Not in Front of the Children (TV series)

Last updated

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 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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Up Pompeii!</i> British TV sitcom (1969–1991)

Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991 and a film adaptation was released in 1971.

Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms Not in Front of the Children, ...And Mother Makes Three, ...And Mother Makes Five and Butterflies. She played the role of Matron in the TV series The Royal (2003–2011).

<i>Doomwatch</i> British science fiction television series

Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist, responsible for investigating and combating various environmental and technological dangers.

<i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> (British TV programme) British TV series or programme

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a British television adaptation of the 1949 novel of the same name by George Orwell, originally broadcast on BBC Television in December 1954. The production proved to be hugely controversial, with questions asked in Parliament and many viewer complaints over its supposed subversive nature and horrific content. It starred Peter Cushing, Yvonne Mitchell, Donald Pleasence and André Morell.

<i>The Wednesday Play</i> British television series

The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen.

John Middleton Lankester Paul was a British actor.

<i>The Grove Family</i> British soap opera

The Grove Family was a British television series soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and broadcast by the BBC Television Service from 1954 to 1957. The series concerned the life of the family of the title, who were named after the BBC's Lime Grove Studios where the programme was made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Vernon</span> English actor (1925–1997)

Richard Evelyn Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled into playing archetypal middle-aged lords and military types while still in his 30s. He is perhaps best known for originating the role of Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Other notable roles included the lead role of Edwin Oldenshaw in The Man in Room 17 (1965–67), Sir James Greenley alias "C" in The Sandbaggers (1978–80), and Sir Desmond Glazebrook in Yes Minister (1980–81) and its sequel series Yes, Prime Minister (1987).

<i>Play of the Month</i> British television anthology series

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted regularly from October 1965 to May 1979, before returning for the summer seasons of 1982 and 1983. The producer most associated with the Play of the Month series was Cedric Messina. Thirteen productions were also shown previously or subsequently on BBC2 in the period 1971-73 under Stage 2. Productions were broadcast in colour from November 1969.

Anthony Samuel Selby was an English actor. He was best known for his roles as Clive Mitchell in EastEnders, Corporal Percy Marsh in Get Some In!, and Sabalom Glitz in Doctor Who.

<i>Special Branch</i> (TV series) British television crime drama series (1969–1974)

Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police.

<i>The Rag Trade</i> British TV sitcom (1961–1978)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waris Hussein</span> British-Indian television and film director

Waris Hussein is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of Doctor Who, including the first serial, An Unearthly Child (1963), and later directed the multiple-award-winning Thames Television serial Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).

Roberta Tovey is an English actress who has appeared in films and television programmes. One of her better-known roles was that of Susan, the granddaughter of Dr. Who, in the films Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), which starred Peter Cushing as Dr. Who. She also appeared in the films Never Let Go (1960), Touch of Death (1961), A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), Runaway Railway (1965), Operation Third Form (1966) and The Beast in the Cellar (1970), and the TV series Not in Front of the Children (1967–68), Going Straight (1978) and My Husband and I (1987).

Peter Dews was an English stage director.

Gerald Harper is an English actor, best known for his work on television, having played the title roles in Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–67) and Hadleigh (1969–76). He then returned to his main love, the theatre. His classical work includes playing on Broadway with the Old Vic company, playing Iago at the Bristol Old Vic and Benedick at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Other plays in London included Crucifer of Blood at the Haymarket Theatre, House Guest, A Personal Affair, Suddenly at Home and Baggage. He has directed many plays, amongst them a production of Blithe Spirit in Hebrew at the Israeli National Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Keith-Johnston</span> British actor

Colin Keith-Johnston was a British actor.

<i>Dead of Night</i> (TV series) British television anthology series

Dead of Night is a British television anthology series of supernatural fiction, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in 1972 over seven 50-minute episodes.

<i>The Tripods</i> (TV series) British-Australian sci-fi (1984–85)

The Tripods is a television adaptation of John Christopher's The Tripods series of novels. It was jointly produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and the Seven Network in Australia. The music soundtrack was written by Ken Freeman.

<i>Thirty-Minute Theatre</i> British television drama series, 1965–1973

Thirty-Minute Theatre was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short running length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known. It was produced initially by Harry Moore, later by Graeme MacDonald, George Spenton-Foster, Innes Lloyd and others.

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.