The Great British Sitcom

[AndyB2008]

My month of browsing antiques came to a quietly enjoyable end last night, as the Eleventh Series wrapped up with Simon and Oliver outside a (studio) shop front in heated competition for a satellite dish so that they can watch European soft porn.

As expected, there's no denouement or closure. Which is entirely appropriate since is feels as though the series could have simply continued running even longer than it did. There was no sign onscreen of Donald and Windsor's enthusiasm waning. The chemistry was still good, and the writing had a safe consistency thanks to the benefit of having just one writer for its last three series. I found myself chuckling out loud as much in the latter series as I did in the beginning. Sometimes more.

There was the odd episode here and there that didn't work as well - such as Simon becoming an evangelical preacher in Born Again, which was entirely unbelievable. But this was also true for earlier series. As a rule, if you liked one episode, you'll like the lot.

Thanks to the terrific grounding of the two leads, the series successfully survived a few cast shakeups and little changes of direction. Who'd have thought the exit of David and Lynn - the ties that bound the lead characters together - would in the long run prove to be an improvement? Had the two children remained in the series it would have offered some scope for new forms of rivalry, but I suspect having these family dynamics explored on a weekly basis would ultimately have proved restrictive and limited not only story possibilities but also the longevity of the series.

Banks was missed after his exit. I did enjoy him bluntly cutting Simon down to size. But his departure was softened by the fact that he took the irritating Mrs Sadler with him (she was just one clumsy character too many for the series. Even Ringo could get trying at times in this department).

And then in came Aunt Eleanor. Based on her first couple of appearances - her very first being a one-off appearance at the beginning of Series Four - I really wasn't sure how I'd feel about her as a regular. At risk of sounding rude, my initial overall impression was that they'd written it for Joan Sanderson but couldn't get her. Zara Nutley has the right look for the archetypal sitcom battleaxe, but that brusque edge doesn't feel like a good fit for her. Once she returned as a regular, the character was wisely softened, and tailored to Zara's natural warmth. And she became a delight, sparking well off the other characters. The new central foursome of Simon, Oliver, Ringo and Eleanor proving complementary and enjoyable to watch.

In the end, the charisma of the series' key actors proved more important than even the original premise.

Ref Joan Sanderson, she looked like the one holding After Henry together on TV (and radio). Telling how the writer pulled the plug after she died rather than carrying it on (well that and Thames TV losing the franchise), as if he knew it wouldn't work with another actress recast in her role.

The writer did reunite later with Prunella Scales for the radio series Smelling of Roses, but the magic wasn't there compared to After Henry and it's not really as remembered.

Clearly Joan Sanderson was part of the main success of AH than he realised (same with Rosemary Leach keeping his No Commitments sitcom afloat, as she was there for the whole entire run as Anna while the actresses playing her sisters Victoria and Charlotte changed more times than the Sugababes changed members).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Ref Joan Sanderson, she looked like the one holding After Henry together on TV (and radio). Telling how the writer pulled the plug after she died rather than carrying it on (well that and Thames TV losing the franchise), as if he knew it wouldn't work with another actress recast in her role.

Absolutely. I was really impressed with the TV version of AH when I rewatched it earlier on in this thread, and Joan was the best thing about it.


Here are a few thoughts I had about Joan as I watched back on page 13 of this very thread:

Sanderson's Eleanor is very similar to the other roles I know her from - primarily as Nell in Me And My Girl, which was still running when After Henry began. Her formidable battleaxe with a soft centre works every time for me and she delivers her acid drops with unerring accuracy. It's not just the lines, but the looks. There was a great scene with Sarah recording an answerphone message, aided by Clare and under the critical eye of Eleanor which is perhaps my favourite so far because of the wonderful chemistry. Sarah was overwhelmed by the new technology and Eleanor zoomed in on every flaw while knitting for England. When Sarah asked her mother to be quiet, the look of incredulous disgust on Sanderson's face spoke a thousand words.

And there was Joan Sanderson's rather epic recitation of historic British monarchs in chronological order. Again, it was probably one of those mnemonics that was taught at school during her childhood, rather like Thirty Days Hath September. But hearing it for the first time, recited at great speed by Eleanor looking equal parts bored and superior it was very impressive. And that's in addition to some of her regular mouthfuls about her sources, which usually involve "Valerie Brown on the pension counter's sister Mary", though sometimes are even more convoluted.

