The 12 most underrated comedy series to watch on BBC iPlayer

If there’s one thing the BBC knows how to do, it’s make us laugh. Over the decades, it’s been home to some of our best-loved and most revered comedies, from Absolutely Fabulous to Fawlty Towers and The Royle Family. But away from the well-known, there are plenty of sketch shows and sitcoms that haven’t got the love and attention they deserve. Time to bring them out of the shadows and into the limelight of comedy available on iPlayer, I say. Here are 12 of the BBC’s best comedies that you probably haven’t seen… yet. Famalam Vivienne Acheampong as Yemi Chedda (Photo: BBC/Rory Lindsay) A Nigerian Prince who can’t get an email back, a garage MC whose verses are dedicated to early Black British history, and Moses “Motherf***in” Mountree, the Black detective who finds himself in an episode of Midsomer Murders – these are just a handful of the leftfield, hilarious characters dreamt up by the troupe of comedians behind the sketch show Famalam. You’re sure to recognise some of the comics: Bafta winner Gbemisola Ikumelo was in Last One Laughing, while Samson Kayo (also nominated for a Bafta) has been in House of the Dragon and Bloods. Dinosaur Kat Ronney as Evie and Ashley Storrie as Nina (Photo: BBC/Two Brothers Pictures/Mark Mainz) Nina (Ashley Storrie, also the show’s co-creator) is a 30 something Scottish paleontologist living with her older sister and best friend Evie (Kat Ronney). She’s also autistic, lending a unique and often funny perspective on the world. Nina is happy with how her life is going, until one day Evie comes home and announces that she’s getting married – to a man she’s only known for six weeks. Not only does she want Nina’s blessing, she also wants her to be her maid of honour. It sets off a chain of events that could change Nina’s life forever, whether it be her career or even her own love life. We Might Regret This Kyla Harris as Freya and Elena Saurel as Jo (Photo: BBC/Roughcut/Parisa Taghizadeh) We’re told that programmes are “groundbreaking” so often that it can sometimes seem like marketing jargon. But We Might Regret This lives up to the accolade, focusing on a disabled woman’s love life, rather than her disability. Tetraplegic Freya (co-creator Kyla Harris) has left her native Canada to live with her boyfriend Abe (Darren Boyd), but under the same roof, their differences are stark: she’s a free-spirited artist, he’s an uptight lawyer – and 20 years her senior. Thankfully, Freya’s pal Jo (Elena Saurel) agrees to take on a job as her live-in PA, making her privy to all of the couple’s highs and lows. What could possibly go wrong? Austin Sally Phillips as Ingrid, Michael Theo as Austin and Ben Miller as Julian (Photo: BBC/Northern Pictures/Screen Canberra/Australian Broadcasting Corporation/ITV Studios) You might recognise Michael Theo, the star of this comedy, from Netflix’s wonderful Australian documentary series Love on the Spectrum. Here he plays the eponymous Austin, a 28-year-old man who is on the autism spectrum and wants to meet his biological father. Just one problem – his dad is a disgraced author who lives across the world in the UK. When Julian (played by Ben Miller) announced a book tour across Australia, Austin seizes the opportunity to reunite with him – despite the fact Julian doesn’t know he even exists. Sunny and optimistic, Austin is that rare comedy that the whole family will be able to enjoy together. Black Ops Gbemisola Ikumelo as Dom and Hammed Animashaun as Kay (Photo: BBC/James Stack) Famalam‘s Gbemisola Ikumelo also stars in this laugh out loud crime caper alongside theatre star Hammed Animashaun (you may have caught him as a particularly hilarious Bottom in the National Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream). They play two community support officers who soon find out their new jobs at the Met are actually as undercover coppers – a role they’re both deeply underqualified for – to infiltrate an East End gang run by the terrifying Tevin (Akemnji Ndifornyen, also in Famalam). While it’s silly and fun, there’s also a serious side to Black Ops – and plenty of action, too. Such Brave Girls Kat Sadler as Josie, Louise Brealey as Deb and Lizzie Davidson as Billie (Photo: BBC/Various Artists Limited/James Stack) Despite winning the Bafta for Best Scripted Comedy in 2024, Kat Sadler’s Such Brave Girls remains an underrated comedy. It focuses on Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson), sisters who still live with their frazzled single mum Deb (Louise