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A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Are You Being Served? is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 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.
Meet the Wife is a 1960s BBC situation comedy written by Chesney and Wolfe, which featured Freddie Frinton as Freddie Blacklock with Thora Hird as his tyrannical wife, Thora. It ran for five series.
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.
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 (1963–1966), On the Buses (1969–1973) and Romany Jones (1972–1975). When their partnership began in the mid-1950s, Chesney was already known to the public as a harmonica player.
Caroline Mary Aherne was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host Mrs Merton, in various roles in The Fast Show, and as Denise in The Royle Family (1998–2012), a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family.
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 128 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010. In all, 27 sitcoms started from a pilot in the Comedy Playhouse strand.
On the Buses is a British television sitcom that was broadcast on ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned three spin-off feature films and a stage version. Despite the writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife with the BBC, the corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to Frank Muir, head of entertainment at London Weekend Television (LWT), who loved the idea; the show was accepted, and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.
Extras is a British sitcom about extras working in television, film, and theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO, and written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom starred in it. It follows the lives of Andy Millman (Gervais), his friend Maggie Jacobs and Andy's substandard agent and part-time retail employee Darren Lamb (Merchant) as Millman muddles through life as an anonymous "background performer" who eventually finds success as a B-list sitcom star.
The Rag Trade is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by ITV between 1977 and 1978. Although a comedy, it shed light on gender, politics and the "class war" on the factory floor.
Robert St Clair Grant was an English actor, comedian and writer, best known for playing bus conductor Jack Harper in the television sitcom On the Buses, as well as its film spin-offs and stage version.
Ann Harrison McCall, professionally known as Anna Karen, was a British actress best known for playing Olive Rudge in the ITV sitcom On the Buses from 1969 to 1973 including its film spin-offs and stage version and Aunt Sal in the BBC soap opera EastEnders on a recurring basis from 1996 to 2017. She also reprised the role of Olive Rudge in The Rag Trade from 1977 to 1978, while her film roles included parts in two Carry On films: Carry On Camping (1969) and Carry On Loving (1970).
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.
David John Battley was a British actor of stage and screen, mainly appearing in comedy roles.
The Bed-Sit Girl is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1966. Created by Chesney and Wolfe for Sheila Hancock, The Bed-Sit Girl aired for two series.
Dad's Army is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a feature film released in 1971, a stage show and a radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally.
Don't Drink the Water is a British sitcom television series produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network. The series was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe and is a spin-off from their long running sitcom On the Buses. The storyline follows Cyril Blake living in Spain with his sister Dorothy after his retirement from the Luxton & District Traction Company. Thirteen episodes were broadcast over two series from 27 July 1974 to 6 December 1975.
The first series of On the Buses originally aired between 28 February 1969 and 11 April 1969, beginning with "The Early Shift". The series was produced and directed by Stuart Allen. The designer for the first three episodes was David Catley, and Andrew Gardner for the rest of the episodes. All the episodes in this series were written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe.
The fourth series of On the Buses originally aired between 27 November 1970 and 21 February 1971, beginning with "Nowhere to Go". The series was produced and directed by Stuart Allen and designed by Alan Hunter-Craig. All the episodes in this series were written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe.
The fifth series of On the Buses originally aired between 19 September 1971 and 26 December 1971, beginning with "The Nursery". The series was produced and directed by Derrick Goodwin and designed by Alan Hunter-Craig. All the episodes in this series were written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe except for episodes thirteen and fourteen which were written by Bob Grant and Stephen Lewis.
References
- ↑ Craig Walker (2011). On The Buses: The Complete Story. Apex Publishing. p. 84. ISBN 978-1907792168.
- ↑ "PROGRAMME INDEX Tue 26th Apr 1977". BBC.
- ↑ Christopher Perry (2015). The British Television Pilot Episodes Research Guide 1936-2015. Kaleidoscope Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1900203623.