10 Forgotten British TV Sitcoms of the 70s

10 forgotten British television sitcoms from the 1970s how many will you [Music] remember running for just one Series in 1975 Liverpool set sitcom the wackers was so disliked by viewers ITV Poss pulled the series after just six episodes leaving the final seventh episode on broadcast starring sitcom stalwart Ken Jones known by many for his role as IES in porridge the wackers revolved around a Liverpool family who were divided by religion and football half the family were catholic and half Protestant while in terms of football half supported Liverpool and the other half Everton kenjo played dad Billy Clarkson while his real life wife Sheila Fay played his scream wife Mary the wackers is probably most interesting now for the presence in the cast of two people who would go on to become stars in their own right future children's TV Great Keith chuin played son Raymond while a young Allison stemman took on the role of daughter bernardet so just why was the Wacker so unpopular much of the humor was lavatorial and a little CR in places but not really that much worse than some other sitcoms that were around at the same time most of the backlash for the series came from its portrayal of the city of Liverpool itself a number of viewers at the time thought that the city was shown in a negative light and that the characters in the show were all stereotypes so does the wackers deserve its poor reputation well no I don't think it does while it isn't particularly memorable there are some great lines sprinkled throughout the series and as to be expected from a real life husband and wife Ken Jones and Sheila Fay share a great screen chemistry episodes of the wackers can be found here on YouTube and the series is also available on DVD another sitcom set in the north queenie's Castle STS screen icon Diana dors as Title Character Queenie Shephard the indomitable matriarch of a family of lovable Rogues who live in a social housing development in Leeds the family consisted of Queenie her three sons and a brother-in-law Jack played by Tony conter who would find Fame in the 1990s as Roy Evans in East Enders produced by Yorkshire television for the ITV Network Queeny Castle proved highly popular and ran for three series between 1970 and 197 22 Diana dors dominates proceedings as the brassy Queeny and the character that she creates is one of the more underrated in British sitcom history it's also fascinating now to see two stars of Coronation Street in The Supporting Cast Lin Perry most famous for playing the acid tonged ivy tilsley on the street was cast as busy body neighbor Mrs Petty here while the role of the local pub landlord was played by Brian Mosley most famous as the streets Alf Roberts all 18 episodes of queeny's Castle are available on DVD and many can be seen on YouTube another sitcom that featured a strong willed female character in the lead this time played by The Marvelous Hilda Baker not on your Nelly sees the t total spinster Nelly Pickersgill moved from her Northern home to London in order to help her father run his Pub the brown cow although the character that Hilda plays here is very similar to the one she portrayed in the better known nearest and dearest not on your Nelly isn't a sequel in nearest and dearest she was Nelly pledge ARS to A Pickle Factory here she is Nelly picker girl daughter of a Publican as always the great Hilda Baker is wonderful in the title role with magnificent malapropisms punctuating almost every sentence such as the tea total Nelly proclaiming that Alka Frolic liquor is the evil of all root as well as disapproving of alcohol Nelly also has little time for the flirty bar mates who work at the pub played over the three series by Alexandra danne Wendy Richard and Sue Nichols unfortunately during the making of an episode in series 3 Hilda Baker slipped on the studio floor and broke her ankle she never acted on television again although not on your Nelly is the kind of sitcom that would not get made today it's well worth your time tracking it down it's a lot of fun and was made simply to make people laugh something which is sadly missing from many shows today as with the other sitcoms mentioned so far not on your Nelly can be seen on DVD and also here on YouTube despite being has spinoff from on the buses one of the most popular sitcoms of all time don't drink the water has an unenviable reputation as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made but is it really that bad the premise of don't drink the water sees inspector Blake once more played by Steven Lewis retire from his position at the bus company and move to Spain with his sister Dorthy played by the wonderful Pacs Dorothy doesn't really want to go to Spain and would rather retire to Bogner while Blakey only really wants his sister to come so that he can use her half of their mother's Legacy to buy a flat there most of the comedy revolves around misunderstandings between the British and Spanish and the fact that the apartment building the BLS moving to isn't finished so back to the question I posed a minute ago is don't drink the water that bad well it certainly isn't great and Blake's Runnings with Stan and Jack from on the buses are s missed here however every comedy series has its fans and this Rings true for don't drink the water which ran for two series between 1974 and 1975 once again the series is available on YouTube and on DVD another series with a link to on the buses was down the gate starring re vany in his first sit roll since leaving on the buses first broadcast in 1975 down the gate featured vanney as re fernel a porter at London's Famous billingsgate Fish Market playing a character very similar to that of Stan Butler from on the buses re vany once again brings a cheeky charm to his role here sadly the two series of down the gate were wiped after broadcast and the only episodes that survive today are ones that were recorded