Take a Letter, Mr. Jones

Last updated

Take a Letter, Mr. Jones
Take a Letter, Mr. Jones.jpg
GenreSitcom
Created by Chesney and Wolfe
Starring John Inman
Rula Lenska
Miriam Margolyes
Gina Maher
Joan Blackham
Christine Ozanne
Claudine Bowyer
Allan Mitchell
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production company Southern Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release5 September (1981-09-05) 
10 October 1981 (1981-10-10)

Take a Letter, Mr. Jones is a British sitcom starring John Inman and Rula Lenska that aired for a single series of six episodes produced by Southern Television for the ITV network from 5 September to 10 October 1981. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe.

Contents

Plot

Graham Jones (John Inman) works as a personal secretary to female executive Joan Warner (Rula Lenska), within a London-based multinational corporation called 8-Star. Although he ably assists her in their busy office, Graham often helps Joan with her equally hectic domestic arrangements as she is a single mother to seven-year-old daughter, Lucy. Miriam Margolyes plays Joan's excitable Italian housekeeper, Maria. The programme featured the Barclays House in Poole.

Context and afterlife

John Inman starred in Take a Letter, Mr. Jones between seasons of the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? Take a Letter, Mr. Jones was never a ratings success (only running for six episodes), but in recent years it has been resurrected by many American PBS stations, where Are You Being Served? is also a hit. A UK repeat of the series was shown on Film24 [1] in 2010, and on Talking Pictures TV [2] in 2024.

A US VHS set of the series was released by Questar in 1995. A UK DVD of the series was released in 2009 by Simply Home Entertainment. UK channel Talking Pictures TV reshowed the series in 2015, 2018 and January 2024.

Episode list

#TitleDirectorWritersOriginal air date
1"The Interview" [3] Bryan Izzard [3] Chesney and Wolfe [3] 5 September 1981 (1981-09-05) [3]
2"The Protector" [4] Bryan Izzard [4] Chesney and Wolfe [4] 12 September 1981 (1981-09-12) [4]
3"The Holiday" [5] Bryan Izzard [5] Chesney and Wolfe [5] 19 September 1981 (1981-09-19) [5]
4"The Japanese Contract" [6] Bryan Izzard [6] Chesney and Wolfe [6] 26 September 1981 (1981-09-26) [6]
5"The Trade Fair" [7] Bryan Izzard [7] Chesney and Wolfe [7] 3 October 1981 (1981-10-03) [7]
6"Business Before Pleasure" [8] Bryan Izzard [8] Chesney and Wolfe [8] 10 October 1981 (1981-10-10) [8]

Related Research Articles

A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.

<i>Are You Being Served?</i> British TV sitcom (1972–1985)

Are You Being Served? is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972–1985. It was created and written by David Croft, who also served as executive producer and director, and Jeremy Lloyd. Michael Knowles and John Chapman also wrote certain episodes. Produced by the BBC, the series starred Mollie Sugden, Trevor Bannister, Frank Thornton, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Arthur Brough, Nicholas Smith, Larry Martyn, Harold Bennett and Arthur English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Inman</span> English actor (1935–2007)

Frederick John Inman was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served?, a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and the spin-off series Grace and Favour. He was the only actor from those series to reprise the role when an Australian version was launched.

Chesney and Wolfe, were a British television comedy screenwriting duo consisting of Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe. They were best known for their sitcoms The Rag Trade, Meet the Wife (1963–66), On the Buses (1969–73) and Romany Jones (1972–75). When their partnership began in the mid-1950s, Chesney was already known to the public as a harmonica player.

John Docherty is a Scottish writer, actor, presenter and producer.

Rula Lenska is a British actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions and is known in the United States for a series of television advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s. She is known for the films Queen Kong and Aura, and she portrayed Claudia Colby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Pauline McLynn is an Irish character actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Mrs. Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless, Tip Haddem in the BBC One comedy Jam & Jerusalem, and Yvonne Cotton in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Davis</span> English actress

Julia Charlotte L. Davis is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night (2004–2005) and the comedies Hunderby (2012–2015) and Camping (2016), which she also directed. Davis has been noted by critics for creating boundary-pushing black comedy that centres female anti-hero characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Lavender</span> English actor (1946–2024)

Arthur Ian Lavender was an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in Dad's Army, a BBC sitcom set during World War II, of which he was the last surviving main cast member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mitchell (comedian)</span> British comedian, actor, writer and television personality (born 1974)

David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor, and writer.

Derek Stanley Royle was a British actor. His face was probably better known than his name to British viewers, but he acted in films and TV from the early 1960s until his death. He had a supporting role in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967, as well as a minor one with Cilla Black in the film Work Is a Four-Letter Word a year later.

<i>Come Back Mrs. Noah</i> British TV series or program

Come Back Mrs. Noah is a British television sitcom starring Mollie Sugden that aired on BBC1 from 17 July to 14 August 1978, with a pilot broadcast on 13 December 1977. It was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, who had also written Are You Being Served? which also starred Mollie Sugden. Come Back Mrs. Noah was not a success, with some regarding it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made.

<i>Wild, Wild Women</i> British TV series or programme

Wild, Wild Women is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC from 1968 to 1969. Shot in black-and-white, it starred Barbara Windsor and was written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Bird</span> English actor and comedian

Simon Antony Bird is an English comedian, actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Will McKenzie in the multi-award-winning E4 comedy series The Inbetweeners (2008–2010), as well as its two films, and Adam Goodman in the Channel 4 comedy series Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowan Atkinson</span> English actor and comedian (born 1955)

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms Blackadder (1983–1989) and Mr. Bean (1990–1995), and in the film series Johnny English (2003–2018). Atkinson first came to prominence on the BBC sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982), receiving the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.

<i>Citizen Khan</i> Family-based British sitcom

Citizen Khan is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capital of British Pakistan". Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of Mr Khan, a loud-mouthed, patriarchal, cricket-loving, self-appointed community leader, and his long suffering wife and daughters Shazia and Alia. In Series One, Kris Marshall starred as Dave, the manager of Mr Khan's local mosque. The first name of Mrs Khan is Razia; however, Mr Khan's first name is never revealed.

The Larkins is a British television sitcom which was produced by ATV and aired on ITV. It aired for four series between 1958 and 1960. An additional two series aired from 1963 to 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talking Pictures TV</span> British television channel

Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 hours a day and features mainly older British films, both classics and B-films, but the schedule also includes some American films, straight-to-video programmes, cinema shorts, extended interviews with veteran actors, and period home movies of British locations.

Stolen Picture is a British film production company founded by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in 2016, with Miles Ketley joining in July 2017.

Spiteful Puppet is a British company that produces books, stage plays and audio plays. Among their many releases includes a long running audio series based on Robin of Sherwood alongside many books and audio films.

References

  1. "Sony Crime Channel". film24.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  2. "Talking Pictures TV". talkingpicturestv.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Interview". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Protector". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The Holiday". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "The Japanese Contract". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "The Trade Fair". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Business Before Pleasure". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 28 August 2010.