Running as a tribute to Eddie Braben who sadly passed away yesterday.  We will be looking at Eddie Braben when we spend a week looking back at some of comedy’s greatest writers in the not too distant future.

After contract negotiations with ATV failed and following Eric Morecambe’s desire to appear in colour for their next series it was off to the BBC.  In 1968 the first of their new series was broadcast.  This time round the series was in their own names, the Morecambe And Wise Show and from 1969 was broadcast in colour.  Morecambe and Wise produced nine series for the BBC and eight Christmas Shows.
The first series of the new show written by Dick Hills and Sid Green followed the same formula as Two Of A kind.  Eric Morecambe felt under pressure with this formula, but before any changes could be considered, Morecambe suffered a heart attack in 1968. At this time the writers Hills & Green felt the situation had exhausted itself and it was time to move on to pastures new. It wasn’t clear if the double act would ever perform again.
Series Two was written by Eddie Braben and the show began to take the shape of the show we all came to love so much.
In 1977 after a record breaking Christmas Special Eric and Ernie left the BBC for Thames.  For the first two years of their stint at Thames there was no regular show instead a Special episode was broadcast in 1978 followed by two Christmas Specials in 1978 and 1979, before a regular show in 1980.  The 1983 Christmas Special was the duo’s last TV show appearence together.
Five months after the Christmas Special Eric Morecambe tragically died of a heart attack in 1984.

Summary

A typical Morecambe and Wise show would begin with the duo appearing “as themselves” on a mock stage in front of curtains emblazoned with an M and W logo (this was usually to open the show).  There would be sketches often set in the duo’s fictional flat.  Musical numbers with Star Guests, a play wot Ern wrote.  At the end of the show Eric and Ernie sang and danced. They were forced to abandon this practice when Morecambe’s heart condition prevented him from dancing. The solution was that Eric would walk across the stage with coat and bag, ostensibly to ‘wait for his bus’, while Ernie danced by himself.

Clips

The Thames Years

Starring

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise

Details

Channel: BBC 2 and ITV
Written By:
(BBC): Series One Dick Hills and Sid Green
Series Two – Nine (BBC) Eddie Braben
(ITV): 1978 – 1980 Morecambe and Wise, Barry Cryer, John Junkin
1980 – 1983: Eddie Braben
Original Transmission:
2nd September 1968 – 25th December 1977 (BBC)
18th October 1978 (first special), 25th December 1978 & 1979 (Christmas Specials), 3rd September 1980 – 25th December 1983 (Thames)

Merchandising

Another seldom heard of sitcom from ITV, this one stars Sid James.

Two in clover ran for two series between 1969 and 1970, for thirteen episodes.  It was around this time that colour was fast becoming the must have television medium as more of television’s output was produced in colour.  Two In Clover was no exception, the first series was screened in black and white, the second series in colour.  The themes of self sufficiency (although on a grander scale) are not dis-similar to those in The Good Life which would appear six years later.

The series was written by the successful writing team that would go on to pen such classics as Love Thy Neighbour and Bless This House and produced by Thames Television for ITV.

Summary

Two city clerks, Sid Turner and Vic Evans abandon the nine-to-five to run a small farm out in the country. A recurring theme throughout the two series was Sid’s love of his Friesian cow “Fanny”.

Clips

Cast

Sid James
Victor Spinetti

Details

Channel: ITV
Written By: Vince Powell and Harry Driver
Original Transmission Dates: 18th February 1969 – 24th March 1970

Merchandising

Perhaps Sid James’ finest moment.  Produced for ITV by Thames Television, Bless this House ran for 65 episodes over six series between 1971 and 1976.  The show rated 67 in a poll to find Britain’s best sitcom.

Summary

Bless This House centres around life in Birch Avenue, Putney, where travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott and his wife Jean live with their teenage children, Mike, who is fresh from art college and more preoccupied with protests than finding a job, and Sally, a trendy schoolgirl. The children are 18 and 16 years old at the start of the series. Sid and Jean constantly battle to comprehend the permissive ways of the new generation and are usually out of touch. Their neighbours and best friends are Trevor and his wife Betty.

