If there’s one thing the British are good at, it’s watching telly. You may think the Americans would beat us at that, but we’ve taken watching telly and turned it into an art form. Like most people, our favourite TV subject is ourselves, which has led to a number of shows aiming to be as British as possible. So if you want to learn how to be British, you could do worse that sit down to a few episodes of these distinctly British shows.
说到英国人的长项，看电视一定高居榜首。你可能不服，觉得美国人更懂看电视，但我们可是把看电视打造成了艺术。和大多数观众一样，我们最爱的电视主题都与我们自身相关，因此相当一部分节目都把自己打造出百分百纯英伦的味道。要是你想学出一身英伦范，坐下来看看几集纯英剧真是极好的！

DOCTOR WHO
《神秘博士》

Nothing says ‘British’ like an alien which can turn into any creature in the universe instead of dying and yet inexplicably decides to return as a white Englishman (or, less commonly, Scotsman). Political commentary aside, Doctor Who owes its long television life not only to a brilliant central character, terrifying alien foes and intelligent scriptwriting, but also to a distinctly British way of doing things. If the Earth is the Doctor’s favourite planet, it’s clear that Britain is his favourite country.
这部剧对主角“英国人”的设定可谓史无前例：长生不老，能幻化成宇宙万物的外星人每次重生都莫名其妙地变回英国白人（或更为少见的苏格兰人）。抛开政论，《神秘博士》经久不衰不仅因为有超凡的主角、恐怖的外星敌人和聪明的编剧，其中典型的英国行为方式更是画龙点睛之笔。如果说地球是博士最爱的星球，那英国一定是他最爱的国家。

MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS
《飞行马戏团》

The Monty Python legacy has been the backbone of British comedy for years. The happy chappies of the Python group are known all over the world for their special brand of absurdist humour, and their television series has been host to rip-roaring legends like the Dead Parrot and Cheese Shop sketch (if you’re unaware, a quick search on the Internet will change your life). Alongside their films, the Flying Circus show cemented the Pythons as the best thing on the BBC in the 1980s. Parodying Britishness has never been so quintessentially British.
多年以来，《飞行马戏团》一直都是英国喜剧的擎天柱。《马戏团》以荒诞的幽默风靡世界，此部电视剧还衍生出《死鹦鹉》（Dead Parrot）和《芝士店》（Cheese Shop）这些惊艳的短剧（如果你还没听说过这些短剧，赶紧去度娘谷哥一下，说不定就发现了新大陆）。随着《飞行马戏团》的播出，Python的“喜剧六人组”也在BBC 80年代的历史中留下浓墨重彩的一笔。没有哪部剧能把英伦风展现得如此淋漓尽致。

SHERLOCK
《神探夏洛克》

The global popularity of the modernised Sherlock Holmes series (and its many imitators) has proven yet again that no amount of big blockbuster all-guns-blazing cop shows can compete with the reserved and sharp detective work of one of Britain’s most well-loved characters. Benedict Cumberbatch has been rightly lauded for his depiction of the fast-thinking private eye, and his capers around London reaffirm that we Brits are good at more than drinking tea.
横扫全球的现代版福尔摩斯系列（及众多类似作品）再次证明没有哪家宏大制作、子弹横飞的警匪片能与英国最受喜爱的侦探片相媲美，我们的夏洛克矜持又敏锐，迷倒全人类。本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇（Benedict Cumberbatch）因为传神地刻画了那一双敏锐深邃的眼睛而备受称赞，他在伦敦周围的诸次历险再次佐证了我们英国人不是光会喝茶的！

BLACKADDER
《黑爵士》

In a similar vein to the Pythons, the brilliance of Blackadder is based in its genius application of witty and classically British humour. From the dulcet tones of lead man Rowan Atkinson to the bumblings of sidekick Tony Robinson, there’s no better show for ripping apart what makes the British British and having a good laugh at it (it also includes an entire season of pointing fun at the French, which is just about one of the most British activities you can do).
与“喜剧六人组”风格类似，《黑爵士》绝妙地融入了诙谐的元素与经典的英式幽默。从男一号罗温·艾金森（Rowan Atkinson）悦耳的语调，到笨手笨脚的助手托尼·罗宾逊（Tony Robinson），没有哪部剧在如此精确地解析了何为英国人后又把这一切嘲笑一番（还有整整一季都在吐槽法国人，这也是英国人的日常活动之一）。

FRIENDS
《老友记》

Now, I know what you’re thinking – Friends is an American show, about Americans living in America! How can it be distinctly British? But perhaps you’re not aware that, apart from Season 1, Friends was written entirely by British writers, and if you watch the first season in comparison to the others, the difference really shows. There’s just something about that British sense of humour that can’t be replicated artificially. It’s a fine art, and needs a natural hand. As an English student, take it from me –Friends is a comedy of errors in the Shakespearean tradition, and although they speak in American accents, it’s a British as you’ll get.
等等，我知道你肯定在想——《老友记》不是美国片吗？演的是美国人在美国！怎么成了“纯英剧”了？但你可不知道，除了第一季，《老友记》全是英国作家写的，如果用第一季做个比较，差别立显啊！只是英式幽默可是模仿不来的，这是门精致的艺术，纯粹的浑然天成。作为一名英文文学专业的学生，我敢向你保证——《老友记》用莎士比亚传统戏剧的观点看算是错误百出的喜剧，但即使演员说着一口美音，演的都是英国的事。

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