TV Made in Britain

So, I don't like TV. Most of the programmes are boring at best, and plainly annoying otherwise. So I gave up looking for the few gems in the big heap of crap, and just don't watch TV. Which is fine, since I can watch whatever I am interested in on DVD or on the internet. However, in order to find it I need to know what I'm looking for. 

Growing up in Germany, most of what you come across is US comedy shows like Friends and dramas like CSI and such stuff. A few Japanese cartoons were there to mark my early years, such as Heidi or Captain Future, or productions like Vicky the Viking or Czech children's programmes like Pan Tau or Lucy the Menace of Street. I found English titles for these programmes, so I suppose they were aired over here in Britain, too. 

The point is, these were things I grew up with, and which formed me and my life. Give me the title song (well, the one they played in Germany) of Captain Future, or anyone else about my age, and we all sit right back there on the sofa or on the floor in front of the TV set, possibly still black and white, definitely one with an antenna sticking out, eagerly awaiting the adventures the crew would meet with that day. We can still sing the theme song to Maya the Bee. In fact, my Japanese friends can sing that too, just that we grew up with different versions... We spent hours enjoying Colt Seavers beat up the bad guys or speculating over who killed Laura Palmer a bit later. We bonded over these shows, and still refer to them now and then, or use them in jokes. 

Among the shows I grew up with there were hardly any British ones. One that was popular in Germany, as apparently the dubbed version improved the show quite a bit, was The Persuaders, simply translated to Die Zwei, i.e. the two. Rumour has it that Dr. Who was aired as well, although I never came across it until I went to university. So really, the only British programmes I watched while growing up were The Professionals, Faulty Towers and reruns of The Avengers.  And I caught up later at uni with Red Dwarf, love it, adore it, no other spaceship will ever even come near it. And yes, I did watch a few Mr. Bean and Black Adder shows, but no, I just can't get into it, not my sense of humour, too far over the line to slapstick.

So, now I live here, and I notice every now and then what I have missed. It's mostly about cultural references, like when my ex-boss-boss referred to some colleagues as Thunderbird one and two... Something I intend to work on, even if I will never completely catch up.

I just wonder, why is it that it was almost exclusively American programmes that became so popular? Now that I live here I have had a chance to get a few interesting recommendations on what to watch, plus I had already fallen in love with British films quite some time ago, the dark humour in things like Shallow Grave just top anything Hollywood could ever produce. And is there any need to mention Monty Python? So why were British series hardly ever on the menu? Just because they don't have all those fancy special effects? I mean, I agree, they don't look as flashy and glitzy, but absolutely make up for it with wit and brains. Or failing the latter at least beautiful black humour. 

Well, now the problem is, what have I missed? Which shows are essential? I have watched a few Only Fools and Horses, bought the complete Vicar of Dibley, worked my way through Being Human before the Americans made this terrible remake of it, and adore the Mighty Boosh with their weirdo stories and songs... And right now I sit here snickering over the bad cop attitude of DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and admire the wonderful wallpaper and brown-beige themed wardrobe of the 70s flashback. So I'm working on it! And am grateful for any further recommendation, darlings!