With Hugh Bonneville’s befuddled bureaucrat Ian Fletcher making a welcome return to the airwaves in Twenty Twenty Six on Wednesday, it’s time to consider the other greats of British satirical comedy.
Happily, W1A, the Twenty Twenty Six predecessor also written by John Morton, earns a place on the list — but it was a tough choice. The BBC1 warhorse Have I Got News for You was a near thing for its longevity alone. But I was reluctant to open myself up too much. Alan Partridge in all his TV incarnations could be seen as a fantastic satire on a certain type of person, however the same could be said of David Brent of The Office and many other scripted comedies.
The shows I have chosen are ones that take fearsome and direct swipes at political and social issues — and they’re all brilliant.
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10. Monkey Dust (2003–05)
This often-overlooked animation from the Have I Got News for You founding producer Harry Thompson and his co-writer Shaun Pye is bold and extremely funny. Broadcast slightly under the radar on the fledgling BBC3 channel, it was fantastically daring, featuring a skit portraying the director-general Greg Dyke as a swearing oaf and the DJ Neil “Dr Fox” Fox being torn apart by hounds. Not for the faint-hearted. DVD
9. The Windsors (2016–23)
Harry Enfield as Prince CharlesJack Barnes/Channel 4
This fabulously rude, unrelentingly silly royal satire takes such an over-the-top approach to its subjects that it feels oddly affectionate. Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie have fun with an almost pantomimic portrait of palace life, including a scheming Camilla (Haydn Gwynne), an idiotic Prince (later King) Charles (Harry Enfield) and a Princess Royal modelled on Rebecca’s Mrs Danvers. Channel 4
8. The New Statesman (1987–94)
Rik Mayall as Alan B’StardRex Features
One measure of a good satire is how it can prefigure real events. And there was something about Rik Mayall’s brazen young MP and self-appointed “rising star of the New Right” Alan B’Stard that spoke to the sleaze that was to engulf the Tory party in the early 1990s. Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran’s scripts are ebullient and funny, with excellent support from Michael Troughton as Alan’s thick sidekick, Piers Fletcher-Dervish. ITVX
7. Yes Minister/Yes, Prime Minister (1980–88)
From left: Derek Fowlds, Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Paul EddingtonBBC
One of the most civilised of our sharp satires, the 22 episodes of Yes Minister and 16 episodes of Yes, Prime Minister — when Paul Eddington’s Jim Hacker astonishingly got the top job — are a joy. The idea that calculating civil servants like Sir Humphrey Appleby run rings around elected politicians may have felt cynical, but the scriptwriters Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn certainly had a point. iPlayer
6. Spitting Image (1984–96)
From left: caricatures of Neil Kinnock, Margaret Thatcher, David Owen and David Steelitv/Rex Features
Arguably the biggest opposition to Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s wasn’t the Labour Party of Neil Kinnock but the clever men and women behind this landmark, intensely impudent puppet show. The targeting of the royals and many in the Thatcher government (including a bovver-boy Norman Tebbit) upset some, but others (including Michael Heseltine) reportedly sought to buy their own latex caricatures. Recently revived for the internet age. spittingimageofficial.com/BritBox
5. The Thick of It (2005–12)
From left: Joanna Scanlan, Roger Allam, Will Smith, Ben Willbond and Geoffrey StreatfieldBBC
Like Spitting Image, this reacted to the political current — in this case the control freaks and spin doctors of New Labour. Overseen by Armando Iannucci, the handheld filming and scabrous scripts (the show had a “swearing consultant”) are dazzling, with the standout character being Peter Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker, a man who was not based in any way on Alastair Campbell. Oh, no. iPlayer
4. That Was the Week That Was (1962–63)
The show that brought the wit and excitement of the 1960s satire boom to the airwaves also made a star of its young presenter, David Frost. It is hard to imagine the shock that some of the skits caused, with attacks on figures such as the prime minister Harold Macmillan as well as Britain’s declining status in the world. Ted Heath blamed TW3 for the “death of deference”, but you could argue the politicians themselves were partly to blame. BBC Archive channel on YouTube
3. W1A (2014–17)
From left: Joel Fry, Alex Beckett, Sara Pascoe and Jessica Hynes in W1ABBC
John Morton started with Twenty Twelve (about the Summer Olympics in London), then went on to satirise the organisation that broadcast it — the good old BBC, largely seen through the eyes of the baffled Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville). Its observations can be piercingly accurate, and its great characters include Hugh Skinner’s hapless intern Will and Jessica Hynes’s jargon-spouting PR Siobhan Sharpe, wielding phrases such as: “Let’s nail this puppy to the floor.” iPlayer
2. Not the Nine O’Clock News (1979–82)
This classic married the punky energy of its era to some sublimely sophisticated writing. The scriptwriting team, which included John Lloyd, Richard Curtis and David Renwick, produced bespoke material for a dazzling performer line-up of Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Chris Langham (later replaced by Griff Rhys Jones). The show tackled racism, Cold War gloom and unemployment with panache. BritBox/Prime Video
1. Brass Eye (1997–2001)
Chris Morris, who made his name on The Day Today, upped the ante with this extraordinarily bold fusion of current affairs and comedy. It is known for featuring real figures who were prepared to say anything — including MPs about a made-up drug called Cake. The uncompromising Brass Eye special on media hysteria over paedophilia is its shockingly unforgettable crowning glory. Channel 4
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