Dialogue-free British comedies

British comedies are adored around the world. The programmes and films that focus on our quaint ways of life and cultural stereotypes (think Keeping Up Appearances, The Vicar Of Dibley and Are You Being Served?) tend to be the most successful.

Local broadcasters buy the rights to classic sitcoms, whilst more modern shows like Lovesick can be found on streaming services (if you're not in the UK or US, you can still watch shows like this by using an American IP address for Netflix). The most successful though are the ones that are dialogue free, and thus transcend any language barriers.

We've been thinking about how there aren't many 'silent' British comedies made after the invention of the 'talking picture'. A surprise, really, especially given our propensity toward slapstick, and the fact that the best-known British comedy character in the world barely says a word...

Mr Bean

Launched in 1990 on ITV (many people assume it is a BBC show), Mr Bean introduced the world to the bumbling idiot character that star Atkinson once described as "a child in a grown man's body".

Running across 15 episodes up to 1995, the show made viewers howl with laughter as the hapless character got stuck into all kinds of predicaments, often with his teddy bear for company. Such was the show's success that a movie followed in 1997, and - showing the enduring appeal of the character - another (Mr Bean's Holiday, in which the character had an adventure around France) was released 10 years later.

The character continues to appear, most recently popping up in a Comic Relief sketch, however his biggest audience to date was at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, when his antics on the piano were watched by an estimated audience of 900 million people. An animated cartoon series of Bean's adventures also continues to prove a hit with audiences around the world - although is not quite as dialogue-free as the live action original.

The fact Mr Bean was picked to represent Britain's humour to the world in the Olympic ceremony was no accident. Many in Britain might not be quite aware just how popular the character is overseas: the official Mr Bean Facebook page has attracted more Likes than there are people amongst the entire British population!

Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes's career took in writing, performing and directing; having played a great part in the success of the very aural Goon Show, he also made a string of very popular comedies with little or no dialogue.

Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, Sykes made films The Plank and Rhubarb! (remade for TV as The Plank and Rhubarb Rhubarb!), plus TV specials It's Your Move and Mr H Is Late. The most famous, The Plank, starred Sykes with Tommy Cooper in its first incarnation, and Arthur Lowe in its second, whilst a recurring group of highly skilled actors and guest stars appeared throughout the other productions, including Jimmy Edwards, Cannon & Ball, Bob Todd, Brian Murphy, Roy Kinnear, Spike Milligan, Charlie Drake and Sylvia Syms.

From cheating antics on a golf course to workmen trying to transport a long plank of wood; undertakers struggling with a coffin and removal men at work, the films were all loved by the public, relying heavily on physical humour and visual jokes. It's Your Move and the TV version of The Plank, in fact, won at the prestigious Montreux TV festival awards.

The Baldy Man

Gregor Fisher is best known for playing the Glaswegian drunk Rab C Nesbitt. However, between 1995 and 1997, TV audiences were laughing at the actor portraying the titular character in The Baldy Man. The TV series followed the adventures of a large chap with a noticeable comb-over.

Ironically, it's an advert that most people probably remember the character for now. The Hamlet marketing campaign - featuring The Baldy Man in a photo booth - is widely regarded as one of the best TV adverts ever made. It has been placed in the top 10 adverts of all time lists in various polls, including separate ITV and Channel 4 countdowns.

The Two Ronnies

During the run of their eponymous sketch show series, The Two Ronnies produced a pair of dialogue-free comedies: The Picnic in 1976, which won a bronze award at the Montreux festival, and By The Sea in 1982. Both written by Barker under a double pseudonym of 'Dave Huggett and Larry Keith', they followed the antics of an elderly general, his son, and the rest of the family, on days' outings.

Both programmes are now largely overlooked, but recently made available on DVD are well worth checking out, exhibiting Barker's love of cheeky seaside-postcard humour, sight gags, and silly visual innuendo.

Pompidou

The most recent attempt to create a dialogue-free series was mounted by Matt Lucas. In his first solo authored narrative series the Little Britain star introduced audiences to an elderly oddball aristocrat who has fallen on hard times.

The 2015 BBC Two comedy saw Pompidou (and his patient butler, Hove) undertaking a series of adventures including seeking out food, going on a date, and trying to warm up the caravan they live in.

Although Lucas described it as one of the programmes he is most proud of having made, viewers and critics failed to take to the series and it only lasted one series.

So the question remains: who will be next to attempt to emulate the success of Mr Bean and bring us a mute character the whole world loves?