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00:30You are looking at the greatest star in British sitcom.
00:34I'm sitting on it.
00:36And believe me, this isn't the first time I've sat on a sitcom star.
00:40Oh, no.
00:42Anyway, this sofa's been in Hancock.
00:45Only fools and horses, men behaving badly, and even...
00:49Oh, yes.
00:52Even the good life.
00:54Actually, if you don't mind, I actually prefer that back in there.
00:57Oh, lovely.
01:00So, right, what is sitcom?
01:04Well, it's really rather obvious.
01:06The com is short for comedy, and the sit is short for sitting.
01:12It's sitting comedy, where the characters sit on a sofa,
01:18as opposed to stand-up comedy, where they...
01:20Well, where they stand up.
01:22What do you see?
01:24So, over the next three weeks, we'll be three weeks...
01:28Sorry, I've only got a babysitter till ten.
01:30Over the next three weeks, we'll be looking at the situations that put the sit into comedy.
01:36Play it nice and cool, son.
01:38Nice and cool, you know what I mean.
01:40Sitcoms, by the very nature, being a situation that goes from week to week,
01:45must be...
01:47Must in some way be kind of inclusive.
01:49This ain't Lawrence of Arabia.
01:50It's got to be somewhere small, where people are.
01:52A fire station, a police station, a family with a couch.
01:56That was at my raincoat!
01:58I don't know if anybody knows why any sitcom would be popular.
02:03You know, it is a mystery.
02:04If people knew that, well, then, every sitcom would be popular and brilliant.
02:07I love you so much as Sniggers.
02:13I'm going straight back indoors.
02:15It's not stand-up, it's not sketches.
02:17It's a situation which is comedic, I suppose.
02:21So, this, Basil.
02:22This, Smackdown, him.
02:24It's really hard to do.
02:26That kind of timing, that kind of patience,
02:29considering the situation you're in, you know,
02:31six cameras pointing at you and 300 people dying to laugh.
02:33You see, the more opportunities for jokes there are,
02:40the more jokes you will get.
02:42Stupid boy.
02:44It's life only, you know, 25, 30 minutes long,
02:47but with all the boring bits cut out.
02:49Hello!
02:50The most familiar theme in sitcom is family.
02:53Sitcoms have looked at every aspect of family life
02:57and have understood the one abiding truth about marriage,
03:01which is wives, top, husbands, pants.
03:04I mean, what are families?
03:06They're two ill-suited people who, for some insane reason,
03:09chose to live together
03:10and then decided to bring into the world
03:13some other smaller people
03:14with whom they have absolutely nothing in common.
03:16Perfect territory for comedy.
03:18All right!
03:19Domestic sitcoms are what we grew up on
03:22and some of us grew up in them.
03:24Nicholas Lindhurst, for one.
03:26This week, we'll be looking at these sitcom families.
03:31Just put the camera in the room with a family
03:34and listen to them talk and that's it.
03:37Drop your my arm!
03:38The British obsession with kind of family.
03:43It's awesome.
03:45It can, you know, either make you or break you
03:47or suffocate you or kind of lift you up.
03:49Who's going to see the Queen on Christmas Day, then?
03:53Fathers and children and...
03:55Oh, God, what they do to each other.
03:59You dirty old man!
04:02They love each other, they hate each other,
04:05they can't leave each other.
04:06Oh, my God, there's something horrible on the stand!
04:07Don't grunt when you polish, Richard.
04:10There are those who take charge
04:12and those who like to be tech-charged of.
04:17Get out of me!
04:19Will you shut up a pair of ya?
04:22That's family's for you, yeah.
04:27As with most television formats, sitcom began on radio.
04:31Did it? Did it?
04:33You see, I didn't know that.
04:34I'm learning so much.
04:35No-one has actually been able to pinpoint the first sitcom.
04:40Not as if you haven't had enough time research.
04:43Though an early contender was almost certainly a show called
04:46The Smith Family, which aired on American radio in 1925.
04:50Family, you see.
04:52Smith family.
