Comedy sitcoms

When the BBC first broadcast Hancock’s Half Hour back in the 1950s it marked the beginning of a proud English comedy tradition – the sitcom, or to give it it’s full title, the situation comedy. The sitcom’s ‘golden age’ was undoubtedly the 1970s, when programmes such as The Good Life, Fawlty Towers and Last of the Summer Wine pulled in huge television audiences, and most of us have a favourite sitcom clip, such as the moment Del Boy falls through the bar in Only Fools & Horses or more recently David Brent’s legendary dance routine from The Office. Read on to find out where some of television’s most popular sitcoms were filmed in England.

Last of the Summer Wine

Last of the Summer Wine is the longest running English sitcom and tells the story of three eccentric pensioners who spend their days getting into all manner of mischief as they ramble through the Yorkshire Dales and reminisce about their youth. Many of its scenes were shot on location in the West Yorkshire village of Holmfirth, where fans of the show can book a coach tour of the key locations, as well as grab a bite to eat at ‘Sid’s café’. Find out more about Last of the Summer Wine

Dad's Army

Set during the Second World War this popular sitcom, which began in 1968, centres on the antics of Captain Mainwaring (“Don’t tell him, Pike!”) and his Home Guard troop in the fictional town of Walmington-On-Sea. Loved by TV audiences and critics alike, Day’s Army was hailed for its gentle nostalgia, impressive cast – including Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier – and well-drawn characters. The show was largely filmed in and around the town of Thetford in Norfolk. Find out more about Dad's Army

Only Fools & Horses

A regular poll winner of favourite sitcoms, Only Fools & Horses starred David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the loveable, if hapless, Trotter brothers – Del Boy and Rodney. Set amongst the tower blocks of Peckham, South London, its appeal lay in its ability to make you laugh out loud and well up all in the same episode, as their trials and tribulations were laid bare. Find out more about the shooting locations of Only Fools & Horses 

Fawlty Towers

After making his name with the Monty Python team, John Cleese turned his attention to less surreal material when he wrote and starred in Fawlty Towers. Playing the misanthropic hotel proprietor Basil Fawlty has proved to be one of Cleese’s defining roles and though it only ran for 12 episodes, its superb cast and excellent writing meant that for many the show is a near perfect example of the sitcom. Find out more about Fawlty Towers

To The Manor Born

Having established a nice line in snobbery and pretension in The Good Life, Penelope Keith reprised some aspects of that role to great effect in To The Manor Born, where she played Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, an upper-class elitist who is forced to sell her husband’s Grantleigh Estate, move out of the stately home and into the coach house in the grounds – her bemusement at having to handle every day life providing much of the comedy. The exterior scenes were filmed on location at the thousand acre Cricket St Thomas estate in Somerset, with Grantleigh House being, in reality, Cricket House. Find out more about To The Manor Born

The Vicar of Dibley

Dawn French played Geraldine Granger, an irreverent, happy-go-lucky parish vicar, in this 1994 sitcom, created by Richard Curtis. With its strong supporting cast of uptight conservatives and clueless eccentrics, The Vicar of Dibley was hugely successful, playing on its religious theme to superb effect, before bowing out in a 2006 Christmas special. While the show is set in Oxfordshire, the village scenes are filmed in Turville in Buckinghamshire. Find out more about The Vicar of Dibley

The Office

Now hailed as a modern classic, The Office is the work of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and centred on the excruciating character of David Brent - a frightening composite of all the worst bosses you've ever had - and his (mis)management of paper manufacturers, Werham Hogg, based in Slough. With strong support from Martin Freeman and MacKenzie Crook, The Office gained cult and then huge mainstream success and was wrapped up in two Christmas specials in 2003. Find out more about The Office

The League of Gentlemen

Are you local? Macabre, surreal and extremely funny, The League of Gentlemen’s world of the strange hit our screens in 1999 and ran for three series. Set in the fictional town of Royston Vasey, the show was based around a collection of weird and wonderful characters, watched over by Edward and Tubbs, proprietors of the ‘local shop’ – who also happened to be serial killers! It was filmed exclusively in Hadfield, in the Peak District. Find out more about The League of Gentlemen