Our favourite British comedies of all time

British humour. There is nothing better than a good laugh, given to us by our favourite British actors.  Be it Rowan Atkinson or Alec Guinness in the Ealing classics, British humour is one of the best in the world

The Brits pride themselves on humour of all types, Dark, dry, slapstick or satirical. The Brits will go places other countries won't. Lets take a look at what makes British comedy so great.

If you haven't seen this gem, you really should. A comedy about terrorism and s***e bombers... yes, sounds hilarious, doesn't it? Yet it really is. Brilliant and funny and not afraid to touch on delicate subjects.

Photo: StudioCanal UK

Chris Morris ( Director ) proved in the past that no subject was taboo. Becoming a household name with Brass Eye and  known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter.

Photo: StudioCanal UK

A 2011 British coming-of-age teen comedy, which was based on the channel four series, 'The Inbetweeners'. The film, as in the series, follows the adventures of a group of teenage friends but this time they are on holiday in Malia after the end of their final year at school together.

Best friends Will McKenzie, Simon Cooper, Jay Cartwright and Neil Sutherland continue their jokes, jibes and cringeworthy moments. It is teen British comedy at its best. The film begins when the boys decide to get Simon's mind away from his broken heart, so his three best mates decide to take him on vacation for two weeks to get some sun, sand and girls before they move onto the next chapter of their lives in the Autumn.

A  British romantic comedy film. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis (Blackadder) to feature Hugh Grant and this is the film that made him a household name. It follows the life of Charles (Grant) and his close group of friends at a number of social occasions.

Andie MacDowell stars as Charles's love interest, Carrie, and the film offers a wonderful performance by Simon Callow as well as John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave, and a hilarious appearance as the hopeless vicar Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles.

The film was made in six weeks, costing under £3 million to make. Pretty much because of the low expense, it became an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in history at the time, with worldwide box office total of $245.7 million, it also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The film's success propelled Hugh Grant to international stardom, particularly in the United States.

A Kenneth Branagh comedy, I hear you cry. It surely is - and it is so British. The story follows a group of friends who meet up after ten years to spend new year together.

Photo: Samuel Goldwyn Films

With names such as Branagh, Emma Thompson, Steven Fry, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Lawrie. Very British and very funny with one or two interesting cameos.

Depicting the chaos that ensues at a family funeral.  A riotously funny farce begins when a series of unexpected events turn a somber occasion into a hilarious mess.

Photo: MGM

The film was directed by Frank Oz, who  best known as  Yoda from Star Wars. It also stars a wonderful host of British actors and also Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones.

Photo: MGM

A wonderfully funny Zombie film with the comedy duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who also appear together in Hot Fuzz. Paul and The World's End.

Bringing in a total of $38.7 million, against a budget of $6 million. Simon Pegg has said that there is unlikely to be a sequel, sadly for us.

Ray and Ken are two hitmen who get stuck in Belgium, after a rather unsuccessful mission. The situation only becomes  more complicated when their boss asks Ken to kill Ray.

Photo: Universal Pictures

Starring Colin Farrell and Brendon Gleason.The film is about deep and meaningful conversations, boredom, remorse, harsh violence, and dark humor.

Photo: Universal Pictures

In the jungle of Darkest Peru, a British geographer discovers a previously unknown species of bear. He discovers that the bears are intelligent and that they also have a deep fondness for marmalade. He names them Lucy and Pastuzo and as a parting gift gives them his hat, saying that they are always welcome if they ever wish to visit London.

Fast forward forty years, the two bears are living in with their orphaned nephew until a disaster destroys their home, forcing them underground. Pastuzo fails to reach the shelter in time and is sadly killed by a falling tree. Lucy encourages her nephew to go and find his fortune in London, while she moves into the Home for Retired Bears. The young bear arrives in London where he meets the Brown family, who take him home and name him after the station they found him in. What follows is mischief and mishaps and then the family finally adopt Peru's most famous bear.

Based on the stories of Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond, this is, obviously, the sequel to Paddington (2014). The film, stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington, alongside huge names such as Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, and Hugh Grant in live-action roles.

Comfortably settled in with the Brown family, Paddington the bear is a popular member of the community. One day while out on his daily travels, he spots a pop-up book in an antique shop - the perfect present for his beloved aunt's 100th birthday. But when the gift is stolen he is wrongly arrested and imprisoned for the theft, Paddington embarks on an epic quest to unmask the culprit and get the gift before Aunt Lucy's big celebration.

Written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s. Richard E Grant steals the show in this wonderful and very funny story.

Photo: Handmade Films

The Great lines from this film include such Gems as...

“Those with the money are eccentric. Those without, insane.”

“We've gone on holiday by mistake”

“B A L L S! We want the finest wines available to humanity. We want them HERE, and we want them NOW.”

