The Great British Sitcom: "The Gaffer"

[Hawkman]

One of my favourite sitcoms is I Didn't Know You Cared. It is an acquired taste, a Northern England battle of the sexes mostly, starring Robin Bailey as the wonderfully dour Uncle Mort. Liz Smith is great in this as is Stephen Rea.

 

[Hawkman]

Amazingly it's only last year that I first saw Father Ted. What a hilarious show, and what a tragic end for Ted himself Dermot Morgan, so sad. This is possibly the most remembered bit, the Chinese impression and what follows.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Looking back over The Upper Hand so far, an awful lot of episode titles are names of TV series or films. Indeed, with the (possible) exceptions of The Far Pavilion and The Porridge Diet, all of Series Five's episodes have been well-known titles. And even the latter of those two references an iconic sitcom.

One episode is cheekily named Who's The Boss? It's rather surprising that the American series got to its final season before using it.

One character who gets better and better for me is Caroline. In the early days I found her the least-interesting character, and (as I mentioned) the one who I found jumped out as less interesting or funny than their American counterpart. As the series have gone by, Diana Weston has proved quite a gem and really won me over. Series Five has had a lot of snippy, critical and competitive Caroline and it's a colour I find hilarious on her. I don't feel we had much of this in the early days of the series, and it's great to see it rectified.

The kids are still proving enjoyable. While I do generally prefer them in less-central roles, they do good work. Kellie Bright particularly shone in the scenes when Sam dressed up as her friend Al's wife in order to help him secure a flat. Seeing her dolled up in faux fur with a bright red wig, oodles of slap and a broad Cockney accent feels like the moment she emerges from the child actor I recognise from T-Bag to the future EastEnder.

Joe McGann is perfectly acceptable, though my journey with him has taken the opposite trajectory to Diana Weston. His range may be good when compared directly with Tony Danza (as I did in the early days) but taken on its own merits it's far more average. There is a naturalism to his performance, but it comes from the same few little expressions which make it feel simultaneously repetitive. To the point of distraction, many of his lines start with "I mean..." Yeah"... and - the biggest offender - "Come on". In fact, "Come on, Caroline..." is used so frequently it could be an alternative title for the series... or a drinking game phrase for those who want to get sozzled quickly. An episode in which McGann played a Brummie Charlie lookalike only reinforced the limitations, though it wasn't unenjoyable.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

One of my favourite sitcoms is I Didn't Know You Cared. It is an acquired taste, a Northern England battle of the sexes mostly

Sounds very much my cup of tea. I hadn't heard of this one, but a series with John Comer, Gretchen Franklin, Ray Dunbobbin and Liz Smith has my interest.

 

[Hawkman]

Sounds very much my cup of tea. I hadn't heard of this one, but a series with John Comer, Gretchen Franklin, Ray Dunbobbin and Liz Smith has my interest.

Surprised you've not heard of it, on the other hand I'm just showing my age!
One of BBC's classic 70's sitcoms, along with another show repeated on UK Gold ,Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads with Rodney Bewes, Brigit Forsyth and James Bolam. Bob and Thelma's perfect marriage haunted by the return of Terry (Bolam), a disruptive character from Bob's past.

 

[Hawkman]

I must admit to having a penchant for older or newer sitcoms that maybe go under the radar a bit. There's some real gems hidden away.
From the 80's Chelmsford 123, an Ancient Britons vs Romans comedy.

Jack Dee in Lead Balloon, from the Noughties, about the travails of a comedian on the slide.

Steve Coogan's other great character, apart from Alan Partridge, is Tommy Saxondale, an ex roadie turned freelance pest control troubleshooter, in Saxondale.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Upper Hand's Fifth Series closed with Charlie's proposal to Caroline, followed by Caroline's proposal to Charlie.

Unfortunately, it feels very much like a case that a little something was possibly lost in translation. I haven't watched the equivalent WTB episodes, but I'll take a guess or two:

In Who's The Boss?, Tony causing Angela serious bodily damage by allowing her to cycle (or perhaps ski) down a dangerous slope might have been passable because (with all respect) the Tony character seems endearingly vacuous at times. It's part of his charm. In The Upper Hand, Charlie watching Caroline damage herself while having a conversation with Laura and the kids feels more knowing and deliberate.

