As I was growing up in the Seventies I don't remember a lot of these except 'Up Pomeii' and 'Going Straight' knew that wouldn't catch on as a sequel to 'Porridge' I was looking more at the children's programmes, brilliant. Who remembers the 'Double Decker's' great stuff!
Just before he died Ronnie Corbett was in a great BBC Radio 4 series called “ Until The Dog Dies “ if any fans of his are unaware. Thanks for your work 😃👍
I thought "S" might be Shine A Light. Anyone else remember that? Two lighthousemen stranded in employed isolation, manning a remote lighthouse and descending into stir craziness. Tony Selby (Get Some In) was one of the principal cast. It was funny.
Here in Ontario Canada I used to be a huge fan of all and everything British on TV, we used to get a lot of great shows thru the TVO channel and I still have fond memories, as far as I'm concerned Canada and the UK produced the best TV ever!!!
@@carrieorsel1340 Thanks, but for some reason when I click on your message, I can't see the rest of it, could you please reply to this with it again (copy and paste pls instead or re typing)
Tragedy that Richard Beckinsale died so young....outstanding sitcom actor. Apparently Ronnie Barker learnt of his death whilst waiting at some lights to change in his car, and saw his face been shown on news in a tv shop window.
Ronnie Barker never got over it, either - he thought about Richard every day and always spoke about him on TV with tears in his eyes. Leonard Rossiter also thought the world of him and was torn apart when he died.
'Get Some In' has been recently reshown in full on Forces TV, they bypassed around the out of date language by having a spoken disclaimer before each episode is shown.
Get some in was a funny show. Perhaps because I had just missed out on National Service. And Robert Lyndsey was/is a great comic actor. I never missed an episode of Citizen Smith. Classic 70's telly.
That was brilliant, thanks for that trip down memory lane. My favourites among this little lot include "You're Only Young Twice" with Peggy Mount and Pat Coombes (which I used to get confused with the James Bond film title "You Only Live Twice" when I was very young... how would that be for a bizarre mash-up, Peggy Mount as the evil mastermind trying to take over the world and being thwarted by Roger Moore😂). There's also "Odd Man Out", when John Inman went over to ITV to do this series in 1977 (and has a snazzy and very seventies theme tune). There's some here that I actually have never heard of, while there's also some that I remember really disliking when I was a little lad, such as "Get Some In", which was set in the RAF during National Service in the 1950s. Maybe it's because it was set in the past and as a little child I just couldn't relate to it, but I am sure that it appealed to the older generation who lived through those times...
Thanks for reminding us of these wonderful comedies from an age that was golden for scripts and talented actors and actresses. I hadn't heard of some of them. You have a lovely calm voice presenting them too. A couple of sitcoms I enjoyed from the seventies too were In loving Memory, with Thora Hird, For the love of Ada, Irene Handl, and Spring and Autumn which stared Jimmy Jewel. Also Never mind the Quality was another good one
You've defeated me on most of those. However, a favourite of mine at the time was "I didn't know you cared", with Anita Carey's character being one of those young northern women with aspirations for a middle class life which appeared in a number of 1970s sitcoms. I'm particularly thinking of Brigit Forsyth's character Thelma in "The Return of the Likely Lads". As for my Wife Next Door, then I think it's all on UA-cam somewhere. It is incredibly dated in attitude, but I recall enjoying it at the time. However, I could forgive it almost anything for Hannah Gordon; elegance personified and her wonderful Scottish burr.
I wish I'd known you when I used to get the phone calls late at night telling me that the BBC had put another skip outside television centre. If the shoot was connected to level 6 then you know that they were junking more programmes.
I used to live up the road from Beryl Reid, very pleasant woman. Our next door neighbours were Susan George and Jack Jones, also very nice people. Wraysbury was a nice place to live back then, not so much now. We knew Terry Scott and Dennis Waterman , they were friends. Terry Scott used to wear a medallion open shirt and was a bit of a ladies man (very different from the roles he played). John Thaw and Dennis waterman once 'borrowed' some temporary traffic lights and took them to a house party with the policeman from 'Black Beauty' who we called 'Uncle Ken' , He taught us magic tricks when we were kids, I remember he used to limp as half of his toes were missing from Diabetes, but he still managed to make his way to the pub of an evening . Simpler Happier times in many ways.
Nice video. I cant think of many comedy series that are wiped post 1973. ( a couple of episodes of "it ain't half hot mum"; pilot of "Are you being served?"= although these exist as sales copies) Theres even an unbroadcast sit com that Spike Milligan made thats supposed to exist from the late 1970s. Pre 1972 comedy shelves are a bit light though. 1970s quiz shows; talent shows and music programmes are decimated pre 1978 though.
The gag in "Happy Ever After" that impressed itself into my 8-year-old brain was in an episode where Terry, for some reason I can't remember, is deprived of his TV and goes a bit crazy as a result, or perhaps he just dreams it. But he certainly dreams finding a TV and desperately twiddling both knobs on the front trying to get a picture, at which point he wakes up as June screams "Terry!" and fends his hands away from her chest!
A couple of other obscure ones for you: Cuckoo waltz - with Lewis Collins as the brash friend of a poor married couple. The lovers - Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox. Made in early 70s but not shown until few years later due to subject matter istr.
