paul shane and bill pertwee head the cast in Jimmy Perry and david croft's final sitcom you rang m'lord

Perry And Croft’s Last Stand…

You Rang M’Lord, 1990

You Rang M’Lord was the last sitcom from the writers of Dads Army, Hi De Hi and  It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.  However the writers weren’t the only people returning You Rang M’Lord used many actors from Perry and Croft’s other successful sitcoms.

The idea for the series came from Co-writer, Jimmy Perry, whose Grandfather had worked as a butler, and recalled many anecdotes about life “below stairs”.

After a successful pilot episode in 1988, You Rang M’ Lord ran for four series totaling twenty six episodes between 1990 and 1993.  Set in the house of an aristocratic family in the 1920s, contrasting the upper-class family and their servants in a house in London, along the same lines as the popular drama Upstairs, Downstairs.

Episodes of You Rang M’Lord? were fifty minutes long, rather than the usual thirty (for BBC sitcoms).

Unlike previous Croft and Perry series You Rang M’Lord attempted to introduce a more reflective approach and more complex plotting . There was also less reliance on filmed location sequences.

The catchy 1920’s style theme tune was sung by Bob Monkhouse.

Summary

The setting is the London house of an aristocratic family during the 1920s.  The series follows the various relationships between the upper-class and their servants, as well as Alf’s scheming and James’s attempts to stop him.

The comedy came from contrasts between the upper-class family and their servants, along the same lines as the popular drama Upstairs, Downstairs..

Clips

 

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Cast

Paul Shane
Jeffrey Holland
Su Pollard
Donald Hewlett
Michael Knowles
Brenda Cowling
Bill Pertwee

Details

Channel: BBC1
Written and Created By: David Croft and Jimmy Perry
Produced By: David Croft
Directed By: David Croft and Roy Gould
Original Transmission: Dates:
29th December 1988 (Pilot), 14th January 1990 – 24th April 1993 (full series)