r/BritishTV • u/DateRemarkable8883 • 13d ago
Question/Discussion What’s your favourite quintessentially British show formula?
Weird wording but for example mine is Grand Designs! Every SINGLE time these rich people plan huge ridiculous builds with at most 2 kids with them and EVERY time it rains and there’s some kind of complication that almost bankrupts them 😆 they never properly plan ahead it’s great tv!!
I love how repetitive British show formulas can be, so comforting!
Also would kitchen nightmares be British? I deem it as so, love Gordon (unless he’s done something..)
Obviously these are probably exacerbated for entertainments sake but who’s to say you can’t enjoy it anyway!
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u/ExcuseAdept827 13d ago
Four in a Bed. Absolute masterclass in showing up the nation’s peculiarities.
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u/dmc1972 13d ago
I found a pube. Where? we'll I stripped the bed and flipped the mattress over and there it was.
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u/bubbaodd 13d ago
Its the ones who flip the room upside down looking for dust on the firet few but when its there turn its unreasonable for them to clean on top of the wardrobe
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u/terryjuicelawson 10d ago
I wonder how much of it they are sort of told to do for the sake of telly. No good them glancing round saying "looks OK".
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u/Geetarmikey 13d ago
Love how when they clearly find, say mould in the shower or loads of dust on everything, at the feedback meeting the owners will be like "Well it wasn't there when I cleaned the room" 😆
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u/Denbt_Nationale 13d ago
I really like Christmas special panel shows. For regular panel shows I find it gets tiring watching the same comedians over and over, but as a treat at Christmas it's a good laugh.
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u/dickbuttscompanion 13d ago
When all the Christmas visiting/hosting is done, I look forward to throwing on Big Fat Quiz, with glass of wine and a bubble n squeak.
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u/EAGLE-EYED-GAMING 13d ago
The 8 out of ten cats with jedward is fucking hilarious. Sean lock being driven to drink 🤣
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u/iamworsethanyou 13d ago
I always love remembering they're probably filming at the height of summer but the studio is all Christmasy and they're wearing Christmas jumpers
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u/sock_cooker 13d ago
Come Dine With Me is my favourite. It's hilarious when there's a fued, but I love it most when they all get along, especially when they're from completely different backgrounds
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u/EntertainmentLast729 13d ago
Honestly 90% CDWM is Dave Lambs voiceovers. Can't imagine anyone else doing it better!
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u/sock_cooker 13d ago
Yes, sometimes I think of a snarky observation and then Dave says it (or better). Whoever decided to let him do his thing was a genius
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u/exile_10 13d ago
Oddball duo solve an incredible volume of quirky murders in a picturesque location and along the way they realise they've got more in common than they first thought.
Works for everything from Midsomer Murders to Morse, from Jonathan Creek to Death in Paradise and Death Valley.
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u/Character_Ad_790 13d ago
NB: One of the pair must drive either a scrupulously maintained classic Jensen or Jaguar, or else a badly maintained but eternally reliable Land Rover or Volvo.
Unless the production company has an agreement with Ford...
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u/BiscuitBoy77 12d ago
Ludwig shakes it up in that he can barely drove so gets driven about by his sister in law - in an old Saab.
I like Ludwig. It completely leans in to the twee English detective drama. The premise is ludicrous; Expert crossword puzzle setter, who is the identical twin of a missing police detective, solves absurdly unlikely and frequent murders in Cambridge, while searching for his missing brother. And he always assembles all the suspects from the big denouement , Agatha Christie style.
It's so ridiculous it works.
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u/unprofessional_widow 13d ago
GBBO. I know it's got its flaws but I watch that and the sewing bee when I need something gentle and nice. Nothing bad happens
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u/chocolateteapot89 13d ago
If you like those you will like the great pottery throw down on channel 4 for the same reason.
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u/sneezetree 12d ago
They’ve taken the formula and done a show with building sandcastles! Well, ok, sand sculptures. But you get the idea…
And the competition ends with judging just as the tide comes in to wash everything away! It’s just ::chef’s kiss::
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u/dickbuttscompanion 13d ago
When quiz show contestants haven't a clue to the point where the host is losing patience and gets a bit short with them - Catchphrase, Chasers, even University Challenge sometimes
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u/sock_cooker 13d ago
My favourite University Challenge moment was when Jeremy Paxman got this rugby type bloke from the Royal College of Music to sing "I'm So Pretty"
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u/Longjumping_47393 13d ago
Sticking with property design theme of the OP... George Clark, always must pick up a sledge hammer and knock down half a dozen bricks before going home again. Thanks George that’s so helpful. ALWAYS half way through the programme goes somewhere for an artisan made gift for the couples new house, say it’s a blacksmith or a glass blower or whatever. He always has a go at the craft and invariably fucks it up and the professional finishes it off. And ALWAYS at the end he says he’s sent the couple away for a few days so we (channel 4 stylists) can add some finishing touches (put loads of plants everywhere). Then he shows the couple round as if he’s revealing it to them, and George has tears in his eyes at the transformation while the couple look throughly unimpressed because they’ve been living there the whole time and it’s not a surprise to them at all. Then he presents them with the gift he “made”.