04:53The origins of television sitcom are equally murky,
04:56but there was one 1950s show which stood head and shoulders above the rest.
05:03It featured...
05:04Well, if I was to do this...
05:12Right.
05:14Who would it be?
05:15Come on.
05:16No, not Frankie Howard.
05:20Lucia Ball.
05:22Now that you've brought the subject up,
05:24let me tell you something.
05:25Wait a minute.
05:26Wait a minute.
05:26Is this going to be the one about how I'm a wife and mother
05:29and my place is in the home?
05:30No.
05:31Is it about one member of the family and show business being enough?
05:34No.
05:35Oh, well, don't tell me you're going to use that ridiculous one
05:38about my not having any talent.
05:41I Love Lucy changed everything.
05:43All comedy programs before it were broadcast live from New York.
05:47I Love Lucy was shot on film in L.A. in front of a studio audience.
05:51Married, on screen and off,
05:53Lucia Ball and Desi Arnaz were the original sitcom couple.
05:57Can I let go now?
05:58Yeah, that's all right.
06:00Uh-huh.
06:00Lucy and Desi made such a convincing team
06:05that despite divorcing in real life,
06:07the audience never knew the difference.
06:09Though, when the title changed to I Hate Lucy,
06:12that was a bit of a clue.
06:13Stick out your tongue.
06:21I Love Lucy gave the British audience a taste of the American sitcom.
06:26Finding our own golden formula was not so easy.
06:29The class system got in the way, you see.
06:31We thought a working-class sitcom would alienate the middle class,
06:34and a middle-class sitcom would...
06:36Well, surely the working classes wouldn't understand the wrong words, would they?
06:40So we went with Life with the Lions,
06:42about an American classless family who just happened to live in England.
06:46Where are the kids?
06:47Oh, they'll be here in a minute.
06:48I don't see why they can't be on time for their meals.
06:50Oh, Daddy, I saw the most beautiful dress
06:52in Monty's department store yesterday.
06:54May I have it?
06:55No.
06:56But it's a dream.
06:57The new dream I bought it for you.
06:58Other early radio series, such as The Glums,
07:02tried to put a British family on the sitcom map,
07:05but the first TV success came from another radio show.
07:12Hancock's Half Hour.
07:13This first home-grown hit featured not a family,
07:16but a pompous loner.
07:18Still, it did have a relationship at its heart.
07:21I would tell you about that time in Benghazi.
07:23Hundreds of times.
07:24When Smudger got the chicken out the cookhouse.
07:27Yes, I know.
07:28And he stuck it up his blouse and ran away.
07:30Yes, I know all about it.
07:31And the officer shouted out,
07:33Who's that man who's running away with a chicken and stuffed up his blouse?
07:37That's the one, yes, you told me.
07:38And old Smudger yelled out Hancock.
07:40Oh, I'll never forget that laugh.
07:43You were called Marshall for that, weren't you?
07:45Yeah.
07:47He was a card.
07:49He was always doing things like that.
07:51You couldn't help liking him.
07:54Must have done about two years for him, on and off.
07:56And could he get the women?
07:59Could he get the women?
08:00He was the only bloke who came back from Dunkirk with two women.
08:03Two of them?
08:03And it was too far for Wanderow, wasn't it?
08:07Hancock was marvellous.
08:08And I think everyone like every one of us kind of people,
08:12we love Tommy Cooper and Hancock.
08:14And everyone always doing, you know,
08:15always doing impressions of Hancock.
08:16Don't talk to me like that.
08:17What a liberty, all that stuff.
08:18Oh, dear, oh, dear.
08:19And all that stuff.
08:21And we all do it all the time
08:22because they are kind of our gods in the comedy world.
08:25And by no means can we ever top them.
08:29You're never going to top Hancock and Cooper.
08:31And they became, you know, all of genuine people like myself.
08:34Interesting comedy, good at comedy.
08:35But they were the bosses.
08:37They were the kings.
08:38What's my girl like, Steve?
08:40Oh, blimey, I told you.
08:41Well, go on, tell me again.
08:42You know, I'd like to hear it.
08:43Go on.
