Editing British sitcom (section)

===Two channel TV===

ITV sitcoms began with the channel's launch in 1957 and throughout the 1960s helped shape British comedy with varied and often experimental styles. In the 1960s, the BBC produced a then-rare workplace comedy with ''[[The Rag Trade]]'' (1961–1963, 1977–1978) written by [[Chesney and Wolfe|Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney]]. The success of the series was due partly to the strength of the female ensemble playing the workforce, who included [[Sheila Hancock]], [[Barbara Windsor]] and [[Esma Cannon]].<ref name="GAUG"/><ref>John Oliver [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/572407/index.html "Chesney, Ronald (1920-) and Wolfe, Ronald (1924-)"], BFI screenonline</ref> It also made the earliest of [[Richard Waring (writer)|Richard Waring]]'s domestic comedies, ''[[Marriage Lines]]'' (1961–1966), starring [[Richard Briers]] (later to star in ''[[The Good Life (1975 TV series)|The Good Life]]'') and [[Prunella Scales]] (who went on to star in ''[[Fawlty Towers]]''), and ''[[Not in Front of the Children (TV series)|Not in Front of the Children]]'' (1967–70), starring [[Wendy Craig]].
Women were usually only cast in secondary roles in this period, though several series with Craig in the lead were an exception. Sitcoms developed by [[Carla Lane]], the first successful female writer in the form,<ref>Julia Hallam [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/975584/index.html "Lane, Carla (1937-)"], BFI screenonline</ref> began with ''[[The Liver Birds]]'' (1969–1979, 1996), initially in collaboration with others.

Another change, with ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'' (1962–65, 1970–74) and ''[[The Likely Lads]]'' (1964–1966), producers began to cast actors, rather than the comedians around whom earlier series like ''Whack-O!'', with Jimmy Edwards, or ''Hancock's Half Hour'', had been built.<ref>John Oliver [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/467108/index.html "Galton, Ray (1930-) and Simpson, Alan (1929-)"], BFI screenonline</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2570620/Ray-Galton-and-Alan-Simpson-look-back-in-laughter.html
|title=Ray Galton and Alan Simpson look back in laughter
|date=16 August 2008
|work=The Telegraph
|access-date=30 December 2021}}</ref>