fictional cab drivers and usually a very interesting customer and the impact their brief ride has on both of them.  Probably not even as strange as some of the things that really do go on.

Black Easter (11/95)
BBC TV Movie that is a twist on all those Cold War escaping-the-iron-curtain movies. Set in the early 21st Century, the European Union has closed its borders against illegal Russian immigration. A policeman (Trevor Eve) working in Germany investigates a murder and discovers a deadly underground railroad operating from the East. The border is now monitored by high-tech devices that scan all vehicles, but nonetheless Eve inadvertently smuggles a woman into the West who has some of the clues he needs. His attempt to get her back across the border undetected and subsequent journey back home with refugees along the smuggler's route are filled with suspense. Ultimately, a ghastly conspiracy is uncovered, with parallels to today's situation regarding Eastern Europe. Filmed on location in the Czech Republic with a literal cast of thousands.

Blackpool (2/06)
BBC mini-series very reminiscent of Dennis Potter's dramas with the characters breaking into popular songs and performing musical numbers.  It all centers around an greedy arcade owner whose plans to develop a casino are endangered when a dead body turns up in his business.  Investigating the crime is David Tennant (Doctor Who) as one of the strangest detective inspectors ever, who falls in love with the owner's wife even as he tries to nail him with the crime.  It's a high-wire act all the way, but there is enough panache here to make it work, and Tennant demonstrates his ability to be a leading man.

The Blind Date (3/01)
Ben Miller (Armstrong and Miller) has a serious role in this ITV drama about an undercover policewoman whose latest "sting" beats the murder rap while maintaining his innocence.  He commits suicide and everyone thinks that's the end of it, but when a stranger attacks her she begins to suspect the freelance crime photographer (Miller) might be involved.

Blind Men (1/98)
ITV Comedy series about rival window blind salesmen (who also live on the same street) features Jesse Birdsall (Bugs). Both men go to extreme lengths to show up the other, much to the annoyance (and expense) of their significant others. (There exists a pilot for an American remake starring Wallace Shawn which by all accounts was quite amusing.)

Bliss (11/95)
BBC TV movie about a geeky thirtysomething who doesn't know how to behave around women. Leslie Bliss dreams of winning Mastermind (Britain's answer to Jeopardy) but insists on dating women that are way out of his league. A few, including a sophisticated writer who deigns to give him mercy dates, only encourage him further to make a wally out of himself. It's a bit hard to spend 90 minutes watching a sad git on television who refuses to buy a clue when you can see it happening all around you in real life anywhere fans gather (no offense to fans, but we all know someone like that, right?).

Bliss (3/96)
No relation to the above movie with the same title. This "Bliss" stars Simon Shephard as Dr. Sam Bliss who discovers a medical conspiracy concerning possible research into a longevity drug. It's my understanding that the Bliss character will be back in other medically-based thrillers in the future.

The Blonde Bombshell (1/00)
ITV biopic about the life of Diana Dors, the British Marilyn Monroe, based on her memoirs. Pretty much all the standard scenes are here for this kind of movie, including all the bad relationships, career ups and downs, and lots of clothes and locations. Two actresses play Dors, Keeley Hawes starting as a teenager in 1947 to 1960, and then Amanda Redman for 1965 until her death from cancer in 1984. In some ways, this movie seems a throwback to the kind of era lovingly recreated in the movie, a bit anachronistic and viewed through rose-colored glasses, but they don't really make `em like this any more either.

Blue Peter Night (3/99)
Blue Peter is a live children’s magazine series that has gone out afternoons on the BBC for 40 years. Nearly every child in Britain has grown up on the series, and its presenters (and the ubiquitous Blue Peter dog) have achieved iconic status for each generation. In this special night devoted to the series, a number of documentaries and compilations were presented, including all the spoofs that have occurred over the years, and a complete (and unvarnished) history of the series. Despite one of its young presenters recently having been sacked for using cocaine, the series is going strong into the next century.

Bob and Margaret (5/99)
Animated comedy series (co-produced by Comedy Central in the U.S.) about a quintessentially Middle England professional couple. Their problems are as mundane as trying to have a romantic evening in, or a rival dentist opening up shop across the street from Bob's practice. No great shakes, although there are some good jokes about their dogs.

Bob & Rose (3/02)
Russell T. Davies (Queer As Folk) wrote this ITV series with (no relation) Alan Davies (Jonathan Creek) as Bob, a gay schoolteacher who is strangely drawn to Leslie Sharp (Playing The Field) as Rose, much to the consternation of his co-worker Jessica Stevenson (Spaced).  If it were anybody else writing this I think it would have been a bit unbelievable premise (Bob and Rose even get it on in the second episode) but clearly he must know what he is doing in this unusual relationship drama.

