Television series
Ever Decreasing Circles
A cul-de-sac sitcom that turns out to be about heartbreak in cardigans. Martin's manic committee-chairing and colour-coded biscuit tins are the comedy engine, but the real subject is Ann's slow-burning attraction to the neighbour who actually notices her. Gentle, exquisitely observed, often quietly devastating — less about jokes landing than about the ache underneath English politeness. For anyone who thinks sitcoms can't break your heart.
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The Good Life1975
Richard Briers playing almost the same nervy, well-meaning obsessive, years earlier and funnier — the sitcom that made his career, written with the same warmth about people who mean well and drive everyone mad.
But Broader, gentler, more purely comic — none of the quiet sadness that makes Circles linger.
Butterflies1978no page yet
Written by the same Bob Larbey, this one puts the temptation plot front and centre: a bored housewife drawn to a man who isn't her husband, played with real ache rather than farce.
But Slower and more downbeat, and its deliberately ambiguous ending frustrates viewers who want a resolution.
One Foot in the Grave1990
David Renwick's masterpiece about a man whose fury at the world's small indignities becomes something genuinely moving — the fussiness of Martin Bryce turned up to a howl.
But Angrier and more surreal than Circles; Victor Meldrew shouts where Martin quietly sulks.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
American Beauty1999
Same triangle as Circles — a controlling suburban husband, a wife drawn to the more confident man next door — but stripped of all comfort and comedy.
The suburban control freak, the manicured fence, the neighbour who threatens the marriage — this takes the exact same ingredients and plays them as full tragedy, with rot under the lawn instead of a laugh track.
But Genuinely bleak and occasionally pretentious where Circles is warm; this one doesn't want to be your friend.
More like this (7)
Fawlty Towers1975
The other great British sitcom about a man convinced he alone is holding civilisation together, and the magnificent, exhausting comedy of watching that conviction destroy him week after week.
But Frantic where Circles is still — pure farce, with none of the wistfulness underneath.
To the Manor Born1979
Penelope Keith wrestling with lost status and a new neighbour who represents everything she resents and secretly wants — the class-anxiety cousin of the Bryce and Ryman standoff.
But Cosier and more romantic-comedy shaped; it wants you rooting for a happy ending, not sitting with discomfort.
Keeping Up Appearances1990
A gloriously broad take on the same suburban terror of being outclassed, with Hyacinth Bucket as Martin Bryce's shameless, hilarious cousin.
But Cartoonish rather than melancholy — plays the social anxiety purely for laughs, with no ache underneath.
As Time Goes By1992no page yet
Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer's unhurried, deeply likeable relationship comedy proves the genre can be warm without being saccharine, in the same understated register.
But Almost entirely conflict-free — if you liked the tension in Circles, this one won't give you any.
Bread1986
Carla Lane's scrappier, more chaotic family sitcom about keeping up appearances and holding a household together against the odds, from the same period of British telly.
But Louder, broader and more sentimental — the subtlety of Circles is nowhere to be found.
Scener ur ett äktenskap1973
The same quiet question Circles keeps circling — what a marriage actually is once the performance of contentment cracks — answered without a single joke.
Bergman's miniseries strips the marriage-under-strain plot down to two people talking, brutally honestly, about desire and disappointment — the seriousness Circles only gestures at, played all the way through.
But Swedish, subtitled, emotionally punishing, and roughly five hours of two people dismantling each other — a very different kind of evening.
King of the Hill1997
A stubborn, well-meaning traditionalist whose rigid decency is both the joke and the point, filtered through American animation instead of English cardigans.
Hank Hill is Martin Bryce reborn as a Texan propane salesman: decent, rigid, baffled by a changing world, and quietly devoted to a wife who could probably do better. Animated, American, oddly tender.
But Broader and more sentimental than Circles, and a cartoon sitcom might feel like a strange fit if you came for English restraint.
