What is the greatest modern British TV comedy?

Don't miss the chance to have your say in our RT poll…

(clockwise) Brassic, Ghosts, Chewing Gum and After Life are contenders for the greatest modern British TV comedy

Netflix / Ray Burmiston / Sky / BBC / Monumental / Robbie Gray / Channel 4

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RT is hosting a landmark poll to decide which British TV comedies are destined to become the next generation's classics – and you can make your voice heard right now.

The British sense of humour is world-renowned and, contrary to what some might say, it hasn’t gone anywhere. But it's getting tougher to show it off on TV, with shrinking budgets and fragmenting audiences making it tricky to raise the funds to raise a chuckle.

But that doesn't mean that broadcasters haven't been creating great sitcoms and comedy shows in the last few years, with new classics emerging to take their place alongside Fawlty Towers, The Office and Only Fools and Horses.

RT is looking to shine a spotlight on the newer shows worthy of becoming part of that comedy canon, from the funniest talents working today. With your help, we're looking to crown the best 'modern' comedy of recent years.

Of course, what one defines as 'modern' may vary – for the purpose of this poll, we've drawn a line at the start of the 2010s. After all, only one show from that entire decade (Detectorists) ranked in our previous comedy poll in 2019, which saw Fawlty Towers voted the all-time greatest sitcom.

Seven years later, this vote is not a replacement for that result, but rather a companion to it – your winning shows will sit beside earlier classics to form a snapshot of British comedy's past and present, which could also help point the way towards a bright future.

We’ve curated a shortlist of 25 newer comedies based on the picks of more than a dozen industry experts, including the BBC's director of comedy Jon Petrie, Ghosts co-creator Laurence Rickard, stand-up comic Phil Wang and actor/Taskmaster survivor Emma Sidi (find the full list beneath the poll).

But it’s up to you to make the final call – which one deserves to be known as our best modern comedy? Find more details on each shortlisted show below, including reactions from the creators themselves, and vote for your favourite here:

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Thank you to the participants of our expert panel, who curated the shortlist.

We followed up with the creatives and stars of the shortlisted shows to find out what makes them so special – find out more about each of them below…

Showing 1 to 24 of 25 results

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of David Craig, smiling against a lime green background.

David CraigSenior Drama Writer

David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.

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