Clips

Cast

Sid James
Diana Coupland
Robin Stewart
Sally Gleeson

Details

Channel: ITV
Written By:
Vince Powell
Harry Driver
Carla Lane
Myra Taylor
Dave Freeman
Bernie Sharp
Original Run; 2 February 1971 – 22 April 1976

Spin Offs

Like many TV sitcoms of the time there was a movie version in 1972

Extras

Bless This House came to an abrupt end in 1976, when, just four days after broadcast of the final episode of the sixth series, Sid James died. He collapsed on stage at the Sunderland Empire, during a performance of The Mating Season after failing to respond to a cue. James had suffered a heart attack. He later died on the way to the hospital.

Merchandising

All six series of Bless This House are available on DVD on the Network label.

Following on from Spitting Image and 2DTV, came this short – lived satirical show.  Lasting only one series of eight shows in 2008.

Spitting Image had used latex puppets, 2DTV used 2D animation, Headcases used 3D animation.  This was created by, UK Visual Effects and animation house: Red Vision, who used a series of unique production techniques and a sophisticated animation pipeline in order to deliver the weekly topical elements of the series.

The show takes it’s name from the fact that all the subjects’ caricatured faces are out of scale with the rest of their bodies.

Summary

Much like Spitting Image the show revolved around weekly topical events, lampooning: politicians, celebrities and even the Royal family, all taking a role in sketches based around their own topical issues.

Clips

The Voices Of

Rory Bremmar
Jon Culshaw
Lewis Macleod
Kayvan Novak
Daniel Maier
Lucy Porter
Jess Robimson
Katy Wix
Katy Brand
Omid Djalili
Phil Cornwell
Lucy Montgomery
Mark Perry
Tom Hollander
Andrew Lawrence

Details

Channel: ITV
Created By: Henry Naylor
Written By:
Henry Naylor
Kevin Day
Mark Evans
Lucy Porter
Carl Carter
Tony Cooke
Simon Dean
Richie Webb
Marc Blakewell
James Harris
Original Transmission Dates: 6th April – 15th June 2008

Merchandising

An all time comedy classic and possibly one of the best produced by London Weekend Television, Mind Your Language ran for three series (four in some ITV regions) totalling 42 episodes.

After running for three series the show was cancelled by Michael Grade, the then Deputy Controller of Entertainment, who considered the stereotyping of the students to be offensive.  There had been debate at the time that many people found it offensive.  It was subsequently sold all over the world.  It was resurrected by an independent production company in 1986 with some of the original cast.  Not all ITV regions showed the 1986 version, only Granada transmitted all 13 episodes as a complete series.

Summary

Set in a London College Of Further Education the series focused on the activities of the Evening Classes, in particular – English as a Foreign Language, as taught by Mr Jeremy Brown whose class was a motley crew of foreigners, most of who could barely speak English.

The comedy comes from the students inability to grasp the basic command of English.  This leads to misunderstanding of words and  terms causing all manner of disagreements and cultural differences.

Clips

Cast

Barry Evans
Albert Moses
George Camiller
Kervok Malikyan
Zara Nutley
Robert Lee
Dino Shafeek
Pik- Sen Lim
Tommy Godfrey
Iris Sadler
Francoise Pascal
Ricardo Montez
Jacki Harding
Jamila Massey
Anna Bergman
Gabor Vernon
Jenny Lee-Wright
Marie-Elise Grepne
Raj Patel
Vincent Wong
Sue Bond
Harry Littlewood

Details

Channel: ITV
Written By: Vince Powell
Original Run: 30th December 1977 – 16th December 1979 and 1986

Merchandising:

The complete 3 LWT series are available as a box set.  Unfortunately the 1986 series has yet to make an appearance.

