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Comedies Ripe for Revival: Spitting Image, Please Sir! and On the Buses

Comedies Ripe for Revival: Spitting Image, Please Sir! and On the Buses

Yesterday it was announced that digital channel Gold was reviving the iconic political comedy Yes, Prime Minister – perhaps there couldn’t be a better time for a revival of the series suggests Doug Lambert in this edition of Editor Reports.

In this updated feature ATV Today casts its eye over other comedies which are ‘Ripe for Revival’ such as Spitting Image and Please Sir!

Spitting Image (Central Television 1984 – 1996)

If the current woes of the coalition government provide enough material, and the perfect time, for a revival of Yes, Prime Minister then without a doubt they also provide more than enough material – or should that be ammunition – for Spitting Image. What fun Spitting Image would have with the number of scandals to have engulf the government and the media in recent years; Cash for access row, phone-hacking scandal, expenses scandal and basically just the day-to-day mess that is the coalition government.

Just imagine what Spitting Image would have made of it all – the jokes, the cutting sketches and the puppets. We can imagine Nick Clegg as a puppet, after all its not hard, but Cameron as a puppet – we’re quite sure we know who Spitting Image would have had pulling his strings……work it out for yourself….

Keeping Up Appearances (BBC One, 1990 – 1995)

A comedy all about middle class snobbery and showing it up – the pretentious Mrs Bucket (Patricia Routhledge) was a social climber of the highest order who wouldn’t miss any opportunity to try and get herself up the social ladder. Her attempts usually involved her long-suffering husband Richard (Clive Swift) and her infamous “candle-lit suppers”. Grown men feared her the approach of Mrs Bucket.

The snobbery of the Daily Mail reading middle classes is, as ever, a prime ground for comedy even in the middle of a recession. Ridiculing those who are desperate to ‘keep up appearances’ by any means necessary, such as shopping at Lidl but using Waitrose bags, is pure comedy gold.


On The Buses (LWT 1969 – 1973)

Remember that old joke about waiting for one bus to come along and three come all at once? Well in some parts of the country that isn’t a joke at all – it’s reality. Yes in some parts of the UK buses seemingly move in convoys unable to actually arrive on time but still charge the full price.

There were rumours last year that a revival of On The Buses was planned and its a comedy that has plenty of material just waiting to be exploited in the public transport sector. Obviously, it would need updating as its sexist attitudes – which were reflective of the time it was produced – would not be acceptable today; Stan (Reg Varney) and Jack (Bob Grant) wouldn’t last five minutes in the modern work place.

Other updates to the series might also have to include the format; do buses even have inspectors and clippies anymore?

 

Please Sir (LWT, 1968 – 1972)

Nothing much has really changed since Please Sir first aired in the late 60s and early 70s. There are still ‘troubled’ comprehensive schools out there that are considered to be “failing” by the educational authorities – though most are surely being closed down by now to form “academies” that will somehow rectify all the problems of “failing” schools.

Please Sir was set in a inner-city comprehensive with unruly pupils and teachers who struggled to keep control. Bernard Hedges (John Alderton) joins Fenn Street school fresh out of training college and is given the notorious 5C group to tutor – the group that no other teacher in the school wants.

The clash between students, teachers and parents surely provides more than enough comedy material though some may argue Please Sir has already been reborn for the 21st century in BBC One’s Waterloo Road a drama so daft it frequently lunges into the comical quite unintentionally though.


Are You Being Served? (BBC One (1972 – 1985)

Comedy set in a London department store starring John Inman, Trevor Bannister, Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richards, Frank Thornton and Nicholas Smith.

While the recession may have dented profits for the big department stores such as John Lewis and Debenhams they are still a vital part of the high street and ripe for comedy.

We all know the kind of characters we encounter amongst the staff when we venture into such places and we all know the rivalry that exists between different sections within these stores. The clash of personalities and the inner-store rivalries are a prime setting for a comedy…though wha would Mrs Slocombe and her pussy have to say about a revival?

Update: BBC One returned to Are You Being Served? as a one-off tribute to the original in 2016. The new version starred Roy Barraclough and Sherrie Hewson.

 

Fawlty Towers (BBC One, 1975 – 1979)

We’ve all stayed in Hotels or Bed & Breakfasts that have been run by men like Basil Fawlty (John Cleese). We all know such establishments exist where the management is ineffective and the staff equally so. Fawlty Towers was pure comedy genius when it first aired and perhaps the beauty of the series is it did only run for 12 episodes.

Some comedies are dragged out season after season (numerous examples, far too many to name) but Fawlty Towers, much like the equally excellent Dinnerladies, ended while it was still good. Even so the prospect of seeing an elderly Fawlty and Sybil (Prunella Scales) still running the hotel – into the ground – is appealing.


Open All Hours (BBC Two/BBC One 1973 to 1985)

The comedy set in a corner shop starring Ronnie Barker, David Jason and Lynda Baron is still popular with audiences today and regularly repeated on television. The comedy revolved around scrooge like corner-shop owner Arkwright (Barker) and his attempts to woo Nurse Gladys (Baron) who later became his fiancée.

Britain’s corner shops may be disappearing/closing down due to the constant expansion of certain supermarkets but there are still enough of them around for people to be familiar with and indeed many of the remaining shops really are open all hours in order to compete. The basic premise Open All Hours could be adapted for new audiences but would they really take to it?

Update: The BBC have proved audiences have taken to the sitcom with the return of David Jason as Granville. Still Open All Hours is now running into its third series.

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