Share:

Never Better(TV show/series, 2008)

30min per episode | Genre: Comedy

Scripted Reality in 1 season with 6 episodes

Never BetterRating: 3.0/5 (with 1 vote)
Never Better is a British television sitcom which started on BBC Two from 10 January to 14 February 2008. It stars Stephen Mangan as recovering alcoholic Keith Merchant and Kate Ashfield as his suffering wife Anita. The series is written by Fintan Ryan for World Productions. The series has been described as a dark sitcom, being compared to other recent sitcoms such as Lead Balloon and Curb Your Enthusiasm. However, critics have complained that the show is too similar to these sort of programmes, as well as attacking the character of Keith for not being funny. The series was received poorly by viewers, with the first series attracting an average audience of less than one million viewers per episode. ()
Poster of Never Better

Where to watch Never Better (streaming/download)?

At the moment we can't find any options to watch Never Better online but we constantly add new providers. Create a free account now to add Never Better to your favorites & stay up to date.

About Never Better

Black comedy series centred on Keith Merchant, a recovering alcoholic, as he makes his way through his new sober life.

Ad Protect Your Online Privacy with a VPN

Don't risk your personal information and online activities being exposed to hackers, government surveillance, and other online threats. A VPN encrypts your internet connection and hides your IP, giving you maximum security and privacy. Take control of your online safety, switch to a VPN now. Choose one of these services to learn more:

Never Better Seasons and Episodes

01/10/2008Season 1 - 6 episodes
#1 | 01/10/2008Bully
Keith is worried that Tom is being bullied at school. In order to attempt to make himself and Tom look more aggressive, he buys a 4x4 from Shaun (Neil Fitzmaurice), a fellow AA member, and uses it to stand up to the bully's mother. Keith tells Anita that he is taking the car for a test drive, but Anita demands he returns it. Keith later learns that his overheard comments about one of Tom's overweight friends have led to another boy being bullied. Shaun later tells Keith that he is likely to be laid off, because his workmates bully him. Keith advises him to stand up for himself, but this leads him to relapse into drinking. On the way back from AA, Shaun vomits in the car, meaning he cannot return it.
#2 | 01/17/2008Life and Soul
Keith is worried about both his masculinity during Tom\'s football practice. He also worries about some not getting his iron back after it is lent to some dinner party guests. He tries to get the iron back by stealing the guest\'s phone number from Anita\'s mobile, but she stops him. At AA, he befriends a member who finds it hard to socialise. Keith\'s friend Richard convinces him to become more masculine by sending each other rude text messages. However, Keith accidentally sends one text to everyone in his address book.
#3 | 01/24/2008God
Keith has problems at AA with Marianne (Susan Earl), a Christian woman who talks to her cat, Chairman Meow. He is also not wanting to go to a recorder performance given by Anita\'s nephew Paul, partly because he has Down\'s Syndrome, but mainly because Paul gropes him. At AA, he is encouraged to help someone, and is asked to take Chairman Meow to the vet. However, they learn that he possibly has cancer. After taking Paul out, his parents eventually think he is having a loving relationship with someone. Marianne then loses her faith, begins drinking and asks Keith to have sex with her. Luckily, Chairman Meow only has a furball and Marianne regains her faith.
#4 | 01/31/2008Good Samaritan
Keith is told off by Doug for holding a side-converstion despite the fact he was trying to help someone. Carl (Phillip Wright), a new member of group arrives after Doug spots signs of his alchoholism. He and Anita hold a surprise birthy party for Anita\'s father, and give him a plasma screen TV as a gift. However, Anita\'s brother Rob, a drug addict, has yet to pay his share for it. During an argument, Rob throws a ball which Keith fails to catch, resulting in the TV being broken. An intervention is organised to help Rob, but eventually he breaks down over the broken TV. At AA, Carl leaves the group but Keith welcomes him back in. Carl offers Keith a new TV for £600, which he pays for. It is later discovered that he was a conman, with everyone at the meeting giving him money for faulty electrical goods.
#5 | 02/07/2008First Week Euphoria
Keith using his AA meetings as an excuse for not seeing the grandparents. During the meeting, he pretends to yawn to indicate he thinks it is getting boring, but causes offense. A new AA member, Charlie (Nicholas Burns), is in the middle of \"First week euphoria\" of not drinking. It is then recommended that Keith sits in \"The chair\", talking to the whole group. Richard says he should talk about using the AA meetings to get away from his family. Keith does this, but everyone is shocked by him. Worried he is not helping anyone, he tries to help Charlie, but he causes more offense and ends up destroying Charlie\'s \"First week euphoria\", resulting in him wanting to get drunk. He runs across the road to do so, but is run over and dies. When Keith visits the dead body, he spills coffee over the corpse. Keith swaps his clothes over with Charlie\'s, but he still causes trouble at the funeral when his mobile phone rings during the service.
#6 | 02/14/2008Dad
Although at AA he annoys his fellow members by telling a trivial story, Keith tries to befriend a fellow member, Arturo (Matthew Ashforde), whose father got shot. When he is out with his family, Keith is annoyed when his father remembers a story incorrectly about getting a model plane. Keith also worries about some kids hanging around outside his house, who later jeer Anita. She tells Keith to concentrate more on his children than his father. At AA, Keith learns that Arturo\'s father got shot during a bank robbery and how his father being in jail resulted in a lack of a bond between them, thus inspiring to be a better father. The following meeting, he learns that Arturo and his father have been arrested for robbery. Keith finally confronts the kids outside and ends up being stabbed. In hospital, Richard tells Keith that standing up to the kids is an important step towards his alcoholic recovery.

Additional Information

Official websites:
Production country: United Kingdom (UK)
Plays in: England
Original language: English (EN)
Spoken languages: English (EN)
Translated into 1 language: English (EN)
Status: Ended
First episode released on: 01/10/2008
Last episode released on: 02/14/2008

Recommendations for Never Better

If you like Never Better then you might also like the following TV shows/series:

Eye Candy

TV-14

2015 | 3.1/5 | 45min per episode

Blue Water High

Certification unknown

2005-2008 | 3.6/5 | 25min per episode

TNA iMPACT!

TV-PG

2004- | 3.6/5 | 1h 25min per episode

The Strip

NR

2008 | 4.5/5 | 1h per episode

Quicksand

TV-MA

2019 | 3.6/5 | 45min per episode

Legacies

TV-14

2018-2022 | 4.2/5 | 43min per episode

Red Dwarf

TV-14

1988-2017 | 4.0/5 | 30min per episode

Similar TV shows/series

These TV shows/series are similar to Never Better (story/era etc.):

The Larry Sanders Show

TV-MA

1992-1998 | 3.9/5 | 30min per episode

Californication

TV-MA

2007-2014 | 3.8/5 | 28min per episode

All in the Family

TV-PG

1971-1979 | 3.9/5 | 25min per episode

The Graham Norton Show

NR

2007- | 3.5/5 | 49min per episode

The Jeffersons

TV-PG

1975-1985 | 3.7/5 | 30min per episode

Duckman

TV-PG

1994-1997 | 3.6/5 | 22min per episode

Dave the Barbarian

Certification unknown

2004-2005 | 3.8/5 | 22min per episode

The Beverly Hillbillies

TV-G

1962-1971 | 3.4/5 | 25min per episode
WatchPlayStream ID: SHOWS:27256, Added: 05/16/2018, Last updated: 04/12/2024