Joan Sanderson was a joy in this series, with every scene - every line - a gem. It's made me keen to seek out some more of her work soon. She even handled the series' one (some would say unnecessary) expletive with old school grace ("I'll nail the bastard", she said of the married man she assumed her daughter was seeing). It's a little sad to think that Sanderson had died before the final series aired, but wonderful that she left us with some perfectly pitched verbal sparring with her onscreen relatives and the ever patient Vera Polling.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Uncharted territory for me, as my new Britcom is as contemporary as it gets.

​

In fact the third series of Ghosts is still airing for the very first time (Episode Four is in the schedule for its 'live' debut this very evening).

When the premise was described to me, I immediately recognised it as being almost identical to The Ghosts Of Motley Hall. Indeed, so far it feels very much like a prime time remake of that series, though no credit appears to be given by any source.


Let's get the numerous gripes over with:

My struggles with the series so far are the ones I would expect to have from a series which began in 2019: namely the contemporary rhythms. And abundant Americanisms.

The "live" couple who inherit the house feel very much like they're played by actors who've grown up watching exclusively American sitcoms and play this the same way. They have that frenetic "we're being quirky and funny" thing imported from caricature TV in the states. The woman in particular is doing my box in. I really want to like her because she has that endearing Karen Allen/Karen Carpenter/Margot Kidder quality to her looks, but she's not making it easy. If there's a way of making a line feel more American she finds it. She even does that Chad Michael Murray thing where she'll say a sentence and then wait a few beats before saying the other person's name. I think it's an attempt to sound natural, but to me it always sounds like the actor has briefly forgotten the other character's name. That said, I've found her more tolerable now that she's had her head injuries and can see the ghosts, rather than simply being one half of a fast talking trendy couple.

The Americanisms aren't just restricted to rhythms of speech. They're to be found, too, in the dialogue. Said woman, for instance, has described the permanently trouserless MP as having "no pants" (I'm happy to say I've NEVER heard a British person say this before). And she and her hubby talk about being "mad" when they actually mean angry. But then she's also concerned about being insane because she can see ghosts, and describes this, too, as being mad. It's confusing.

Even the ghosts speak in the same way. There's the odd concession to archaic language, but then there's also "OK" and "good on him" and suchlike. I'm not expecting historic accuracy, but my tolerance threshold for the Millennial London thing so abundant here is fairly low.



There's also the weirdness of making a quirky comedy in an age of political correctness. I wouldn't say the series is overly stifled by this. In many ways it makes the humour gentler and more accessible to all and there's no sense of malice to the humour.

All the same, there are times when it does stifle and becomes problematic. In the age of cancel culture and closing down conversations that are might be deemed offensive or inappropriate there's that strange sense of skirting around certain topics that will probably date the series and make it seem laughably twee and safe when the bubble bursts and culture changes and people in future decades look back on it.

For instance, isn't it a bit strange that centuries old characters - some of whom, like Lady Button, are obsessed with class and propriety - don't seem to have even noticed that the people who inherited the house are an interracial couple. And so the anachronisms in the ghosts' language extends to their attitude as well, which is not for the best. That they are as accepting and inclusive on such matters as their twenty-first century hosts irrevocably takes away potential for conflict and growth for characters.

On this note, I must also observe what appears to be a hierarchy when it comes to comedy relating to protected characteristics. We've established that there's a no talk rule when it comes to race. But it's evidently all right to make fun of a woman ghost for being ladylike because that's old-fashioned and gender stereotypical and binary. Interestingly, it's also acceptable in this show to make another (ghostly) character an object of ridicule for being a closeted gay man. Perhaps because it's unfashionable to be in the closet and so that's apparently really funny. Protected characteristics, it seems, are only truly protected when they align with Millennial sensibilities.



Putting cultural analysis to the side, there is a lot to enjoy in this series. As previously mentioned, it does feel as though it owes a great deal to Seventies and Eighties kiddies TV such as The Ghosts Of Motley Hall or Rentaghost, which is a good thing. Because of this there's something comfortingly familiar about it. The premise may not be original in the least, but it's a proven one and this balances out the inevitable Twenties flourishes (some of which work). It's proving easy enough to watch and I'm hoping to find more to enjoy as the series unfolds.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Ghosts is proving to be overall more watchable as it goes along. I've enjoyed getting to know the ghosts and their various quirks.