Likewise, his messing up the business with the ring feels quite in character for Tony, less so for Charlie.

Charlie moping over his friend's death felt overly self-indulgent and reminded me of Knots Landing's Mack making Laura's death all about him with his mid-life crisis and mysterious disappearance. Likewise, his moping in his dressing gown after Caroline turned his proposal down. It's an overreaction that might have been somewhat acceptable with Tony Danza's endearing, one-note daftness, but made Charlie look childish and attention-seeking.

Worst of all for me was the passive-aggressive plan to coerce Caroline into chasing him round, first by accompanying him to the match, then by proposing to him. And even then he made her squirm a little more. It's standard sitcom stuff, with Laura getting involved and everything. If played right it could have been sweet and endearing, however Charlie lacks Tony's innocent charm and so here it all felt rather calculated, manipulative and ugly. Frankly when he didn't accept her proposal outright I was rooting for her to say "Sod you, then", get up and walk away.

Ah well.


The running order of episodes compared with the Who's The Boss? equivalent fascinates me. Two of the episodes we've already seen in The Upper Hand aired after Tony and Angela's engagement in the American version. The one with Jo/Sam posing as Al's wife is fine, since that's a "filler" episode, but the episode Who's The Boss? (as opposed to the series) was an important one in the power struggle between the leading couple. Changing its placement also changes the dynamics. Neither feels wrong in my mind. I'm just curious to see if the post-engagement power struggle shows itself in some other way in the British version.

Surprised you've not heard of it, on the other hand I'm just showing my age!

Yes. Although I'd have been too young to remember the series' original transmission (and how refreshing for me to be too young for anything these days), I'm surprised I've no recollection of it from repeats.

I'd definitely be up for watching this on DVD if a sensibly priced copy becomes available. Although Amazon says the set isn't discontinued it looks like it is. The price tracker indicates new copies haven't been in stock for over a year.

 

[Hawkman]

Yes. Although I'd have been too young to remember the series' original transmission (and how refreshing for me to be too young for anything these days), I'm surprised I've no recollection of it from repeats.

I'd definitely be up for watching this on DVD if a sensibly priced copy becomes available. Although Amazon says the set isn't discontinued it looks like it is. The price tracker indicates new copies haven't been in stock for over a year.

The complete series is available on Amazon for £40, which works out at £10 per series which isn't bad.

I Didn't Know You Cared: The Complete Collection [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Robin Bailey, John Comer, Liz Smith, Keith Drinkel, Liz Goulding, Gretchen Franklin, Vanda Godsell, Robin Bailey, John Comer: DVD & Blu-ray

Buy I Didn't Know You Cared: The Complete Collection [DVD] from Amazon's DVD & Blu-ray TV Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The complete series is available on Amazon for £40, which works out at £10 per series which isn't bad.

I suppose it's all relative, but it seems a lot to me compared with other BBC series. I've noticed it's coming from Amazon EU rather than the UK, which suggests it's now deleted.

Looking at the price history, the highest price Amazon UK listed for new copies was £27.55 for the complete series when it first came out. They were selling the same boxset for £16.99 for some months last year before they stopped stocking it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It seems there were no episodes of The Upper Hand at all during 1994. Where all previous series have had a gap of a few months (between two and six). It's a little over a year between the end of Series Five and the beginning of Series Six.

The series returns with a minor-but-noticeable rebrand. As always there's a new set of images for the opening titles. This time, however, they're accompanied by a re-recorded, slightly jazzier version of Debbie Wiseman's theme. Both opening and closing credits are noticeably shorter, but the music now overlaps more into the episode giving it a little more of a flow. Making the biggest visual difference is a different font for the credits. The Upper Hand title logo is retained, but everything else looks fresh and different. They don't necessarily look better, but neither do they look awful. They're just noticeably different.