In the "Queenie's Castle" clip you put a caption up stating that Diana Dors declared bankruptcy in 1986. Well then she must have done it from the afterlife because she passed away in 1984.
Hannah Gordon went on to Upstairs Downstairs too. If I remember rightly ‘the vital spark’ was re-made in the 90s. It had Ricki Fulton in the lead role.
Oh dear, I remember most of these - I particularly remember Sir Yellow, Edwards in a rather snazzy yellow suit of armour (which I made for my Actionman the next day).
Even though most of them were a bit shit, I have a real fondness for 70's sitcoms. The cheesy music, the terrible clothes and hair, the unfunny jokes. It reminds me of my childhood and somehow makes me feel good. Can't really explain why...........
You're only young twice Pat counbs love her she is sadly missed pat combs sings i am sixteen from the sound of music and the janitor said You must be bloody jokingly I loved this show too
Forces TV did repeat 2 David Jason sitcoms from the 70s I’d never heard of. Lucky Fella, where he plays a shy plumber called shorty and A Sharp Intake of Breath, a sort of One Foot in the Grave but he plays a younger guy than Victor Meldrew. Richard Wilson is in it ironically.
I have near heard of most of these. The only ones I knew about are Going Straight, Whoops Baghdad (I only knew it from a TV documentary about Frankie Howerd), You're Only Young Twice and Get Some In. Get Some In actually was broadcast again on the Forces TV channel as that is how I found out about it, or I wouldn't have known about it at all.
I do remember a few of these at the time they were aired. 'Bloomers', in particular I remember as the continuity announcer in the closing credits would state that the show had no connection to a shop somewhere or other in London! It was a bit of a shock when it suddenly ended after 5 shows, with the realisation that Richard Beckinsale had died suddenly. I also remember seeing about 5 minutes of, 'Chalk And Cheese', that starred Michael Crawford sporting a beard of all things. I guess he was trying his hardest to not look like Frank Spencer. 'Happy Ever After', would be on Thursday nights after, 'Top of the Pops', as I recall. The only alternative was, 'The World of Survival', on ITV, which, at the age I was, was considered quite boring. This show was a prototype for the later, 'Terry & June.' Same characters, same situation comedy. I don't remember, 'I didn't Know You Cared', but the catchphrase, 'I heard that, pardon', was fairly universally heard at school at the time. 'Going Straight', was shown at roughly the same time as, 'Bloomers', if memory serves me right and was another series that suffered from the demise of Richard Beckinsale's demise. Not quite as good as, 'Porridge', but it did have potential to lead onto a second series, which unsurprisingly, didn't happen under the circumstances. I recall a number of sitcoms from the early 80's that kind of fall into the same category of, 'probably been forgotten about.' Those are:- 'Only When I Laugh' 'Sink Or Swim' 'A Sharp Intake of Breath' 'Holding The Fort' 'In Living Memory' 'Shelley' 'Astronauts'
Fascinating to see comedy from before my time and a very different time. It's obviously very well researched, too but just one thing; Diana Dors died in 1984 so couldn't have gone bankrupt in 1986. I remember her death well as her husband shot himself a few months later so their two sons were orphaned - very, very tragic.
The only title i had heard of (or could remember) was Going Straight, but seeing some of the clips and images jogged memories. So i must have seen some of these before. Great video. All the A to Z ones are great. Nice one. P.s an A to Z of 80 kids shoes would we great (if you ever run out of ideas)
L could be for Lucky Feller, David Jason. I remember that as a child, but never hear it mentioned. I thought it was funny at the time, but I was easily pleased in those days.
No honesty aired in canada Also my mom and dad only watched english shows as a kid living in Canada this was one of their favorites Lindsey de Paul sang the theme to this show
I remembered Micheal crawford with a beard but didn't remember the show ,"going straight" is really good,almost as good as porridge ,I regularly watch it on UA-cam. Do you remember " the brothers mcgregor" ,phillip whitchurch and Paul barber as brothers ? That was probably the 80's but for whatever reason I remember it
I was somewhat surprised to see 'The Vital Spark' included, only because the premise has been a part of my life on and off since I was a kid. It might have something to do with my Dad and his taste for Scottish works that no one outside Scotland seems all that familiar with. 'The Vital Spark' has had several versions at this point, it's kind of like the TV equivalent of a Scottish folk tale, a nostalgic vision of how Scottish people like to imagine things were rather than how they actually were, in the same way that 'Dr Findlay's Casebook' and the one-off 'The Steamie' are. This case is focused on working people, working boats on the Clyde in the 1930s when such things were still prevalent. Para Handy just never quite reached the same level of fame that 'Findlay' reached amongst the UK-wide audience, for whatever reason. There are actually FOUR main TV or film versions of the story. This franchise, for want of a better term, is based on the collected tales of Para Handy and is redoubtable puffer named 'The Vital Spark' by author Neil Munro. The first version is 'The Maggie', an Ealing movie I have seen three or four times with my Dad. I include the Wikipedia page and imdb.com for reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maggie. It was then adapted for TV in 1959 as 'Para Handy - Master Mariner'. I include the Wikipedia page with attached imdb.com link here too: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para_Handy_-_Master_Mariner The version of the 'Vital Spark' you include (Wikipedia and imdb: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vital_Spark), is only the SECOND TV adaptation, and third overall, and then there is a THIRD TV adaptation called 'The Tales of Para Handy' from the 1990s, which is the version I watched as a kid on, I think Sunday evenings, starring Gregor Fisher as Para Handy, Ricki Fulton as engineer Dan Macphaill, Sean Scalan as the first mate Dougie Cameron and Andrew Fairlie as Sunny Jim getting into hijinks whilst working the shipping routes around the Hebrides and the West Coast. And again, the Wikipedia page and imdb.com link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tales_of_Para_Handy Given the Scottish Government's policy priorities in the arts and culture, and the direction of travel at BBC Scotland, I would be unsurprised if some TV Executive desperate for some Scottish-set story to produce to take a crack at the Sunday evening audience, and keen to try and tap into the potential nostalgia, or because there are no such things as new ideas anymore, might well dust off 'The Vital Spark' and try a FOURTH TV version starring someone who was a supporting actor on 'Outlander' or something like that. Stranger things have happened...
