20 Best British TV Series to Learn English Beginner to Advanced Level

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and everyone and welcome back to english

with lucy as requested and as promised

here is finally my lesson on the top TV

shows that you can use to learn British

English I have got lots of

recommendations that are suitable for

everyone and I’m going to work through

them

starting with programs that is suitable

for beginners moving to pre intermediate

intermediate and then advanced now I

know that a lot of you are hoping to use

TV shows in order to improve your

fluency your vocabulary your

pronunciation your listening skills

honestly watching TV shows in a second

language can work magic on your language

skills however it can be really really

stressful trying to find the right one

for you because you’ve got to get that

mix of something that you’re interested

in something that is at your level and

something that is going to provide

educational value now another really

frustrating point is when you finally

find a TV show that you would like to

watch that you think will help you and

it’s blocked in your country it’s so

annoying I really enjoy watching

programmes in Spanish and I find it

really frustrating trying to gain access

to websites that are blocked in my

country well a lot of you aren’t based

in the UK so how are you going to gain

access to these British TV shows

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right let’s get started with the list of

TV shows that you can use in order to

learn and improve your British English

right

let’s start with the beginners so for

people who are just starting to learn

English or maybe people who’ve been

learning English for a while but are

really struggling with their listening

because listening is incredibly

difficult it’s a skill that some people

are naturally good at but most people

find very very challenging now I’ve been

teaching for many years and when I come

across beginners or people who are

really struggling with their listening

skills

I recommend children’s TV shows but you

have to be really really careful because

so many children’s TV shows are dumbed

down in order to entertain children and

there aren’t so many high quality

children’s TV shows where the characters

speak well with good pronunciation and

they don’t put on a stupid baby voice

one program that I think is excellent

for improving your English if you are a

beginner is Peppa Pig now if you have

children you will probably know about

Peppa Pig but it is a British TV show

it’s been translated into so many

languages across the globe it’s about a

little piglet who goes around solving

problems and causing problems and she

speaks with a British accent

she speaks quite clearly and the best

part is they cover the basics of English

it’s written in simple English simple

tenses and they cover the basic

vocabulary because they are hoping to

teach a child its first words well

sometimes the same situation for us when

we’re learning our second language no

George I plan with Suzy you have to play

somewhere else another cartoon that I

can recommend is Sarah and duck this is

another children’s cartoon that actually

now has quite a strong adult following

because it is very entertaining actually

I look forward to having a child so that

I can watch these programs with them

it’s about a little girl a little

British girl who is best friends with a

duck and it is quite funny and it

focuses on problem-solving it’s a bit

early for bed isn’t it all of the

information for these programs will be

in the description box I’ll show you

where you can watch them the next one is

another one produced by the BBC it’s

Katy Morag and this one I’ve mentioned

because it’s the Scottish accent it’s

about a little girl who lives on a

fictional Scottish Island but it’s not a

cartoon it is a real girl now the

Scottish accent in my opinion it’s

absolutely gorgeous I love it and I know

that it’s a very desirable place so on

the off chance that you are hoping to

visit Scotland or you just particularly

like that accent this is a fantastic TV

show and as I’ve said many times before

it’s really important to understand and

to listen to a variety of accents the

Scottish accent is considered to be

fairly difficult so it’s best to start

with a children’s TV version of that

accent and for me when I’m out and about

having my identity

right let’s move on to pre intermediate

so we’ve covered the basics with

children’s TV programs where they cover

basic vocabulary and they use simple

grammar now let’s go step higher to pre

intermediate and what I recommend for my

pre intermediate students is nature

programs and there is one man in

particular who I recommend I absolutely

love him the nation adores him he is

David Attenborough this man is a

national treasure

he’s a broadcaster a natural historian

he used to work for the BBC quite high

up in the BBC and he is amazing and

speaks with such a beautiful RP accent

he speaks quite slowly and he uses a

variety of adjectives as well it’s just

perfect for pre intermediate students

and he has done so many BBC series on

nature recent ones have been Blue Planet

all about the sea planet Earth which is

about the globe as a whole frozen planet

which is about the colder parts of our

world and a really good documentary

called a plastic ocean where he talks

about the pollution of plastic in the

seas now I recommend his programs if you

want to learn new vocabulary if you’re

interested in the environment and in

animals and if you also want to watch

something quite relaxing it can be quite

stressful to try and listen to English

but if you just relax what nature and

listen to this man’s beautiful voice and

accent it shouldn’t be an arduous task

tropicalism as a naturalist I yearn to

see it and I had already Mountain

programmes with people from the London

Zoo right let’s move on to intermediate

and what I recommend to my intermediate

students is cooking programs and I

recommend that they follow a handful of

chosen celebrity chefs there are three

that I’m going to recommend to you to

speak with an RP accent and one speaks

estuary English sometimes with a bit of

quite cockney sometimes actually the

first one is somebody that I’m sure you

will fall in love with she’s amazing

she’s called Nigella Lawson and she is

known for doing really indulgent recipes

high-calorie not particularly good for

you she’s here for a good time not a

long time and she speaks with the most

beautiful low RP accent all of her

series are very visually pleasing so

again like with the nature programs it’s

something that you can watch whilst

relaxing with this source which is

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similarly we have Hugh Fernley witting

