Joking Apart poster

Joking Apart (1991)

Comedy

Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky, who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced. The twelve episodes, broadcast between 1993 and 1995, were directed by Bob Spiers and produced by Andre Ptaszynski for independent production company Pola Jones. The show is semi-autobiographical; it was inspired by the then recent separation of Moffat and his first wife. Some of the episodes in the first series followed a non-linear parallel structure, contrasting the rise of the relationship with the fall. Other episodes were ensemble farces, predominantly including the couple's friends Robert and Tracy. Paul Mark Elliott also appeared as Trevor, Becky's lover.

IMDb rating
8.2 (202 votes)
Episode average
8.4 +0.2 vs IMDb
Seasons
2
Language
EN
Type
TV series

Consistent trajectory: great across every season, no weak one. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Consistent show in the explorer →

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 2 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1993)

8.37 avg 6 episodes 8.0 → 8.4

Ep 1: 8.0 · 8 votesEp 2: 8.4 · 8 votesEp 3: 8.6 · 8 votesEp 4: 8.0 · 8 votesEp 5: 8.8 · 9 votesEp 6: 8.4 · 9 votes
Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Episode #1.18.08
2Episode #1.28.48
3Episode #1.38.68
4Episode #1.48.08
5Episode #1.58.89
6Episode #1.68.49

Season 2 (1995)

8.45 avg 6 episodes 8.8 → 8.8

Ep 1: 8.8 · 8 votesEp 2: 7.8 · 6 votesEp 3: 8.3 · 6 votesEp 4: 8.3 · 6 votesEp 5: 8.7 · 7 votesEp 6: 8.8 · 5 votes
Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Episode #2.18.88
2Episode #2.27.86
3Episode #2.38.36
4Episode #2.48.36
5Episode #2.58.77
6Episode #2.68.85