My tolerance for the contemporary rhythms is increasing. Ironically, the series' nadir - the ghosts binge-watching Friends, discussing the various characters and even quoting dialogue from the series - has proven a little helpful in this regard. Using Friends as a frame of reference is passé anyway but building half an episode around it seems terribly lazy (if it doubt, get the audience on-side by referencing something nostalgic and popular). But it's since this episode that I've questioned the contemporary speech patterns less, since it's entirely feasible the ghosts have been influenced by recent decades' pop culture almost as much as the living characters.

The "origin" type flashbacks to the ghosts' past lives and deaths have been nicely done. I've found myself surprisingly interested in knowing more from the titbits we've been given. There's certainly a lot of scope for this series to take any number of paths, many of which have been utilised. The episode with the burglars took the now-established setup and shook it up nicely to create a sense of sitcom style jeopardy by removing Alison from the house, leaving the ghosts with no way to easily let Mike know what was going on downstairs. In fact most episodes of Series Two have been really well structured.

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.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

they're played by actors who've grown up watching exclusively American sitcoms and play this the same way. They have that frenetic "we're being quirky and funny" thing imported from caricature TV in the states.

And it seems America wants its quirky, funny caricatures back. Spot the difference...

I do have to wonder why not simply screen the original. One thing this series really doesn't need is added saccharine.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Well, this series is going by far too quickly. I'm now halfway through Series Three, and in another couple of episodes will have overtaken the episodes as shown on BBC1.

Something happened during Series Two. It's been incremental, so it's impossible to pinpoint a moment, but having spent time with these characters I've realised I've grown to love them. All of them.

The Christmas special which followed Series Two was pretty spot on. And with the opening of Series Three, it hit me that I was really glad to see all of these quirky characters back (it was especially pleasing in 3.1 to see the pompous, blustery neighbour back) and I realised that I would miss any one of them if the dynamics changed.

There isn't a character I dislike, and I've come to appreciate all the ghosts in their different ways. And understanding their different functions and quirks I appreciate them even more. 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. I've found Kitty extremely endearing since day one, and she's probably the character I've found the most consistently watchable and likeable. Again, she doesn't need to do much at all. While others bluster away in the foreground I'm finding the less dominant characters are the ones that steal the show.

Yes, there are still a couple of tweaks that might make it even more perfect for me (dialling down Fanny's gurning a good few notches, for example. And losing The Captain's repetitive throat clearing and all the anachronistic business). But overall this series, despite my initial resistance, has become one that I now look forward to watching. I find myself regularly charmed by its setup. It helps that in addition to series like The Ghosts Of Motley Hall and Rentaghost, I'm also seeing other influences such as Blackadder and even a bit of The Young Ones.

I feel quite sad that there are only another three episodes before I run out of filmed material.

 

[AndyB2008]

Well, I've failed to post about it, but I'm around two thirds of the way through a re-re-re-watch of To The Manor Born.

Very little to say except it's as reliable as ever. Penelope Keith is, of course, wonderful (as are Angela Thorne, Peter Bowles and many of the guest cast).

Oh, and I'd forgotten that the term "to the manner born" was actually used in one of the episodes.

The BBC did revive To The Manor Born as a radio series later in 1997 on Radio 2.

BBC Radio 4 Extra has just finished a repeat run of the show.

Penelope Keith and Angela Thorne returned from the TV series, but Peter Bowles wasn't able to (or declined) to return so Keith Barron took his place.

Daphne Heard and John Rudling had died by the time of the radio series, so Margery Withers, who had appeared on The Day Today (I believe along with Jean Ainslie, she's one of the ladies interviewed in the fake wartime documentary), and Nicholas McArdle (Miller in the TV version) took over their roles.

Michael Bilton had also died by the radio series debuting, so the role was taken over by Frank Middlemiss.

(Speaking of Jean Ainslie and The Day Today, she also appeared in Knowing Me, Knowing You as Elsie Morgan. One of the actresses playing Elsie's teammates was Gabrielle Hamilton, who had been in the revived version of The Tomorrow People.)

