Television series

Keeping Up Appearances

Name: Keeping Up Appearances
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1990
Cast: Patricia Routledge

A gloriously mean-spirited sitcom about Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced 'Bouquet', thank you very much – who spends every episode terrorising neighbours, siblings and passing vicars in pursuit of a respectability she was never born into. There's barely a plot, just escalating social catastrophe. Patricia Routledge makes monstrousness watchable, even lovable. Perfect Sunday-evening comfort viewing for anyone who finds snobbery funnier than sympathy.

TVMaze rating

8.0

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Fawlty Towers1975

The gold standard of British farce, built on exactly the same engine as Hyacinth: someone desperate to maintain an image of control while everything collapses around them, faster and faster.

But Only twelve episodes exist, and Basil's rage is a lot spikier and less cosy than Hyacinth's genteel disasters.

Absolutely Fabulous1992

Swaps Hyacinth's aspirational respectability for chain-smoking excess, but it's the same joke really – a woman performing a status she doesn't have, oblivious to how she actually looks.

But Much ruder and messier; if you like Hyacinth's prim control, Edina's chaos might feel like a different show entirely.

One Foot in the Grave1990

Same era, same BBC sitcom DNA, but the misanthropy points outward instead of upward – Victor Meldrew fumes at the world rather than climbing it. Brilliantly, bitterly funny.

But Colder and grumpier than Hyacinth's world; less warmth, more existential despair dressed as suburban comedy.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Abigail's Party1977no page yet

Same obsession with performing refinement to mask ordinary desperation, but played entirely straight – it shows you the tragedy underneath the joke Hyacinth is always telling.

Mike Leigh's excruciating TV play is Hyacinth's dark twin: a suburban hostess performing sophistication at a disastrous dinner party, curdling from comedy into something almost unbearable.

But There's no laugh track and no forgiveness – it's cringe with teeth, and the ending offers no cosy resolution at all.

Last of the Summer Wine1973

Gentle, meandering English comedy from the same stable, trading social panic for daft old men wandering the Yorkshire Dales. A lovely companion piece in tone.

But Almost no plot momentum whatsoever; if you watch Hyacinth for the farce, this may feel too slow and pastoral.

To the Manor Born1979

Another sitcom obsessed with class and appearances, this time from the aristocrat's side of the fence – watching someone lose status is the mirror image of Hyacinth desperately faking it.

But Softer and more romantic in structure; there's a will-they-won't-they warmth Hyacinth's show never bothers with.

Are You Being Served?1972no page yet

Department-store farce dripping with the same fussy Englishness and social one-upmanship, just relocated from the suburban street to the shop floor.

But Broader, campier, and more innuendo-driven – the humour is cruder than Hyacinth's carefully arranged disasters.

The Good Life1975

Self-sufficiency versus suburban propriety, with the Goods' chaos next door to the status-obsessed Leadbetters – basically Hyacinth's nightmare neighbours, told from the other side.

But Kinder and more idealistic; there's real affection here that Hyacinth's world rarely allows itself.

As Time Goes By1992no page yet

A gentler, more romantic middle-class sitcom from the same period, for when you want the comfort of the era without Hyacinth's social terrorism.

But Genuinely warm and low-stakes throughout; if you want farce and cringe, this is far too pleasant.

The Importance of Being Earnest1952no page yet

The same comic machine – status anxiety disguised as manners – running on Victorian aristocracy instead of a 1990s cul-de-sac.

Wilde's farce got there first: aristocrats maintaining elaborate social fictions purely to be thought well of, decades before Hyacinth ever picked up a good bone-china cup.

But Stagey and verbally dense rather than visually farcical – the pleasure is in the dialogue, not pratfalls or slapstick disaster.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians2007no page yet

Where Hyacinth fakes respectability for a street of neighbours, this is the same performance scaled up to a global audience, sincerity and irony both gone.

Unscripted, modern, and unapologetically vulgar, it's the same title's promise made literal: a family building an entire identity around being watched and admired.

But There's no writer's wit here, no punchline – just real people performing status for cameras, which some will find grim rather than funny.