The Riff Raff Element

The Riff Raff Element
Genre	Drama
Written by	Debbie Horsfield
Directed by	Jeremy Ancock
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Producer	Liz Trubridge
Production locations	Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK
Running time	50 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	2 April 1993 (1993-04-02) – 24 May 1994 (1994-05-24)

The Riff Raff Element is a 1990s British television series written by Debbie Horsfield and directed by Jeremy Ancock for BBC One. ^{[1] [2]} The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 1994. ^[3]

Plot

The basic plot was "the Tundishes, down-at-heel country aristocrats, are compelled to rent out their former servants' wing and live cheek-by-jowl with the vulgar Belchers from Salford" ^[4] so simultaneously drawing on the English north-south divide and class divide.

Cast

The Belchers

• Trevor Peacock – Acky Belcher
• Susan Brown – Maggie Belcher
• Mossie Smith – Petula Belcher
• Jayne Ashbourne – Carmen
• Cal MacAninch – Declan

The Tundishes

• Ronald Pickup – Roger Tundish
• Pippa Guard – Phoenix
• Richard Hope – Mortimer Tundish
• Celia Imrie – Joanna Tundish
• Nicholas Farrell – Boyd Tundish
• Greg Wise – Alister
• Stewart Pile – Oliver Tundish
• Stewart Bewley – Oliver Tundish
• Ashley Wright – Nathan Tundish

Others

• Lionel Guyett – Father Casper
• Dicken Ashworth – Nelson
• Kate Binchy – Dearbhla
• Brenda Bruce – Granny Grogan
• George Costigan – Vincent

References

1. The Riff Raff Element, BBC Genome Project, 2 April 1993, retrieved 9 January 2020
2. The Riff Raff Element, Nostalgia Central (UK), 27 September 2014, retrieved 9 January 2020
3. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
4. Debbie Horsfield article in The Independent

External links

• The Riff Raff Element at IMDb
• The Riff Raff Element at British Comedy Guide
• Plot summaries at BFI, ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accessed 12 August 2014.