08:44Well, she's about five foot three or four.
08:47Beautiful auburn hair cascading down to her alabaster shoulders.
08:51Her lips are deepest red.
08:56Soft, moist, clinging.
09:00And her figure.
09:01Ooh, that figure.
09:06And her skin.
09:09It's like the texture of a peach,
09:11smoother than the softest velvet.
09:13What's her name?
09:19Gladys.
09:22Hancock was a family programme.
09:25Sid James and Hancock were husband and wife, virtually.
09:29In fact, when Tony broke up,
09:31I got into the show,
09:33it was when it was live,
09:34so these episodes don't exist anymore, sadly.
09:39But I remember going for an audition,
09:41and Sid James, who I knew, came out and said,
09:43I'll mark your card.
09:44He said, go and do your funny foreigner, you'll get the job.
09:47So I went and did my funny foreigner and got the job.
09:49And, in fact, my career was based on the fact
09:52that Tony Hancock forgot his lines on live television.
09:56And I...
09:57I remember it was a feed line for my only joke.
10:00And I said,
10:01Master Hancock, a word in your ear.
10:03He said, what?
10:04I said, a word in your ear.
10:06And I went, oh, no, no, no.
10:07Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
10:08Thank you very much, right?
10:09Right.
10:10He went on, did a splendid show.
10:11And after, he said,
10:12I'm never doing a show without you.
10:13You're in.
10:14You're in.
10:14And I did 13 on the trot.
10:16And everything I did subsequently really came from these appearances
10:21as these rather weird little characters in Hancock.
10:25H.
10:26Here we are.
10:27Sir Hilary Hattersley of Huntingdon.
10:29Henry, Duke of Hanby.
10:31Thomas, 5th Earl of Heston.
10:33That's where I'd go.
10:34In between those two.
10:36Hancock, 1st Duke of Cheem.
10:39What a lovely sound that has.
10:42The Duke of Cheem.
10:44Think of all the pubs I could have named after me.
10:46You can just see it.
10:47My old portrait up there in a high wind.
10:49Swinging backwards and forwards with the best of them.
10:52Who shall I let have it?
10:53A big brewery or a free house?
10:56Come on, boys.
10:57What about a pint down the old Duke of Cheem tonight?
10:59Ha, ha, ha.
11:00There's immortality for you.
11:02Hancock was, I mean, a gullible character.
11:04He had to be gullible because, you know,
11:05how could an intellect as great as his,
11:07which he thought was as great as his,
11:09could ever put a foot wrong?
11:11But he was always wrong.
11:13And he always, always, always failed.
11:16Even when he tried to emigrate,
11:17they wouldn't take him.
11:19They wouldn't, most countries wouldn't take him
11:20because of his CV.
11:23You say, I suppose I should end up in,
11:24I suppose I should end up in Kabul.
11:27Ha, ha, ha.
11:28Luckily, he wasn't going today.
11:32The writing was what made it so,
11:33it's always the writing.
11:35It's very, very rare that a performer can make,
11:38or a director can make something
11:39which isn't there on the page.
11:41And what Alan and Ray wrote
11:42was this extraordinary vanity of this man,
11:45this ordinary clay feet he had,
11:47the overweening vanity,
11:49which was funny when you exploded.
11:52He just, he was the king of his Cheem.
11:56And Alan and Ray
11:58chose the foibles to write about.
12:00That's where comedy comes from.
12:02And it's the weakness foibles of people.
12:08The writers of Hancock,
12:10Ray Galton and Alan Simpson,
12:12met in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
12:14So, in fact,
12:15we have something to thank TB for.
12:18Thank you, TB.
12:19Oh.
12:20For their next sitcom,
12:21Galton and Simpson decided to write about
12:23two men who co-owned A Rag and Boneyard.
12:26Then one of them had the idea,
12:28actually, which one had the idea?
12:31You don't know.
12:32Absolutely hopeless.
12:33One of them had the idea
12:34of making them father and son.
12:36You see, that's very clever.
12:37The family thing added a whole new dimension.
12:40It also explained
12:41why Harold didn't walk out in episode one.