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Having watched through to the end of the Third Series of Ghosts, I've now watched every episode made to date. The final episode to date was very enjoyable, with a story that had a sense of real threat for the characters with an interesting storyline which showed nice continuity throughout the series.

Already I find myself looking forward to a second Christmas special and no doubt a Fourth Series.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Sad to see the death of Robert Fyfe announced today. Howard was a Summer Wine favourite of mine.

Yet another great Summer Wine actor gone. One can almost envisage Pearl and Marina waiting at the top of a heavenly escalator to make Howard choose.

 

[LEEJ88]

My classic sitcoms are Bottom and Gimme Gimme Gimme and Peep Show I guess like shows where the main characters depise each other but can not live without each other.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Having wrapped up The Two Ronnies, I wanted to explore a bit of Ronnie Barker's solo work. Some I know well; some I have only a passing acquaintance with and some I don't know at all.

1969's Hark At Barker falls into the final category. I don't believe I've ever seen it before. The ensemble is very familiar though, with many of them going on to become regular Barker collaborators. Most notably, there's Josephine Tewson as Lord Rustless's secretary Miss Bates (it's the kind of timid, subservient but all-seeing and all-knowing role in which she specialises. This first series being black and white she actually looks older here than she would in the early Nineties). Frank Gatliffe is another comfortingly familiar face though I don't associate him with any particular role. He's one of those character actors who seems to have been in everything. Then there's Nöel Dyson (Ken Barlow's Mum, AKA Nanny from Father, Dear Father) who appeared in a number of Ronnies episodes.

The structure, too, feels rather like a dry run for what we'd get in The Two Ronnies, with Ronnie starting off as an announcer (sometimes incorporating Barker's brilliant wordplay or gift for clever mispronunciation).

A couple of sketches in the first few episodes did seem familiar. Most notable of these was a sketch set at the cinema where Barker gets heated watching an erotic film while his mousy wife - played by Nöel Dyson - critiques the decor and the leading lady:

Mrs Cook across the road's got some bedroom curtains just like that; only they're more of a blue. I like that eiderdown, don't you? I think I'll try an' get one o' those with me Green Stamps....

Oh, isn't she like Muriel? Elsie's girl.... [laughs] Oh, that's just Muriel, that is. Just takes 'er clothes off an' drops 'em anywhere. All round the bedroom...

Jack. They're the soap racks I was tellin' you about. They've got them at Harris's. They're continental. Special design. There - you see how she's leanin' over it to turn the taps on? Well you can't cut yourself on them. They're all curved over - no sharp edges. Lovely shape, aren't they?

Aww - that's a lovely loofah he's got there. I wonder if you can get those on the Green Stamps...

Either I've seen this clip elsewhere quite recently or - more likely - it was recreated as a Two Ronnies sketch.


The entire episode can be found here, with the sketch in question at 19 and a half minutes:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Hark At Barker is proving a very easily digested little gem. I've now finished Series One.

It's an innovative idea, especially by 1969 standards, to have some fairly random - and occasionally surreal - sketches linked by the main Lord Rustless scenes. The supporting cast for the "sitcom" are great. Josephine Tewson and Frank Gatliffe remain as reliable as ever. Even Mary Baxter as the toothless cook with a permanent scowl has won me over.

David Jason has also feature as Dithers the ancient gardener. I know it's British comedy sacrilege to say this but I'm not a fan of his at all, which is a shame as he's had some great series over the years. There are some roles in which I find him tolerable while others are a trial (and there are a number I simply avoid altogether). Fortunately, Dithers falls into the tolerable category, helped by the fact that he doesn't speak actual words, but occasional mumbled gibberish.

Ronnie Corbett has had small roles in a couple of the sketches, so it's nice for me to have that (reverse) continuity from The Two Ronnies. Other familiar names and faces throughout Series One have belonged to Michael Palin, Pauline Yates (that's Reginald Perrin's wife. Not to be mistaken for Bob Geldof's wife) and Valerie Leon among others.

I feel more excited than I'd care to admit at the prospect of watching Rustless & co. in colour for Series Two.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Hark At Barker came to an end yesterday, with Series Two having proved as enjoyable as the first.

