Top 10 Disturbing British Comedies

With all due respect to Johnny Vegas, Ideal describes the timing of this dark comedy. Indeed, the then-troubled comedian had languished in panel shows and bit parts until Graham Duff placed him at the centre of his Salford-set sitcom. Vegas plays Moz. a cannabis dealerwhose flat and adjacent characters form the setting and situation of the show. Controversially cancelled at the height of its popularity, Ideal aired on BBC Threemainly as it was too dark and unique for the mainstream channels. Obviously, Mozs choice of career is a dark choice for comedy, but the characters give us the most disturbing vibes here; all played for realism over absurdity, and quite disconcerting when you think about them yes, particularly Judith

We might be inside number nine, but for this list, Reese Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are taking us Psychoville. Half of the League of Gentlemen didnt spend too long away from Royston Vasey before heading back into black comedy and multi-role performances. Unlike their previous show, Psychoville was less of a sketch show, and more of a psychological horror mixed with dark comedy. Psychoville, which isnt actually a setting in the series, centres around a mysterious plot that could have easily been mistaken for that of a Hitchcock film, which was incidentally one of the key inspirations for the show. Though Psychoville only lasted for two series, its impact was profound.

Although the show revolved around depression, Flowers was extremely funny. It was set around the eponymous Flowers family, amid a backdrop of constant tension and suspicion. Seamlessly bridging the gap between comedy and drama, Flowers starred Olivia Colman, who would go on to win an Academy Award shortly afterwards, and Julian Barrettbest known for being one half of The Mighty Boosh. Although it only lasted two series, both were critically acclaimedowing to the delicacy of how series creator and star Will Sharpe had handled the more serious, grounded topics, and counterbalanced them with laughs. They didnt handle the theme of mental health, but included it.

Unlike our last entry, Julian Barretts breakthrough to mainstream comedy was decidedly more abstract than his later endeavours. Along with Noel Fielding, the comedy duo (also known asThe Mighty Boosh,) adapted their surreal stage shows for TV, setting their quasi-sitcom (if you can call it that), in a bizarre alternate reality, and around a very loose central plot of two failing musicians looking for fame. But, lets be honestno-one really watched The Boosh for the plotbut its absurd cast of characters, non-sequitur scenes, and the unusual a cappella musical numbers which coined the term crimping. When you have an alien and a gorilla forming two of the main cast, you know The Mighty Boosh has been around!

Well, nothing says disturbing like a cast of characters who are doomed from the start. Nighty Night has just that: the main characters are either terminally ill or significantly unwell. Just to add a little more to the morbidness of the sitcom, the main plot surrounds a murder of one of those central characters, viaof all thingsa poisoned Angel Delight. This comedy of cruelty won a Royal Television Society award for its unique yet hilarious efforts. It also marked an early solo entry from writer and creator Julia Davis, who would go on to give us a lot more darkly humorous tales.

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmiths Psychoville may have concluded, but the pair were far from over. Only a few years later, their next big dive into the dark waters of their psychological humour emerged; Inside No. 9. It was an immediate hit, and enjoyed a decade-long tenure on the beebor, rather, an apt nine series. Unlike their previous work, each episode was set in its own universe and employed only one link across the show; the main setting was usually a room behind a door marked with the number nine. What room that would be varied wildly, as did the characters, tone, themes everything else! Inside No. 9 was also quite poignant at times, sometimes approaching drama, but always maintained its popularity.

A more accurate question than where do we start when discussing Monkey Dust is probably: how did they?. Truly anarchic, the BBC Three animated sketch show was certainly no cartoon - delving into plenty of taboo subjects that no one else dared go to... and got away with it. The brainchild of writer/actor Shaun Pye and Harry Thompsonwhos passing marked the end of the series in its prime. When listing Thompson as one of their top 50 funniest/influential people in Britain, The Guardian attached their view that "Monkey Dust" was "the most subversive show on television." High praise indeed, and yet still not quite enough to fully encapsulate how much of the trend Monkey Dust would buck.

In 2004, Garth Marenghi burst onto the scene with found footage of Darkplace. The 1980s Channel Four production had previously only been broadcast in Peru, but the lost show was given extra commentary and cleaned up for British audiences. And, yesnone of this is truethough the authenticity is off the charts. Marenghi-himself is fictional, and the series was a show within a show within a show Theyre all household names now, but actor Matt Berry along with co-creators Richard Ayoade and even the character of Garth Marenghi, in a bizarre twist, started their long television careers with this gem. The Edinburgh Fringe adaptation only had a meager audience at first, but it grew exponentially with the internet frequently spitting out clips.

Arguably, Chris Morris seemed hell-bent on winding up T.V. channel controllers. Another of his shows that transitioned from Radio to Television, Jam began as the cult-classic Blue Jam; a sketch show that was devoid of throughline and made full use of ambient music to bring humor and horror together in listeners' ears. For the TV iteration, Jam even dubbed in some of the same audio from the radio show, making it an even more jarring experience with viewers. It wasnt popular with everyone, but Jams experimental and controversial humour ticks all the boxes of being a disturbing comedy. And, yes, you should notice that many of its cast have already appeared on this list, with their own disturbing comedies we see you Julia Davis!

Was there ever any doubt? The League of Gentlemen refers to the quartet of Jeremy Dyson, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatissaltogether creating a bizarre radio comedy filled with increasingly obscure characters. They never had much faith in the shows transition to TVin which three of the four would star as Royston Vaseys weird population. Yet the BBC and audiences absolutely loved the eponymous shows quirkiness because of just how outlandish it is. The initial three season run inspired a whole host of comedies that followed. After a metaphysical spin-off movie, The League has enjoyed many separate successes, before reuniting and returning to stage and screen in 2017


Has comedy become too light for you? Or are you glad to have broken free of the darkness? Let us know your thoughts, in the comments.