Editing British sitcom (section)

===The alternatives' incursion===
In the 1980s, the emerging [[Alternative comedy|alternative comedians]] began to develop sitcoms, partly as a response to series such as ''Terry and June'' (1979–87), with their "complacent gentility, outmoded social attitudes and bourgeois sensibilities".<ref>Matthew Coniam [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/579057/index.html "Terry and June (1979-87)"], BFI screenonline</ref> The alternatives' incursion began with ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]'' (1982–84), written by [[Rik Mayall]], [[Ben Elton]] and others. To help make it stand out, the group opted to combine traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick, [[non sequitur (literary device)|non-sequitur]] plot turns, and surrealism. These older styles were mixed with the working and lower-middle class attitudes of the growing 1980s alternative comedy boom. Mayall was also the star of ''[[The New Statesman (1987 TV series)|The New Statesman]]'' (1987–92), a series created by [[Maurice Gran]] and [[Laurence Marks (British writer)|Laurence Marks]], whose biggest success, ''[[Birds of a Feather (TV series)|Birds of a Feather]]'' (1989–98, 2014–20), also deviated from British practice in being scripted by a team of writers.
The alternative comedy genre continued with ''[[Blackadder]]'' (1983–89), mainly written by Ben Elton and [[Richard Curtis]] and starring [[Rowan Atkinson]], [[Tony Robinson]], [[Tim McInnerny]], [[Miranda Richardson]], [[Stephen Fry]] and [[Hugh Laurie]]. Atkinson's [[Edmund Blackadder]] came at number three in the Channel 4 list of 100 greatest television characters.<ref name="GreatestTVcharacters"/> Other high-ratings mainstream, slice-of-life shows of the decade included ''[[Bread (TV series)|Bread]]'' (1986–1991) written by Carla Lane, about a close-knit, working-class family in [[Liverpool]]. Running for 74 episodes, at its peak it attracted 21 million viewers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/bread_1299000416.shtml |title=BBC – Comedy Guide – Bread |date=29 December 2004 |access-date=9 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229225910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/bread_1299000416.shtml |archive-date=29 December 2004}},</ref> Another notable series was the [[Science fiction]] comedy ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' (1988–), while ''[['Allo 'Allo!]]'' another Croft and Lloyd creation is set in German occupied France during World War II.