12:45Father-son relationships
12:46rarely come much more tortured than this.
12:49Harold Steptoe dreamed of a life away
12:51from his grubby widower father,
12:53while his dear old dad
12:54dreamed of never having to take a bath.
12:57They were the original odd couple.
13:01Oh, you dirty old man.
13:11What are you doing?
13:13I'm having me strass,
13:14I'm having me dinner.
13:15What are you doing with them onions?
13:18Oh, they're fed in the water.
13:20Well, you don't put them back in the jar, then.
13:22You don't think I'm going to leave them in the water, do you?
13:24I'm washing a bath full of pickled onions, can I?
13:26You should be eating your dinner in the bath.
13:29The bath is for washing in.
13:31You bath in the bath
13:32and you eat your dinner at the dinner table.
13:34You're getting worse, you are.
13:35Come on, give them a zero.
13:37Come on.
13:40Oop, there's another one here.
13:41Donald!
13:42It explores brilliantly
13:45the relationship between two unfulfilled men
13:51who love each other enormously
13:53but who resent each other deeply.
13:56I mean, Harold is just the most fabulous man
13:58because he wants to achieve so much
14:01and his father will not let him or encourage him.
14:04I'll go and open the gate, shall I?
14:22Oop!
14:23Oop, you rotten, stinking colour!
14:28Oop!
14:29Oop!
14:34I've got to go!
14:36I've got to get away!
14:40Oop!
14:43Oop!
14:43In my experience, Step 2 and Son
14:45is the most poignant sitcom of all.
14:49Just as Chaplin, much derided now
14:51but perfect within his day and style,
14:53was able to use genuine, heart-wrenching reality,
14:57the reality of hunger, the reality of loneliness,
15:00of starvation, to make comedy.
15:03Imagine that.
15:04I mean, the most successful comedy of the 20s,
15:06The Kid, was about a starving homeless child.
15:11Well, Step 2 and Son was the same
15:12in that it was able to use genuinely appalling
15:15human anguish.
15:19You know, Harold's terrible frustrations,
15:23his dreams of simply being respected by women,
15:26of having the right language,
15:28holding his teacup in the right hand,
15:30debunked constantly by this powerful father.
15:33I can't watch this all night.
15:36ITV.
15:38Blood of the Ripper.
15:41That's more like it.
15:42I'm trying to watch television.
15:56That is not BBC 2.
15:57I know it's not.
15:58Look, I specifically wanted to see
16:01Margaret Fontana and Rudolf Nurea.
16:03I'm not watching that rubbish.
16:05Now listen, we agreed that Mondays,
16:08Wednesdays and Fridays should be my night,
16:11whilst Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
16:14would be your choice of programme.
16:16We would each have an alternative Sunday.
16:19That's right.
16:20Today is Wednesday.
16:22I won't BBC 2.
16:24I don't.
16:26You'll be very unfair about this, you know.
16:28When we had an agreement, we shook hands.
16:31I've got the law of contract on my side.
16:35I have the knobs on my side.
16:39If the steptoes fought tooth and nail,
16:42then the Garnets took the domestic dispute to new levels.
16:46Writer Johnny Spate came up with a whole family
16:48who argued...
16:49And don't shut up a pair of ya!
16:51..and argued...
16:52Bloody women!
16:54Oh, and argued.
16:55The fruit of a comedy playhouse pilot in 1965,
16:59Till Death Us Do Part ran for 27 years
17:02in various incarnations.
17:04In fact, Death did part them in 1986,
17:07but the show just went on running.
17:10This was the programme
17:10that brought the dysfunctional family to sitcom.
17:14We was decent brought up, we was, me and your mum.
17:17I mean, I never...
17:18Well...
17:19LAUGHTER
17:20We never...
17:23LAUGHTER
17:24Well, I...
17:26I mean, I never attempted to touch your mother...
17:31LAUGHTER
17:32..until after we was married.
17:37Well after.
17:38LAUGHTER
17:39I don't think anybody ever wrote about a family
17:43quite such appalling...
