Television series
Harry Enfield & Chums
The sketch show that gave British comedy a national vocabulary — Kevin the Teenager's slammed doors, the Self-Righteous Brothers' preening, Tim Nice But Dim's blithe posh idiocy. Enfield, Whitehouse and Burke build entire personalities out of a single tic, repeated until it's hilarious rather than tedious. Broad, cosy, endlessly quotable — this is Sunday-night comfort telly for people who like their comedy character-driven rather than clever.
If you liked this
The Fast Show1994
Enfield's exact contemporary and closest comic cousin — another sketch show built on catchphrases and recurring faces, but tighter and even more quotable. If you loved Kevin, you'll love Jazz Club.
But Some sketches are pure nonsense with no real punchline beyond the repetition — it demands patience for its own weirdness.
Little Britain2003
The direct descendant: character comedy pushed further into grotesque, catchphrase-heavy sketches built for pub impressions. Same DNA as Kevin and the Brothers, just meaner and more willing to shock.
But Some characters and jokes have aged badly and can feel cruel rather than affectionate now.
The Catherine Tate Show2004no page yet
Another sketch show built entirely on a handful of monstrous, endlessly repeatable characters — Nan and nasty schoolgirl Lauren are as quotable as anything Enfield ever made.
But The repetition-as-comedy formula wears thin faster if you're not already fond of the central performer.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In1967
Enfield's sketch-catchphrase machine has an American ancestor — Laugh-In invented the rapid-fire, character-repeats-a-line format decades earlier, running gags and instant-quotable phrases included.
See where the whole engine came from — quick cuts, recurring characters, punchlines you shout back at the screen. It's the sketch show's founding document, and it still lands.
But Very much of its moment — psychedelic 60s American variety TV, with pacing and references that feel genuinely archaic now.
More like this (8)
French and Saunders1987no page yet
The sketch show Enfield grew up alongside — sharper, more absurd, and proof the format could be silly and clever at once, with brilliant film and celebrity parodies.
But More culturally dated references and film parodies that need footnotes if you don't know the originals.
Goodness Gracious Me1998no page yet
Same sketch-show DNA, turned on British Asian identity with real bite and joy — recurring characters, endlessly quotable lines, and genuine warmth beneath the satire.
But Some sketches lean on repeating a joke that's already landed once, with diminishing returns by episode's end.
The League of Gentlemen1999
What happens when sketch-show character comedy turns properly sinister — the same instinct for grotesque types, aimed at horror instead of Sunday-teatime silliness.
But Much darker and weirder; if you want Enfield's warmth, this trades it for genuine unease and dread.
Big Train1998no page yet
A stranger, more surreal sketch cousin — fewer catchphrases, more deadpan absurdism, and a killer eye for the low-key horror of office life.
But Less character-driven than Enfield's work; if you came for recurring personalities, you won't find them here.
Absolutely Fabulous1992
Same era, same cast crossover (Kathy Burke pops up), and the same appetite for grotesque comic monsters — just stretched into a sitcom instead of sketches.
But It's a sitcom, not sketches — narrative continuity replaces the quick-hit joke rhythm you're used to.
Smack the Pony1999no page yet
A female-led sketch show from the same late-90s British boom, with its own gallery of strange, specific characters and a gentler, odder sense of humour.
But Quieter and less quotable than Enfield's work — its charms are subtler, not catchphrase-sized.
Summer Heights High2007
One performer playing wildly different social types — including a teenage boy as monstrous and self-absorbed as Kevin — but sustained across a mockumentary arc rather than broken into sketches.
Chris Lilley's shape-shifting through a private-school princess, a delinquent boy, and a hopeless drama teacher is the character-comedy trick Enfield perfected, stretched into something sharper and stranger.
But Mockumentary format and Australian setting are a big tonal shift; some characters attracted real controversy for how they're played.
This Is England2007
The tragic flip side of Kevin the Teenager — a serious, unflinching film about English adolescence and family, taking the same raw material Enfield mined for laughs and refusing the joke.
If you've ever wondered what Kevin's slammed-door rage would look like played entirely straight, this is a devastating answer — and one of the best British films of its decade.
But Genuinely harrowing in places, dealing with racism and violence — nothing here to laugh at, and it doesn't want you to.
People
Cast
Harry EnfieldVarious
Paul WhitehouseVarious
Kathy BurkeVarious
Production
- Maureen McMunnExecutive Producer
- Peter Bennett-JonesExecutive Producer
- Nick MortimerLine Producer
- Clive TullohProducer
- Geoff PosnerProducer
- Sophie Clarke-JervoiseProducer