by Sandra Piddock

Created on: April 03, 2010

I was lucky enough to be born in time for the golden age of British sitcoms - the late 1960's through to the 1980's. 'They don't make them like that any more' is an overworked phrase, but it's appropriate in this case. I can only think of one current sitcom that make me laugh, and that's 'Benidorm.' Everything else that masquerades as sitcom today just leaves me cold.

The writers these days seem to think all you need to do to make people laugh is shout and swear a lot and include plenty of sex. They don't seem to understand the concept of the situation comedy. The laughs are supposed to come naturally from the setting, rather than being shocked out of the audience.

Writers like Jimmy Perry, David Croft, Jeremy Lloyd, John Sullivan and David Renwick were able to find the humour in the situations they wrote about and create sympathetic characters we could identify with, and that's the secret of great comedy. Love them or hate them, unless you laugh with or at the main characters, the best written sitcom will bomb. Here in no particular order - as they say in the reality shows when the votes are announced - are my favourite sitcoms.

Benidorm

Yes, there's plenty of sex and swearing in this, but it's pertinent to the storyline, so it's okay. With a family like the Garveys, there's always going to be bad language and bad behaviour. 'Benidorm' is funny because it's true to life. I live in Spain, and you see characters like the dreadful Madge, Mick and Janice, and Geoff 'The Oracle' every single day. There really are hundreds of mobility scooters on the pavements of Benidorm, and the Spanish waiters get exasperated with Brits who won't even attempt to speak any Spanish, and spend every day drinking industrial quantities of alcohol. 

I can't wait for the new series, to see Madge and Mel make a hash of running the Benidorm Palace cabaret club!

Dad's Army

What a joy this was, and it's still eminently watchable today. The show was based on Jimmy Perry's experiences as a 16 year old in the Home Guard, which is why it has the ring of truth about it that all the best sitcoms have. One of the catchphrases from the show, 'You stupid boy!' was Jimmy Perry's father's reaction when the young Jimmy told him he wanted to be an actor. Thank goodness he went into comedy writing, or this list would be very sparse.

The 'Dad's Army' platoon may have been hopeless bunglers, but they were trying their best to help win the war with inadequate training and equipment.

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