In the world of entertainment, particularly in movies and tv, America usually does it bigger and better than anyone else in the world. But there is one notable exception to this rule - the television comedy series - which the British do best, and which the BBC is world famous for. But I have noticed that when many Americans, Canadians, and others think of British comedy they usually think of the old classics which are rerun over and over again, but aren't very familiar with more recent shows. That's why I thought people might be interested in my pick of five of the best modern tv comedy shows from Britain, all of which are available to watch online for free. I'm sure other people will totally disagree with my selection of the top 5, so don't forget to use the comments box to let people know what you rate the highest.

 I had to include QI in the list, not nly because it is one of my favourites, but also because with Stephen Fry as host it is quintissentially British. QI stands for 'Quite Interesting' and it is formatted as a quiz show but rather than just getting points for the right answer the contestants, who are a mixture of stand-up comedians and other celebrities, get seemingly random numbers of points for saying interesting things on the subject that the question is on, and lose points for falling into traps set with trick questions where the seemingly obvious answer is wrong. Not only is it very funny, but it is also genuinely quite interesting with a host of random wierd facts coming up in every episode.

Watch QI Clips Here

Mock the Week, hosted by Irish comedian Dara O'Brein, is another quiz based comedy series where the contestants are all either stand up comics or celebrities. This one mostly is a topical news quiz, and specializes in putting comedians on the spot with rounds where they go head to head being funny on subjects like 'things a sports commentator would never say' or 'unlikely things to see in a Harry Potter film' and so on. The resident comedians they have are absolutely hilarious, and they do often have some top quality guest comedians on too. The show is famous for helping buffon politican Boris Johnson become major of London after he made a few funny appearances.

Watch Mock The Week Here

 Following the life of a group of schoolboy friends the Inbetweeners really does make you cringe in places, but every episode has a few really very funny bits too. Basically you have the stereotype nerd who is socially awkward, the sex maniac compulsive liar who is obsessed with losing his virginity, the grinning idiot and so on, and the show follows their disfunctional adventures as they negotiate the obstacles of teen life. They do a great job of taking things that all teen boys go through and blowing them up to massive proportions for comedy effect.

Watch The Inbetweeners Here

 Armstrong and Miller teamed up for this sketch show based around some brilliant observational comedy and great characters. My personal favourites are the sketches they do set in world war 2 where they play soldiers but they speak like many modern youths do - the comparison between the values and sense of duty you associated with a WW2 soldier and the selfishness and vacuousness of modern youth culture is both very cutting and very funny. They have some other good regular sketches too.

Watch Armstrong and Miller Here

 This was the first series made by Mitchell and Web, who have gone on to make 'That Mitchell and Web Show' as well, but I reckon this is still the funniest thing they have done. If the Inbetweeners made you cringe in places, this one will 10 times more - you won't know whether to hide behind the sofa in embarassment or burst out laughing. The peep show follows the misadventures of two highly disfunctional young men who share a flat together, and the 'peep show' comes in as you are privvy to not only what they say and do, but also the internal voice of their thoughts.