As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I have had a shitty day with good things to glorify God in it, and as I sit here looking for filler, I thought I would post a list of something which is the title of this work in The Top Ten Best British Television , since of course no one has ever really done this.
The British are very adept in when they hit things rights. I am not going to separate drama from comedy, but mix and match. I also will attempt to refrain from Masterpiece Theater as posting on Dickens and Austen who have been done to exhaustion is Dickens and Austen, and not British television.
My favorite British series is One Foot in the Grave. Richard Wilson was perfect in interpreting a man thrown out of British employment and having to deal with the sods of what is Britain in her downfall.
There are millions of Victor Meldrew's in this world being screwed over every day.
Close on this is the drama mystery series of Inspector Morse. John Thaw was again the best of British actors, who far surpassed the legends, as did Richard Wilson in his performances.
John Thaw was the virtue of all things British manliness and brought this to every performance as he never just appeared as the "greats" did in expecting to be adored.
Third, Keeping up Appearances with Patricia Routledge who was a comic genius, the male version of the humor of Benny Hill. I do not include Mr. Hill in this, nor do I Monty Python, not that they were not the best, they are just not my personal choices for top ten best.
Who else but the British could have four sisters named after flowers with all embarrassing lives like the British royals.
Fourth, Red Dwarf. This comedy is so perfectly bizarre that it's only rival being from outer space is number five.
Fifth, Fawlty Towers. This was John Cleese an Claire Booth's besting of Python. It only lasted a year as the Brits did not even get their own humor, but Cleese was perfection in this and was a disappointment in the things he was celebrated for in muck like A Fish Called Wanda.
Sixth, Sherlock Holmes starring the legendary Jeremy Brett. If ever a series captured Holmes and the essence of Conan Doyle's monumental detective stories this was it. It is perfection unlike that rubbish of Benedict Cumberbatch who has about ruined that genre.
Seventh, Sharpe's Rifle, starring Sean Bean who again put out his best work and has not achieved greatness since of this caliber of performance and writing.
Eighth, Rumpole of the Bailey. Leon McKern was the man who carried an entire show and series. He took bland writing and British pomposity and railed against it.
Ninth, Horatio Hornblower. Think of this as Sharpe on the high seas, but with a moral flair Sharpe has missing. The writer of these books was the same author who wrote the African Queen. Ioan Gruffudd stars in this drama of honor. He is best known as the lead in Amazing Grace.
Tenth, Dr. Who, the Tom Baker years. Everyone has a Doctor they love and in this horridly bad special effects sci fi, Tom Baker carried the phone booth longer than all and he was brilliant in placing his own identity into a doctor who was more boring lab scientist before Tom Baker appeared.
When the Brits do thing right, they did them wonderfully from around 1980 to 2010, but after that they have been turning out worse sodomite promoted rubbish than Americans recycling horridness.
When Brits do things wrong, they have archives filled with the same worthless images which fill all other nations cinema.
These though are my top ten and would benefit any person's collection to include them.
Nuff Said
agtG