Within the episodes themselves, the only real significant visual change is William Puttock's growth spurt (the voice has deepened as well). Kellie Bright looks the same to me, but Jo is now written as a young adult, being at uni and bringing home a fiancé in the fifth episode. As I'm in the middle of a two-parter, they've just eloped to Gretna Green. There are further soapy credentials with the potential in-laws: fiancé Dan Thatcher is played by former Brookie actor Robert Beck (he was Peter Harrison) who is married to Corrie's Jane Danson and has also appeared in Corrie himself as well as Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. Dan's parents are played by two then-recently "retired" Eldorado actors: Roger Walker (Bunny) and Patricia Brake (Gwen). How ironic considering there was at least one Eldorado joke a series or so earlier. Patricia is best-known to me from her comedy work with Ronnie Barker, especially as his daughter in Porridge and Going Straight, but also in the likes of The Two Ronnies. It's great to see her, but sad to see that IMDb only lists one further TUH appearance at the end of this series.

It's fair to say that the bloom is off the rose with Charlie. Increasingly I've struggled with him as the series has gone along and it's fair to say that he's now the series' weak link for me. The writing around him is increasingly goofy, but it's not endearing or charming. Charlie seems to swing between outraged alpha male and forced clunky one-liners, and neither is a good look on him. Gone is the doting father and eager-to-please, slightly progressive housekeeper. Charlie is now filled with permanent insecurity and it's getting tedious. Once again, I suspect it's because the scripts were originally written for an actor with a specific appeal (Danza) which McGann doesn't have, and he consequently ends up seeming at best irritating and at worst unlikeable.

The family has been slightly expanded with an appearance from Laura's mother. Judy Campbell was great in the role as the woman out to ruin Caroline's relationship by persuading them to take on a prenup (Granny's solicitor was none other than 'Allo 'Allo's Herr Flick, which should have been a red flag). It also brought out new facets in Laura's character since she became timid and eager to please around her controlling and dismissive mother... until she could bite her tongue no longer.

Laura's late husband made an appearance in the following episode where she had gallbladder surgery and saw him in her room while sedated. It was a lovely, theatrical little one-to-one, followed by a sweet scene between Laura and Caroline. Unfortunately, it's also an example of Charlie being an irritant, with him crashing repeatedly and unnecessarily into the hospital room with a daft plastic stethescope and - as the scene between the two women played out - a comedy set of glasses with springy-out eyes (if you have to try this hard, you're just not funny). Laura's doctor was the dishy vicar from Keeping Up Appearances. It's a bit of a shame she was too unwell to sexually harass him.

 

[Hawkman]

Loved most of Eric Chappel's sitcoms, Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh, but his first one, before Rising Damp, The Squirrels has some great moments and a good cast. Bernard Hepton is the distressed boss, JF,( a foreshadowing of CJ perhaps ) and his hapless team of office workers causing merriment, also with Ellis Jones from Pardon My Genie , Ken Jones and Patsy Rowlands.

 

[Hawkman]

A few months back I was surprised to get dvds of The Many Wives Of Patrick, Patrick Cargill's follow up series to Father Dear Father. 18 out of the 20 episodes survive, and I've just finished watching them all. Pretty good, similar comedic farce to FDF, and now someone has uploaded seven or so episodes on YouTube. Possibly they won't stay on there long, as the series isn't commercially available, so catch them while you can.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Upper Hand continues to be curate's egg, and it seems to hinge on how well an episode translates.

Hit The Road - an adaption of WTB's Days Of Blunder - works well because it rings true. The biggest stretch is probably Tom stealing Charlie's Jeep, but it worked well enough. From that point on, each character's reaction felt believable.

Conversely, Home Improvement - an adaption of one of the final WTB episodes, Mr Micelli Builds His Dream House - fell flat because even without watching the American version it comes across strongly that it's an episode which would have been built heavily around Tony Danza's very specific (read one-note) appeal and it doesn't work for this lead actor. McGann gamely tries, but ends up playing Charlie as a lobotomised version of the character we met back in Series One, making idiotic choice after idiotic choice while coming across as quite obnoxious. Not helping is the formulaic writing. It's the obligatory DIY episode featured in every sitcom, and the overall effect is one that's formulaic, twee and silly. It simply doesn't work for me.