17:45Er...
17:47It wasn't realism, of course,
17:48it was caricature of realism, but...
17:51I mean, there were lots of family shows,
17:53but they were nice.
17:55Very nice, you know.
17:56And I don't think anybody ever wrote
17:58with the kind of abrasive nature that Johnny Spade did.
18:00Listen, you traitorous scarfed git!
18:04LAUGHTER
18:04I've got a bit of respect for Her Majesty, I have.
18:07Just have her Christmas dinner late
18:09because of doing that speech.
18:10Oh...
18:10She has to go up to the BBC.
18:12Well, they keep it warm for her, then.
18:14Look, she has...
18:15LAUGHTER
18:16She has to go up to the BBC...
18:18No, they put it in the oven for her.
18:20Look, she has to go up to the studio.
18:22No, he'd see to that.
18:24Look, she has to go up to...
18:25He made sure it was pepped up for her.
18:27Shut up, you silly moo!
18:30Alf's views on property, on marriage,
18:32were Victorian, I suppose.
18:35And he...
18:36I mean, there's a line in The Thoughts of Chairman Alf
18:39when I say, look, a man gets married, right?
18:41He employs a wife.
18:44And that gets a scream from the...
18:46Yeah, he...
18:47But he don't get the same conditions of labour
18:49as the ordinary employer of industry gets.
18:51I mean, the ordinary employer,
18:52if he employs someone who can't do the job,
18:54he can sack her.
18:55But a man employs a wife,
18:57if she don't turn out like that,
18:58he can't bloody sack her.
19:00That's in your Bible, your Garden of Eden.
19:02All God done there, see,
19:03was made man, Adam, see?
19:06Then he realised, in his infinite wisdom,
19:08that man couldn't be expected
19:10to run the Garden of Eden all on his own.
19:11LAUGHTER
19:12So he, God days, he took a rib
19:16and he made Eve
19:17so she could clean for him and wash up.
19:22LAUGHTER
19:22How did Els get her own back?
19:24Well, easily.
19:27Easily.
19:28Because when somebody is so daft
19:30and puts himself out on a limb,
19:32as Alf did,
19:33it was very easy to find the...
19:36the Mickey-take moments.
19:38Hey, where are you going?
19:39On the beach.
19:41I ain't had no breakfast, I ain't.
19:43Well, that's your fault, isn't it?
19:44You shouldn't sit up drinking all night,
19:46then perhaps you might feel like
19:48getting up in the morning.
19:49But I'm not well, am I?
19:50Well, I'm sorry, I don't care.
19:52No, well, I've been sick all night, haven't I?
19:54Well, I've got no sympathy.
19:56No, I know, you wouldn't care
19:57if I was dying, would you?
19:58Well, I wouldn't let it spoil my holiday.
20:01LAUGHTER
20:01She fought in a kind of guerrilla war.
20:06And without Alf...
20:08I mean, she'd sit there
20:09for two pages of Alf's tirades
20:11and at the end of it
20:12she'd look at him and say,
20:14pig,
20:14which used to bring the house down
20:16because the audience sympathised with her.
20:18I used to say,
20:19it's all right with you, Dandy.
20:21You sit there,
20:22I've got to learn two pages
20:23and you just have to say,
20:25pig,
20:25and bring the house down.
20:26I don't want to watch the other side,
20:28I want to watch this side.
20:29Pig.
20:30We did go out occasionally,
20:32there was a film of Alf at West Ham
20:34walking down the street
20:35but most of it was in that room.
20:37We did one whole Christmas show,
20:38I think we hardly moved from the table.
20:40I remember Dennis Maymorton,
20:42it's very static,
20:43very static,
20:43must get some movement
20:44and Johnny's saying,
20:46no,
20:47no,
20:47people sitting round the table
20:48having dinner,
20:49they don't move,
20:50they sit there
20:51and it was a wonderful show.
20:54All I'm saying is
20:55they could have put her
20:55a bit more nearer,
20:57somewhere a bit more convenient like.
20:58It don't matter where it was,
21:00how far,
21:01it'd still be inconvenient for you.
