Phoenix Nights' Dave Spikey: My favourite sitcoms

The biomedical scientist-turned-stand-up comic will be at the Parr Hall on March 31.

As part of a special preview for the gig, we asked the Phoenix Nights co-writer and actor to share his favourite sitcoms.

Porridge

A prison is such an unlikely situation for a comedy. Thinking up plots and humour in such a downbeat, claustrophobic, confined environment with the same routine day after monotonous day would, on the face of it, appear impossible.

However the brilliance of Porridge's writing and acting was to make the criminals believable and sympathetic so we could enjoy, guiltlessly, their attempts to make their lives in jail a little less bleak.

The stories revolve around the outstanding Ronnie Barker as Fletcher, an inmate with a quick mind, a ready wit, and an extensive vocabulary. Fletcher was probably top of the class at school until he was 14, when he discovered girls and shoplifting.

Each episode features Fletch beating the system, sometimes in the most trivial of ways and in doing so gaining the little victories that made his daily life in prison more bearable.

Fawlty Towers

Each episode is a little 30-minute farce that starts very low key and ends up absolutely frantic. It was so well crafted by John Cleese and Connie Booth that the brilliant comic creation of Basil can start out with the best intentions but then, of course, everything and everyone conspires against him.

The show was so carefully plotted that various strands would come together in a hilarious climax that you wouldn't quite be expecting.

The addition of Manuel was a stroke of genius. A brilliant device used to demonstrate Basil's instinctive lack of sensitivity and tolerance. Every episode involves Basil becoming enraged at Manuel's confusion at his boss's bizarre demands and even basic requests.

Manuel is afraid of Fawlty's quick temper and violent assaults, yet often expresses his appreciation for being given employment. He is relentlessly enthusiastic and is proud of what little English he knows.

Men Behaving Badly

Critics said that it wasn’t big and it wasn’t clever but I totally disagree. The scripts were sharp, the performances brilliant and the chemistry between the cast exceptional. In fact, Gary and Tony were lovably pathetic, revelling in a second childhood.

Their quest: to get drunk on lager, watch hours of mind-numbing TV and fathom their respective women.

The child-like Tony is a brilliant character – one with no emotional middle ground.

Each episode was a rollercoaster for the loveable fool. His will they/won't they relationship with Deborah led to infectious bursts of enthusiasm on his part, followed by crushing bouts of disappointment when things didn't work out. Either way, it was hilarious to watch.

Father Ted

Unlike the majority of sit-coms, the series is set in a humorously surreal world in which Ted is the only fully rounded 'normal' character surrounded by an assortment of exaggerated, over-friendly, over-stupid or over-dull caricatures.

There is something slightly strange about it and maybe that's why I love it so much.

Embarrassment plays a role in many storylines. If Ted is in a situation that is slightly embarrassing we see him try to get out of it by lying or cheating, basically digging a massive hole for himself

Then there’s the brilliantly stupid and marginally atheist Father Dougal.

Steptoe and Son

It was an absolute landmark, the first ‘proper’ sitcom in the sense that it featured actors playing actual characters as opposed to comedians playing extensions of themselves.

Landmark too, was the exploration of the misery, poverty and hopelessness of working class, even underclass, life.

Extraordinary also was the portrayal of a father – Albert and son – Harold who truly loathed and despised each other. Harold’s plight was heartbreaking, his desire for love, success, money and dignity constantly thwarted by his controlling, sadistic and manipulative father.

And to find comedy in this situation? Apparently effortless for Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who blended farce with tragedy, hilarity with cruelty, and created what remains, if not the funniest then certainly one of the most important situation comedies of all time.

Rising Damp

Leonard Rossiter is superb as Rigsby, a miserly, seedy, and ludicrously self-regarding landlord of a run-down Victorian house who rents out his shabby bedsits to a variety of tenants.

Add to the mix his strong right-wing views, which are adopted without morals or reason and you, have a genius comedy character who also makes exaggerated and romanticised references to his military service during the Second World War, frequently referring to 'a bit of trouble with the old shrapnel'.

The supporting cast are perfect. Richard Beckinsale played Alan, a long haired, naive, good-natured and amiable medical student. Frances de la Tour was Miss Jones, a fey, whimsical spinster who rents another room and with who Rigsby is in love and in the pilot episode, a new tenant Philip Smith (Don Warrington) arrives who claims to be the son of an African Chief. A Perfect mix.

There are similarities with Fawlty Towers. A farce structure (doors endlessly burst open, people pop up from behind plants), a sublime four-piece cast, and a main character who's a miserly, middle-aged snob, forever tripping as he scrabbles up the social ladder.

Dave performs at The Brindley in Runcorn on November 30. Visit thebrindley.org.uk. Tickets for his Parr Hall show on March 31 are also on sale. Visit pyramidparrhall.com