Following the obligatory DIY episode comes the obligatory riff on It's A Wonderful Life as Charlie is shown the life he could have had. I was put off by several factors, not least the facts that it was clearly all happening in Charlie's imagination from the beginning and that this was yet another Charlie-heavy episode. And yet somehow I found myself enjoying the novelty of the episode. The worst thing about it was the terrible special effects as Jimmy Logan beamed round after Charlie, but the story itself was watchable enough. Tired, but watchable.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

After a bit of an enforced gap, normal service has been resumed and last night saw me watch the final two episodes of the penultimate series. They're episodes which mark a real turning point in the series... and quite possibly a divergence from the series on which it's based.

Second Thoughts is, I suspect, a fairly straight translation of Who's The Boss?'s Allergic To Love. It's enjoyable enough but a fairly standard episode, albeit one with more saccharine moments then usual with the wedding talk.

Then comes The Wedding. If I'm remembering correctly this is the first episode that's been longer than the standard 25 minutes. In fact it's double-length. Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter are credited as writers, so presumably it's a translation of a Who's The Boss? episode. Did Tony and Angela marry at series' end, I wonder?

Naturally, this episode amps up the saccharine even more, but it's tempered by the wonderful cast of guest actors, many of whom specialise in the acerbic. Regular guests Anthony Newley and Lynda Baron are present and correct, both proving wonderful foils for Honor Blackman. Almost bizarrely, Kirsten "I shall say thees only weernce" Cooke returns from her small role as a friend of Caroline's back in Series One's First Kiss to play the same character who has a bigger role here as Caroline's dressmaker.

Stealing the show with his disapproving looks and wonderful deadpanning is one of my favourite character actors Frank Thornton, here in between his final outing as Captain Peacock in Grace & Favour and his debut as Truly Of The Yard in Last Of The Summer Wine (a role he'd go on to play for a whopping 135 episodes). Playing his wife is Rosalind Knight, best known to me for her work in the early Carry Ons and other films from that team. Impressively, all of Frank's scenes as Reverend Hale are filmed on location and he's an absolute hero through what look to be very difficult filming conditions. His character's church is meant to have caught fire, so the wedding takes place outdoors with smoke blowing all round them.

Furthermore, although it's a beautiful day (and it does look great), the heavens are meant to open mid-ceremony, which means the entire guest cast of esteemed and established actors gets bombarded with heavy barrages of water, presumably from cannons or hoses. The entire latter part of the episode serves as a testament to the professionalism of these experienced pros.

It really is a novelty to witness Captain Peacock and Nurse Gladys Emmanuel interacting, made even more surreal by the presence of Michelle Of The Resistance and Pussy Galore.

Oh - this reminds me... the episode also had a meta moment after Laura karate chopped Caroline's (recast) ex-husband Michael in the stomach, leading him to quip:

I'd better get out of here before Cathy Gale gets back.

I wonder if this line was in the original and simply not changed for the British version because it was just too perfect (like the "Marilyn Monroe" line in The Seven Year Itch)? Either way, it's a nice nod to an earlier character of Honor Blackman's that manages not to be too in-your-face thanks to the great distance between her playing these two very different characters.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

At just seven episodes, The Upper Hand's final year is also its shortest, meaning I've got through over half of Series Seven in one sitting.

Since I believe most of these final seven are original scripts, instead of remakes of Who's The Boss? scripts, I was most interested to see where they would fall tonally. To me they do feel a tad more British, but I'm not sure how much of this is me looking too deeply. Certainly they're not as British as they could have been, and the scripts continue to regularly use Americanisms ("we're done"; "refrigerator" "I guess"... etc.). It feels as though an effort has been made to keep the script feeling as though it could have been recycled from a U.S. series which, if nothing else, arguably shows attention to detail.

The stories themselves also feel familiar to regular viewers of either series. The episode with Caroline's man-eating friend making a play for Charlie felt very much like a remake of Series One's The Old Girl Network, which I suppose was worth doing both as a kind of bookend, with the dynamic between Caroline and Charlie being very different now that their romantic relationship is well and truly established. Plus it meant we got Louise Jameson as the friend (and it included a homage to The Graduate). The same episode also included Mollie Sugden's son from That's My Boy as an old boyfriend of Caroline's who made Charlie feel insecure, which I'm sure is also ground we've trodden before in the series.