Read my mind man. It might be forgotten outside of scotland. But we happy few remember. ( even the gregor fisher one was ...ok) Havent watched all the chaps videoes. But I expect City Lights to make an appearance. Which incidently reminds me of a tale. Apparently they where filming a scene outside of a job centre and this wee drunk chappie walks up n goes " whits wi the camera son? did some bastard ger a joab or summit" I heard this from a lot of sources so I take it as a true glasgow anicdote!
Given that broadcasting is reserved and the UK Government blocked the terrestrial broadcast of Outlander I think it unlikely we'll see anything of the sort soon. If they had their way I'm sure we'd go back to the 1970's where Vital Spark was possibly the only Scottish sitcom being broadcast. I can't think of any others at all.
@@AirdrieRambler BBC Scotland One is a thing and they are DESPERATE to broadcast anything that isn't commissioned from England even if that means opting out of UK-wide programming and preferring markedly different scheduling, including a different national (read Scotland only), news broadcast. They make utter crap like 'Scot Squad' and think 'Gary Tank Commander' counts as great comedy. To say nothing of BBC Alba where you are lucky to get everything on the nightly schedule with subtitles and if you want to see a Scottish Championship football match on the TV, you either have to do so on mute or put up with commentary in a language you don't speak because that's the only way you will see it (and my team was in that league, it's painful). Additionally, STV is not part of ITV Plc and broadcasts everywhere but Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders (part of the ITV Border region). Given recent political developments, an attempt to deliberately politicise broadcasting is not beyond the realms of possibility, especially since the SNP is pretty plain about despising the BBC and seeing it as little more than an agent of English propaganda. 'The Vital Spark' is just the sort of program that STV or even a BBC Scotland Board wanting to not fall out with the sitting devolved government further might go for. When it comes to politics where you are either in one camp or the other, and there is no middle ground (virtually everyone has decided 'yes' or 'no' by now), practically everything is possible and the intentional abuse of popular culture for political purposes all round is to be expected. Should the SNP get their wish it becomes incredibly likely this property is dusted off by a successor public broadcaster desperate to commission anything at all relating to Scotland given they may have issues licensing programming we have come to expect. STV didn't have the rights to first season Downton Abbey and that was pre-referendum, access to UK-wide programming isn't a given now. To be plain: I live in the Border TV region, so I don't expect I'd see it if STV did go there.
@@nicolamarchbank1846 BBC Scotland One is indeed a thing, controlled and financed by the BBC in London. Much as the SNP may moan about it, it's entirely outwith their control, being reserved, and they are unable to effect which programming is produced there. Indeed, I'm aware that some of the BBC programming for other areas is produced in Scotland as an accounting trick to fulfil certain vows made regarding spending in Scotland. As for BBC Alba, it seems a bit bizarre complaining about the of gaelic on a gaelic language channel. That's akin to me complaining about the Laandan accents on Eastenders, if indeed that programme is still broadcast. Due to the boycott of the TV licence I don't watch live television so pay little attention to terrestrial scheduling
Some real blasts from the past. My favourites out of these are Get Some In and The Dustbin Men. Anyone remember in which sitcom the female character's catch phrase was 'Am I right? - I am' ?
'Blank Sheets': Ronnie Hazlehurst's horn section plays a jocular variation of 'Paperback Writer' as we meet lonely author Terry Blank (Martin Jarvis), newly moved to the countryside to find inspiration for his next novel, despite the interruptions of his mother (Dandy Nichols), gardener (Peter Butterworth), and the welcome distraction of muse-next-door Sally Thomsett. Not real, but I feel like all 1970s sitcoms were the result of a similar algorithm. Seven episodes were made, five reshown on UK Gold (one with a warning), and two accidentally wiped by the BBC when they mistook them for Doctor Who.
Sorry as for not ever being shown again in- Wrong!! It was actually shown for a while on Forces TV, which used to be the premier home for vintage TV. RIP Forces TV.
I am a huge fan of the late and great Pat Coombs ....According to The Guinness Book of Records she holds the record for the largest number of takes for a TV commercial. According to Coombs: "I just couldn't remember the name of the product."
