Television series

The Catherine Tate Show

Catherine Tate's sketch show is a masterclass in character comedy—every sketch built around a fully-formed, wildly specific person with their own logic and rhythm. Tate disappears into each role completely, from the furious pensioner to the overeager new mum. It's anarchic, quotable, and made sketch feel relevant again in the mid-2000s.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love sketch comedy built around one performer slipping into a gallery of sharply observed, unhinged characters, and you laugh hardest at the escalating awkwardness of a single bad conversation.

Skip it if you want a steady story, recurring plotlines, or a cast that rotates through the same familiar sitcom roles, since here almost everything is a self-contained sketch that lands or doesn't in a few minutes.

What it asks of you: Each episode runs about half an hour and jumps between short, self-contained bits, so you need to be ready to let one sketch go and wait for the next character to arrive.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Little Britain2003

David Walliams and Matt Lucas build the same kind of character-driven sketches Tate perfects: wholly committed, utterly weird people you somehow recognize. Sharp and inventive across all six series.

But The humour feels dated now; some sketches relied on shock value more than actual jokes, and it can be uneven within a single episode.

Little Britain poster

French and Saunders1987

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders proved sketch comedy could be smart, character-based, and genuinely funny without gimmicks. Their parodies and invented personas hold up better than almost anything from that era.

But Much slower-paced than Tate's show; if you want rapid-fire laughs, this might feel too willing to let a scene breathe.

French and Saunders poster

Snuff Box2006

Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher create grotesque, memorable characters within a sketch framework. The commitment to absurdity and the willingness to let ideas get properly weird mirrors what makes Tate's show work.

But Very dark and quite niche; the humour is frequently abrasive and there's almost no plot to hang onto between sketches.

Snuff Box poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Catherine Tate Show

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Absolutely Fabulous1992

Both shows are powered by female performers creating fully-formed, utterly committed characters who dominate the space they occupy. The Catherine Tate Show is sketch; AbFab shows what happens when you give those characters a series.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley's characters are so fully realized they spill into episodic drama. It proves a sketch sensibility—extreme, specific, committed—can sustain a narrative, which is where Tate's best characters want to go.

But Relies heavily on understanding 1990s celebrity and fashion references; the pacing and tone feel very much of their era, which may feel slow or dated.

Absolutely Fabulous poster
More like this (8)

Inside No. 92014

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton prove sketch-adjacent comedy can be inventive, unsettling, and brilliantly crafted. Each episode is a complete story but with that same commitment to specificity and detail.

But It's primarily dramatic rather than comedic; darker and more interested in twist endings than laughs. Slower build than sketch shows.

Inside No. 9 poster

Big Train1998

Jeremy Dyson, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss made sketch comedy that was genuinely strange and inventive. The characters are bizarre but always operating from consistent logic, like Tate's best work.

But Some sketches don't land; it's very of its time technically, and the pacing can feel sluggish to modern viewers used to faster cuts.

Big Train poster

That Mitchell and Webb Look2006

David Mitchell and Robert Webb nail the writing side of sketch comedy with characters that reveal something true underneath the weirdness. Smart, crafted, and frequently very touching.

But Less anarchic than Tate; more interested in the writing and observation than in committed physical performance or surrealism.

That Mitchell and Webb Look poster

Brass Eye1997

Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci created one of the sharpest sketch shows ever made. Every character and scenario is built on real satirical purpose rather than just being odd for oddness's sake.

But Very specific satirical targets that feel dated; genuinely offensive in ways some viewers will find gratuitous rather than purposeful.

Brass Eye poster

The League of Gentlemen1999

Jeremy Dyson, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss build a genuinely disturbing gallery of British grotesques. The commitment to character and the willingness to go dark shows sketch comedy's range.

But Darker and meaner than Tate; some characters are designed to be actively unpleasant rather than funny, which some find more uncomfortable than entertaining.

The League of Gentlemen poster

Chappelle's Show2003

Dave Chappelle's sketch show proved character comedy could carry serious satirical weight. The specificity of the characters and the sharpness of the writing elevates it beyond standard sketch format.

But Some sketches aged badly; the show sometimes mistakes shock value for insight, and the comedy can feel uneven across episodes.

Chappelle's Show poster

Monty Python's Flying Circus1969

Both shows understand that sketch comedy works when you commit absolutely to a character's internal logic, no matter how mad. Python went abstract; Tate grounds hers in recognizable British types, but the engine is identical.

The template for British sketch comedy, but what holds up is the sheer inventiveness and the way sketches build internal logic. The commitment to complete weirdness and the refusal to explain anything still feels fresh.

But Uneven; some sketches are repetitive and rely on repetition as the joke itself. Very male-dominated in its sensibility and sometimes feels self-indulgent.

Monty Python's Flying Circus poster

Reno 911!2003

Both shows prove that sketch characters work best when you give them a consistent world to exist in. Reno 911! builds that world around a precinct; Tate scatters hers across scenarios, but the principle is the same.

American mockumentary about incompetent deputies that's sketch comedy in disguise—every character fully committed, improv-based, character-driven. The specificity and absurdity of each deputy mirrors what Tate does with pensioners and nurses.

But The mockumentary format means it's messier and less polished than traditional sketch comedy. American comedy sensibility is very different; some jokes land differently for British audiences.

Reno 911! poster

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