# The best British TV series

British comedies and dramas that rank highest in The Guardian's 100 best TV shows of the 21st century and the BBC's critics' poll, plus the classics that still top viewers' lists.

- 175 votes · 28 items
- Aug 10, 2025 · Ethan Whitaker
- https://even.best/en/l/296/the-best-british-tv-series

## Top 20

1. **The Thick of It** (13 · ▲14 ▼1) — BBC, 2005–2012. Armando Iannucci's political satire and the swearing spin doctor Malcolm Tucker; 4th on The Guardian's list.
2. **Peep Show** (12 · ▲12 ▼0) — Channel 4, 2003–2015. Mark and Jeremy's inner monologues; 9th for The Guardian.
3. **The Office** (11 · ▲13 ▼2) — BBC, 2001–2003. Ricky Gervais as David Brent, manager of a Slough paper company; 6th for The Guardian.
4. **Peaky Blinders** (8 · ▲10 ▼2) — BBC, 2013–2022. Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in inter-war Birmingham.
5. **Fawlty Towers** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — BBC, 1975–1979. John Cleese as hotelier Basil Fawlty in only twelve episodes; voted the best British TV programme by the BFI in 2000.
6. **Blackadder** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — BBC, 1983–1989. Rowan Atkinson's scheming Edmund through four periods of English history.
7. **I May Destroy You** (6 · ▲8 ▼2) — BBC/HBO, 2020. Michaela Coel on consent and memory after an assault.
8. **Sherlock** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — BBC, 2010–2017. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in a modern-day Baker Street.
9. **Downton Abbey** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — ITV, 2010–2015. The Crawley family and their servants from the Titanic to the 1920s.
10. **Happy Valley** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — BBC, 2014–2023. Sarah Lancashire as police sergeant Catherine Cawood in West Yorkshire.
11. **Inside No. 9** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — BBC, 2014–2024. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's half-hour anthology, each story set behind a door numbered 9.
12. **This Country** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — BBC Three, 2017–2020. A mockumentary about two cousins in a Cotswolds village.
13. **Fleabag** (4 · ▲7 ▼3) — BBC/Amazon, 2016–2019. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and the Hot Priest; 8th for The Guardian.
14. **Slow Horses** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Apple TV+, 2022–. Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb and the MI5 rejects of Slough House.
15. **Black Mirror** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Channel 4/Netflix, 2011–. Charlie Brooker's anthology on technology's dark side.
16. **Detectorists** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — BBC, 2014–2022. Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones hunting for treasure with metal detectors.
17. **Line of Duty** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — BBC, 2012–2021. AC-12's anti-corruption interrogations; its final episode was the most-watched drama of the century in the UK.
18. **Doctor Who** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — BBC, 1963–. The Time Lord and the TARDIS; the longest-running science fiction series.
19. **Only Fools and Horses** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — BBC, 1981–2003. Del Boy and Rodney Trotter in Peckham; its 1996 Christmas special drew 24 million viewers.
20. **The IT Crowd** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Graham Linehan's Channel 4 sitcom (2006–2013) about the IT department of Reynholm Industries.
21. **Prime Suspect** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — ITV crime drama (1991–2006) starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison.
22. **Spaced** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Channel 4, 1999–2001. Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes, directed by Edgar Wright.
23. **The Inbetweeners** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — E4 comedy (2008–2010) about four awkward sixth-formers.
24. **Red Dwarf** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — BBC sci-fi sitcom first broadcast in 1988, about the last human alive, three million years in deep space.
25. **Gavin & Stacey** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — BBC sitcom (2007–2010, plus 2019 and 2024 specials) by James Corden and Ruth Jones, set in Essex and Barry.
26. **Monty Python's Flying Circus** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — BBC sketch show (1969–1974) that defined British absurdist comedy.
27. **The Crown** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Netflix, 2016–2023. Elizabeth II's reign in six seasons.
28. **Absolutely Fabulous** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Jennifer Saunders' BBC sitcom (1992–2012) about fashion PR Edina and her friend Patsy.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.