Bob Martin (1/02)
Michael Barrymore stars in ITV's answer to The Larry Sanders Show about the showbiz behind-the-scenes of a prima dona quiz show host (Barrymore) and his enabling staff (including Keith Allen and Denis Lawson).  Real celebrities are recruited each episode to help sell the verisimilitude and although the series gets no points for originality, the humor and pathos (particularly the latter) are genuine.

Bodily Harm (1/04)
Tony Grounds (Gone To Seed) wrote this Channel 4 mini-series about a dislocated son (Timothy Spall, a role he has perfected) who interferes with his parents plans for dual suicide and has to live with the consequences.  Relentless without relief drama.

Bomber (1/01)
ITV mini-series that is certainly different that it begins with flashbacks showing the training of a young bomb disposal expert just before going to defuse a device, then blows him to smithereens just 15 minutes after we've gotten to know him and his friends. The rest of the drama focuses on the survivors coming to grips with his death and the pursuit of the usual mad bomber.

Bonjour La Classe (3/93)
Nigel Planer (The Young Ones) is a dim French teacher at a goofy private school, the kind one only finds on a BBC sitcom. Harmless but not earthbreaking stuff.

The Book Group (3/03)
A very diverse collection of individuals in Glasgow get together each week, ostensibly to discuss a novel, but instead we learn a lot more about them in this interesting Channel 4 series.  In the opener, we meet Claire, an American who is so lonely and desperate for a shag she starts the book group, then manages to alienate nearly everyone with her brusque American manner and cluelessness about British etiquette.  The others include a paraplegic, an intellectual druggie, and three foreign soccer wives.  Everyone is messed up in one degree or another, and not surprisingly, they hardly find the time to actually discuss whatever book is on that week.  Ben Miller (Armstrong and Miller) pops up halfway through the series as a very insecure British writer of American action thrillers who desperately needs their validation of his work.

Boom Boom! (11/95)
A short about the Nightclub From Hell. Any movie that begins with a loaded gun foreshadows violence, and that's just what happens when an audience gets out of control during a revue. The only question is who is going to get shot.

The Booze Cruise (5/04)
Martin Clunes and Neil Pearson star in this ITV comedy movie about a group of neighbors who head to France to pick up cheap booze.  Things go wrong of course and all the character's lives are going to change forever due to events that transpire both on the road and back home where Clune's daughter is due to be married.

Born & Bred (9/03)
Period 1950s BBC family drama about a rural doctor (James Bolam) who lures his wayward son (former EastEnder Michael French) away from the city to practice medicine with him.  Full of wholesome goodness, which might be the point, but for all its earnestness, also completely lacking in subtlety or humor.

Born Equal (4/08)
Colin Firth stars as a banker who one day sees a homeless man and tries to do the right thing, only to have it ultimately blow up in his face in this grim BBC TV movie. Robert Carlyle also stars as a  homeless advocate recently released from prison.

Born To Be Wild (1/99)
John Cleese does the BBC Nature documentary but in his own inimitable style. No David Attenborough, Cleese constantly complains about the conditions and how out of shape he is as he treks deep into Madagascar in search of lemurs that have been reintroduced into the wild. But he is sincere in his interest in the lemurs even as he curses into the jungle, "You bastards!" after a particularly frustrating no-show by them for the cameras. Co-produced by WNET, this should turn up on PBS eventually, and is well worth catching.

Born To Run (9/97)
Used car salesman Byron has a problem with women: his lover Judith wants him to leave his dull wife Bron, his mother Lily (Billie Whitelaw) becomes a sexual dynamo after his father goes into a coma, and his two sisters are the worst sort of harpies. This BBC drama series has marathon running as a subtext, with Judith unwittingly training both Lily and Bron to race, while worrying herself when she discovers she's pregnant with Byron's baby. Whitelaw steals the show as a New Age Free Love woman who takes up with one of Byron's mechanics half her age, and won't let her scheming family get the best of her.

Bo' Selecta! (1/04)
Very odd channel 4 comedy starring Avid Merrion as a series of famous characters mostly achieved through very over-the-top makeup appliances.  Sort of the flip side of Dead Ringers with Avid merely satirizing celebrities without really trying to look or even sound like them.

Bosom Pals (11/04)
Stylized animated series about bawdy women who hang around in a bar trash talking men, other women, or themselves.  Dawn French does one of the voices, and the whole thing is very earthy.

The Boss
US title for Jim Broadbent's 1995 series The Peter Principle.

