Bless This House (British TV series)

Last updated

Bless This House
Bless This House Titles (Series 1-3).jpg
Titles used in the first three series
Genre Sitcom
Created by
Starring
Theme music composer Geoff Love
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series6
No. of episodes65 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer William G. Stewart
Running time30 minutes
Production company Thames Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release2 February 1971 (1971-02-02) 
22 April 1976 (1976-04-22)

Bless This House is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 2 February 1971 to 22 April 1976, with a total of 65 episodes. Starring Sid James and Diana Coupland, it was created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, but mainly written by other hands including Dave Freeman and Carla Lane. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television. In 2004, Bless This House was ranked by a BBC poll as the 67th Best British Sitcom.

Contents

Synopsis

Bless This House centres on life in Howard Road, New Malden, where travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott [1] and his wife Jean live with their teenagers: Mike is fresh from art college and more pre-occupied with protests than finding a job; and trendy schoolgirl Sally. Mike is 18 and Sally is 16, at the series' start. Sid and Jean constantly battle to comprehend the new generation's permissive ways and are usually out-of-touch. Their neighbours and best friends are Trevor Lewis and his wife Betty.

Cast

Production

The show was produced and directed by William G. Stewart, later the host of Channel 4’s 15 to 1 game show, and had theme music written by Geoff Love. A comic strip version was also produced, written by Angus Allan and printed in TV comic Look-in . The first seven episodes were made in black-and-white due to the ITV colour strike. Every episode was recorded in Studio 1 at Thames Television's Teddington Studios. [3] [4]

The series ended in 1976. Four days after the broadcast of the final episode of the sixth series, Sid James collapsed on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre during a performance of The Mating Season after failing to respond to a cue. James had suffered a heart attack and later died on the way to the hospital. He was 62 years old.

At the time of James's death, plans were already in place for a seventh and eighth series of the show, and a second feature film. Ironically, James had told his co-star Diana Coupland, "it's such fun and so successful, we'll still be working on Bless This House till one of us kicks the bucket." [5]

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
1 122 February 1971 (1971-02-02)20 April 1971 (1971-04-20)
2 1221 February 1972 (1972-02-21)15 May 1972 (1972-05-15)
3 1222 January 1973 (1973-01-22)28 May 1973 (1973-05-28)
4 620 February 1974 (1974-02-20)10 April 1974 (1974-04-10)
5 1014 October 1974 (1974-10-14)16 December 1974 (1974-12-16)
6 1329 January 1976 (1976-01-29)22 April 1976 (1976-04-22)

Home media

VHS

TitleRelease
The Day of Rest / Make Love…Not War5 October 1987
The Day of Rest / Make Love…Not War (re-release)1993
Charity Begins at Home / If The Dog Collar Fits…Wear It [6] 11 July 1994
Series 1 – Episodes 8 to 12 [7] 8 April 2002

DVD

Cover of complete third series DVD Bless-This-House.jpg
Cover of complete third series DVD

The entire series of Bless This House is available on DVD. The first-ever set to appear on Region 2 in the UK was a DVD featuring the first colour episodes of the series from distribution company, Clear Vision. Completed series sets were made available via Network, between 2005 and 2007, followed by a complete series box set in 2007, which was repackaged in 2008 and again in 2009. The sets do not contain special features, aside from the series four set, which contains the Christmas television special, All This, and Christmas Too!, featuring Sid James, broadcast in 1971 and had not been aired since. Both complete series sets feature the 1972 feature film.

In Australia (Region 4), the series was originally released by Umbrella Entertainment, where both the first and second series were made available, each in two parts and are the only DVDs to include special features. The first three complete series were then released between 2009 and 2013. After which, no subsequent series had been released until a complete series set from Roadshow Entertainment in 2013, followed by a reissue from Via Vision Entertainment in 2020. As with the Region 2 complete sets, the Region 4 complete DVD sets contain the feature film.

Overview
TitleRelease dateFeaturesRef.
Region 2 Region 4
Series 1 – Episodes 8 to 128 April 2002
  • First episodes in colour
[8]
Complete Series 1, Part 114 May 2003
  • Series 1, episodes 1–6
  • Stereo 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • ACB rating: PG

Special features:

  • Original broadcast ad caps
  • Original "Salute to Thames" openings
  • Production notes
  • Photo gallery
  • Scene selection
  • Motion menus
  • Umbrella propaganda
[9]
Complete Series 1, Part 214 May 2003
  • Series 1, episodes 7–12
  • Stereo 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • ACB rating: PG

Special features:

  • Original broadcast ad caps
  • Original "Salute to Thames" openings
  • Production notes
  • Photo gallery
  • Scene selection
  • Motion menus
  • Umbrella propaganda
[10]
Complete Series 2, Part 117 March 2004
  • Series 2, episodes 1–6
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • ACB rating: PG

