one of the all time greats

I didn't understand the point. Ever Decreasing Circles of what? Penelope Wilton was adorable and Peter Egan was incredibly sexy and I thought Richard Briers was irritating. It never really did much. It was cute. But mostly it was an excuse to drool at Peter Egan.

I think it was all about love really. As you say Richard Briers was irritating but Penelope Wilton, in spite of the temptations of Peter Egan remained with her irritating husband.

I remember asking my dad what the title meant when watching it in the 80s and I can't remember exactly what he said but it was something about marriage and life getting worse

Going round in ever decreasing circles is a commonly used expression that means to be busying oneself for a period of time but not actually getting anywhere. As in "I've spent the whole day trying to sort out my paperwork but am just going round in ever decreasing circles".

Quote: Billy Bunter @ 25th June 2018, 10:17 PM

Going round in ever decreasing circles is a commonly used expression that means to be busying oneself for a period of time but not actually getting anywhere. As in "I've spent the whole day trying to sort out my paperwork but am just going round in ever decreasing circles".

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...and disappearing up my own arse.

Quote: Chappers @ 26th June 2018, 5:35 AM

...and disappearing up my own arse.

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...That, and it's not American

Edit:

Well not a lot of peeps know this - but beneath the surface it's a savage indictment of community and that bourgeois notion of "getting on along with each other instead of tearing shreds and gouging points with whip smart comments". You can feel the seething resentment and hate build in each episode as frustration bleeds to the surface and somebody comes perilously close to saying something mildly rude.

Haven't seen it in years. I remember enjoying it though. Not the best in my opinion, but good.

It's all subjective to talk about which sitcom is the best. But if you go by viewing figures, merchandise sales, number of times TV channels show re-runs etc, then you can have a pretty fair idea of which is considered the 'best'.

For me, on all fronts, it is Only Fools and Horses. Your very close runners-up in joint second, would be a combination of Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army and Blackadder.

Your sitcoms that sit very, very close to that would be:

The Office
One Foot In The Grave
Porridge
Red Dwarf
Hancock's Half Hour
Yes Minister

etc etc

"Ever Decreasing Circles" is nowhere near being Britain's best sitcom, but it is arguably Britain's most underrated sitcom.

Welcome back Rood Eye.

Hello, Will!

I don't know what attracted me to this thread. Perhaps it's because "ever decreasing circles" would be an excellent title for an autobiography or perhaps it's just a reminder of times past. Richard Briers, eh? What could possibly be wrong with the world if Richard Briers was on the telly? I think he might have been a sort of secret weapon planted by the British government in order to keep people calm and carrying on. If so, he did a pretty good job.

I found it a bit dull to be honest. Maybe cuckold comedy just isn't my bag