Another sitcom beginning with the letter u is the upchat line, starring our old friend John alderton. There was a sequel, the upchat connection, which starred actor. Robin nedwell.
Going straight was a spin off of porridge And the plot was Ronnie Barker Fletcher coming out if prison to join his co star who was later on bloomers Before he died
And as for the Vital Spark. Sorry again wrong, although you probably wouldn't know as I think it was only ever shown in Scotland, but they made a remake in the 90s with Gregor Fisher as Para Handy.
Couldn't stand Yes Honestly, but loved No Honestly. Think it had something do with the theme song, sung by the very lovely Lynsey De Paul. There's a lot on this list I'm glad time has forgotten,
highly enjoyable, I've had to really scrape the barrell of my knowledge but for E you could have End of Part One (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Part_One) or Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_Eggs_in_a_Rhubarb_Tree_(TV_series) both of which were more sketch based and for J could easily allowed Just William with the Bonnie Langford version of Elizabeth Bott or the 1 episode of the Jugg Brothers (aka Bob Grant and Stephens first partnership outside on the buses). X has nothing but as it was the seventies maybe standing for X Rated comedy films mostly starring Robin Askwith? ;)
There were 3 spin off films - up Pompeii, up the chastity belt and up the front. Basically same premise but set in Pompeii, middle ages and first world war. Same cast and character types.
'Mr Big' had Peter Jones (the original voice of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and the opening titles had a fly buzzing around a pound note that had Jones's face superimposed on it. I quite liked it but like a lot of 70s sitcoms, if I watched it now it would probably be awful
Sorry, as for the repeats of Get Some In. Kind of qrong, depending on Network There were repeats of the series in the 70s and 80s. HOWEVER.i it wasn't repeated UNTIL the late great TV channel Forces FV channel Forces TV showed the entire series, a couple of fimes
Great list. I had a vague memory of the Peggy Mount one (the voice, nightmares of childhood) but I remembered the set differently and thought it was a hotel, not sure if I'm getting it confuzzled with something else, Hinge and Bracket maybe? Surprised Up Pompeii is so well remembred yet the Arabian one isn't.
My uncle was in the RAF 1955 - 65 and reckons Get Some In was pretty spot on, humour included. Nice channel, thanks.
Going straight was very under rated i loved it-myself and thought it should of got a better run
As I was growing up in the Seventies I don't remember a lot of these except 'Up Pomeii' and 'Going Straight' knew that wouldn't catch on as a sequel to 'Porridge' I was looking more at the children's programmes, brilliant. Who remembers the 'Double Decker's' great stuff!
Just before he died Ronnie Corbett was in a great BBC Radio 4 series called “ Until The Dog Dies “ if any fans of his are unaware. Thanks for your work 😃👍
I would watch ANY of these. Just to get that 70s feeling!
The Foot of Our Stairs is a brilliant channel for an ageing and nostalgic northern English bloke living abroad. I am immensely grateful for it.
glad you like it David
Mostly forgotten Sitcom 'Mixed Blessings' 1978 to 1980.........
I thought "S" might be Shine A Light. Anyone else remember that? Two lighthousemen stranded in employed isolation, manning a remote lighthouse and descending into stir craziness. Tony Selby (Get Some In) was one of the principal cast. It was funny.
Here in Ontario Canada I used to be a huge fan of all and everything British on TV, we used to get a lot of great shows thru the TVO channel and I still have fond memories, as far as I'm concerned Canada and the UK produced the best TV ever!!!
Thank you for your comments. I grew up in the sixties and seventies and I think UK TV was probably at its best during this era.
There were a lot on CBC, weren't there? It was only a few years ago (not a sitcom though) that I discovered New Tricks on TV Ontario
What would you recommend from Canada pls comedy wise?
Likes are nice, but info is better.
@@carrieorsel1340 Thanks, but for some reason when I click on your message, I can't see the rest of it, could you please reply to this with it again (copy and paste pls instead or re typing)
Tragedy that Richard Beckinsale died so young....outstanding sitcom actor. Apparently Ronnie Barker learnt of his death whilst waiting at some lights to change in his car, and saw his face been shown on news in a tv shop window.
*being
Ronnie Barker never got over it, either - he thought about Richard every day and always spoke about him on TV with tears in his eyes. Leonard Rossiter also thought the world of him and was torn apart when he died.
The guy presenting this is brilliant! I reckon you missed your vocation as a radio presenter, mate :)
I haven't forgotten You're Only Young Twice. I was a kid then but I loved that programme.
Just discovered your channel and looking forward to devouring every episode. Thanks for the great work!
By the way thank you for posting this great collection 💖
I remember most of these shows
Just discovered Get some in thanks to you, just watched 1st ep and love it!
'Get Some In' has been recently reshown in full on Forces TV, they bypassed around the out of date language by having a spoken disclaimer before each episode is shown.
Get some in was a funny show. Perhaps because I had just missed out on National Service.
And Robert Lyndsey was/is a great comic actor. I never missed an episode of Citizen Smith. Classic 70's telly.