There is so much comedy doing the rounds on various channels these days, but it never ceases to amaze me just how many have fallen into obscurity.  Me and My Girl is one such example.  Once compulsive Friday night viewing, now forgotten about this popular sitcom benefitted from an all star cast of well known names from the world of TV sitcom.

Running for 52 episodes and six series between 1984 and 1988, Me and My Girl was one of the last pieces of TV work to feature Richard O’ Sullivan.

Summary

Simon Harrap is a widower and Father to a teenage daughter.  He runs an advertising agency called Eyecatchers, the series centres around his relationship with his daughter, Sam, his business partner Derek Yates and a string of romantic liaisons.

Clips

Cast

Richard O’Sullivan … Simon Harrap
Tim Brooke-Taylor … Derek Yates
Joan Sanderson … Nell Cresset
Joanne Ridley … Samantha Harrap
Leni Harper … Madeleine ‘Maddie’ Dunnock
Sandra Clarke … Isobel McClusky
Joanne Campbell … Liz

Details

Channel: ITV
Created By: Keith Leonard and John Kane
Written By:
Keith Leonard
John Kane
Bernard McKenna
 Colin Bostock-Smith
Mike Walling
Ian Whitham
Produced By: London Weekend Television
Original Transmission Dates: 31st August 1984 – 4th November 1988

Merchandising

The series has yet to appear on DVD, although Network DVD are hoping to be able to release it at some future point.

Agony was the ITV sitcom that ran for 31 episodes (3 Series) between 1979 and 1981.  It was voted in that now famous poll to find Britain’s Best Sitcom at No 92.
Agony was noted for being the first British sitcom to portray a gay couple as non-camp, witty, intelligent and happy people.

Summary
Maureen Lipman plays Jane Lucas, an agony aunt, who is highly successful in her career working at radio call-in show (for Happening Radio 242) in London and for magazine Person, but whose personal life is a shambles.  Her Jewish mother, Bea, interferes in all aspects of her life and her psychiatrist Christian husband Laurence is unreliable, all the people she works with are tireless self-promoters including the libidinous journalist Vincent Fish.
Other characters included the editor of Person magazine Diana, secretary Val Dunn, radio colleague Andy and her gay neighbours Rob and Michael.

Clips

Cast
Maureen Lipman
Simon Williams
Maria Charles
Peter Blake

Details
Channel: ITV
Written By: Len Richmond, Anna Raeburn, Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds.
Produced By: London Weekend Television for ITV
Original Run: 11th March 1979 – 1st March 1981

Merchandising

On The Buses was a hugely successful sitcom that was initially rejected by the BBC who did not see any great comedy potential in the idea, despite the writers having had previous success for the BBC with The Rag Trade and Meet The Wife.  The idea was offered to Frank Muir then head of Entertainment for London Weekend Television.  He loved the idea and commissioned the series that would for six seasons and  seventy four episodes.  Unlike many television programs of the time all seventy four episodes still exist in the archives, enjoying regular repeats on digital channel ITV3.

Summary

The series followed two threads: the antics of Stan Butler a bus driver with the Luxton And District Bus Company, his conductor Jack and the Inspector Cyril ‘Blakey’ Blake.  It also followed Stan’s less than ideal home life.  Living with his Mother, frumpy Sister Olive and her lazy Husband Arthur.
In the later years Arthur left, Stan left to make buses in the North as the money was better than driving them in the South.  Olive got a job with the bus company and forced out of his lodgings Inspector Blake became the Butlers’ new lodger.

Clips

Cast:

Stan Butler – Reg Varney
Jack Harper – Bob Grant
Inspector Blake – Stephen Lewis
Mum – Cicely Courtneidge (series one)
Mum – Doris Hare (from series two)
Olive – Anna Karen
Arthur – Michael Robbins

Details

Channel: ITV
Written By: Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney

Spin Offs

Don’t Drink the water 13 episodes over two series 1974 – 1975.  This featured Blakey retiring to Spain with his Sister played by Pat Coombs.  there were also three Film adaptations were produced by Hammer Films.  These were: On The Buses – 1971, Mutiny On The Buses – 1972 and Holiday On The Buses – 1973.

