Not in Front of the Children (TV series)

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Not in Front of the Children
Not in Front of the Children (TV series).jpeg
Genre Sitcom
Created by Richard Waring
Starring Wendy Craig
Paul Daneman (series 1)
Ronald Hines (series 2-4)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series4
No. of episodes39 (31 missing)
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
Network BBC1
Release26 May 1967 (1967-05-26) 
9 January 1970 (1970-01-09)

Not in Front of the Children is a BBC Television sitcom, which ran for four series from 1967 to 1970. [1]

Contents

It starred Wendy Craig as Jennifer Corner, a rather scatterbrained middle-class housewife. [2] For her role she received the 1969 British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Her husband Henry was a school art teacher, played by Paul Daneman in the Comedy Playhouse pilot "House in a Tree" and the first series, and Ronald Hines subsequently. [3] They had three children, a boy in his early teens (played by Hugo Keith-Johnston) and two girls who were slightly younger (played by Roberta Tovey and then Verina Greenlaw, and Jill Riddick). [4] Charlotte Mitchell played her friend Mary. [5]

In later series, she had a baby, and they moved from the London suburb of Battersea to the country.

It is significant mainly as Wendy Craig's first role as a scatty housewife; she played similar roles in several other series over the next 15 years.

Surviving episodes

Radio adaptation

A radio adaptation of the programme was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1969 and 1970, with Wendy Craig and Francis Matthews in the leading roles. Charlotte Mitchell was Mary, Roberta Tovey was Trudi and Hugo Keith-Johnston played Robin. The scripts were adapted from the TV scripts by Richard Waring. Since 2015 both series have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra. [1]

DVD release

The eight surviving episodes were released on DVD for the first time on Monday, 8 September 2014. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Not in Front of the Children, Series 1, House in a Tree". BBC.
  2. "BFI Screenonline: Craig, Wendy (1934-) Biography". screenonline.org.uk.
  3. "Not in Front of the Children". 15 February 2017.
  4. "Religious Revival (1968)". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019.
  5. Hayward, Anthony (7 June 2012). "Charlotte Mitchell obituary". The Guardian.
  6. "Not in Front of the Children DVD". British Comedy Guide.