That was brilliant, thanks for that trip down memory lane. My favourites among this little lot include "You're Only Young Twice" with Peggy Mount and Pat Coombes (which I used to get confused with the James Bond film title "You Only Live Twice" when I was very young... how would that be for a bizarre mash-up, Peggy Mount as the evil mastermind trying to take over the world and being thwarted by Roger Moore😂). There's also "Odd Man Out", when John Inman went over to ITV to do this series in 1977 (and has a snazzy and very seventies theme tune). There's some here that I actually have never heard of, while there's also some that I remember really disliking when I was a little lad, such as "Get Some In", which was set in the RAF during National Service in the 1950s. Maybe it's because it was set in the past and as a little child I just couldn't relate to it, but I am sure that it appealed to the older generation who lived through those times...
Get Some in was repeated on Forces TV and Talking Pictures TV until a few months ago
I knew I'd seen get some in some where B4. Forces TV show some good old sitcoms.
Yep I remember watching that as well on Talking Pictures TV.
@@martinhughes2549 Nice :)
Thanks for reminding us of these wonderful comedies from an age that was golden for scripts and talented actors and actresses. I hadn't heard of some of them. You have a lovely calm voice presenting them too. A couple of sitcoms I enjoyed from the seventies too were In loving Memory, with Thora Hird, For the love of Ada, Irene Handl, and Spring and Autumn which stared Jimmy Jewel. Also Never mind the Quality was another good one
It's my pleasure
NMTQ, Feel the width it was maybe called.
@@TFOOS also there was the Rag trade ... the liver birds and L for lester about a happless driving instructor with alot of guest appearances
God, I must be getting old (61), I remember about 20 of those, also great to see the gorgeous Patricia Brake in going straight.
You've defeated me on most of those. However, a favourite of mine at the time was "I didn't know you cared", with Anita Carey's character being one of those young northern women with aspirations for a middle class life which appeared in a number of 1970s sitcoms. I'm particularly thinking of Brigit Forsyth's character Thelma in "The Return of the Likely Lads".
As for my Wife Next Door, then I think it's all on UA-cam somewhere. It is incredibly dated in attitude, but I recall enjoying it at the time. However, I could forgive it almost anything for Hannah Gordon; elegance personified and her wonderful Scottish burr.
Gets some in was shown on Forces TV recently.
I met both june witfield and terry Scott in person
At the Southampton commin in 1978
What i loved about Frankie Howard was he made what he was saying sound dirty without actually being dirty
And your imagination went wild with it
I wish I'd known you when I used to get the phone calls late at night telling me that the BBC had put another skip outside television centre. If the shoot was connected to level 6 then you know that they were junking more programmes.
I used to live up the road from Beryl Reid, very pleasant woman. Our next door neighbours were Susan George and Jack Jones, also very nice people. Wraysbury was a nice place to live back then, not so much now. We knew Terry Scott and Dennis Waterman , they were friends. Terry Scott used to wear a medallion open shirt and was a bit of a ladies man (very different from the roles he played). John Thaw and Dennis waterman once 'borrowed' some temporary traffic lights and took them to a house party with the policeman from 'Black Beauty' who we called 'Uncle Ken' , He taught us magic tricks when we were kids, I remember he used to limp as half of his toes were missing from Diabetes, but he still managed to make his way to the pub of an evening . Simpler Happier times in many ways.
Nice video. I cant think of many comedy series that are wiped post 1973. ( a couple of episodes of "it ain't half hot mum"; pilot of "Are you being served?"= although these exist as sales copies) Theres even an unbroadcast sit com that Spike Milligan made thats supposed to exist from the late 1970s. Pre 1972 comedy shelves are a bit light though. 1970s quiz shows; talent shows and music programmes are decimated pre 1978 though.
Another great A-Z list. Keep up the great work as and when you can.
Thanks it was great fun, I remember 4 of them.
The gag in "Happy Ever After" that impressed itself into my 8-year-old brain was in an episode where Terry, for some reason I can't remember, is deprived of his TV and goes a bit crazy as a result, or perhaps he just dreams it. But he certainly dreams finding a TV and desperately twiddling both knobs on the front trying to get a picture, at which point he wakes up as June screams "Terry!" and fends his hands away from her chest!
A couple of other obscure ones for you:
Cuckoo waltz - with Lewis Collins as the brash friend of a poor married couple.
The lovers - Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox. Made in early 70s but not shown until few years later due to subject matter istr.
In the "Queenie's Castle" clip you put a caption up stating that Diana Dors declared bankruptcy in 1986. Well then she must have done it from the afterlife because she passed away in 1984.
Hannah Gordon went on to Upstairs Downstairs too.
If I remember rightly ‘the vital spark’ was re-made in the 90s. It had Ricki Fulton in the lead role.
Gregor Fisher played Para Handy but yeah Rickie Fulton was in it too as Macphail
I was only a child in the 70 s I remember 2
Oh dear, I remember most of these - I particularly remember Sir Yellow, Edwards in a rather snazzy yellow suit of armour (which I made for my Actionman the next day).
Even though most of them were a bit shit, I have a real fondness for 70's sitcoms. The cheesy music, the terrible clothes and hair, the unfunny jokes. It reminds me of my childhood and somehow makes me feel good. Can't really explain why...........
You're only young twice Pat counbs love her she is sadly missed pat combs sings i am sixteen from the sound of music and the janitor said
You must be bloody jokingly
I loved this show too
I remember 'Get Some In'.