Stahl again somebody who speaks with an

RP accent and he has a wonderful series

called River Cottage this was started

many years ago he has a small holding

where he grows organic food and cooks it

and talks about the local industries and

just how food is put on the table so

it’s not just watching somebody cook

it’s so much more than that

and it gives you a real opportunity to

understand British culture and what we

eat because I hear from a lot of people

Oh British food is so bad and yes

sometimes it is really bad but I think

Hugh can show you that it’s not always

so bad again it’s a really relaxing

program he speaks quite clearly he

speaks slightly more quickly than

Nigella does Nigella is very alluring

with the way she speaks she’s quite slow

emphasizes words very emphatic and very

very relevant for English learners

she really pronounces things beautifully

Hugh speaks a little more quickly and

shows you a little more than just

cooking these lovely duck eggs are going

to be the final flourish for that but

underneath there’s going to be all sorts

of delicious things going and then

finally we have Jamie Oliver you may

have heard of him before he has a great

YouTube channel actually and he speaks

with a more cockney accent so he’s not

as posh as the other two and he’s really

good if you

short on time he has a really great

series called 15-minute meals he

actually has a book that goes along with

it as well and he teaches great healthy

meals that you can do with a few

ingredients and if you’re short on time

the whole thing picture per turn it down

and that mozzarella is just going to

reach around the ball and that now may

be cooking isn’t really your thing or

you don’t find it helps you so I have

some other recommendations one is

sitcoms situational comedies these

programs are quite light-hearted and

we’ll introduce you to British humour

which can be quite complex for learners

of English it can be really hard to

understand British humour I have a whole

video where I talk about what British

humor is and the elements of it to start

off it would be good to watch a sitcom

and I have various recommendations the

first one is one I think I have

recommended before in a previous video

and I’m recommended again because I

think it’s fantastic

it is The Vicar of Dibley and this

follows a female vicar who moves to a

very small village and starts running

the church there and she encounters all

sorts of problems and the protagonist is

Dawn French who is a fantastic median

here in the UK

she’s wonderful she speaks with a

beautiful clear accent RP again but the

program has a variety of accents

especially more southern accents it’s

incredibly funny and I watch it every

Christmas with my family

no can’t it go to something people can

feel passionate about

now another RP recommendation and this

is very very push it’s absolutely

fabulous

also known as ab fab this features two

female comedians jennifer saunders and

joanna lumley i am pretty sure you will

fall in love with their accidents

especially joanna lumley she speaks with

just the most incredible RP accent and

this is a funny sitcom about parodies of

posh Londoners so we have a döner

who is a ridiculous PR agent who falls

for every fad diet and every trend going

and then we have Patsy who runs a

fashion magazine they’re very eccentric

they do a lot of silly things get

themselves into a lot of trouble and it

is wonderful I have watched the entire

series

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right now I have two recommendations for