The ongoing arc with Caroline and Charlie wanting a baby isn't doing it for me. Each is acting like their life is unfulfilled without having a baby together, yet they have every reason to be a happy blended family with two grown children. Charlie wanting another kid I can believe, but Caroline's desire to please Charlie by giving him a child is less convincing. It's clear they're aiming for romantic angst, but these scenes end up coming across as self-indulgent and even ungrateful.

British b-list sitcom writer Colin Bostock-Smith has written three of the four so far, with Who's The Boss? creators Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter writing Chunnel Of Love (not to be confused with Tunnel Of Love, itself a remake of Seer Of Love). I can't seem to find Chunnel's American equivalent, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Upper Hand drew to its close in the O'Drama household with a triple bill matinee.

The "married" premise of the final series - breaking away from the premise and scripts of Who's The Boss - was a worthwhile experiment and a not unsuccessful one. It was enjoyable enough and kept the feel of earlier series.

The "dramatic" arcs with Charlie and Caroline's attempts to have a baby and the long-distance marital troubles for Jo and Dan were background enough not to overpower, though I never really got on board with the "need" for Charlie and Caroline to have a child together. It felt like an unnecessary attempt to force a new "depth" into the relationship (and, as a result, the series). And I could definitely have done without the series' final line "We're pregnant". The "we", bizarrely, referred to Caroline and Charlie rather than Caroline and Jo (who took a simultaneous pregnancy test after a previous mix-up left Jo thinking she was pregnant). It seems an odd choice of phrasing as well as an inaccurate - and physically impossible - one. But hey ho - it was a brief enough arc.

While the final run of episodes didn't exactly break new ground. I did particularly like the episode with Laura feeling unwanted at home and going off with her old song and dance partner played by Millicent Martin.

Overall, it's been an enjoyable series that I suspect remains more watchable and less dated than its antecedent. All the same, there was a lot of filler over the years that I could have done without and the long series meant that there were times that familiarity bordered on breeding contempt... certainly watching at this pace. When I began watching it was exactly what I craved watching, but by this point I'm certainly ready for the series to end. It may well be another three decades before I'd feel like watching it again.

 

[Daniel Avery]

And I could definitely have done without the series' final line "We're pregnant". The "we", bizarrely, referred to Caroline and Charlie rather than Caroline and Jo (who took a simultaneous pregnancy test after a previous mix-up left Jo thinking she was pregnant). It seems an odd choice of phrasing as well as an inaccurate - and physically impossible - one. But hey ho - it was a brief enough arc.

About twenty/thirty years ago, young couples started saying "we" are pregnant. It's become pretty normal to refer to it that way now---frankly I'm kind of surprised you haven't heard this before. An American thing? I guess it's an effort to have men take more of a role in the whole pregnancy/labor/child-rearing exercise, since some guys might try to shirk responsibilities like 3am feedings, diaper changes, etc. and leave all the drudgery to the woman. I'm sure there are some men who look at it the other way---that they're "left out" of the process in a lot of ways, since the woman gets to do all this bonding with the baby in-utero, while he just watches from afar. Obviously she has to carry the baby and go through labor and all the heavy-lifting, but this whole "we're pregnant!" thing seems to be an effort to involve the man more in the process---whether he wants it or not!

I have to confess I did not see the final episodes of Who's the Boss? due to an unfavorable time slot change. ABC showed their supreme ungratefulness to long-running shows like WTB in that period by "putting them out to pasture"---by moving the shows to Saturday night slots to die quietly. Granted, the show had a good run and the cast were likely ready to move on, but the show had made tons of money for ABC during its run. They deserved better treatment, and frankly so did its fans. So when WTB was shifted to Saturday I didn't see any of those episodes for one reason or another...and then they were gone. I seem to recall a closing scene where Angela answered the door with her hair in a towel (like the pilot scene) with Tony there....but I cannot remember what the context was.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

About twenty/thirty years ago, young couples started saying "we" are pregnant. It's become pretty normal to refer to it that way now---frankly I'm kind of surprised you haven't heard this before. An American thing?

