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RUDE BRITANNIA
Monday 13 February 2006
In the final series of programmes about the way we live now, BBC Four has graciously set aside a night to examine whether Britain has become an impossibly rude and selfish country.
But to say that Britain once enjoyed a reputation as a polite nation ignores the often bawdy atmosphere that preceded the Victorian era's starched manners. And for many Britons, the post-war openness and expressiveness (and the resulting take-it-to-the-edge comedy) is a boon that outweighs the problems of anti-social behaviour. However, has the pendulum now swung too far?
WHAT'S ON
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RUDE BRITANNIA (TIME SHIFT)
9pm-9.40pm; 1.05am-1.45am
Challenging recent gripes about a decline in British manners, Time Shift traces the cult of plain-speaking from the 18th century to today, and how it may have led to more social good than harm.
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TILL DEATH DO US PART: A BROKEN LEG
9.40pm-10.15pm
An episode of the seminal sitcom whose scripts were peppered with bad language and a 'colourful' vocabulary, typified by Alf Garnett's street-slang description of ethnic minorities.
 More on the series from bbc.co.uk/comedy
 Watch Clip: Alf gets little sympathy for a broken leg
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FAWLTY TOWERS: A TOUCH OF CLASS
10.15pm-10.45pm
The first episode of the cult series sees Basil's gentle nature strained by the intolerable requests of those fortunate enough to abide at his esteemed establishment.
More on the series from bbc.co.uk/comedy
Watch Basil: "Good manners cost nothing, dear"
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THE YOUNG ONES: SUMMER HOLIDAY
10.45pm-11.20pm
BBC Comedy calls this "a mad, helter-skelter, rude, awesomely violent, unpredictable, swaggering, staggering, joyously infantile, exhilarating steamroller of a sitcom." Like typical students, we'll nick their words.
More on the series from bbc.co.uk/comedy
Watch Rik read an ode to Cliff Richard
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THE THICK OF IT (EP 6)
11.20pm-11.50pm; 2.15am-2.50am
Set in the corridors of power (and spin), Armando Iannucci's award-winning satirical comedy follows the career of a put-upon MP continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer.
Read more about the series
Watch a clip from episode six
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IN PRAISE OF HARDCORE
11.50pm-1.05am; 2.50am-4.05am
Rob Brydon plays critic and impresario Kenneth Tynan, one of the most influential theatre critics of the 1960s. Tynan waged a battle against censorship that famously led to him being the first person to say f*** on TV.
Director interview and image gallery
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