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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English TV shows and let me know if you
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for another lesson
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