Bostock's Cup (1/00)
An interesting conceit for a "mockumentary" with a movie within a movie here. Nick Hancock (host of the sports quiz They Think It's All Over) plays a newscaster often passed over for promotion who organizes a reunion of participants in a cinema verite documentary made 25 years about a soccer team. We get to see the documentary, with washed out 70s colors, and horrific hairstyles on everyone including the Des Lynam-like presenter Neil Pearson, and manager Tim Healy. But in the present day, Hancock has a surprise for everyone with recently discovered outtakes that cast a whole new light on the "miracle season" in the movie.

Bottom (7/95)
Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson star in this sitcom where no joke is too low. In a way, this could be seen as The Young Ones ten years later, although the level of physical humor has been greatly accelerated. It's almost a live-action cartoon with the amount of destruction each of them endure (and cause) each week. Definitely not high-brow material. After touring with these characters for years, they produced a theatrical movie, "Guest House Paradiso."

The Brain Drain (7/93)
From the same producers as Have I Got News For You, host Jimmy Mulville (Chelmsford 123) does his best Angus Deayton impression in order to have his celebrity panel make fun of current affairs. A nice attempt to catch lightning in a bottle twice but it didn't catch on.

Brass Eye (7/97)
Controversial Channel 4 series that was originally held back for transmission. Written and presented by Christopher Morris (The Day Today), this send-up of TV news magazines very often used unwitting celebrities as part of its fake coverage. At one point (which is what got the series in hot water), members of Parliament were convinced there was a dangerous new drug sweeping the streets of London called "cake," which led to calls to "ban cake." Other TV celebrities are duped into endorsing all sorts of improbable causes, while Morris (in many guises) reports on the "issue" using state-of-the-art (and over-the-top) computer graphics as much as possible. If you're in on the joke, Brass Eye is a brilliant satire, but not everyone was amused.

Brazen Hussies (3/97)
Part of the BBC's "Wicked Women" season, Julie Walters and Robert Lindsay (GBH) star in this TV movie about the wife of a publican who decides to get even for his "stripper nights" by doing a show for the ladies featuring young male strippers. Lindsay ends up helping her out, although his own infidelities come home to haunt him. The women get their own back in the end of course (hence the season) but not before a LOT of male flesh is exposed first.

Breed of Heroes (1/95)
BBC TV movie about the British army's initial occupation of Belfast in the early 70s. Perhaps no organization in the world has more rigid customs than the British army (see Monty Python's Meaning of Life for more examples). But they are way out of their depth facing a guerrilla war in a major British city sometimes against women and children. Some of the officers crack, others learn to kill without remorse. A sobering piece, without many answers.

Bremner, Bird & Fortune (7/00)
Essentially a retitling of Channel 4's Rory Bremner - Who Else? giving credit to two of his co-stars, with Bremner continuing his wicked impersonations of the great and powerful, with much political satire provided by everyone.

Brides In the Bath (7/04)
Continuing ITV's tradition of TV movies based on the great British serial killers (including A Is For Acid and Shipman), this time with Martin Kemp (EastEnders) as George Smith,  a serial bigamist and murderer who killed for profit in the years before World War I.  His modus operandi was to kill his newlywed wives in the bathtub, drowning them so it appeared as an accident.  Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter's uncle) is his defense attorney at his trial but Smith's obvious guilt was too difficult to hide and he was executed in 1915.

The Brief (10/05)
Alan Davies stars in this ITV drama about lawyers that owes a lot to "Perry Mason" in uncovering whodunnits.  His character has been saddled with back-stabbing co-workers at his chambers, his adulterous girlfriend married to an MP, and an estranged son living in Australia.

Bright Hair (1/98)
Two-part BBC mystery drama about a malicious schoolgirl who may or may not have committed murder. Is she a cunning seductress or just an innocent victim?

Brilliant! (7/98)
What BBC America has renamed The Fast Show for no particularly good reason.

Britain's Real Monarch (11/04)
Tony Robinson, thanks to Time Team, has become the go-to guy for British historical documentaries, particularly ones that attempt to uncover some heretofore unearthed truth.  In a fascinating two-piece work starting with an episode of Fact or Fiction, he begins by looking at the life of Richard III to determine whether Shakespeare got it right, or whether it was all a big smear campaign by the Tudors after the fact.  In doing so, Robinson comes across nearly conclusive proof that Richard's brother King Edward was in fact illegitimate (their father was in France at the time of conception and Edward, unlike Richard, looked nothing like him).  Thus, Richard's moves to get rid of his nephews after Edward's death (not wanting an illegitimate line assuming the throne when he himself had an authentic claim) seem better motivated.  When the Tudors took over post-Richard III, it was all based on false legitimacy, according to Robinson.  So who is the real king?  In a follow-up program, Britain's Real Monarch,  Robinson does all the genealogical research following Richard's various heirs and descendants throughout history and eventually locates a very middle class republican now living in Australia!  They even visit his home (he says he doesn't need the throne now, thank you very much).  Meanwhile, what of the Windors, the current inhabitants of Buckingham Palace?  Some parallel Earth security footage from a supermarket at the end shows a familiar looking woman with a German accent doing some light shopping for the weekend...

