In honor of Great English Entertainment

[DirectorDave]

I must give honourable mentions to....

Dads Army - Runs Steptoe, very, very close, on another day might have got the nod as my no.1.

Blackadder - It's Blackadder enough said, but the last episode with the poppy field Television at it's finest.

Porridge - The great Ronnie Barker (Barker>Morcambe imo), The Great Fulton Mackay and not forgetting performances by Beckinsale and Wilde and others.

Fools & Horses - A Steptoe ripoff but acknowledged as so by it's writer, and still funny.

Pheonix Nights - Too young yet to be a classic but will no doubt take it's place with others in time.

And as already mentioned.....the Torquay Hotelier.

[Robert]

At this point, I would like to give a plug to the writers - people like Galton & Simpson, Perry & Croft, and all the other great writers we've been blessed with.

[DirectorDave]

Somebody mentioned the great British classic TV
All they had was one simple room setting but they had two terrific comedy actors who knew their lines by heart and could say them with great conviction and timing. One long (hilarious) 'take' per scene - not cut about in any way.

Not sure Wilfred Bramble knew his lines by heart....fluffed quite a few but that just adds to his performance imo.

Great to see another Steptoe fan giving Harold & Albert a shout.

Worth watching the first series of "Secret Army" in parallel with the first series of "Allo, Allo". It ads a dimension to both!

Phil
Secret Army ruined Allo, Allo for me.....thankfully.

[Sally]

Fawlty Towers. Only 12 made, every one of them is perfect.

[louisa]

Somebody mentioned the great British classic TV comedy 'Steptoe and Son'. This for me is what truly great comedy is all about.

It would be called a 'sitcom' these days but the series was set in the fifties and sixties.

All they had was one simple room setting but they had two terrific comedy actors who knew their lines by heart and could say them with great conviction and timing. One long (hilarious) 'take' per scene - not cut about in any way.

[Limehouse]

Coward was, I believe, in the play at the time when his friend and one time lover, The Duke of Kent (son of George V) was killed in a flying accident during the war. He was advised not to appear that night because the play is, of course, all about contact with the dead. He did appear but found himself very emotional and more greatly moved than he had expected.

I'm also very fond of Coward's "This Happy Breed" about a family living in Battersea between 1919 and 1939.

The film has Robert Newton and Celia Johnson on fine form and was an early project of David Lean. Stanley Holloway, a young John Mills and Kay Walsh (later Mrs Lean) also star.

It is very well done and includes many details of life that i recall from my youth - the oil cloth with dagged edges used to cover pantry shelves; the furniture and conventions of the day. It recreates some major events - the Victory Parade through London 1919; etc.

One character, off the the Empire Exhibition at Wembley proudly proclaims, "I've got eight and sixpence and I intend to spend every penny!"

I absolutely love 'This Happy Breed' and feel there are so many aspects and themes to the film. Even though it depicts English family life from 1919-1939, I can relate totally to it and some of the women behave just like my mother and her sisters and friends did!

[Phil H]

Worth watching the first series of "Secret Army" in parallel with the first series of "Allo, Allo". It ads a dimension to both!

[DirectorDave]

Although it's a British-Belgian production not an English one "Secret Army" is one of the finest drama series ever.

[Robert]

I hope he didn't play Claudius like the factory owner in "The Old Dark House." By 'eck!

[Carol]

Charles Laughton as Claudius would have been very interesting to watch.

Hi jason,

I can remember seeing that programme on BBC many years ago now. I can also remember thinking at the time what a great pity it was that the film was never finished. Charles Laughton was SUPERB, he really was.

Carol

[jason_c]

On I Claudius (or I CLAVDIVS as a generation in the UK knew it), there is an amazing documentary narrated by Dirk Bogarde called "The Epic That Never Was". It is included in the BBC boxed set of dvds in the UK.

The documentary tells of Alexander Korda's ill-fated attempt to film "I Claudius" in c1937. His version would hve starred Charles Laughton (Claudius); Emlyn Williams (Caligula) and Flora Robson (Livia) with Korda's wife, Merle Oberon as Messalina. The filming stopped when Oberson was involved in a serious car accident. Setrs were huge and the surviving footage is included in the B&W documentary. WELL worth searching out.

Phil H

Charles Laughton as Claudius would have been very interesting to watch.

[Phil H]

On I Claudius (or I CLAVDIVS as a generation in the UK knew it), there is an amazing documentary narrated by Dirk Bogarde called "The Epic That Never Was". It is included in the BBC boxed set of dvds in the UK.

The documentary tells of Alexander Korda's ill-fated attempt to film "I Claudius" in c1937. His version would hve starred Charles Laughton (Claudius); Emlyn Williams (Caligula) and Flora Robson (Livia) with Korda's wife, Merle Oberon as Messalina. The filming stopped when Oberson was involved in a serious car accident. Setrs were huge and the surviving footage is included in the B&W documentary. WELL worth searching out.

Phil H

[Beowulf]

[QUOTE=Phil H;234864]Coward was, I believe, in the play at the time when his friend and one time lover, The Duke of Kent (son of George V) was killed in a flying accident during the war. He was advised not to appear that night because the play is, of course, all about contact with the dead. He did appear but found himself very emotional and more greatly moved than he had expected.QUOTE]

Meant to say this information is realy interesting. Terribly sad.

[Beowulf]

I worked on a production of Blythe Spirit once. One of the few Coward plays I enjoyed working on. Got to do lots of special effects--flying books, glowing furniture etc.

Wow, does that sound like fun.

I have to say one of my all time favorite books is Robert Graves I Claudius. Both the book and the Masterpiece Theatre version were incredible.

The theme for Claudius was really great, especially accompanied with the snake slithering over a Roman tiled portrait of poor Claw Claw Claudius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKwaCTfa1EE

[Magpie]

I worked on a production of Blythe Spirit once. One of the few Coward plays I enjoyed working on. Got to do lots of special effects--flying books, glowing furniture etc.