Could be, but there's as good a chance that it's used here and I'm behind the times. I mostly end up hearing about friends' pregnancies through word of mouth anyway. Offhand, I can only think of being in one situation in the last twenty years where a couple has announced a pregnancy to assembled friends. Plus I'm not on social media so I miss any announcements there as well.

In the Spider-Man comics I do recall Harry Osborn announcing his wife's pregnancy along these lines and finding the phrasing unusual (this would be circa 1983), but I'd put it down to a quirk of the character.

I have to confess I did not see the final episodes of Who's the Boss? due to an unfavorable time slot change. ABC showed their supreme ungratefulness to long-running shows like WTB in that period by "putting them out to pasture"---by moving the shows to Saturday night slots to die quietly.

It's always sad to read about a series suffering because of a network's loss of interest or sheer contempt. I'm sure there are numerous British examples of this as well. Terry and June springs to mind. The BBC really disliked it because of its twee reputation and (ignoring the strong ratings both it still commanded after many years) they buried it in a teatime slot for its last few years to quietly fade away.

Of course, the Beeb also gave their American successes the same treatment. Dallas ended up in a Sunday afternoon slot, despite being one of the jewels in its crown a few years before (though admittedly that was a shadow of its former self and had haemorrhaged viewers for some seasons).

I seem to recall a closing scene where Angela answered the door with her hair in a towel (like the pilot scene) with Tony there....but I cannot remember what the context was.

Funnily enough (but not too surprisingly, considering I've watched a number of scenes from WTB recently), this scene keeps popping up in my YT suggestions. I haven't watched it yet, but perhaps I will, just to see how it ends.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Ghosts

Just for posterity, Ghosts is back.

As before, it's easy to devour and I've already watched two-thirds of Series Four. Since I'm concurrently watching Upstairs, Downstairs, it's felt slightly bizarre to mix an actual period drama in with the assorted period characters of Ghosts.

There's very little to report, since it's more of the same as the first three series. For me, I'd say less is also more with this series, so having just half a dozen episodes to watch over a few nights is manageable and keeping my gripes to a minimum.

the contemporary rhythms. And abundant Americanisms.

These remain, and I'm having to work particularly hard to remind myself that these period characters are existing in the Twenty First Century and indulging themselves in daytime TV. That helps keep my blood pressure down when archaic characters use frequent contractions, or when Thomas said about being "harassed" and used the American/Frank Spencer pronunciation of "hur-ASSed" (this apparently particularly bothered me given that last night I actually dreamt that another character corrected him).

My enjoyment of the series stems from the previously-mentioned fact that it's essentially a pastiche of Seventies and Eighties kiddies telly. And on this level it really works.

There is still this. It's essentially The Ghosts Of Motley Hall or Rentaghost for the 21st Century. And on top of that nostalgia is the added layer that it's the best part of a year since the last series and so is the return of some characters I've grown to enjoy.

Mary, for instance, is a character that took a while to click with me, but now that I get her I find she can make me laugh by doing very little and I'm frequently drawn to watch her in scenes even if she's quite still.

There's a definite synergy between me watching Mary (a character I initially felt was the weak link but grew to enjoy) ascending to the afterlife on the very same evening I watched Upstairs, Downstairs' Emily (a character I initially felt was the weak link but grew to enjoy) commit suicide. The characters themselves serve similar purposes in their roles in the onscreen dynamics. I'm not quite sure what it means, but it does feel rather significant.

 

[Daniel Avery]

or when Thomas said about being "harassed" and used the American/Frank Spencer pronunciation of "hur-ASSed" (this apparently particularly bothered me given that last night I actually dreamt that another character corrected him).

Which reminds me of a joke from the 1990s.
As a bit of a reminder/explanation, in that period we had a Vice President named Dan Quayle, who famously got labelled an idiot for misspelling the word "potato" in a press event. President Bill Clinton and Senator Teddy Kennedy were well-known womanizers.

The joke:
"Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy and Dan Quayle compete in a spelling bee. Who wins, and why?"
"Dan Quayle, since he's the only one who recognized that "harass" is one word."