50 Fun Facts About British TV Shows

Coronation Street is set in which fictional Greater Manchester town?

Weatherfield is based on Salford, hometown of creator Tony Warren, and the soap has aired on ITV since December 1960.

EastEnders is set in which fictional London borough?

Walford is EastEnders' home; the soap launched on BBC One in February 1985 and reached number one in the ratings within eight months.

More than 30 million watched EastEnders' most-viewed episode, broadcast on which day in 1986?

Christmas Day 1986 brought Den Watts handing Angie divorce papers; the 30 million-plus figure combines the original showing and the omnibus repeat.

In Only Fools and Horses, what does Del Boy Trotter do for a living?

Del Boy is a Peckham market trader, forever chasing get-rich-quick schemes with his younger brother Rodney.

Which character was introduced to Only Fools and Horses after Lennard Pearce's death in 1984?

Uncle Albert, Grandad's brother played by Buster Merryfield, was a Royal Navy veteran whose endless stories began 'During the war...'.

Fawlty Towers is set in a hotel in which seaside town?

Torquay's Gleneagles Hotel inspired it: John Cleese based Basil Fawlty on its rude owner, Donald Sinclair, after the Pythons stayed there in 1970.

Who co-wrote Fawlty Towers with John Cleese and played Polly?

Connie Booth, an American actress who met John Cleese in New York and married him in 1968, co-wrote all 12 episodes with him and played Polly.

Who plays Baldrick, servant to every Blackadder?

Tony Robinson's Baldrick is famous for having 'a cunning plan', and Robinson later presented Channel 4's archaeology series Time Team for 20 years.

Who co-wrote the last three Blackadder series with Richard Curtis?

Ben Elton replaced Rowan Atkinson as co-writer after series one, when BBC1 controller Michael Grade's cost-cutting moved Blackadder from location shoots to studio sets.

The Office (UK) is set in the Slough branch of which fictional company?

Wernham Hogg's Slough branch is run by Ricky Gervais's David Brent; the American remake renamed the firm Dunder Mifflin and moved it to Scranton.

Downton Abbey is set on a fictional estate in which county?

Yorkshire is the setting, but Highclere Castle in Hampshire played Downton, and the story runs from 1912 to New Year's Eve 1925.

Which ship's sinking kills both Crawley heirs in Downton Abbey's first episode?

Titanic takes heir James Crawley and his son Patrick, so the estate passes to distant cousin Matthew, a middle-class lawyer from Manchester.

Who created Sherlock with Mark Gatiss?

Steven Moffat co-created Sherlock while also producing Doctor Who, and his wife, producer Sue Vertue, urged him and Gatiss to make it themselves.

In which city was Sherlock primarily filmed?

Cardiff doubled for much of Sherlock's London, while North Gower Street in London played the outside of 221B Baker Street.

Peep Show's Mark and Jeremy share a flat in which part of London?

Croydon is where Mark owns the flat and Jeremy lodges in his spare room; in 2010 Peep Show became Channel 4's longest-running comedy.

What camera technique gives Peep Show its title?

Point of view shots show events through Mark's and Jeremy's eyes, while voiceovers let viewers hear what each is really thinking.

Which production company took The Great British Bake Off from the BBC to Channel 4?

Love Productions wanted £75 million for three series, which the BBC refused; Mel, Sue and Mary Berry left, but Paul Hollywood moved with it.

The BBC's celebrity dance contest takes half its title from which 1992 film?

Strictly Ballroom lent 'Strictly' and the long-running BBC show Come Dancing the rest; abroad the format became Dancing with the Stars.

Who co-presented the BBC's celebrity dance contest with Tess Daly from its start?

Bruce Forsyth co-hosted from 2004 until 2013, when he was 85, and Claudia Winkleman then joined Tess Daly as co-lead presenter.

Before James May joined, who presented Top Gear's first revived series in 2002 alongside Clarkson and Hammond?

Jason Dawe, a motoring journalist, lasted one series before May replaced him, while the anonymous test driver, the Stig, featured from the start.

Which drama follows AC-12, the anti-corruption unit tasked with 'policing the police'?

Line of Duty was created by Jed Mercurio, who also wrote Bodyguard, and its 2021 finale peaked at 13.1 million viewers.

Gavin & Stacey's two families come from Billericay and which Welsh town?

Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan, is Stacey's home town, while Gavin's family lives in Billericay; James Corden and Ruth Jones wrote the show.

Who plays Stacey's uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey?

Rob Brydon plays Uncle Bryn, while Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb play Gavin's parents, Pam and Mick.

Father Ted is set on which fictional location off Ireland's west coast?

