Cradle To Grave

The 30 best British sitcoms to watch now

Our critics sift through the TV streaming platforms and choose which shows will keep you chuckling.

The evocative 1970s-set sitcom based on Danny Baker's upbringing in south-east London concludes with a double-bill. With his wavy hair and luxuriant eyebrows, young Danny belatedly realises that his resemblance to heartthrob David Essex might be a good way to pick up girls, while his wheeler-dealer dad Spud (Peter Kay) struggles with the demands of a new job. The cockney incarnation of Kay has been a revelation, but Lucy Speed - playing Danny's mother Bet - is this series' secret weapon, and she gets to shine in an eventful finale.

TV review: Cradle To Grave, BBC2, Episode 7/8

I must admit I thought that Cradle to Grave might not have traded so much on being sentimental and a nostalgiafest, given Baker's obvious sophisticated wit and intelligence. But the former NME writer has gone for a populist touch here and it does work fantastically well. And Peter Kay, of course, certainly has the mainstream touch as amiable rogue Spud, which makes him pretty well cast.

Danny Bakers autobiographical 1970s sitcom continues, and things are looking up: he's captain of the school football team during a cup run and Miss Blondel, the alluring French teacher who runs the photography club, seems to be receptive to his clumsy advances. But when forced to choose between his sporting and romantic ambitions, Danny's decision doesn't go down well with PE teacher Mr Glover (guest star John Henshaw). Elsewhere, dad Spud struggles to raise the tin required for Sharon's wedding.

TV review: Cradle To Grave, BBC2, episode 4

The storylines might feel a little corny, but the whole thing is played so nicely it doesn't really matter.

Danny Baker's cosy sitcom-memoir is starting to feel more like a TV show than a pile of anecdotes, with not quite so many gags you'd say were cliched or telegraphed if an unknown writer had invented them. Young Danny rashly agrees to buy a hot VCR - has he inherited the knack of quickly finding a few quid? Meanwhile, magic patriarch Fred tries to steal a shipment of sherry from under the noses of the docks' new jobsworth security guards. Peter Kay's south London accent is bedding in too, slowly.

Cradle to Grave, BBC2, episode 3 review

Baker knows his comedy like he knows the back streets of Bermondsey.

Director of Cradle to Grave praises show's soundtrack

The show directed by Sandy Johnson, is based on the memoirs of DJ Danny Baker about growing up in south London in the 1970s and features music by Glasgow rocker Alex Harvey.

Wide boys and wider collars: the excellent, atmospheric recreation of Danny Baker's teen years in south London continues. Danny is trying to blag his way into the pub for a sniff of Skol, while his mother Bet yearns for something more - to broaden her horizons, meet new people, maybe even try drinking wine. But dad Spud can't see the angle. If hearing a cockney accent emerge from Peter Kay was initially distracting, he's now settled comfortably into the roly-poly role of incorrigible wheeler-dealer Spud.