Forces TV did repeat 2 David Jason sitcoms from the 70s I’d never heard of. Lucky Fella, where he plays a shy plumber called shorty and A Sharp Intake of Breath, a sort of One Foot in the Grave but he plays a younger guy than Victor Meldrew. Richard Wilson is in it ironically.
Looks like Forces TV is dropping its retro stuff now
@@TFOOS a few more that are missing . the rag trade .. liver birds and Rosie .. which was about a police constable penrose who dreams of better things
I have near heard of most of these. The only ones I knew about are Going Straight, Whoops Baghdad (I only knew it from a TV documentary about Frankie Howerd), You're Only Young Twice and Get Some In. Get Some In actually was broadcast again on the Forces TV channel as that is how I found out about it, or I wouldn't have known about it at all.
Pat coombs i love her she did a typhoo tv comercial
With 3 ghosts singing. If we had a cuppa she was a carry on member
Love that advert
Great vid. If you would like to see full episodes of many of these rare comedies search CLASSIC UK DRAMA & SITCOM TV SHOWS 👍👍
I do remember a few of these at the time they were aired. 'Bloomers', in particular I remember as the continuity announcer in the closing credits would state that the show had no connection to a shop somewhere or other in London! It was a bit of a shock when it suddenly ended after 5 shows, with the realisation that Richard Beckinsale had died suddenly.
I also remember seeing about 5 minutes of, 'Chalk And Cheese', that starred Michael Crawford sporting a beard of all things. I guess he was trying his hardest to not look like Frank Spencer. 'Happy Ever After', would be on Thursday nights after, 'Top of the Pops', as I recall. The only alternative was, 'The World of Survival', on ITV, which, at the age I was, was considered quite boring. This show was a prototype for the later, 'Terry & June.' Same characters, same situation comedy.
I don't remember, 'I didn't Know You Cared', but the catchphrase, 'I heard that, pardon', was fairly universally heard at school at the time. 'Going Straight', was shown at roughly the same time as, 'Bloomers', if memory serves me right and was another series that suffered from the demise of Richard Beckinsale's demise. Not quite as good as, 'Porridge', but it did have potential to lead onto a second series, which unsurprisingly, didn't happen under the circumstances.
I recall a number of sitcoms from the early 80's that kind of fall into the same category of, 'probably been forgotten about.' Those are:-
'Only When I Laugh'
'Sink Or Swim'
'A Sharp Intake of Breath'
'Holding The Fort'
'In Living Memory'
'Shelley'
'Astronauts'
Rings On Their Fingers is a superb series
I do remember John Alderton and Pauline Collins doing the voices for the Little Miss cartoon series in the 80s.
Fascinating to see comedy from before my time and a very different time. It's obviously very well researched, too but just one thing; Diana Dors died in 1984 so couldn't have gone bankrupt in 1986. I remember her death well as her husband shot himself a few months later so their two sons were orphaned - very, very tragic.
The only title i had heard of (or could remember) was Going Straight, but seeing some of the clips and images jogged memories. So i must have seen some of these before. Great video. All the A to Z ones are great. Nice one. P.s an A to Z of 80 kids shoes would we great (if you ever run out of ideas)
Thanks David - 80s kids' shoes eh......its a good idea!
@@TFOOS haha quality typo!!!
@@TFOOS another missing from this list is keeping it in the family starring robert gillespie
THEY SHOWED GET SOME IN IN CANADA IT WAS A HUGE HIT OVER THERE I WAS 11
YRS OLD AT THE TIME
L could be for Lucky Feller, David Jason. I remember that as a child, but never hear it mentioned. I thought it was funny at the time, but I was easily pleased in those days.
No honesty aired in canada
Also my mom and dad only watched english shows as a kid living in Canada this was one of their favorites
Lindsey de Paul sang the theme to this show
Melvin HAYES was on a kids show called the double deckers he was also gloria on it aint hafe hot mum
Frankie Howard had a comedy show in Canada
Called the Frankie Howard show in 1974
He was a gas i loved him he was great
I remembered Micheal crawford with a beard but didn't remember the show ,"going straight" is really good,almost as good as porridge ,I regularly watch it on UA-cam.
Do you remember " the brothers mcgregor" ,phillip whitchurch and Paul barber as brothers ? That was probably the 80's but for whatever reason I remember it
I remember 'Mr Big'. Prunella Scales was in that :)
"D" could also be "Dear Mother, Love Albert" starring Rodney Bewes and a theme tune very similar to "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads".
I was somewhat surprised to see 'The Vital Spark' included, only because the premise has been a part of my life on and off since I was a kid. It might have something to do with my Dad and his taste for Scottish works that no one outside Scotland seems all that familiar with.
'The Vital Spark' has had several versions at this point, it's kind of like the TV equivalent of a Scottish folk tale, a nostalgic vision of how Scottish people like to imagine things were rather than how they actually were, in the same way that 'Dr Findlay's Casebook' and the one-off 'The Steamie' are. This case is focused on working people, working boats on the Clyde in the 1930s when such things were still prevalent. Para Handy just never quite reached the same level of fame that 'Findlay' reached amongst the UK-wide audience, for whatever reason.
