But why has BBC added a laugh track to Sean Lock's cult sitcom?

Sean Lock’s cult sitcom 15 Storeys High was finally be released on iPlayer last night.

Fans had been lobbying the BBC to release the show via the on-demand service ever since the comedian died last week at the age of 58.

Now they have finally responded, with the  Corporation confirming the news just hours before the episodes dropped last night. They can be viewed here.

But in a bizarre move, one of the episodes has been uploaded with a laugh track that was never intended, which fans including comedian Jordan Brooks pointed out:

In what is probably the greatest testament to how royally the BBC screwed 15 Storeys High, they've put it on iplayer but accidentally added a version of episode 6 series 1 where there's a laugh track when there's not supposed to be one. Cracking stuff.

— Jordan Brookes (@jordbrookes) August 27, 2021

Oh wtf gross the version of Dead Swan in 15 Storeys High on iplayer has a fucking awful laugh track on it??

— The Comedy Doctor (@comedy_doc) August 27, 2021

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Lock created, wrote, and starred in the show as depressed pessimist Vince, who lives in a tower block in South London with his flatmate Errol, played by Benedict Wong.

The show originally aired for 12 episodes from 2002 to 2004, and  featured a supporting cast including Bill Bailey, Tracy Ann Oberman, Mark Lamarr, Felix Dexter, Peter Serafinowicz, and Toby Jones.

Kathy Burke was among those calling for the show to be made available again, tweeting last week: ‘My showbiz pal, Roisin Conaty and I had a massive love up about Sean Lock yesterday. He was such a fantastic bloke. We’d love to see the absolutely brilliant 15 Storeys High put on the @BBCiPlayer please. We’re not asking for much.’

Her message was liked more than 30,000 times.

Published: 27 Aug 2021