sitcoms if you aren’t so interested in

the RP accent the first one focuses more

on ste English and that is the office

the British version of the office

although the American version of the

office is fantastic as well I don’t

often say that about American remakes of

British comedies but the Americans did a

very good job now this is a mockumentary

so it’s like a documentary but it’s a

parody it’s a fake documentary a

mockumentary and it follows the daily

lives the daily boring lives of office

employees and introduces you to a lot of

mundane daily vocabulary which can be

very very useful including a lot of

small talk it’s very funny the humor is

very British there are a lot of

subtleties and there are just a plethora

of things to learn if you are learning

English as a Second Language and it will

also teach you a lot about British

culture and I’ve always been in the

paper industry yeah my own parents owned

a paper shop until it blew away if you

want

something a bit more in-your-face again

with a mix of cockney ste and RP accent

then we have the inbetweeners this is a

British sitcom there was an American

remake and it was absolutely dreadful

and I don’t feel mean for saying that

because just it was awful everyone knows

it was awful we watched it and just

laughed because it was so bad this is a

coming-of-age sitcom about four

teenagers four teenagers who are in

their final years of school and they’re

just so awkward and awful trying to meet

girls trying to do well at school trying

to be cool and go to parties

honestly hilarious will and I have

watched this over and over and over and

over it’s over ten years old now it was

on when I was at school and and it’s

still so relevant and funny and it

reminds me of me when I was young and

awkward this would be a great one if you

want to learn more British English slang

because it’s it’s just absolutely full

of it

it’s brilliant

right we’re still on intermediate but if

you’re not looking for a comedy because

it’s not everyone’s thing and I also

have a list of good dramas mainly crime

dramas there is a sci-fi one in there

that you can use in order to improve

your British English all dramas that I

have watched myself I’ve watched all of

these but I really really enjoyed these

ones so they’re not only great for

improving your British English speaking

skills listening skills and vocabulary

they’re also just great TV programmes

that I think you should watch the first

one I have mentioned this one before

it’s broadchurch this is a crime drama

set in a town not a village a town in

the South of England by the sea a boy is

murdered and everyone in the town seems

to be involved in some way and there is

a great variety of accidents we’ve got

Scottish in their northern southern Rp

it’s really really fantastic and the

storyline and the writing of it is

brilliant

you will be addicted I warn you

another one which is similar it’s a

crime drama but it’s actually based in

the north of England in West Yorkshire

it’s called happy valley it’s

brilliantly written and brilliantly

acted again it’s about a female police

sergeant who struggles with managing her

personal life and her professional life

and it features James Norton who is one

of my favorites in it by the way I’m 47

I’m divorced I live with my sister it

was a recovering heroin addict I have

two grown-up children want dad now

another one is the informer and this is

as well-known as the others but we

watched it I thought it was excellent

I also thought it was incredibly good

for anyone who’s planning to move to

London or who wants to see a program set

in London but that’s showing off the

true London not necessarily the shiny

exterior it’s a crime drama about a

British Pakistani who is coerced into

a police informant for the London

counterterrorism force

it’s excellent it’s excellent a variety

of different accents not just RP there’s

cockney there is the British Pakistani

accent as well which is very prevalent

in the UK and it’s important that you

understand it as well another one which

is slightly more between intermediate

and advanced just because sometimes the

protagonist can speak so quickly it’s

Sherlock I’d be surprised if you hadn’t

heard of this before it’s a crime drama

based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes

it has Martin Freeman and Benedict

Cumberbatch it’s set in London it’s not

as gritty as the informer it’s showing a

sort of nicer side of London most of the

time actually not always and it’s just a

fantastic drama he does speak quite

quickly sometimes so you may need to

either slow him down or replace a doc

all of the risks you’ve been abroad but

not sunbathing it looks really bad woman

who don’t ask for a chair when you stand

like you’ve forgotten about it so he’s

partly psychism and then my last

intermediate recommendation is a sci-fi

series

it’s Doctor Who and this follows a Time

Lord who is well an extraterrestrial

being who explores the universe with

various companions I recommend you watch

the 2005 reboot onwards and this is

absolutely perfect for English learners

because almost all of the roles are

filled by British actors or native

speaking actors with an unbelievable

variety of different accents so you get

one of the different slang all of the

different pronunciation it’s really

really wonderful

that’s what you’re going with yeah got

any cash now let’s move on to advanced

I’ve covered almost everything but there

is one specific genre which I think

should be saved for advanced listeners

because you’ll be wasting your time if

you don’t properly understand the

nuances of the language when you’re

watching these shows and they are comedy

panel shows once you are able to

understand them you should definitely

listen to them because they will make

you a fun person to be around

so one I really recommend is have I got

news for you it’s a panel show and it’s

basically a quiz a comedy quiz about the

news so it’s all about current events

which is great for you especially if you

work with native English speakers or

British people and you want to be able

to relate with them and talk to them

about things are going on in their

country so Ian off anywhere nice for

East

another one is Mock the Week and this is

similar but it’s less about the news

more about just current affairs in

general and it’s slightly more

lighthearted it’s really really

difficult to understand comedy

off-the-cuff comedy when it’s not your

native language I experienced this

firsthand in Spain when I went to watch

a comedian and I didn’t get a single

joke I think I got one and I felt really

proud of myself this is why I’ve placed

it in the advanced category

the answer is 3.4 billion what is the

question is this Prince Philip’s life

expectancy but give it a go if you find

yourself understanding things then you

can feel really really good about

yourself because remember not all native

English speakers can understand all of

the jokes on these panel shows so don’t

feel sad about missing a couple of them

and the more you watch of these the more

you will understand you will understand

how each comedian works and you’ll get

to know more and more about current

affairs and how we view different people

who are in the news another one another

comedy panel show which isn’t about the

news is Qi and until 2016 this was

hosted by Stephen Fry who I think is an

excellent example

full of somebody that you should follow

if you want to speak RP he has a

wonderful RP accent and he’s very

intelligent and uses wonderful

vocabulary this show focuses on the

panelists Stephen Fry and now it’s

someone called sandy but I I would

recommend watching a couple of Stephen

Fry’s episodes and he asks the guests

incredibly obscure questions and they

get points for providing interesting

answers and also correct it’s really

really good and you can learn a lot and

it will be very specific vocabulary now

the last recommendation the final comedy

panel show is one that will help you

improve your storytelling skills and

also help you understand people’s

stories it’s would I lie to you would I

lie to you and this is another panel

show where two panelists invite two

celebrity guests so for celebrities in

total and each player reveals

embarrassing stories or unusual facts

about themselves and the other team has

to work out or guess whether they’re

true or not it’s absolutely hilarious

it’s great for listening to how other

people tell interesting and funny

stories because that’s what we want to

do to be interesting I want I love

telling a story and making people laugh

so if we watch someone else do it then

it will help us develop our own skills

it’s hilarious I think you’ll really

enjoy it fast it’s a hot or even quite

hot

right that’s it for today’s video I hope

you enjoyed it I hope you learned

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Lucy all of this is in the description

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share your recommendations for British

English TV shows and let me know if you

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like it right I will see you soon

for another lesson

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