Brealey). They’re in debt, selfish, and self-destructive – all defects that combine to make a series that is at once an angry rail against the way society treats women and their mental health problems, and a zippy, sardonic comedy. You’ll fly through the two available series – and start counting the days until the third arrives later this year. Here We Go Katherine Parkinson (second right) and Jim Howick (centre) play Paul and Rachel Jessop (Photo: Jonathan Browning/BBC) Considering Here We Go stars some of Britain’s best loved comic actors – Jim Howick from Ghosts, Katherine Parkinson from The IT Crowd, Alison Steadman from Gavin & Stacey – it’s surprising that it’s not the biggest show in the country. Filmed in a mockumentary style, the family sitcom follows the Jessops, a comfortingly chaotic family who just want to get through life with as few upsets as possible. Obviously, that doesn’t happen, and dad Paul (Howick) and mum Rachel (Parkinson) find their hands full at various weddings, birthday parties and on holidays. Daddy Issues Aimee Lou Wood as Gemma and David Morrissey as Malcolm (Photo: BBC/Fudge Park Productions/James Stack) We usually see David Morrissey playing a gruff, serious copper (Sherwood), or a gruff, serious headteacher (Gone), but in Daddy Issues he plays the clown. More specifically, he’s Malcolm, hapless dad to Gemma (The White Lotus‘s Aimee Lou Wood), with whom he has to move in when his marriage falls apart. Their father-daughter-flat mate relationship is further complicated when Gemma reveals that she’s expecting a baby, and the pair find themselves unsure of which of them is supposed to be the adult in the room. Despite the tense premise, Daddy Issues is a heartwarming, funny, tender reminder that none of us really know what we’re doing. Back to Life Daisy Haggard as Miri Matteson (Photo: BBC/Two Brothers Pictures/Luke Varley) Daisy Haggard’s 2019 series errs towards the darker side of the comedy spectrum, and at times you might wonder whether you should be laughing or crying. She plays Miri, a middle-aged woman who has just returned to her home in Kent after spending the last 18 years in prison after murdering her best friend, Lara. The truth about what really happened is a little more complicated, but everyone in her small hometown isn’t interested in the nuances, and they shun her. Well, everyone except her oddball loveable neighbour Billy (Adeel Akhtar), who gives Miri a clean slate. If you like your comedy sharp, uncomfortable, and honest, Back to Life is one for you. Funboys Paul Bazely as Malcolm McCafferty, Rian Lennon as Jordan and Richard Croxford as Ben McCafferty (Photo: BBC/Mayhay Studios Ltd/Chloe Dymott) This Northern Irish series picks up where This Country left off, finding humour and absurdity in the parochial delights of rural living. Add in the laddish banter of The Inbetweeners and you’re closer to understanding the crude but hilarious tone. Best mates Callum (Ryan Dylan), Jordan (Rian Lennon, co-creator along with Dylan) and Lorcan (Lee R James) spend their weekends playing video games together, but when Gemma (Ele McKenzie) arrives on the scene, the so-called funboys find themselves competing for her attention. Juice Mawaan Rizwan as Jamma (Photo: BBC/WarnerMedia/Liam Daniel) Just like Fleabag, Baby Reindeer and Alma’s Not Normal, Mawaan Rizwan’s Juice started life as a show at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival. He plays a young, frenetic man, Jamma, who is struggling to commit to his older put together boyfriend Guy (Russell Tovey) once and for all. On top of that, he’s consistently competing with his attention-seeking siblings and his former film star mother. If that sounds normal, don’t be fooled – Juice is a surrealist, artistic treat for the eyes, that never stays in reality for too long. Fans of The Mighty Boosh and Chewing Gum will find a lot to love. Ellie and Natasia Ellie White and Natasia Demetriou (Photo: BBC/Nit Television) Natasia Demetriou and Ellie White are probably best known for their turns as Sophie and Katia in Channel 4’s brilliant hit comedy Stath Lets Flats, but their 2022 sketch show is just as funny and quirky. Sketches include adverts for dodgy nail salon Internet Nails, dominatrixes who are obsessed with vaping, middle class mothers with their own YouTube channel, and culinary entrepreneurs The Brothers Pomodoro. Silly, hysterically funny and often biting, watching this feels like hanging out with your funniest friends. And good news – another series has just been announced.