"I MUST HAVE SOME B OO ZE! I DEMAND TO HAVE SOME B OO ZE!!"

Photo: Handmade Films

Hugh Grant again. Love him or hate him, he has been in some of the best British Comedies. He even plays a character that isn't based on himself in this film

Hugh Grant as Will Freeman · Nicholas Hoult as Marcus Brewer · Toni Collette as Fiona Brewer · Rachel Weisz as Rachel. All music in the film by the wonderful Badly Drawn Boy. And they are still friends all these years later! (Photo taken in 2013)

A dark British  comedy, released in 1955, and  is considered one of the best comedies produced by the famous Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness as Professor Marcus, the head of a bunch of criminals who use rented rooms of a woman’s boarding house as the base for a bank robbery with hilarious consequences.

If you haven't seen the film, you certainly would have heard of it. A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 British-American heist comedy written by Charles Crichton and John Cleese. It stars comedy genius Cleese himself as well as the wonderful Jamie lee Curtis, the brilliant Kevin Kline, and, of course, Michael Palin.

The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who surprise each other and not in a good way. They cannot be trusted and double-cross one another to find stolen diamonds hidden by the gang leader. A lawyer, played by Cleese, becomes a central figure as the flirtatious Wanda uses him to locate the stolen jewels. Hilarious, with brilliant performances from the whole cast and scenes that will stay with us forever.

When super policeman (Simon Pegg) is transferred to a small village because he is making the rest of the London police force look bad, he uncovers strange goings on in the idyllic little village.

Brilliant lines, great story and lots of action in this hilarious comedy starring Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton and Nick Frost.

A 1979 British comedy starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python. It was also directed by Python member Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Chapman), a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the the son of God as the film progresses.

Former Beatle George Harrison saved the film following the withdrawal of funding by EMI Films just days before production was scheduled to begin. He arranged financing for Life of Brian through the formation of his own production company HandMade Films.

Some countries, including Ireland and Norway, banned its showing, due to the film's themes of religious satire, drawing accusations of blasphemy and protests from various religious groups. Many authorities in the United Kingdom either imposed an outright ban, or imposed an 18 certificate on the film. The filmmakers turned the tables and used this to their advantage using the objections to promote the film, with posters in Sweden reading, "So funny, it was banned in Norway."

The film was a huge box office success, the fourth-highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom in 1979, and highest grossing of any British film in the United States that year. It was named "greatest comedy film of all time" by numerous magazines and television networks,  In  Channel 4 poll in 2006, Life of Brian was ranked first on their list of the 50 greatest ever comedy films.

From small screen to Big screen, this classic British comedy is truly universal and a comedy that only Rowan Atkinson's face can achieve.

Ten years after the original film they made a second one where Mr Bean goes on Holiday with hilarious consequences. the two films have grossed almost 500 million dollars at the Box Office.

Rubber faced Rowan returns as a hopeless spy who is thrown into the world of espionage when every other spy in England is killed. Less James Bond more James Blunt.

The idea of this character came from a series of adverts that Mr Atkinson made for a well known High Street bank.

A well-loved 1997 British comedy. In a decaying steel mill town in Sheffield in Northern England, friends Gaz and Dave, now both unemployed after the closure of most of the town's steel mills head on an interesting adventure. The film tells the story of six unemployed men during the 1990s, four of them former steel workers, who decide to do anything they can to make some money and allow Gaz, the main character, to be able to see his son.

Although the film is a comedy, it also touches on serious subjects such as unemployment, depression, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and fathers' rights. The Full Monty was a major critical success upon release and an international commercial success, grossing over $250 million from a budget of only $3.5 million.

Where to begin, With a total of 31 films in the series it is impossible not to mention these British classics. Innuendos galore and cheeky jokes that would not be acceptable today.

Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, and Jim Dale. All stared in these brilliant but dated comedy films.

We return to the Inbetweeners franchise. This is the 2014 sequel to The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), which is based on the Channel 4 sitcom The Inbetweeners. The Brits can't get enough of these goofy lads.

Neil, Will and Simon receive an invite from Jay to join him in Australia whilst he is on his gap year. With their lives now rather boring compared to their school days and legendary lads holiday in the first film, it's an offer they simply can't refuse. They embark on a backpacking holiday of a lifetime in an terrible car, inspired by Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl'. Poor Will finds himself battling with his mates to do something cultural, whilst all they want to do is focus on drinking, girls, and annoying fellow travellers
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Love Actually. A 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film that was written and directed by Richard Curtis from 'Blackadder'. The cast is composed predominantly of much-loved British actors such as Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson and, of course, we welcome Hugh Grant back to our list.

There are several interrelated stories about romantic love and the obstacles to happiness. Each story has it's own beauty as we watch them come together at the end of the film. The film begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the big day.