 Thomas Sutcliffe of "The Independent" named the series the best new comedy of 2006.When appearing on a panel of comedy judges at the 2007 Edinburgh International Television Festival, Frank Skinner, in response to "The Vicar of Dibley" and "The Catherine Tate Show" being voted the best comedies in a public poll, called it "the best sitcom that anyone from the comedy circuit has done [...] Obviously I was hoping it would be shit" (Skinner starred in his own failed sitcom, "Shane" in 2004).The first episode broke BBC Four's audience record for a comedy series, with 383,000 viewers.