There are actually FOUR main TV or film versions of the story. This franchise, for want of a better term, is based on the collected tales of Para Handy and is redoubtable puffer named 'The Vital Spark' by author Neil Munro.
The first version is 'The Maggie', an Ealing movie I have seen three or four times with my Dad. I include the Wikipedia page and imdb.com for reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maggie. It was then adapted for TV in 1959 as 'Para Handy - Master Mariner'. I include the Wikipedia page with attached imdb.com link here too: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para_Handy_-_Master_Mariner
The version of the 'Vital Spark' you include (Wikipedia and imdb: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vital_Spark), is only the SECOND TV adaptation, and third overall, and then there is a THIRD TV adaptation called 'The Tales of Para Handy' from the 1990s, which is the version I watched as a kid on, I think Sunday evenings, starring Gregor Fisher as Para Handy, Ricki Fulton as engineer Dan Macphaill, Sean Scalan as the first mate Dougie Cameron and Andrew Fairlie as Sunny Jim getting into hijinks whilst working the shipping routes around the Hebrides and the West Coast. And again, the Wikipedia page and imdb.com link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tales_of_Para_Handy
Given the Scottish Government's policy priorities in the arts and culture, and the direction of travel at BBC Scotland, I would be unsurprised if some TV Executive desperate for some Scottish-set story to produce to take a crack at the Sunday evening audience, and keen to try and tap into the potential nostalgia, or because there are no such things as new ideas anymore, might well dust off 'The Vital Spark' and try a FOURTH TV version starring someone who was a supporting actor on 'Outlander' or something like that. Stranger things have happened...
Read my mind man. It might be forgotten outside of scotland. But we happy few remember. ( even the gregor fisher one was ...ok) Havent watched all the chaps videoes. But I expect City Lights to make an appearance. Which incidently reminds me of a tale. Apparently they where filming a scene outside of a job centre and this wee drunk chappie walks up n goes " whits wi the camera son? did some bastard ger a joab or summit"
I heard this from a lot of sources so I take it as a true glasgow anicdote!
The 1970s version was actually set in the 1970s, not that it made much difference!
Given that broadcasting is reserved and the UK Government blocked the terrestrial broadcast of Outlander I think it unlikely we'll see anything of the sort soon. If they had their way I'm sure we'd go back to the 1970's where Vital Spark was possibly the only Scottish sitcom being broadcast. I can't think of any others at all.
@@AirdrieRambler BBC Scotland One is a thing and they are DESPERATE to broadcast anything that isn't commissioned from England even if that means opting out of UK-wide programming and preferring markedly different scheduling, including a different national (read Scotland only), news broadcast. They make utter crap like 'Scot Squad' and think 'Gary Tank Commander' counts as great comedy. To say nothing of BBC Alba where you are lucky to get everything on the nightly schedule with subtitles and if you want to see a Scottish Championship football match on the TV, you either have to do so on mute or put up with commentary in a language you don't speak because that's the only way you will see it (and my team was in that league, it's painful).
Additionally, STV is not part of ITV Plc and broadcasts everywhere but Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders (part of the ITV Border region). Given recent political developments, an attempt to deliberately politicise broadcasting is not beyond the realms of possibility, especially since the SNP is pretty plain about despising the BBC and seeing it as little more than an agent of English propaganda.
'The Vital Spark' is just the sort of program that STV or even a BBC Scotland Board wanting to not fall out with the sitting devolved government further might go for. When it comes to politics where you are either in one camp or the other, and there is no middle ground (virtually everyone has decided 'yes' or 'no' by now), practically everything is possible and the intentional abuse of popular culture for political purposes all round is to be expected. Should the SNP get their wish it becomes incredibly likely this property is dusted off by a successor public broadcaster desperate to commission anything at all relating to Scotland given they may have issues licensing programming we have come to expect. STV didn't have the rights to first season Downton Abbey and that was pre-referendum, access to UK-wide programming isn't a given now.
To be plain: I live in the Border TV region, so I don't expect I'd see it if STV did go there.
@@nicolamarchbank1846 BBC Scotland One is indeed a thing, controlled and financed by the BBC in London. Much as the SNP may moan about it, it's entirely outwith their control, being reserved, and they are unable to effect which programming is produced there. Indeed, I'm aware that some of the BBC programming for other areas is produced in Scotland as an accounting trick to fulfil certain vows made regarding spending in Scotland. As for BBC Alba, it seems a bit bizarre complaining about the of gaelic on a gaelic language channel. That's akin to me complaining about the Laandan accents on Eastenders, if indeed that programme is still broadcast. Due to the boycott of the TV licence I don't watch live television so pay little attention to terrestrial scheduling
Some real blasts from the past. My favourites out of these are Get Some In and The Dustbin Men. Anyone remember in which sitcom the female character's catch phrase was 'Am I right? - I am' ?
'Blank Sheets': Ronnie Hazlehurst's horn section plays a jocular variation of 'Paperback Writer' as we meet lonely author Terry Blank (Martin Jarvis), newly moved to the countryside to find inspiration for his next novel, despite the interruptions of his mother (Dandy Nichols), gardener (Peter Butterworth), and the welcome distraction of muse-next-door Sally Thomsett. Not real, but I feel like all 1970s sitcoms were the result of a similar algorithm. Seven episodes were made, five reshown on UK Gold (one with a warning), and two accidentally wiped by the BBC when they mistook them for Doctor Who.
