Not On Your Nellie – 1974
Not On your Nellie was screened a year after Hilda Baker’s other well known sitcom Nearest and Dearest. It ran for 17 episodes over three series.
The series was created by two of the regular writers from Nearest and Dearest Roy Bottomley and Tom Brennand. Hilda Baker had said in an interview around the time that ‘Not On Your Nellie’ was a planned spin off from Nearest and Dearest. However the creators maintained that it was based on stage play that they had written for Baker in the frame of the Nellie Pledge character.
Unfortunately Not On your Nellie failed to live up to the popularity of it’s predecessor. Before commencing production of a third series major changes to the cast were made with Barratt, Raynor, Ali, and Richard all leaving the show. Two new characters were brought in to accommodate the changes, including Jack Douglas as Nellie’s cousin Stanley, and Sue Nicholls as new barmaid Brenda.
Things continued to go wrong for the show when, during the taping of the third series in 1975, Hilda Baker slipped on set injuring herself. However she did appear (in a wheelchair) for one episode after the accident, Baker then left the series and took legal action against LWT (injury claims even in those days) for her injury.
One further episode was made without Hilda Baker (where it was explained her character was away in hospital) before the show was abruptly axed only four episodes into it’s third series. Unfortunately it also marked the end of Baker’s television career.
Summary
When Jed Pickersgill (John Barrett) finds himself too ill to run his Chelsea pub, The Brown Cow, he calls upon his middle-aged daughter Nellie Pickersgill for help.
Hilarity ensues when Nellie arrives to run the pub, she is teetotal and does not approve of alcohol (or, in fact, any vice) and attempts to maintain order in the pub by keeping a watchful eye on the regulars and her wayward Father.
Clips
Cast
Hylda Baker
John Barrett
Leo Dolan
David Raynor
Roger Howlett
Azad Ali
Alexandra Dane
Wendy Richard
Sue Nicholls
Jack Douglas
Details
Channel: ITV
Created By: Roy Bottomley and Tom Brennand
Produced By: London Weekend Television for ITV
Original Transmission Dates: 3rd March 1974 – 29th August 1975