21:03Look.
21:04Yeah,
21:04I remember when I had Rita,
21:07it was six days before you come to see her.
21:12And I was only upstairs.
21:15Family is something that
21:17looms so large in everybody's life
21:20and it's a subject
21:22which is not only sitcoms,
21:23I mean,
21:24look at Shakespeare,
21:25families,
21:27fathers and children
21:28and oh God,
21:29what they do to each other.
21:30The Garnets
21:32were a match made in hell.
21:34In sitcom,
21:35they weren't alone.
21:36Who,
21:36in their right mind,
21:37would have married Frank Spencer?
21:39Not me.
21:40Some Mothers Do Have Them
21:41was unique
21:43and
21:43I think
21:45should be more celebrated
21:46than it is.
21:47Sort of stands alone a bit
21:48in that it,
21:48it,
21:49it was so physically led
21:51for British sitcom.
21:53It must have been so difficult
21:54to make those shows.
21:55Again,
21:58it conformed to certain rules.
22:00The wife was long-suffering.
22:02Although,
22:03had her funny lines.
22:04I think she was
22:05a very popular character
22:06in Michelle Dutrice,
22:07Betty.
22:09Cracking easy on the eye
22:10as well,
22:10I seem to remember
22:11from my youthful perspective.
22:14It's just like
22:14our courting days,
22:15isn't it?
22:18You used to bring
22:19your sandwiches then.
22:20Frank,
22:25wouldn't you like a son?
22:27Just think he'd grow up
22:29and be just like you.
22:36I think everybody wondered
22:37why,
22:38why she married him,
22:39why Betty married Frank.
22:40But again,
22:41there you see the good heart
22:42at the basis of,
22:44you know,
22:44we've got this,
22:46you know,
22:46could we call him
22:47intellectually challenged?
22:49I mean,
22:49certainly very socially
22:50challenged individual,
22:52Frank Spencer,
22:53who's got a very,
22:54very pretty,
22:55adoring wife.
22:56It was unnecessary
22:57if he'd had a wife
22:58who understood
22:58just how awful he was,
22:59or at least
23:00kind of understood
23:01it in the terms
23:03of loathing it
23:04as she ought to.
23:05It would have been
23:06very cruel.
23:07But he had
23:07this great family.
23:10Look,
23:11it's not too bad.
23:14There's still plenty
23:15of life there.
23:17You look all right
23:18when you've got
23:18all the lights on it.
23:20When we get
23:20all the lights on it,
23:21we won't be able
23:22to see it,
23:23will we?
23:24I mean,
23:24it's the same.
23:26Everything that you
23:27bring into this house,
23:29it's the same
23:30week after week.
23:31Everything you bring in
23:32is either torn,
23:33twisted,
23:33or topless.
23:34Remember what my mother
23:37always used to say
23:38when she got worried.
23:39Frank,
23:40I'm tired,
23:41I'm fed up,
23:41and I'm going to bed.
23:43No, no.
23:47Basically,
23:48I think it could have
23:49gone very, very wrong
23:50because he was,
23:51he was terrifyingly
23:54inadequate.
23:55And yet,
23:56we loved him,
23:58and he was utterly
23:58hilarious,
23:59and we wanted him
24:00to win out,
24:00and he did
24:01in his inadequate way.
24:04Sitcom husbands
24:07and wives
24:07certainly suffer
24:08to give us our laughs.
24:10Martin,
24:10in ever-decreasing circles,
24:12drove his wife Anne
24:13to destruction.
24:14Well,
24:14it's all about real life.
24:16I mean,
24:16good situation comedy
24:17is not always good,
24:19but it has to reflect
24:20real life,
24:21and therefore,
24:22especially the stuff
24:23I do is mainly suburban
24:24because I'm a suburban man
24:26myself.
24:26I'm a suburban actor,
24:27I live in a suburban road,
24:28and always have done.
24:29Waiting.
24:31Take your feet
24:31off the curb,
24:32please, Johnny.
24:33We're supposed
24:33to be in the road.
24:34Per se.