Extras
There was a stage play  On The Buses based on the series of which we assume featured all or at least some of the original cast.  After touring Australia in 1988 rumours began circulating that a revival show Back On The Buses, featuring the original cast, was to be made.  Despite an appearance on Wogan in 1990 by Reg Varney and the publicity, the series was never made and scripts were never written.
Today the series enjoys regular repeats on ITV3, check your TV guide as it comes and goes.

Merchandising
A board game On The Buses from toymaker Denys Fisher was available around the time the series was on air.  A book “On The Buses The Complete Story” written by Craig Walker published by Apex Publishing Ltd October 2009.

In October 2011 Network DVD released a Box Set entitled On The Buses – The Complete Omnibus.  This mammoth set is a must for fans of the series as it contains contains all seven series – a total of 74 shows – plus the three feature film spin-offs On The Buses, Mutiny On The Buses and Holiday On The Buses. Also included is the complete series of Don’t Drink the Water – a spin-off sitcom featuring Blakey in Spain – plus exclusive special features, including archive news footage and Reg Varney’s TV play The Best Pair of Legs in the Business.  The best price we’ve found was direct from Network follow the link www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1438.

The company still exists although now it’s part of the generic ITV plc.  However enough of that, we are looking back over this wek at some of the great sitcoms it produced over the years.  Starting with An Audience with, we’ve picked Ken Dodd because of his LWT quip.

It’s surprising how many great sitcoms this franchise was responsible for.

An Audience With Ken Dodd – 1994

Originally produced by London Weekend Television and more recently ITV Studios this popular Saturday Night program has been popping up on our screens for over thirty years.

A critically acclaimed  comedy masterpiece c/o London Weekend,  An Audience With Ken Dodd was first shown by LWT on ITV. Receiving a 5 minute standing ovation from his audience , the show went on to become one of the highest rating light entertainment programs of all time.

Summary

An Audience with Ken Dodd was a fun-filled show, widely quoted by the media as the nation’s “tattifelarious and must-see tickle-tonic.”  Ken goes on a non stop juggernaut of jokes, complemented by his favourite songs, spoof opera and a wonderfully inspired guest appearance by his ventriloquist pal Dicky Mint.  And not forgetting he also answers questions from his celebrity guests.

Clips

Details

Starring: Ken Dodd
Channel: ITV
Original Transmission: 3 December 1994

Merchandising

An Audience with Ken Dodd was originally released on VHS, becoming his first video,  He received a double-platinum award from the Video Retailers Association for sales in excess of £2 million.  It’s available now on DVD including the extra 40 minutes of material not show on TV.

He is an incorrigible lech whose sexual advances have caused the resignation of no fewer than 16 housekeepers.  In a final attempt to curb his antics, George is sent to the Premier Domestic Agency to find the ideal candidate that will put an end to his wandering hands.

However, whilst George is plotting to install another of his ‘dolly birds’, fate, and a fierce dragon, are about to play their own part in throwing a spanner in his works for good.  Enter the dragon – Miss Gabriel Dragon, a widowed forty-something no-nonsense battle-axe.  Battle is about to commence.

Summary

The plot revolves around George’s attempts to rid himself of the woman with a force ten voice and a fearsomely battling bluster.  Unfortunately she manages to scupper every plan he comes up with until, in time, the relationship begins to mellow and  a grudging respect begins to grow as the pair join forces to ensure that anything but order descends on the Maynard household.

Clips

Here’s a full episode to enjoy

Cast

George Russell – Sid James
Gabriel Dragon – Peggy Mount
Colonel Maynard – John Le Mesurier
Ralph – Keith Marsh

Details

Channel: ITV (ATV Network)
Written By: Vince Powell and Harry Driver
Original Transmission Dates: November 19th 1966 – October 31st 1968

Merchandising

All four series of George And The Dragon are available on DVD from Network www.networkdvd.net