The little ensemble in the Lord Rustless sitcom parts proved endearing. Barker's Lord Rustless's mannerisms and speech patterns reminded me a great deal of Boris or Stanley Johnson, perhaps the less said about which the better. David Jason's Dithers had a tendency to upstage the others with his OTT antics and so was used wisely by being kept in the background and given relatively little to do, allowing him to ham to his heart's content without becoming an irritant.

The addition of Effie the sexy maid in Series Two worked well. Once again, less proved more as the character deliberately spoke at an inaudible volume with Moira Foot just mouthing the words and Ronnie Barker reacting to what he heard, allowing for lots of double entendres. Speaking of which, much was made of Effie's cleavage, with Barker speaking into it half the time, or turning to see her and commenting "Ah - there you all are". It's saucy postcard stuff, and it never gets old. I'm surprised not to have recognised Moira Foot from more British films and shows as she has that slutty ingenue quality that was very popular around this time (à la Margaret Nolan). Turns out she went on to be Denise Laroque, leader of the communist resistance in 'Allo 'Allo.

As Badger the butler, Frank Gatliff emerged as a quiet favourite. He has a reassuringly calm-but-authoritative gentlemanly quality reminiscent of Frank Thornton or Patrick Cargill. I'm amazed at how right he felt, and how very familiar. Both signs of a really good character actor.

Some sketches and scenarios rang bells. Barker had gone on to re-use some of the material for The Two Ronnies and other projects. For example, the "Danger" sign falling onto the head of the confused reader later showed up in either The Picnic or By The Sea, which I'd watched less than a week ago. And the How To Build A Garden Shed would later be re-filmed almost shot-by-shot and verbatim for The Two Ronnies (I think the Hark At Barker version was a little funnier).

As the series ended, I'd have been happy to continue watching Rustless & Co. It's no surprise, then, to find that the six main characters did indeed return the following year for His Lordship Entertains. This time they were on the BBC and it was a pure sitcom without the occasional sketches featured in Hark At Barker. It's horrifying that the Beeb in their infinite wisdom later wiped the tapes, but the one episode discovered just twelve years ago is available to watch on a certain video sharing platform. I hadn't planned to do this, but I think I'll check it out this evening.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

the six main characters did indeed return the following year for His Lordship Entertains.

the one episode discovered just twelve years ago is available to watch on a certain video sharing platform. I hadn't planned to do this, but I think I'll check it out this evening.

I did just this last night and was glad of the chance to see the "sequel" series.

With the premise how about hospitality (Rustless seems to have opened up his home to be a hotel) His Lordship Entertains feels like a precursor to Fawlty Towers in a number of ways.

For a start, the character templates are similar. The wacky owner (Rustless/Basil). The bellboy with a poor grasp on English (Dithers/Manuel). The graceful female assistant who holds everything together (Miss Bates/Polly). The angry unhygienic chef (Cook/Terry). Even some of the residents seem similar, such as the two old hens who sit in the lobby too engaged in gossip to notice the antics going on around them. Of course, Rustless - in addition to being the Basil of the show - also incorporates the upper class twit elements of Fawlty Towers' Major.

In the case of story, this episode feels very similar to The Hotel Inspectors episode of Fawlty Towers, with Rustless and co. forewarned that a food inspector is coming and going all out focussing his energies on the wrong people in a bid to impress.

While it was fine without the sketches, I'm on the fence as to whether this was an improvement or not.

It's great to see the entire main cast from Hark At Barker present and correct, from Rustless to Effie. It did seem to me that Miss Bates and Badger were featured a little less in this series than Hark At Barker, which is a shame. Perhaps it was intended to be more of an ensemble, which might explain some alterations to characters. Most notably, Dithers now speaks more legibly than his previous mutterings, so David Jason is now getting actual punchlines. It's not an improvement.

I'm assuming the series was shot live, and that came across in a wonderful little incident that seemed unplanned early in the episode. Miss Bates turned to walk away from the front desk, but found her skirt was caught in one of the metal shields adorning the front of the desk. I suspect this gave us a few seconds of ad libs which gave Ronnie Barker and Josephine Tewson the chance to show what pros they are. Barker's quick retort "Kindly leave my insignia alone" was wonderful.