Special features:

  • Complete first episode of Two in Clover
  • Original broadcast ad caps
  • Original "Salute to Thames" openings
  • Production notes
  • Scene selection
  • Umbrella propaganda
[11]
Complete Series 2, Part 217 March 2004
  • Series 2, episodes 7–12
  • Stereo 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • ACB rating: PG

Special features:

  • Complete first episode of Two in Clover
  • Original broadcast ad caps
  • Original "Salute to Thames" openings
  • Production notes
  • Scene selection
  • Umbrella propaganda
[12]
The Complete First Series24 October 20052 April 2009
  • 12 episodes
  • 2 discs
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: PG
  • ACB rating: PG
  • No special features
[13]
The Complete Second Series30 January 20063 October 2012
  • 12 episodes
  • 2 discs
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: 12
  • ACB rating: G
  • No special features
[14] [15]
The Complete Third Series17 April 20066 March 2013
  • 12 episodes
  • 2 discs
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: PG
  • ACB rating: PG
  • No special features
[16]
The Complete Fourth Series10 July 2006
  • 6 episodes
  • 1 disc
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: PG

Special features

  • All This, and Christmas Too! – TV special, featuring Sid James (1971)
[17]
The Complete Fifth Series22 January 2007
  • 10 episodes
  • 2 disc
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: PG
  • No special features
[18]
The Complete Sixth Series30 April 2007
  • 13 episodes
  • 2 disc
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: PG
  • No special features
[19]
The Complete Series22 October 20076 November 2013
  • 65 episodes
  • 12 discs (all Region 2 complete box sets)
  • 11 discs (first Region 4 complete boxset) /
    12 discs (reissue Region 4 complete box set)
  • Mono 1.0
  • 4:3 aspect ratio
  • No subtitles
  • BBFC rating: 12
  • ACB rating: PG

Special features

  • All This, and Christmas Too! – TV special, featuring Sid James (1971)
  • Bless This House feature film (1972)
[20] [21]
The Complete Series (reissue)1 September 20089 December 2020 [22] [23]
2 February 2009 [24]

ITV3 started repeating the series on 17 June 2020, with minor edits.

Film

A film version of the TV series was made in 1972. While it still starred Diana Coupland and Sid James as the Abbotts, Robin Askwith, who had previously appeared in the TV series, played Mike instead of TV series regular Robin Stewart due to the latter being unable to find time to appear in the film, having already been booked for the summer season on Bournemouth Pier. In addition, it featured "new" neighbours played by Terry Scott and June Whitfield. June later guest starred in an episode of the regular series, although as a different character. The part of Trevor was also recast with Peter Butterworth replacing Jackson. All the original actors returned for series three. Additionally, Mike gets married at the end of the film; this had no effect on the storylines in the television series.

See also

References

  1. the spelling of their surname varies; the opening credits of early series one episodes spell it "Abbot" while in the closing credits it is spelt "Abbott
  2. bless this house Get me to the match on time YouTube
  3. "Teddington Studios celebrated". MOLA. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  4. "| Teddington Studios | Recent Productions |". www.teddington.tv. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  5. "Diana Coupland (obituary)". INDEPENDENT. Independent Digital News & Media Limited. 14 November 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  6. "Bless This House-Charity." amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. "Bless This House: Series 1 - Episodes 8-12 (Colour Episodes)". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  8. "Bless This House: Series 1 - Episodes 8-12 (Colour Episodes)". wob.com . Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  9. "Bless This House Series 1 Pt 1 [Region 4]". fishpond.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  10. "Bless This House Series 1 Pt 2 [Region 4]". fishpond.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  11. "Bless This House - Complete Series 2 Part 1 DVD". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  12. "Bless This House - Complete Series 2 Part 2 DVD". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  13. "Bless This House - the Complete 1st Series". Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  14. "Bless This House - The Complete Second Series". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  15. "Buy Bless This House: Series 2 on DVD-Video from". EzyDVD.com.au. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  16. "Buy Bless This House: Series 3 on DVD-Video from". EzyDVD.com.au. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  17. "Bless This House - The Complete Fourth Series". amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  18. "Bless This House - The Complete Fifth Series". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  19. "Bless This House - The Complete Sixth Series". amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  20. "Bless This House - Series 1-6 - Complete / Bless This House [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  21. "Buy Bless This House: Series 1-6 on DVD-Video from". EzyDVD.com.au. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  22. "Bless this House: Complete Series". wob.com . Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  23. "Bless This House The Complete Series". Booktopia . Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  24. "Bless This House: Complete Series". hmv.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.