Our article on underrated shows got a huge reaction from readers espousing their favourite, long-forgotten greats. Out of the thousands of comments the article received, here are five shows our readers seemed to agree were worthy of more love than they got at the time.
1. Monkey Dust
A well-timed bout of unemployment led to watching this quite a lot, late night on BBC 3’s precursor, BBC Choice. From its unsettling Eels theme to its broken (and eminently quotable) characters, Monkey Dust was proof that Britain could produce animation as dark and twisted as anything the US was putting out.
“Monkey Dust was a work of genius. I still dig out my recordings of it to play people things like The Crusades,” said PickmansModel.
“It’s amazing how many people seem never to have heard of it, but I suppose it wasn’t exactly laugh-out-loud stuff.”
2. Nathan Barley
The guy behind the funniest spoof listings website of all time (better than it sounds), and the guy behind The Day Today and Brass Eye: expectations for Nathan Barley were stratospheric in some quarters, but Nathan Barley doesn’t quite rank up there, possibly because its target – hipsters – had not yet gone global.
“Disappointed and baffled at the time, but it turns out that Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker saw the future before it happened – the idiots are winning,” said FirstWorlder.
3. Early Doors
Set in an ordinary pub in Stockport, Early Doors never got the praise or fame of its big sister, The Royle Family. Its mix of understated humour and kitchen sink – or rather, backroom pub – drama won it plenty of plaudits, but it only lasted for two series.
“Felt Early Doors found the tone and gags that The Royle Family (after the first couple of series) tried to find but usually failed to. John Henshaw and the other copper were outstanding,” said Kenri.
4. Families at War
We had a few Vic & Bob suggestions – kudos to those who suggested Catterick – but heroically Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were once entrusted with a Saturday night light entertainment show on BBC1.
“Did that really happen?” marvelled commenter Billy Fluig.
“Yes it did. Without it we’d never have witnessed the Leo Sayer treadmill accident.”
5. Lost!
Not the surreal plane-crash drama, but the Channel 4 reality show that dropped three teams in the middle of nowhere with £2,000 and told them to make it back to Trafalgar Square in London.
“The scrapes some of them got into were bloody terrifying,” said ProjectXRay.
“I’m really not sure how they sorted the visas for it, or got away with making it at all for that matter. I’m surprised none of the contestants ended up in a central asian reeducation gulag or a shallow grave.”