Here's the entire remaining episode, with the little technical hitch from around 2:20...

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Last night I watched 80% of 1971's anthology Six Dates With Barker (well, technically the four episodes make up just 66.6%, but I've deliberately skipped The Removals Person with the plan of watching it alongside the spin-off series Clarence a little way down the line).

I'll post some thoughts on the four episodes I watched in the next few posts...

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Six Dates With Barker
1899: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town

Another that had a reprise, this will probably be more familiar to most for its later serialisation during Series Five of The Two Ronnies. Much as I enjoyed the serialised version my main complaint when watching it in September was that there were some repetitive gags and silliness involving Seventies comedy speedup. In short, padding out the story to over an hour simply stretched it too thin. The brevity of this one-off original version definitely works in its favour.

Watching the two in close succession it's interesting to see how closely it's followed. Not just the script, but the stage directions and even set details such as "The Sebastopol Ward" signage in the hospital. It all suggests Spike Milligan really had it all there in his screenplay. Some of the differences also gained my interest, including the first scene at 10 Downing Street in which a different actor plays the PM's aide, a role that would be hilariously taken by Barker himself in the re-shot Ronnies version.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Six Dates With Barker
1970: The Odd Job

It's incredible to think that this series is now over half a century old. This episode perhaps comes the closest to looking it due to it being in black and white. I'm not clear if this is how it originally was filmed and aired, but it works on a couple of levels, not only giving it an old school sitcom feel but also giving a certain noir-ish appeal which feels appropriate given the subject matter.

And that's what really sets this one apart. The dialogue is palatable, the humour is gentle and the familiar character actors reassuringly familiar. All the same there's no getting around the fact that this is essentially about a suicidal man looking for a way to end his life. It's a very British thing, I think, to cast light on the darkness and scoff at it.

The premise gives many possibilities for humour, most of which are met. There's an Inspector Clouseau kind of element to the would-be assassin botching all his attempts, or causing life-changing injuries to the wrong person. But there's also something of the Hancock to Barker's characterisation of Arthur Harriman, carrying on soliloquys after his wife has walked out and he's alone, planning out his death. Other than the establishing location work and Arthur's bus ride home (with Emily Bishop's bigamist husband no less) the entire first half of the story takes place in one long scene in the Harrimans' living room. This gives it a most welcome play-like quality.

Ronnie B. is as reliable as ever. Joan Sims is circa Carry On Henry, but looks for all the world like Esme Crowfoot from the previous instalment, Carry On Loving - right down to the clothes and the look on her face as she screams while two men wrestle on the ground. She'a an absolute joy. For his characterisation of Clive the odd job man, David Jason uses the same stock Northern accent he'd later use for Granville, but with added slowness as he throws the kitchen sink at trying to be the eccentric. It's a typically hammy performance of his but tolerable enough for a one-off twenty five minute thingy (which I could probably say about most of his roles).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Six Dates With Barker
1915: Lola

The Removals Person aside, if any of the episodes had potential to become an ongoing series it's Lola. After a slow start this quickly turns into a promising little farce. The premise: during The Great War, Barker's German officer Fritz Braun is ordered to be shot for failing on a mission. The officer doing the shooting happens to be his brother-in-law, so the death is faked and Braun disguises himself as female agent Lola who herself had been recently captured and killed by the enemy. Lola is then sent on a mission to Paris by the Germans (who secretly know Lola is actually Braun). Wires are crossed. Hilarity ensues.

As I said last time I watched this (probably on the old site, pre-crash), this entire episode feels very much like a dry run for 'Allo 'Allo. The tone is very similar indeed. Then there's the wartime setting in occupied France. The silly accents to define who is speaking what language (while the actors all speak in English). The wacky characters and situations. Heck - at one point there's even a secret message hidden in a sausage.

Barker is always brilliant at drag and has some nice sassy moments. The tongue's firmly in the cheek, the eyes flash and it's plain he's having a good time. This episode takes it to the next level. At one point, "Lola" disguises herself as a man, so you have Barker playing a man masquerading as a woman disguised as a man. It's certainly out there.