Craggy Island is where Bishop Brennan exiles Ted, Dougal and Jack, though the parochial house is a real house in County Clare.

Which two writers created Father Ted?

Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews wrote it for Hat Trick and Channel 4, and Linehan went on to create The IT Crowd.

In Red Dwarf, how long was Lister in suspended animation?

Three million years in stasis leave Lister the last human alive, with a hologram of bunkmate Rimmer and a creature evolved from his cat.

Which broadcaster revived Red Dwarf from 2009 to 2020?

Dave, the UKTV channel that took the name in 2007, revived Red Dwarf a decade after its BBC Two run ended in 1999.

Besides 45 BBC episodes, Monty Python's Flying Circus made two specials for which country?

West Germany's WDR produced Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, shot mostly in Bavaria and aired in 1972, and its first episode was recorded in German.

Dad's Army is about which wartime organisation?

The Home Guard took volunteers too old or otherwise unable to join the regular forces, hence the title Dad's Army.

Who plays Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley?

Dawn French plays Geraldine, a role Richard Curtis created for her after the Church of England's 1993 changes allowed women priests.

In Absolutely Fabulous, who plays Patsy Stone?

Joanna Lumley plays Patsy, an ex-model and fashion director, opposite Jennifer Saunders's Edina in the sitcom Saunders created.

The IT Crowd is set in the basement of which fictional company?

Reynholm Industries is run by Denholm Reynholm and later his son Douglas, while Roy, Moss and Jen toil in its IT department.

Who plays DCI John Luther?

Idris Elba plays Luther, whose most dangerous ally is Ruth Wilson's murderer Alice Morgan; the film Luther: The Fallen Sun followed in 2023.

Broadchurch is set on the coast of which county?

Dorset's coast is home to fictional Broadchurch, where David Tennant and Olivia Colman investigate 11-year-old Danny Latimer's death.

Peaky Blinders is set in which city?

Birmingham is home to Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby, whose gang is loosely based on a real city gang active from the 1880s to the 1920s.

Call the Midwife was based on the memoirs of whom?

Jennifer Worth drew on her 1950s work as a midwife in London's poor East End, and Heidi Thomas adapted her memoirs for television.

Who created Taskmaster and serves as the Taskmaster's assistant?

Alex Horne devised Taskmaster as a live show in 2010 and plays the Taskmaster's assistant, while Greg Davies plays the Taskmaster.

Who are the two team captains on Have I Got News for You?

Ian Hislop and Paul Merton have captained the teams since the show began in 1990, apart from Merton's 1996 break, while host Angus Deayton was sacked in 2002.

Who hosted QI from 2003 to 2016?

Stephen Fry hosted from the first series in 2003 until 2016, when Sandi Toksvig took over, with Alan Davies still the permanent panellist.

Who presented Countdown for 23 years, from its 1982 launch until his death?

Richard Whiteley was the first person seen on Channel 4, since Countdown was the channel's launch programme on 2 November 1982.

Which BBC programme, on air since October 1958, is the world's longest-running children's TV show?

Blue Peter has handed out its famous badges since 1963, and in 2011 it left London's Television Centre for MediaCityUK in Salford.

ITV's Emmerdale dropped which word from its original title in 1989?

Farm went from the title in 1989, and in 1994 the show's fictional village, Beckindale, was renamed Emmerdale too.

Who played Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of The Crown?

Claire Foy played the young Queen before Olivia Colman and then Imelda Staunton took over, as The Crown recast every two seasons.

Fleabag grew from Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman show, which premiered in full at which festival in 2013?

Edinburgh Festival Fringe audiences saw the monologue after previews at Soho Theatre, and it won a Fringe First award there.

Derry Girls is set during the final years of what?

The Troubles' final years shaped Lisa McGee's own 1990s Catholic girlhood in Derry, which the show draws on.

Who narrated Gogglebox from its 2013 launch until 2016?

Caroline Aherne narrated until April 2016, shortly before her death, and her Royle Family co-star Craig Cash took over.

Who created The Thick of It?

Armando Iannucci created it, then spun it off into the film In the Loop and went on to create HBO's Veep.

Which Rowan Atkinson character began during his Oxford master's?

Mr. Bean ran for just 15 episodes, and Atkinson has described him as 'a child in a grown man's body'.

In Keeping Up Appearances, how does Hyacinth insist her married surname is pronounced?

Bouquet is how Hyacinth insists 'Bucket' is said, and Patricia Routledge played the snobbish social climber in 44 episodes.

Which drama sends detective Sam Tyler from 2006 back to 1973?

Life on Mars is named after David Bowie's song, and its sequel, Ashes to Ashes, sent a new detective, Alex Drake, back to 1981.