Television series
A Very Peculiar Practice
- Comedy
- Strange
A Very Peculiar Practice is a blackly comic drama about an idealistic young doctor joining a university medical centre staffed by brilliant misfits, incompetents, and barely-functioning eccentrics. It's witty, unsettling, and deeply humane—a show that finds tragedy and comedy in the same moment. For anyone who loves character-driven ensemble work with an edge.
If you liked this
Casualty1986
An ensemble medical drama that balances humour and genuine stakes in hospital settings. Both shows find humanity in the everyday chaos of healthcare and its workers.
But Casualty plays it straighter and more sentimental; if you want the darker satirical bite, this softens it considerably.
Blackadder1983
Sharp comedy writing with an ensemble cast where everyone gets their moment. Both shows excel at finding absurdity in systems and hierarchies without losing sight of character.
But Blackadder is faster, more punchline-driven, and set in a fantastical world rather than grounded reality.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy1981
BBC comedy that blends the surreal with character work, finding genuine oddness in everyday institutions. Both have a uniquely British sensibility about bureaucratic dysfunction.
But Hitchhiker's is pure sci-fi absurdism; A Very Peculiar Practice stays rooted in a recognisable world, which some find less fun.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Very Peculiar Practice
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Synecdoche, New York2008
Both explore how people construct false worlds inside systems and institutions; both find tragic comedy in the gap between intention and reality.
A film about a director building a replica of his world inside a warehouse, struggling with meaning and mortality. It has the same DNA of black comedy meeting profound alienation, the same feeling of watching someone slowly come undone.
But It's deliberately opaque and exhaustingly bleak; not a comfortable watch, and the narrative can feel impenetrable.
More like this (6)
Green Wing2004
A hospital comedy-drama with surreal moments, quick edits, and a cast of brilliant, broken people. Shares that tonal blend of laugh-out-loud and genuinely moving.
But Green Wing is faster and more visually stylised; this is more grounded and deliberately paced, which might feel slow if you want constant zaniness.
The IT Crowd2006
Ensemble comedy about brilliant people trapped in dysfunctional hierarchies. Both shows love their characters too much to just mock them.
But The IT Crowd is much faster and broader; this is subtler and more willing to sit in uncomfortable silences.
This Life1996
An ensemble about young professionals navigating a system with ambition, ego, and real stakes. Same DNA of character-driven workplace drama with genuine tensions.
But This Life is more melodrama, less comedy; if you want the satirical edge, you won't find it here.
The House of God1984
A film about young doctors in a chaotic hospital learning that the system is broken and hilarious and tragic. Darkly funny in exactly the way this show is.
But The film is from 1984 and shows its age heavily; also much more cynical and less character-sympathetic than the series.
Medicine Man1992
A workplace ensemble about idealism meeting institutional dysfunction. Shares the theme of bright people struggling against systems that don't work.
But It's a broad comedy-adventure, not a sharp satire; the tone is lighter and less interested in the darker implications.
The Remains of the Day1993
Both examine how institutions and hierarchies shape identity; both ask what it costs to be a good person within a broken system, and whether goodness matters if it changes nothing.
Not a comedy, but deeply concerned with duty, systems, and what they cost us. The quiet devastation of watching someone realise they've subordinated their life to an institution mirrors the darker moments here.
But It's a restrained, melancholic period drama with no laughs; the pacing is glacial and the mood is mournful throughout.
People
Cast
Writing
- Andrew DaviesCreator