Nathan Barley

Nathan Barley: the British comedy that foresaw the future of culture

Nathan Barley depicts the self-absorption of East London, where vapid hipsters and narcissistic media online personalities run amok amid a new age of journalism.

10 underrated British comedy series you need to see

We've gathered some underrated British comedy series that you need to see.

The last laugh: is the television sitcom really dead?

From Friends to The Thick Of It, the TV sitcom has evolved - but it's no longer in rude health. Enter offbeat shows like Stath Lets Flats, bringing joy and potential redemption.

The re-evaluation game: Nathan Barley

If you want to remain having fond memories of the show it's probably best if you only watch the first four episodes.

The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century

The Thick Of It is the highest rated British comedy in fourth place. Also listed: The Office (6), Fleabag (8), Peep Show (9), Nighty Night (16), Black Mirror (23), Spaced (29), Catastrophe (34), Brass Eye (37), Detectorists (38), Nathan Barley (47), Black Books (53), Inside No. 9 (66), Shameless (70), The Inbetweeners (74), Gavin and Stacey (81), Fresh Meat (86), Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (92), The Trip (95) and The Mighty Boosh (98).

Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker's prophetic Channel 4 sitcom skewered east London hipster culture to a tee through its odious protagonist, a self-proclaimed "self-facilitating media node" and purveyor of witless viral videos via his website TrashBat.co.ck (registered in the Cook Islands).

But the show's true concern was the plight of depressed journalist Dan Ashcroft (Julian Barrett), surviving unhappily in the offices of Sugar Ape, too ill-motivated and sickened by the buffoons around him to better himself. His article "Rise of the Idiots", in which he takes his tormentors to task, only makes matters worse, proving a hit and seeing him hailed as "Preacher Man" by the same fools he sought to destroy.

His sister Claire (Claire Keelan), an aspiring and idealistic documentarian, is similarly thwarted by Barley and his kind.

Ashcroft's failed interview at The Sunday Times, where he humiliates himself by stating a preference for "Dutch wine", is excruciating and made worse by his having to return contrite to Hosegate to retract his resignation from Charlie Condou's withering editor, Jonathan Yeah? (the question mark added by deed poll), who gloats deliciously.

20 of the most absurdly funny quotes from Nathan Barley

It might have been an under-the-radar ratings flop when it aired on late night Channel 4 back in 2005, but Nathan Barley lives on in pop culture memory.

7 clips that prove Chris Morris's also a musical genius

Looking back at Morris's body of work, 20 years after the first episode of Brass Eye was broadcast on January 29, 1997, it's clear that few people have combined music and comedy quite as successfully. Whether he's creating strung-out ambient music for a short film about a talking dog or parodying Eminem to highlight the media hysteria surrounding paedophilia, Morris's use of music strikes the balance between creating black comedy and something that's actually listenable. Below are seven of his finest music moments - just be careful not to find yourself jazzing to the bleep tone of a life support machine.

Your most underrated TV shows

Five classics that never got the kudos they deserved, according to our readers. Includes Money Dust, Nathan Barley, Early Doors and Families at War.