"Britain's Best Sitcom" - The First Episode Quiz

Answer: The Man and the Hour

"Dad's Army" was the brainchild of actor Jimmy Perry, who based the idea on his own experiences as a young man serving in the Home Guard in the early years of the Second World War. Originally titled "The Fighting Tigers", the first episode was originally broadcast on 31 July 1968. "Dad's Army" eventually ran for a total of nine series, with the final episode, "Never Too Old", broadcast on 13 November 1977.

Answer: The Arrival

"The Vicar of Dibley" was created by writer Richard Curtis specifically for Dawn French. Although the central character of the Reverend Geraldine Grainger, played by French, was not based on a specific individual, both Curtis and French consulted with Joy Carroll, one of the first women to be ordained as a Church of England minister.

The first episode was originally broadcast on 10 November 1994, with the series eventually totalling 20 episodes.

Answer: Full of Mysterious Promise

"Open All Hours" started life as part of a series of pilot episodes written for comedy actor Ronnie Barker called "Seven of One". Two of the episodes from this were eventually selected for development as series, with "Open All Hours", written by Roy Clarke and starring Barker and David Jason, broadcasting its first episode on 20 February 1976, and eventually running for four series and 25 episodes.

In 2013, a continuation, called "Still Open All Hours" and starring David Jason, was broadcast by the BBC.

Answer: Big Brother

"Only Fools and Horses" was thought up by writer John Sullivan following the end of his previous sitcom "Citizen Smith". Initially using the working title "Readies", Sullivan always planned to use the final title as a reference to the tax- and work-evading lifestyle of the central character, Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter, played by David Jason, the phrase being a contraction of an old term 'only fools and horses work for a living' that had its origins in vaudeville.

The first episode was broadcast on 8 September 1981, with the series eventually totaling 64 episodes.

The episode "Time On Our Hands", broadcast on 29 December 1996, received a total of 24.3 million viewers, making it one of the most watched individual episodes of any television series in the UK.

Answer: New Faces, Old Hands

"Porridge" was another of the shows developed from the "Seven of One" series of pilots for actor Ronnie Barker. The show came from the episode entitled "Prisoner and Escort" by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, with the series' first episode being broadcast on 5 September 1974.

The show lasted for a total of 21 episodes, before being spun-off into a further series called "Going Straight" and a feature film.

Answer: Alive and Buried

"One Foot in the Grave" was developed by writer David Renwick and starred Richard Wilson as the irascible Victor Meldrew. The first episode was broadcast on 4 January 1990, with the series lasting for a total of 42 episodes. Although ostensibly a traditional, studio-based multi-camera sitcom, "One Foot in the Grave" is notable for incorporating both farcical situations and elements of black comedy into the series.

Answer: Open Government

"Yes Minister" was developed by writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn as a satire on politics and government in the United Kingdom. Many of the situations in episodes were based on real events that the writers learned about from the many sources they had in the major political parties and the Civil Service.

The series was first broadcast on 25 February 1980, and ran for three series and 22 episodes. In the 1984 Christmas episode "Party Games", the central character of Jim Hacker, played by Paul Eddington, succeeded to the leadership of his party, becoming Prime Minister; this led to a further two series, totaling 16 episodes, under the title "Yes, Prime Minister", between January 1986 and January 1988.

Answer: Plough Your Own Furrow

"The Good Life" was created by writers Bob Larbey and John Esmonde specifically for actor Richard Briers, playing the character of Tom Good, who leaves his job on his 40th birthday to live a new, self-sufficient lifestyle. The first episode was originally broadcast on 4 April 1975, with a total of 30 episodes eventually produced.

The final episode, "When I'm 65...", was recorded as a Royal Command Performance in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Answer: A Touch of Class

"Fawlty Towers" came about following John Cleese staying at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay , and coming into contact with the owner, Donald Sinclair, describing him as "the rudest man I've ever come across in my life". Cleese and co-writer Connie Booth eventually used Sinclair as the basis of the lead character, Basil Fawlty.

The first episode was broadcast on 19 September 1975. Famously, the series ran for just two series, totaling 12 episodes.

Answer: The Foretelling

"Blackadder" was developed by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. Anxious to avoid comparisons with "Fawlty Towers", the pair elected to write an historical sitcom, with the first series set at the end of the 15th century. The first episode was originally broadcast on 15 June 1983, with a total of six episodes broadcast. Unlike other sitcoms, subsequent series of "Blackadder" were set during different periods in history, with the total of 27 episodes covering periods including the Elizabethan, the Regency and the First World War.