A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-cameras were first used in the US by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball for their American show I Love Lucy in 1951 and the system was adopted in the UK.
By the time the television set had become a common part of home furnishing, sitcoms were significant expressions of everyday life and were often a window on the times of enormous social changes in the British class system and its conflicts and prejudices. A later development was the mockumentary genre exemplified by series such as The Office (2001–2003), which also heralded the modern trend of the single-camera sitcom dispensing with live audiences.
A 2004 poll by the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 in the 12-episode documentary series Britain's Best Sitcom, produced a list topped by traditional sitcoms with Only Fools and Horses holding the first place, and included favourites such as David Croft's Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, and Hi-de-Hi!.
British Christmas TV programming has a long-standing tradition of heavily featuring comedy and sitcoms in the schedules, often with episodes that capture holiday spirit, and sometimes emotional moments. In her review in The Guardian of the 2024 Gavin & Stacey grand finale Rachel Aroesti states "...our greatest sitcoms tend to bow out at their peak, but the festive revival traditionally comes to the rescue, extending the lifespans of iconic shows such as The Royle Family and Only Fools and Horses by a decade or more. If there’s still any doubt, Gavin & Stacey (which ostensibly concluded in 2024) belongs firmly in the same modern classic category." The 2024 Gavin & Stacey Christmas Day special, serving as the grand finale, peaked the ratings and further solidifies Britcom's legacy as a staple of British festive television. the 2009 Miranda series staged a highly successful comeback for the 'old school' 20th century concept of sitcoms with live audiences and multiple cameras.