The Brittas Empire (5/94)
The sitcom that Chris ("Rimmer") Barrie does when he isn't working on Red Dwarf. As leisure center manager Gordon Brittas, Barrie plays a character so anal that Craig Charles said of it, "Playing Rimmer is a step up the social ladder." Uncharacteristically, the BBC produced eight episodes for the fourth season, all of them chronicling the misadventures at the craziest leisure center in the world. There is a cliffhanger of sorts in episode seven: in order to protect his wife from shoplifting charges, Gordon finally resigns as manager. But the story isn't over quite yet. This series improves with each year--you keep wondering what can go wrong next, and something always manage to--in spades.

(5/95)
Supposedly the final season of this Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf) sit-com about the World's Worst Manager at a Leisure Center. Plenty of loose ends are tied up (once the building is rebuilt from last season's explosion), plus there is a special Christmas episode to show what happens to all the characters 20 years from now.

(11/96)
It's back for a sixth season, all the more remarkable considering Gordon Brittas was killed at the end of the last season. But with a few months in a Swiss clinic and "bionic" rebuilding he's back, as annoying as ever, watching destruction reign at the Leisure Center he manages.

The Broker's Man (9/97)
Kevin Whately stars in a series of two-part mysteries as an insurance investigator whose home life is a shambles. Though you wouldn't know it by looking at him, Kevin is quite the ladies man, one of the reasons his wife has divorced him - she caught him with his young boss once. But as a detective he always doggedly finds the scam or the goods, much like a latter-day Banacek.

Brotherly Love (7/00)
Gregor Fisher (Rab C Nesbitt) stars in this BBC Scottish comedy pilot about two brothers, one the prodigal son who returns home and suddenly inherits the local pub, much to the chagrin of his doctor sibling.

Brothers In Trouble (9/97)
BBC-2 TV movie about illegal Pakistani immigrants living together in a large house during the 1970s. One of them ends up with a white, pregnant girlfriend who eventually becomes the "mum" to the men keeping the house in order. But the threat of immigration authorities is never far away, nor the cultural differences between the men and the woman.

Bruiser (11/01)
Lively sketch comedy series with recurring gags (such as the nutter who keeps making highly suspicious inquiries at shops) and other bits of non-sequitor silliness.  A pretty good hit-to-miss ratio makes for humorous viewing.

Bugs (9/95)
Glossy high-tech adventure series from the BBC. A contradiction in terms? Maybe. In this Brian Clemens-developed series (he also did The Avengers), three twentysomethings team up together and use their skills to defeat the forces of evil. One is an expert pilot and daredevil, the other an ex-spy, and their boss is a young black woman who is a genius computer hacker. The plotting is almost out of a comic book: the bad guys are all rotten shots and our heroes always have the right gadget at the right time which works flawlessly (unless an extra moment of suspense is required). The BBC must have spent a fortune on this 9-episode series: there are helicopter chase scenes, wild stunts, beautiful cinematography on film, and plenty of explosions. The whole thing reminds me of those escapist ITV adventure shows from the 60s like The Champions and Secret Agent. I suspect like them, the BBC is counting on foreign sales to commercial stations to help break even: each episode of Bugs already contains two fade-outs for commercial breaks.

(11/96)
The BBC's glossy adventure series returns for a second series, this time with a running plotline involving a criminal mastermind working from his prison cell quietly manipulating everything our unsuspecting heroes do. Bwah-ha-HA!

Burnt Bits (5/99)
British TV is overrun with cooking shows (or "cookery programs," as they refer to them), so it's natural that a few things might have gone wrong during the shooting. That's right, this is a blooper program about cooking, and I suppose assuming how much can go wrong with food, it's probably amazing there aren't more on-air disasters.

Burn Your Phone (7/97)
Alan Cumming (Bernard and the Genie, The High Life) stars in and directed this short about a phone operator who keeps getting increasingly sinister and threatening calls he can't trace.

Butter (5/96)
A short movie written and directed by Alan Cumming (Bernard and the Genie, The High Life) about a successful executive (Hillary Lyon) and her addiction to fatty foods. With cameos by Richard Wilson, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Richard E. Grant.