Sorry as for not ever being shown again in- Wrong!! It was actually shown for a while on Forces TV, which used to be the premier home for vintage TV. RIP Forces TV.
I am a huge fan of the late and great Pat Coombs ....According to The Guinness Book of Records she holds the record for the largest number of takes for a TV commercial. According to Coombs: "I just couldn't remember the name of the product."
The fosters was bought by Norman Lear
And called good times JJ walker
Curry and Chips ,they will not be showing that anytime soon 😂😂😂
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (starring Jim Davidson)?
i remember that might be in the 80s forgotten sit coms list
@@robaspinall988 My mistake. It was 1983. Time goes by so fast! :-)
Thick as thieves with Bob Hoskins and John Thaw was another forgotten series with two well known actors.
Thank you for not assuming we're all idiots and used the word "probably "
"M" could also be "Moody & Pegg" starring Judy Cornwell.
I haven't watched the video yet and I know it is going to be good
Another sitcom beginning with the letter u is the upchat line, starring our old friend John alderton. There was a sequel, the upchat connection, which starred actor. Robin nedwell.
John Alderton was in Operation Crossbow film too.
Going straight was a spin off of porridge
And the plot was Ronnie Barker Fletcher coming out if prison to join his co star who was later on bloomers
Before he died
My uncle William Perry loved get some in
He died in 1978
Brilliant thank you so much
Thank you
My only memory of Beryl Reid is in the fine horror film the Beast in the Cellar.A strange but enjoyable film.
And as for the Vital Spark. Sorry again wrong, although you probably wouldn't know as I think it was only ever shown in Scotland, but they made a remake in the 90s with Gregor Fisher as Para Handy.
Jullian Orchard seen in odd man out he was in every thing in the 70s
Loved you're only young twice loved that show pat combes i also remember seeing going straight with ronnie barker
Couldn't stand Yes Honestly, but loved No Honestly. Think it had something do with the theme song, sung by the very lovely Lynsey De Paul. There's a lot on this list I'm glad time has forgotten,
"I" could also be "If You See God, Tell Him" starring Richard Briers and Adrian Edmonson ......... Pardon?
The fosters
SPAWNED a tv show in America called GOOD TIMES
with the exact same format
As the fosters
Some interesting looking shows here. The Fosters reminds me a great deal of Good Times in the US.
Up pompeii
Frankie howards
Satirical mock of a Shakespearean play of sorts
Loved it
I believe I remember all these.
It's been repeated recently on Talking Pictures TV has Get Some In
highly enjoyable, I've had to really scrape the barrell of my knowledge but for E you could have End of Part One (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Part_One) or Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_Eggs_in_a_Rhubarb_Tree_(TV_series) both of which were more sketch based and for J could easily allowed Just William with the Bonnie Langford version of Elizabeth Bott or the 1 episode of the Jugg Brothers (aka Bob Grant and Stephens first partnership outside on the buses). X has nothing but as it was the seventies maybe standing for X Rated comedy films mostly starring Robin Askwith? ;)
Good choices. He could have also shown some poetic licence by having The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs under 'E'.
3:01 "9.25 The Quest: Starring Kurt Russell, Tim Matheson"
Colour me interested.
Oranges and lemons that was a forgotten 70es sitcom
I remember 5 of those.
OMG I LOVE UP POMPEI FRANKIE HOWARD
I WAS ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING WITH THIS SHOW
SHE WANTED TO PUT A POLTIS ON HIS THINGIE
LOL
There were 3 spin off films - up Pompeii, up the chastity belt and up the front. Basically same premise but set in Pompeii, middle ages and first world war. Same cast and character types.
Anyone remember Curry and \Chips, although that was 60's i think
i found some clips of that on you tube .. that was good .. sadly alot of stuff is lost from archives
Watched Chalk and Cheese on Uk Gold thought it was great shame there was only one series
another missing from this list is keeping it in the family with robert gillespie
Always thought Devenish (Dinsdale Landen) should have been much more popular.
'Mr Big' had Peter Jones (the original voice of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and the opening titles had a fly buzzing around a pound note that had Jones's face superimposed on it. I quite liked it but like a lot of 70s sitcoms, if I watched it now it would probably be awful
It also boasted Prunella Scales among the cast :)
Sorry, as for the repeats of Get Some In. Kind of qrong, depending on Network
There were repeats of the series in the 70s and 80s. HOWEVER.i it wasn't repeated UNTIL the late great TV channel Forces FV channel Forces TV showed the entire series, a couple of fimes
Great list. I had a vague memory of the Peggy Mount one (the voice, nightmares of childhood) but I remembered the set differently and thought it was a hotel, not sure if I'm getting it confuzzled with something else, Hinge and Bracket maybe?
Surprised Up Pompeii is so well remembred yet the Arabian one isn't.
I remember no honestly his wife made the movie Shirley
Valentine where she wants to go to greese
I remember the decade, but not many of these shows. Mind you, I had a lot of the 1970s surgically removed.
I'm enjoying this but it says Diana dors declared bankruptcy in 1986, but she died on 4th may 1984.