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Cunk on Shakespeare (UK)

Diane Morgan's everywoman/journalist persona, Philomena Cunk, first premiered on Charlie Brooker's (Black Mirror, Dead Set) Weekly Wipe along with fellow man-on-the street character, Barry Shitpeas, where she would give her highly uneducated opinions on the news of the day. So popular were Philomena Cunk's appearances that she quickly had her own BBC specials which culminated in a five-part history of the United Kingdom, Cunk on Britian, which is a bit too much Philomena Cunk, even for me.

Easily my favorite Philomena Cunk BBC Special is Cunk on Shakespeare. Here Cunk explores the life and work of William Shakespeare, a man she clearly thinks is a bit fancy and hoity-toity for her liking. Armed with a something-less-than-elementary-school-level understanding of Shakespeare, she interviews experts and historians about the life and works of William Shakespeare in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

This is mostly just a silly good time, with the occasional poke in the eye to the expert who might take himself just a little too seriously. Highly recommended.

Great Canal Journeys (UK)

Husband and wife Timothy West and Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) glide into their later years by sharing their love of piloting canal boats through some of the most beautiful canals in the world.

This show is so relaxing and genuine. It's more like their personal home movies than a travel show. I haven't watched the later seasons, yet. But it was revealed early on that Prunella was beginning to suffer from dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. While it slows them up a bit, they push push on with their adventures in the most English manner imaginable.

Jekyll (UK)

Before Sherlock, Steven Moffat developed a different piece of British literature for the BBC. Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde became Jekyll, produced in 2007. Have you noticed a pattern, yet?

Jekyll was billed as a modern-day sequel to the Stevenson novel, and it is delicious television. Darker than Sherlock, Jekyll stars likable film and television star James Nesbitt, soap opera actress Michelle Ryan, and comedic actress Gina Bellman (Coupling). All three are playing against type. And it is quite jarring and effective to see these beautiful, mainstream "television people" spiraling down into this dark and twisted maze of a story.

This is fun, engaging, and dark television. Released just as Steven Moffat's star was ascending, it has since been wrongfully overshadowed by Moffat's work in Sherlock, Doctor Who, and the Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin. Jekyll can stand with any of those titles.

In December 2016 it was announced that Lionsgate films is making a feature film version of Jekyll starring Chris Evans (Captain America). 

Ooglies (UK)

Ooglies is a stop-motion animated children's television series produced by BBC Scotland. These people are presumably adults, yet they stick googly eyes on food and household items and create amazing adventures. It is as twisted as it is violent.

Doctor Who For People Who Hate Doctor Who, Part One: The Girl in the Fireplace

I know what you're thinking: Oh, god! Please don't try to make me watching Doctor Who happen. It's never going to happen.

And don't worry. If you're not a fan, I'm not going to even attempt to make you a fan by petulantly retelling the entire history of the Daleks from 1963 to the present day and Who-splaing about how the Daleks are really just thinly veiled metaphors demonizing collectivism and socialism.

That's right out.

Instead I'm just going to point out that there have been a fair number of top-notch writers contributing to the show since the reboot in 2005. And every once in a while an amazing episode emerges that can stand completely on its own as great storytelling. You can come at these episodes without any knowledge of the Whoniverse whatsoever and still completely follow along. These also tend to be my favorite episodes.

The Girl in the Fireplace is one such episode. Forget the backstory of who, what, and why. The Girl in the Fireplace consists of one great story by Steven Moffat (Sherlock) and two great actors, David Tennant and Sophia Myles. In this episode the science fiction takes a backseat to the core relationship between two star-crossed people who meet across a lifetime.

Please note that this is not your typical Doctor Who story. If you watch another random episode expecting to find a poignant story of personal connection across space and time, you're going to be sorely disappointed. This episode takes a break from sonic screwdrivers and guys in rubber monster suits to examine what it's like when two humans connect, even if one of them happens to be a two-hearted alien from the planet Gallifrey.

Sherlock

Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Coupling) and Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who) co-created a reboot of Sherlock Holmes set in the modern day. 

Clever, funny, and smart, this reboot ran for four series, each consisting of three episodes which are much more like feature films than television episodes in length, production values, and ambition. Like the Conan Doyle stories, each episode is a standalone story—often a modern-day update of an original Sherlock Holmes short story. Recurring characters develop over time, and maybe it all gets a little too much like a soap opera by the final episode. But the overall result is the product of two great storytellers pushing each other to create fun and satisfying television.

For my tastes, the series hits its high-water mark in series two. It was a little too self-aware and too much of a cultural phenomenon by series four to say anything fundamentally new. But there are no bad episodes here. They just range from great to phenomenal.

1959: The Year that Changed Jazz

This BBC Four documentary examines four jazz albums released in 1959, Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, Dave Brubeck's Time Out, Charles Mingus's Mingus Ah Um, and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come. Honestly, I can take or leave the latter two records, but the reverence that Davis' and Brubeck's albums receive here genuinely allows you to better understand the records.

This is just the coolest music ever made.

Nathan Barley

Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror, Dead Set) and Chris Morris (The IT Crowd, Brass Eye) wrote this six-part sitcom focusing on "the rise of the idiots" who sit at the intersection of technology, fashion, and media. While this series was produced in 2005, you know these kinds of idiots today as the hipsters who try to mow you down while riding their Lime scooters on crowded sidewalks. It seems that every age has its quota of idiots.

The show stars Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) and features Richard Ayowade (The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh), Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh), and includes a small role for then-unknown Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Doctor Strange).

This is funny, dark stuff. Exactly what you'd expect from the minds of Brooker & Morris.

Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home

Kevin McCloud made a name for himself in the UK by hosting the wildly popular home-porn show, Grand Designs, where people who are richer than you will ever be build homes that are more fabulous than you will ever build. But McCloud's true calling is in building affordable, sustainable housing for everyone. And the later episodes of Grand Designs do include experimental and affordable homes. These particular shows stand out because they are the ones where the homebuilders are not a bunch of complete twats.

With Man Made Home, McCloud puts his money where his mouth is and builds a sustainable, eco-friendly clubhouse in the woods using only locally sourced and salvaged materials. And he assembles a cast of people more daft than he is to help him build it. The result is an absolutely wonderful adventure. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

A Very British Murder

Royal Palace Curator and television presenter Lucy Worsley would be great company at any dinner party. She takes the normally dry BBC documentary genre to new levels with her learned, conspiratorial and sometimes downright daffy style of presenting what has up to now been traditionally stodgy television fare.

In this series of historical documentaries (she's done many, check them out) she takes a look at some of the most horrible and despicable murders in British history. While the descriptions can be gruesome at times, it's never sensational the way that modern news coverage often is. 

This three-part series is a good introduction to work of Lucy Worsley. If you like this, check out Empire of the Tsars, which is her history of Tsarist Russia.