The Top Ten Sitcom Villains

All comedy is cruel and the best situations for comedy come through conflict. It can be our hero trying to overcome physical surroundings, a series of unfortunate events but is usually at its best when the conflict is with another person. Matthew Reynolds presents his entirely unscientific and personally subjective list of the top ten British sitcom villains we love to hate below...

10. Paul Ryman

Not really a villain but certainly the counterpoint to Richard Briers' Martin. Of course, Paul was actually a nice, well-meaning man who despite being given plenty of reasons to hate Martin, actually seemed quite fond of him.

However, on those rare occasions that things went Martin's way, there would be something to take away his moment. And with almost painful certainty, it would be because of Paul.

9. Captain Darling

The villains changed over the course of the Blackadder series; whilst Tim McInnerny played Blackadder's stupid but devoted friend in the first two series, his role had developed into rival and villain by the final series.

Although saner and more broadly aware of things than General Melchett, Darling was still the obvious counterpoint to Captain Blackadder. And yet even he was reprieved. In the last episode where they finally go over the top, Captain Darling is finally portrayed as human, as is Captain Blackadder. This humanity gave great pathos to the characters and the series as a whole. I was lucky to attend that final recording, and when the audience filed out after the filming, there was a certain hush over the crowd.

8. Herr Flick

A Gestapo officer promising to shoot the locals out of spite might not seem to be the most charming of characters in regards to good taste. Yet 'Allo 'Allo managed to cross the boundaries, by way of mocking the rather po-faced take on the war us Brits had previously displayed in programmes about the conflict (especially Secret Army). The result was a bawdy romp.

The seaside postcard nature of the comedy stripped away all the reservations about the subject matter, and by playing up to all the theatrical cliches of an evil Nazi, Herr Flick managed to appeal to appeal to audiences. Happily, the leather trench coat, pronounced limp and permanently severe expression only ever added to his charm.

7. Dr Alan Statham

Mark Heap always plays the 'nice but weird' characters. In Hippies, Spaced and Brass Eye, he would be the one you felt no empathy but at least some sympathy for. In Green Wing, Dr Statham is a desperate and sad man; lost and unloved even within his relationship, with a woman who never bothers to hide her contempt for him. He seems to be oblivious to his own tragic nature, which would make him simply laughable... until you are given little insights into his appreciation of his own sorry state of affairs.

His awareness makes him less comic, far sadder but also places his own behaviour under the spotlight. Definitely a bad guy but whether he should get any sympathy or understanding is left down to the individual viewer.

6. Sir Humphrey Appleby

In the programme that MP's and civil servants would watch from behind the sofa (because it would so accurately portray the trappings of Whitehall), Sir Humphrey represented all our suspicions of the frustrations, absurdity, arrogance and cynicism of the civil service. That he lived to thwart the efforts of the naive new Minister/Prime Minister was both his innate persona and his character's function.

Humphrey could bamboozle his hapless 'Master' with red tape, protocol and wordplay. Any attempts at retaliation would invariably be casually dismissed with a "Very droll, Minister" before re-taking the upper hand in a deft and winning manner. We knew 'Humpy' was there to thwart us every bit as much as he was to thwart Jim Hacker, yet we loved him for it. Not a fully-fledged pantomime villain, more one whose company we could certainly enjoy.

5. Papa Lazarou

There are of course so many excellent villains and monsters in The League Of Gentlemen, many of whom have now taken on iconic status and whose catchphrases have been repeated through every Student Union in the land. But despite a relatively small amount of screen time (he didn't feature in the first TV series or the radio show at all), Papa Lazarou has all the ingredients to be a loveable sitcom villain: grotesque, scary, funny etc.

He is a worthy adversary and has his own motives and motivation, rather than simply being a comic device. We're all his wife now!

4. Alf Garnett

One of the rare examples of the main protagonist being the bad guy. Of course, the arch bigot Alf Garnet was always shown up, and always made to look ridiculous. It is a testament to Warren Mitchell's abilities that the show was so successful and that the audience felt a pity and affection for Garnett rather than simply hating him.

I think Till Death Us Do Part is an often overlooked show that tackled a number of important social issues at a time, when other programmes were still exploiting them. Alf probably had many theories on the merits of The Black and White Minstrel Show, which was running at the same time.

3. Jill Tyrell

Jill Tyrell is the selfish character at the heart of Nighty Night. Played by Julia Davis, the writer of the series, is completely without guilt or morals. She is devious, manipulative, passive-aggressive and violent - she will do anything to get her way.

Jill is a hairdresser who'd give Sweeney Todd nightmares - in her beauty salon, one customer is smothered to death by cling film while having a body wrap, and another is driven to suicide after a trademark Jill cut. Although they were accidents, it isn't long into the series before Jill starts deliberately killing to get her way!

2. Mr MacKay

From his exaggerated military strut, to his neck stretching sneer, his pomposity and snobbery, Mr Mackay was, on the face of it, the antithesis of Norman Stanley Fletcher. Yet they were both men who operated by rules yet were both still capable of breaking them. They were both trapped yet chose to make the best of it by getting away with their little victories in their closed world. And they both looked down on the people around them.

MacKay and Fletcher were excellent foils for one another, and both roles were superbly performed by two actors whose like we shall not see again.

1. Blakey

Just look at him. Now picture that wordless noise he used to make. Now... wait... savour it... "I 'ate you Butler". Perfect.