With all of the options for viewing shows on television as a result of streaming, the ability to tailor our viewing experience is easy to do. And if you are reading this post, there is a pretty good chance you are an Anglophile or at least Anglophile-curious. Subscribing to BritBox, AcornTV or PBS Masterpiece/Passport, if you’re like me, it’s not an ‘or’, it’s an ‘and’. A must-do, as most of the shows I watch regularly are either British or French (MHz Choice for the latter). 

With that said, having watched British programming, even streaming BBC iPlayer, for quite a few years now, I have noticed tendencies in my thinking while I am viewing as well as in my daily life that weren’t present before the availability of British television today, and I just have to chuckle. 

So whether you are an avid cosy mystery sleuth, a garden aficionado, baking in the tent with the amateur bakers is a dream you live vicariously or any other British programming regularly concludes your days when you choose to turn on the telly, perhaps you recognize some (or all) of the tendencies listed below, and if you have discovered others, please do share. We would all like another reason to chuckle. 

1. You offer tea as welcome or anytime you invite someone over for anything, instead of coffee or a glass of wine or beer

2. When someone says Series, you default to understanding it as the ‘season’ of a particular show (UK) instead of the show itself (US)

3. You immediately recognize British actors that appear in new programs and can share their CV of past shows they’ve starred

4. When prioritizing your travel itinerary, South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (Midsomer Murders filming locations), and other show locales are at the top, instead of the typical British tourist destination – the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, etc.

5. Cosy mystery buffs! Because you know the well-established British actors/actresses, when they appear in a single episode, you understand it’s highly likely they are the criminal/murderer

6. You can identify a trug immediately and anticipate a scene or two or three in the garden in most shows in one form or another.

7. You not only understand British terms and slang when used, you have begun to use it in conversation.

8. Speaking of the garden, clematis is not pronounced with the emphasis on ‘mat’ as is done in the US, but instead instead on ‘cle’.

9. Dogs and cats in the garden always, someone is missing if they aren’t present with the gardener

10. Gardening is a recognized hobby for everyone, and not hired out. After all part of the joy of gardening is gardening itself!

11. When you hear any reference to Hollywood, your mind goes to the Bake-Off tent

12. Speaking of the Great British Bake-Off, you are now inclined to watch baking/cooking shows that soothe rather than cause stress

13. One more from GBBO! When you see a large white tent, you immediately smile and dream about confection baked goods

14. Hearing the word Chelsea immediately prompts thoughts of flowers and gardening

15. Back to tea, it is your drink of choice and you have your preferred teapot and tips for keeping your teapot warm

16. Three seasons/series in a show is typical and not expected to run longer (unless its Midsomer Murders , Father Brown or Death in Paradise, for example)

17. Similarly, the number of episodes in a season/series is understood to be about 3-5, any more, and it feels quite special

18. You know the exact components of a true Cosy Mystery

19. Waking up super early (if you live in the States or around the Pacific Ocean) to watch an event live in the UK – a royal wedding, coronation, Wimbledon match, is going to happen, no questions asked

20. You can recognize the theme music to your favorite shows

21. No mispronunciations here! Poirot is said without the ‘T” (and you know from which French-speaking country he hails), Morse is not to be spoken as Morris, and Downton Abbey is not ‘downtown’.

22. You know which shows are spin-offs or prequels to other British shows and which characters carried over and how (in the case of Endeavour and Morse for example)

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Now, some lists out there sharing such tendencies of those of us who watch a lot of British TV will suggest we may watch too much, but I propose we celebrate having found our community, a community who gets how enjoyable we find British television. Happy viewing!

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