Caroline Quentin says Men Behaving Badly was ‘past its sell-by date’ and wouldn’t be made now

Men Behaving Badly star Caroline Quentin has said the series is “past its sell-by date” and would not be made today.

The 63-year-old actor played Dorothy in the popular Nineties comedy, alongside Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey and Leslie Ash. The sitcom has faced scrutiny and accusations of sexism for its depiction of lad culture.

During an appearance on Times Radio, Quentin opened up about the show’s legacy to interviewer Jane Garvey.

“You know, Men Behaving Badly is where a lot of people will remember you with huge fondness. And the classic question about that show now is, could you make it now?” Garvey asked.

“It was getting pretty past its sell-by date by the last series, really,” Quentin replied. “So we’d be pushing our luck 20 or 30 years later.

“You plough that furrow. And there comes a point where you just go ‘umm, I think we’ve done this now’. And the world moved on, mercifully... We didn’t have social media in those days, and there are lots of reasons why we couldn’t make it now.”

Men Behaving Badly ran from 1992 to 1998, and followed the exploits of the obnoxious Gary Strang (Clunes) and his social circle.

According to Quentin, she is still approached in the street by people of all ages, who tell her that they still find the series funny – “but it was so much of its era,” she added.

Asked whether she had ever felt uncomfortable with the show’s gender dynamics during filming, Quentin responded: “No, I think I was always fighty in the rehearsal room. I remember saying when we did the pilot, saying very loudly, ‘I am not here to serve up feed lines to men. I’m just not here to do that.’

“And that was pretty bold, given that no one knew who I was or cared. I felt very strongly then that actually there was an opportunity in that scenario to give the women a voice. It was never going to be as loud a voice [as men], but at least it could be as funny. And actually, what’s really interesting in comedies, I think, is if you’re funny, you can say almost anything. But if you’re just someone feeding lines to somebody else, you don’t exist. And that is still true today, I think.”

The series is available to watch now on Prime Video, BritBox, ITVX and NOW.