Humour's often missing from other country's shows, researchers found

Britain’s sense of humour is driving a surge in the popularity of UK content among young viewers across Europe, new research has found.

The UK is second only to America in producing the streaming shows most popular with the 16-34 age group – and the  new study found that the way comedy had a place in shows that were not primarily funny added to their appeal.

The academic paper  – Screen Encounters With Britain – noted: ‘Interviewees in all countries consistently appreciate British humour in all types of fiction – eg Sex Education, After Life, Fleabag – not just comedy, and see this as a missing ingredient in home-grown productions.

‘Many interviewees noted explicitly and unprompted how they appreciated British humour in fictional stories that viewers would not necessarily always categorise as comedy…. humour was seen as a welcome ingredient in otherwise serious topics.’

Respondents particularly praised the ‘tragicomic nature’ of Fleabag and the ‘appeal of telling sad stories in a humorous way’.

Those interviewed sad they enjoyed Britain’s ‘ironic' and ‘intelligent’ sense of humour.  Emilia, 24, from German said: ‘American comedies, they are very predictable. So, you can predict most of the jokes and everything. And I think that's not the case for British humoristic formats… I enjoy this strong sarcastic tone’.

Elisa, 26, from Italy said: ‘American humour is often a little… simplistic. I appreciate more English humour, it’s a little more subtle.’

Karl, 18, from the Netherlands said that he found American sitcoms ‘fake’ while Sofia, 18 from Denmark added: ‘British humour is cool and sarcastic.’

But the fact American comedy was more simplistic also made it easier to watch,

Annette, 19, from the Netherlands said British humour was defined by ‘quickness, wittiness… a smarter level of humour, more sophisticated humour, than American content. I think [US shows] are more easily watchable while British content does require a bit more listening and following. Brooklyn Nine-Nine I can miss a minute or two and it doesn’t matter… but if I miss something on Cunk On Earth I should watch [it] back.'

Researchers looked at four countries and found that in Denmark and the Netherlands, humour was the top reason for choosing UK content and in Germany it came second. In Italy, it was a much less significant factor. 

Less British content is watched in Italy overall, and most of it dubbed. However, stand-up comedy was far more popular there compared to the other countries looked at.

Overall, fantasy/sci-fi, action/adventure and comedy/comedy-drama are the most popular genres among young people in all four countries.

The paper, published by researchers at King’s College London and the University of Westminster also looked at how social media led people to find new content on the streaming platform.

It noted that Cunk On Earth was well-known in the Netherlands and Germany, despite never featuring on the Netflix home page, thanks to memes of Diane Morgan’s character spreading on Instagram and TikTok. Other British shows discovered through social media, included Taskmaster, Fleabag and  Derry Girls.

The full paper can be read here. Its lead researched were Andrea Esser from King’s College and Alessandro D’Arma from Westminster. 

Published: 21 Feb 2025