from TV by re vanney himself these are all from Series 2 and are available on DVD although as home recordings the picture is understandably of a lower quality in between the likely Lads and whatever happened to the likely Lads Rodney bus co-wrote co-produced and starred in the ITV sitcom Dear Mother Love Albert he even sang the theme tune to the the series 2 first broadcast in 1969 and running for four series until 1972 Dear Mother Love Albert sees Rodney bus as titled character Albert Courtney a young man who was moved from the north down to the supposed Bright Lights of London in his regular letters home to his mother Albert regularly embellishes his new life making it out to be much more exciting than it actually is it's only as each episode unfolds that we get to see what really happens in day-to-day Life as a confectionary salesman interestingly the premise of Dear Mother Love Albert was based on letters Rodney bus had sent to his own mother in real life Rodney is excellent in the lead role here and as with his performance as Bob feris in the likely Lads brings a likability to the character of Albert there's also a gentle Pace to each episode which suits the series perfectly Dear Mother Love Albert is available on DVD after becoming a star with his role as Mr Humphrey's and AR you being served John Inman was given a starring role in his own sitcom in 1977 odman out featured Inman as Neville Sutcliffe owner of a Blackpool fish and chip shop who inherits half of a Seaside Rock Factory from his father the other half of the factory is bequeathed to Neville's half sister Dorothy played by Josephine chusen also in the cast as faithful Factory manager WTH is carry on great Peter Butterworth unfortunately for John Inman odman out wasn't a success and ended after one series of seven episodes filled with Seaside postcard humor odman out is entertaining but not particularly memorable once again you can watch odman out on DVD written by Ray gton and Alan Simpson the creators of Hancock's half hour and stepto and son and starring the legendary Leslie Phillips it seemed that Casanova 73 was destined for Success however it ran for just one Series in the Autumn of 1973 on BBC 1 the wonderful Leslie Phillips was his usual Charming self as the raish Henry new house the Casanova of the title although he loves his wife Carol Henry can't help but be a philanderer and his faral attempts to get out of awkward situations form the basis of each episode as should be expected from an actor and writers of such quality Casanova 73 was actually very good much of the blame for a short run can be attributed to the negative press surrounding the series after Mary White House and other campaigners blasted the show for its subject matter pretty much forcing the BBC to move it to to a later time slot in his autobiography hello Leslie Phillips said of the show I took off some of my clothes except with a nod to old-fashioned family values and Mary White House my socks this turned out to be insufficient modesty for Mrs W and a band of tight-lipped observers who campaigned vigorously against the show the BBC quickly caved in and pushed us somewhere indecently close to the epilog while giving the empty prime time slot to master mind where the now legendary quiz became a great hit a DVD of the series was released in 2012 once again starring The One and Only Frankie Howard whoops Baghdad was a follow-up series to the hugely popular of Pompei unfortunately whoops Baghdad was not as successful as its more illustrious predecessor and lasted for just one series of six episodes in 1973 this time around Frankie Howard was aliupa servant to the wizer of old Baghdad played by Derek Francis as with up Pompei whoops Baghdad is filled with innuendo and risque gags delivered straight to camera in Frankie Howard's trademark style in fact the series is pretty much a carbon copy of a Pompei just with a different setting another 70 sitcom that wouldn't get commission today whoops Bagdad is worth watching just to see the Magnificent Frankie Howard at work although it is not available on DVD there are some episodes on YouTube but the quality is fairly poor to in Clover just about qualifies for this list as only one of its two series was broadcast in the' 70s and however I wanted to include it as not only is it highly enjoyable it also Stars one of my comedy Heroes Sid James produced by T's television and created by Vince Powell and Harry driver the first series of two in Clover was broadcast in black and white in 1969 while Series 2 went out in color in 1970 Sid and Vic played by Sid James and Victor spinetti work as CL par s in the city but after a particularly bad day they decide to quit the rat race and move to the countryside in order to run a small farm much of the humor in the series revolves around Sid and Vic's struggles to adjust a country life and their attempts to befriend the locals particularly the local ladies s James displays all his rogish charm here while Victor spinetti makes for a great foil the humor is warm and innocent and the series as a whole is very entertaining all episodes of two in Clover are available on DVD I'd love to know your thoughts on any of the sitcoms featured today which ones have you seen are there any you might seek out after watching this video If I make another video like this which forgotten sitcoms would you like to see included let me know in the comments section as always many thanks for watching [Music] a

Channel: Stuview TV

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Keywords: forgotten comedy, forgotten sitcoms, forgotten tv, 70s comedy, 70s tv, british tv, british sitcoms, british comedy, 70s sitcoms, classic comedy, seventies tv, seventies comedy, sid james, diana dors, reg varney, on the buses, stuview, stuview tv, lost episodes, lost tv series, comedy dvd

Id: EKZGcTh9mPw

Length: 14min 42sec (882 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 04 2024