Is British TV really bad?

Few years on and telly is so bad that I refused to buy the annual subscription to British telly and disconnected all accounts connected to British TV. So now I watch Swedish telly instead

Just remembered that Extraordinary Escapes with sandi toksvig and Along for the Ride with David o docherty were good

Aarrgh that was supposed to br a reply to BillyLurk re ghost story

There was one it was quite good, will report back when I remember it

There’s def less being made because of covid but I think british tv is up there with the best in the world generally especially the dramas we make.
The streaming giants have recently changed this dynamic of course.
I have lived in major European countries where there is actually very little original content at all beyond news and game shows. Other than channel 4 I don’t think we import that much at all on the main channels.

So, all in all British TV isn't rubbish for me, but it depends what you like.

I tend to like the dramas and the pottery/sewing/baking/woodwork shows.

Although Call the Midwife is starting to grate on me now, its all a bit over explained I feel and the Dr explaining basic things to his nurse/midwife wife just so the dappy audience can pick up on it is rather annoying!

Think it was A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley I watched actually. I somehow hadn't registered The Coventry Carol before I watched it but it was haunting hearing the origins of it

Yes they are

God, how could I forget Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing?! It's glorious.

Dancing the Nutcracker was excellent too. And Our Victorian Christmas
reminded me – all the Back in Time For... shows are really good.

Oh and Malory towers. Might be british/canadian

Things I've enjoyed in the last few years
A very British scandal
The mezzotint
Behind her eyes
Around the world in 80 days
The great British dig
Detectorists
Motherland
Call the midwife
Strictly
Lucy worsley - Christmas carols/any of her programmes
Royle family Christmas episodes
Worzel gummidge
24 hours in police custody
Killer in my village
Nativity 1-4
Faking it
Gogglebox
Friday night dinner
Pandemonium
Four lives
The secret garden
Bake off
Gardeners world
Our victorian christmas
The turn of the screw
The cockfields
Susan Hill ghost story
Roald and Beatrice
Rick stein cornwall
The amazing mr blunden (new and old version
The girl before
Musical family christmas with the kanneh- masons
All creatures great and small
Inside no 9
Wordsworth and coleridge road trip
Mortimer and Whitehouse gone fishing
Travelman
Dancing the nutcracker (Royal ballet production and rehearsals

Oh yes Martin Clunes in Manhunt, compelling excellent TV

and I like some of the unusual travel presenters.
Susan Calman did a lovely set about travelling round Scotland. Made me want to follow in her footsteps.
Ramesh gives an alternative view on most places

I think Christmas TV is always rubbish.

Generally I don't watch any live TV. I record all sorts of things to watch when I can. Some of those are pretty old. (Heartbeat anyone?)

I like all the making programmes - bake off, sewing bee, pottery throw down etc.
I like gentle murder mysteries, so Vera. Midsommer murders etc.

I like non violent and easy watching drama like Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise

Comedy - HIGNFY, Taskmaster,
Quiz - University Challenge - love the Christmas alumni version of this.

Really cannot watch most of the reality TV that seems to be saturday nights - Strictly, Michael Macintyre's the Wheel, anything with Ant and Dec, X factor, The Voice etc etc.

I've found it really good this Christmas. If you can get Christmas radio times next year (think you can download it) you'd see good stuff recommended. Also Telly Addicts on this website

"I watched this on C4 originally, some years ago now.
Have the BBC bought it? Is this a repeat of old series or a new series?"

New series. Bbc2 now so it must have been paid for by them.

When I was a kid all the best tv was on over Christmas. Flicking through the tv/radio times and highlighting everything we wanted to watch was one of the joys of Christmas. Nowadays it's the opposite. It's like the broadcasters all take Christmas off and just stick on any old shite to fill the space.

Is British tv really bad? No it isn't. If you want rubbish tv come to where I live. Is British Christmas tv really bad? Absolutely, it's utter shite.

They're are lots of good things if you avoid reality TV, panel shows and 'comedies' that have been running for a decade. It's a sin was good, Des was good, the recent 4 lives BBC drama was good, what we do in shadows is funny, as are Derry girls, catastrophe, motherland is ok for something lighter, back to life and this way up are darkly comedic and good character pieces, Taskmaster is both funny and original even my gran watches it now. Watched the first episode of screw last night and it has potential. If you can't find anything worth watching you're not looking in the right places.

Completely off-putting for me:
all those so-called celebrities.
Katie Price, Gemma Collins and her ex-boyfriend whatever his name is, all Love Islanders, Big Brothers, Essex something etc.
Just WTF? Since when has vulgarity and stupidity become the cultural norm? It's not even entertainment, it's just the lowest grade mob fun.

We've watched a lot of tv as have both had Covid over Christmas -mostly comedy- enjoyed all of these:

Around the world in 80 days
Zapped
Ghosts
The Outlaws
Screw
Various sewing bee/ bake off/ masterchef type programmes
Russell Howard's stand up
HIGNFY
Mock the Week
Derry Girls
The Cockfields
Rovers
After Life
This Way Up
Catastrophe
Upstart Crow
Pointless
Only Connect
University challenge
Various documentaries like Andy Warhols America
Digging for Britain
Taskmaster
Toast
What we do in the Shadows

I'll watch virtually anything apart from reality type shows, soaps or celebrity'Strictly' style programmes and even with the hefty chunk of telly that renders unwatchable for me there is so much enjoyable content out there.

Sorry 'It's a Sin' C4, heartbreaking.
'Years and Years' BBC.