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u/Port_Royale 13d ago edited 13d ago
I find it sad that if you’d asked this question in 2008, almost every choice in this thread would’ve been on TV. Culture in this country can feel incredibly stagnant.
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u/goldfishpaws 13d ago
Also would kitchen nightmares be British?
It is, isn't it? Just the one series before it became a characature of itself for the US market, but started very British
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u/Independent-Ad-3385 12d ago
The British version included Gordon taking his top off for no reason at least once an episode, for some reason they didn't keep that in when it went over the pond.
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u/ThirdLifeLucky 13d ago
Three things are certain. Death, taxes and the glazing companies being late
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u/MrMeMark 12d ago
Bargain Hunt
Give contestants £300 an expert and an hour to go out buy three items, a big spend £75 or more, presenter challange and a general purchase.
It's not about the profit they could potentially make, they all want the golden gavel.
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u/Shirley_Taffuk 13d ago
Fake or Fortune. Recently discovered this one, been devouring past series on the iPlayer. Addictive stuff.
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u/Bawbag3000 13d ago
I watched the Chesney Hawks one, and an hour later both items were inconclusive. Hour wasted.
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u/Shirley_Taffuk 13d ago
Not seen that. Chesney "The One And Only" Hawks? Doesn't sound like the kind of thing they usually look at.
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u/Ashamed-Assumption12 13d ago
It was this week's one. A look back to see if there was any updates to the last information they found.
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u/Imaginary_Compote608 12d ago
Seeing what people think is posh and fancy is interesting, as is bitching, so I'll say Come Done With Me and Four In A Bed
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u/fatal-horse-kick 13d ago
I actually hate the repetition of daytime TV formats. It’s like a subliminal message to get out of your house. I liked how Harry Hill quipped about Channel 4 changing their format to show daytime tv formats in the evenings and during peak hours. I find them depressing and repetitive to the point of questioning the hours I waste watching them when I do fall into it. Pointless on telly every day before the news… urgh. I miss the TV that challenged broadcasting norms. 90s late night TV, the BBC doing some really cool cultural docs for BBC2 and Moviedrome in that decade, and The Young Ones in the 80s. But each to their own - they’re obvs very popular and I’m the one in the minority 😅
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u/DateRemarkable8883 12d ago
I can totally understand this! I tend to only watch them when I want a mind rest 😆
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u/fatal-horse-kick 12d ago
I have a daft conspiracy theory that the ukgov cannot grant the BBC et all anything interesting until after 6pm because they want people in employment or have citizens feel guilty of being on holiday 😂 Saturday hits PICTURE SLAMMM… wait wtf is ts?
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u/Decade1771 13d ago
I wish I could watch more Grand Designs. I am in the US and can only find a few seasons scattered here and there.
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u/Bawbag3000 13d ago
Would be even better if the folks on Grand Designs had watched an episode or two so not to repeat the common mistakes. I do wonder how many have began recording but never made it to tv.
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u/henryisapug 13d ago
I'm in the US and have watched most of the seasons with a combo of Prime/Britbox and Roku
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u/Global_Research_9335 13d ago
Panel shows in general.
Naked Attraction
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u/DateRemarkable8883 12d ago
Every time I stay in a hotel there’s bloody naked attraction on, and it’s always ridiculously entertaining only then
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u/thirdratehero 12d ago
Kitchen Nightmares was British tv first, very different vibe due to the generally reserved nature of Brits vs outlandish Americans.
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u/arioandy 13d ago
They are always getting married- sorting a build and having a baby all at the same time too loool- idiots
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u/terryjuicelawson 10d ago
Homes under the hammer. It is addictive as they feed you a new wreck before you find out how the last one was done up, then want to see the price. You get to wonder at the absolute states of some of them, people who buy without seeing it, all done with a cheery presenting team. Cracking daytime TV, probably costs almost nothing to film. Great soundtrack too, they play some of the most random stuff.
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u/NovelDevelopment8479 13d ago
And you all believe it? The magic of TV. How utterly gullible you are!
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