By episode's end I really felt a sense that this could have gone on and on. In the best possible way.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Six Dates With Barker
1971: Come in and Lie Down

As with The Odd Job, this episode feels very Hancockian. In fact this feels very much as though it could have been an episode of Hancock's Half Hour. The cynical view of psychiatry feels terribly British. Given that this is a vehicle for Ronnie Barker it's a little surprising that he doesn't play the Blimp in question. That role goes to Michael Bates (last seen in O'Dramavision as It Ain't Half Hot Mum's Ranji Ram in spring 2020. How time flies).

Meanwhile, Barker - as the psychiatrist Dr Swanton - is playing his stolid authority figure. But there's a really interesting arc for him as the episode bubbles away. The writer here is John Cleese and, like a proto-Basil Fawlty, his frenetic demanding guest gradually drives Swanton from mildly irritated to heavily frustrated and - by episode's end - to a complete meltdown resulting in a complete role reversal. It's brilliantly done all round.

Bates's reluctant patient - known to us only as "the Gas Man", since he initially pretends to be coming to read the meter in a bid to establish whether or not Swanton routinely has his patients carted away by men in white coats - is a role that Cleese himself could no doubt have played well. The paranoia, edginess, urgency and accusing questions are all traits that would come to be associated with his most iconic role a few years down the line. I'm curious to know why he didn't play in it. Watching Bates here it's easy to envisage Leonard Rossiter in the role as well, since it's the kind of characterisation he's best known for: from Rigsby to Reginald Perrin via Jim the obsessive in Galton & Simpson's brilliant one-off I Tell You It's Burt Reynolds.

Michael Bates, though, is nothing short of brilliant. It's a very different role to those of his with which I'm most familiar (Ranji Ram and Summer Wine's Blamire). I'm always incredibly impressed by an actor who can embody each role so completely and so differently, and he really does this. There's a fearlessness to his performance. For all the episode's humour and (as the episode progresses) complete surrealism he never seems to lose sight of the truth of his performance as a man who behind the stiff upper lip and diversionary tactics is truly afraid that he is losing his mind.

As I watched I thought it unlikely this kind of scenario would make it to a full series. On reflection, though, I think both premise and characters come with possibilities. Notwithstanding the possibility to see this relationship continue on the Gas Man's weekly visits, there's also no reason why Swanton couldn't be visited by different patients each week. There's even potential for the Gas Man to be paranoid about a different thing in a different environment each week. The surreal element of the "imaginary" stalker isn't something I'd care to watch on a weekly basis, but there are ways to either work with that or omit it entirely. Anyhow, it's all moot, but I do like to consider these little plays in the context of a pilot episode.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Last night I finished off the series with:

Six Dates With Barker
2774 AD: All The World's A Stooge

A quirky little curio is probably the kindest thing to say about this episode. As a one-off it's fine, though frankly it probably would have worked even better as a ten or fifteen minute little skit, and even the twenty plus minutes feel like a little bit of a stretch.

The premise is of a dystopian future in which comedy is the UK's dominant religion and people are forced to gag and slapstick all day long. Slightly ironically, in among all this extreme wackiness comes a scene which features some straight acting from Ronnie B. as his character Prince Boffo's father dies and he cries, confusing everyone since nobody cries anymore.

There are a number of underlying messages to be found. Boffo's wavering faith in the religion of comedy could be read as a metaphor for the depressed comic, going through the motions of silliness and doing what people expect of them while all the while wanting nothing more than simple, grey reality (now we're back with Hancock). While the country stuck in the rhythms of laughing at even the most sombre of events reflects that same trait in Brits who frequently use humour to avoid difficult or unpleasant emotions. In that regard this episode continues the themes from the previous one in which the character had no idea how to act when it came to speaking openly about concerns. Some years ago I remember reading about some research around the way people react to significant bad news such as death, and apparently there was a ridiculously high number of people who reacted with a joke or pun.

There are some familiar faces: Michael Hordern is forced to perform silly rituals while being called "baldy" and "billiard head". Victor Maddern is present, as reliable as ever. There's also a young, very beautiful Leslie-Anne Down.

The episode ending in which Boffo implements a return to things that are real by offering pets and flowers (things that had been relegated to history) to all households is a message all its own. Comedy may have its place, but it means nothing if there's nothing to give it meaning. All of which makes this episode worth the journey - even if the journey itself wasn't as enjoyable as the one taken in previous episodes.