Oh No It’s Selwyn Frogit, Pilot Episode, 1974
Screened two years prior to a full series. The pilot for Oh No It’s Selwyn Frogitt was screened as part of a six week season of of Yorkshire Television Specials.
It was Bill Maynard who had the original idea. He thought about creating a sitcom based around the members of the working men’s club in his home village of Sapcote, Leicestershire.
Maynard based his idea for the Selwyn character on a patron of his local working man’s club named Peter Wright, a larger-than-life patron who often exclaimed “magic!” with his thumbs up and ordered “a pint of cooking and a bag of nuts”, both of which Bill Maynard would use for his character.
Having dreamt up the idea Maynard attempted to get the show commissioned.. He approached Duncan Wood during his 1972–73 tenure as BBC Head Of Comedy. Whilst he didn’t manage to do anything at the BBC when Wood moved to Yorkshire Television as Head Of Light Entertainment he commissioned a pilot episode.
Looking for an established writer he brought in Roy Clarke who was having success with Last Of The Summer Wine to write the pilot episode. Clarke felt he lacked the familiarity to write about a working men’s club, so Bill Maynard took the train to Leeds where Yorkshire Television was based to assist him. Roy Clarke devised the title Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt, and the pilot was broadcast in the autumn of 1974.
In the pilot episode, Daphne Heard plays Selwyn’s Mother, and David plays his Brother Morris.
In the series Meg Jenkins plays his Mother, and Bob Keegan (credited as Robert Keegan) plays his Brother whose name was now spelled Maurice.
It’s notable for the eagle eyed reader that the pilot episode referred to Selwyn’s surname as ‘Froggit’ not ‘Frogitt’ as would be the case when a full series was broadcast two years later.
Summary
Meet Selwyn Frogit a harmless but over enthusiastic Council labourer. Such is his over enthusiasm and clumsiness it causes people to run when they see him coming.
In this pilot episode Selwyn tries to impress his boss by telling him he reads the Times newspaper. When that doesn’t work, he tries telling him he was a sergeant in the army and it was all a secret operation.
Clips
Cast
Selwyn Frogit = Bill Maynard
Morris Frogit – David Lodge (Selwyn’s Brother)
Florrie Frogit – Daphne Heard (Selwyn’s Mother)
Sylvia – Liz Edmiston
Details
Channel: ITV
Created and Written By: Roy Clarke from an idea by Bill Maynard
Produced By: Yorkshire Television
Original transmission Date: 30th September 1974