Caroline Quentin claims her hit sitcom Men Behaving Badly couldn’t be made now – and was even ‘past its sell by date’ by the final series

Caroline Quentin has said that men were indeed behaving badly – and that the sitcom, which was her breakout role on television, would now be cancelled.

The actress played the long-suffering Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly alongside boorish drunken characters Gary and Tony, played by Martin Clune and Neil Morrissey.

And she believes “there are a lot of reasons why we can’t make it now,” adding: “I think it kind of sticks in your head, it really does.”

Caroline, 63, explained: ‘I think by the last series it was quite past its sell-by date.

“I just think you know, you plow that furrow and there comes a point where you just say, ‘Hmm… I guess we’ve done this now…’

The actress played the long-suffering Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly alongside boorish drunken characters Gary and Tony, played by Martin Clune (pictured with Caroline) and Neil Morrissey

“And the world has mercifully moved on… I’m actually saying that, I have two young people, I don’t know if the world has probably moved on enough.

“I don’t know, we didn’t have social media back then and I’m not sure. There are many reasons why we can’t make it now.’

Speaking on the latest edition of the Off Air podcast, Caroline said the comedy’s vulgar ’90s humor wouldn’t feel right now.

But she admitted that many viewers found it funny at the time, and some still do.

She continued, “I think it kind of sticks in your head, it really does. I mean, listen, it’s still funny, I’m not taking that away from it.

‘People still come up to me, young people still come up to me on the street and say they think it’s funny. Old people come up to me on the street and say they think it’s funny.

“Listen, it’s fine, but it took up so much of his time.”

However, Caroline claimed that she stood up to cast and crew from the start to question aspects of the content, even if it might have compromised her role.

Caroline believes ‘there are a lot of reasons why we can’t make it now’, adding: ‘I think it actually sticks in your memory, it really does’

Caroline told the latest edition of the Off Air podcast that the vulgar ’90s humor of the comedy wouldn’t feel right now (considering Martin, Caroline, Neil and Leslie Ash)

She added: “I was always combative. I was combative in the practice room. I remember saying very loudly during the first pilot: ‘I’m not here to serve men and run lines, I’m just not here to do that.’

“That was quite daring considering no one knew who I was or cared, but I felt very strongly at the time that there was actually an opportunity in that scenario to give women a voice.

“It would never be that loud of a voice, but at least it could be just as funny. I think what’s really interesting about comedies is that if you’re funny, you can say almost anything.

“But if you’re just someone passing lines to someone else, you don’t exist, and I think that’s still true today.”

In 2022, Martin Clunes ruled out a new series of Men Behaving Badly, agreeing that it could not return ‘these days’.

Caroline (seen in March 2022), 63, explained: ‘I think it was quite past its sell-by date by the last series’

The 60-year-old made his name as Gary Strang, opposite Neil Morrissey’s Tony Smart in the ‘boyish’ comedy, which started on ITV in 1992 and moved to the BBC for four years from 1994.

The pair played housemates who drink, watch TV and chase women.

But Martin said a new series wouldn’t be possible today because of the conversations the friends had.

“God no. Not these days. I mean, we were talking about things like Kylie Minogue’s bum and comparing it to a racehorse’s,” he told Saga magazine.

“How can we do that now?”