Mike Stephens

The misadventures of hapless cafe owner René Artois and his escapades with the Resistance in occupied France.

The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. The show ran for seven series and 53 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Norriss and Fegen wrote the first five series, after which they left the show. The Brittas Empire enjoyed a long and successful run throughout the 1990s, and gained itself large mainstream audiences. In 2004 the show came 47th on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom poll, and all series have been released on DVD. The creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen often combine farce with either surreal or dramatic elements in episodes. For example in the first series, the leisure centre prepares for a royal visit, only for the doors to seal, the boiler room to flood and a visitor to become electrocuted. Unlike the traditional sitcom, deaths were quite common in The Brittas Empire.

Grace & Favour is a British sitcom sequel to the long-running series Are You Being Served ? The series begins with the staff of Grace Bros returning to the store to read the will of Young Mr Grace, the former head of the department store, recently deceased while scuba diving on holiday in the Caribbean with his personal secretary, Miss Jessica Lovelock. It aired on BBC1 for two series from 1992 to 1993 and marked the return of Are You Being Served ? creators and writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft.

Sitcom prequel to Last of the Summer Wine set in a small Yorkshire village in 1939 as Britain becomes poised for war.

Clarence is a 1988 BBC situation comedy starring Ronnie Barker and Josephine Tewson, written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonym "Bob Ferris". It was Barker's final sitcom appearance before his retirement. Barker had previously faced some criticism over his employment of a stammer for comedic effect in Open All Hours. However, the slapstick potential of a short-sighted furniture shifter must have seemed irresistible. The series was inspired by The Removals Person by Hugh Leonard, an earlier programme in the 1971 LWT comedy series, Six Dates With Barker. The house of Jane Travers, which inspired the opening titles, is located on Malvern Road in Cheltenham.

1961: the days of happy motoring and AA patrolmen were duty-bound to salute to every passing passenger that bore an AA badge on their vehicle, and hapless patrolman Harry Thorpe struggles with his job. He frequently clashes with his superior, one Inspector Leonard Spanwick, who also happens to reside in a caravan in Harry's back garden and is romantically involved with his blowsy sister Joyce. Leonard often makes Harry's life difficult, and he struggles to keep his local branch afloat and recruit new members, which is compounded by the intense competition from the rival RAC organisation, who are keen to drain away their trade. Although he's dedicated, Harry often has difficulty trying to stay up to date with some of the organisation's recent advancements.

While holding a horror film festival, a group of film students find themselves stalked by a madman who may have a sinister connection to a cult leader.

Hell's Bells is a 1986 British sitcom produced by BBC Television starring Derek Nimmo as traditionalist Dean 'Selwyn' Makepeace, who finds himself consistently at loggerheads with modernising new Bishop Godfrey Hethercote.

Luv is a British television sitcom made by the BBC in 1993 which ran for 18 episodes. The writer and executive producer was Carla Lane. The main character, Terese Craven, was played by Sue Johnston.

Sharon and Elsie is a British sitcom that aired for two seasons from 1984 to 1985. It starred Brigit Forsyth and Janette Beverley. Elsie Beecroft is a middle-aged, middle-class office administrator in a printing firm. Her world is perfectly ordered until young working-class Sharon Wilkes is hired as the new office secretary. Initially prone to be snobbish, Elsie soon learns to appreciate Sharon and the two become friends. Many episodes revolve around the family life of either Sharon or Elsie, with Sharon's brother Elvis, her boyfriend Wayne, and Elsie's husband Roland making regular appearances. Factory scenes would usually involve lecherous floor manager Stanley Crabtree and Sharon and Elsie's prickly responses to his womanising. Grumpy tea lady Ivy would also make appear regularly.

Pets is an adult British puppet sitcom, produced by Fit2Fill Productions Limited. It was originally aired on Channel 4 and ran for two series, the first being broadcast in 2001, and the second in 2002. It was also sold to Fox in Australia, MTV in Italy, and the Middle East. The series was created and written by Andrew Barclay and Brian West, who had previously worked together at the Edinburgh Festival, winning an award for an advert for The Jerry Springer Show, and on the sketch show We Know Where You Live. A total of 26 episodes of Pets were aired, all approximately 11 minutes long. They were shown in the early hours of the morning, and as a result, the series was fairly unknown, although it did gain a significant cult following. There was a demand on the official website for Pets to be released on DVD. Eventually a limited edition DVD was made available to purchase via the official website. As well as the two series, the DVD included two unbroadcast episodes, a clip show named "The Trials Of Hamish", and a behind-the-scenes special named "The Making Of Pets". Several episodes of Pets are currently available as a free podcast downloadable via iTunes. In 2010, a similar show named Mongrels aired on BBC3, sparking controversy between the two. The casts of characters in those two shows are almost similar as well, although Pets had four main characters while Mongrels had five. Also, Mongrels' range of locations is more diverse, while Pets is confined to a single flat.

Dear Ladies is a series of half-hour episodes starring Dame Hilda Bracket and Doctor Evadne Hinge, portraying a genteel English inter-war world of cucumber sandwiches, bell ringing, bowls tournaments, church fetes and old-fashioned values recalled through the ladies, who live in the small town of Stackton Tressell.

Gordon Brittas takes his staff for a military-style team-building exercise in Wales. While dealing with the rigors of the wild, they are relentlessly pursued by would-be assassins. Mr. Brittas' well-intentioned motivational skills make things worse.

Who has the shiniest bumpers in Frogmorton? Why do some people require a vehicle that looks like it was designed for rounding up wild animals in Colorado in order to drive 300 yards to the solarium? Is it possible to perform satisfactory sex in the back seat of a Volkswagen Beetle without the aid of a workshop manual? If you yearn for the answers to these and other burning motoring questions, as well as the chance to drool over some of the world's most stunning classic automobiles and exotic modern supercars, then why not let Sir Marmaduke Lovetuesday - heir to a great British tradition of drunkenness, greed and incompetence - take you on a guided tour of the Surley Manor Automotive Gala... a tale of sin, sex and soiled spark plugs!