24:38Do you mind,
24:39Linda,
24:39please?
24:41We're supposed
24:42to be intelligent people,
24:43not the London
24:43School of Economics.
24:45My funny card
24:46that I play
24:47is that I'm very good
24:48at reacting
24:48off what other people say,
24:50or, in Martin's case,
24:51getting the wrong
24:52end of the stick,
24:53because whatever
24:53was said to Martin,
24:54it was against him.
24:55It must be against him.
24:56Persecution,
24:57complex,
24:58paranoia,
24:58paranoia,
25:00and that's what
25:00made him a very
25:01desperate little man,
25:02and made him
25:03very funny.
25:03Now, then.
25:05P-I-U-L.
25:07Oh!
25:11Oh, come on.
25:12Share the joke.
25:13It's just you're
25:14putting my name on it.
25:16I mean,
25:16I know who I am.
25:17Well, obviously,
25:18you know who you are.
25:19Well...
25:21Well, what?
25:23Well, if I know who I am,
25:24I don't need my folder
25:25to tell me.
25:26By that token,
25:27I suppose you wouldn't
25:28label rat poison.
25:29Oh, God.
25:32You wouldn't have
25:32Martin to supper.
25:34If you saw him in a pub,
25:35you'd make round
25:36for the other bar.
25:37You'd all leave
25:38if he wasn't looking.
25:39He wasn't the kind of man
25:39you'd want to spend
25:40a large evening with.
25:42But, bless his heart,
25:43he did try.
25:44He was desperate.
25:45You really are a good man,
25:46aren't you, Martin?
25:47Oh, not what you said
25:48last night when I tested
25:49the alarm clock
25:50when you were asleep.
25:50No, that's you.
25:51Being annoying, man.
25:53The great problem was
25:54how on earth
25:55would a beautiful girl,
25:56an actress like
25:57Fenelivey Wilton,
25:58stay with this
25:59irritating little man
26:00who wanted everything
26:01in order and everything purple.
26:03And all I could say
26:04was to the public
26:05that asked me,
26:06I said, you know,
26:06well, if she left Martin,
26:08he would be dead in three months
26:09because he couldn't be without her.
26:10There are many marriages
26:11like that.
26:12You're a wonderful woman, Anne.
26:14Oh, shucks.
26:17Do you know
26:18what I'm going to do now?
26:21No, Martin.
26:23I'm going to make us
26:24both a nice cup of cocoa.
26:30In sitcom,
26:31women can also be difficult
26:32to live with,
26:33so unlike real life.
26:34Take Hyacinth Bucket
26:35in keeping up appearances.
26:38The bouquet residence,
26:39the lady of the house speaking.
26:41Well, of course,
26:42Hyacinth was queen of her castle
26:43and where better
26:46to be queen of your castle
26:47than at home
26:49where you're a boss lady
26:50and totally in charge.
26:53Don't grunt
26:55when you polish, Richard.
26:57I think that, um,
27:00that kind of tension
27:01and semi-bullying
27:03keeps a lot of, uh,
27:05couples together.
27:06I don't like this level
27:08of intimacy, dear.
27:11But, uh,
27:12I don't think it's natural
27:13at our age.
27:14Would you please
27:17remove yourself
27:18from my person?
27:20I think Hyacinth was a pain
27:22in the neck.
27:23But she's a goer
27:25and if you look into it,
27:28she was the one person
27:30that all the family turned to
27:31when they were in crisis.
27:33What is it now, Rose?
27:36Rose, you will not commit suicide.
27:38I forbid it.
27:40What you remember
27:41about other situation comedies
27:43are the characters.
27:46You may forget
27:46particular episodes,
27:48but you remember the
27:49the power
27:50of
27:51the delineation
27:54of those characters.
27:55Now, what shall I wear
27:56to answer the telephone?
27:59Hyacinth Bucket
28:00was just one of many.
28:02Formidable women
28:02and men
28:03rule the roost
28:04in sitcom.
28:05Where are you going?
28:07I'm going
28:07towards the door.
28:09Why?
28:10Because it's the only way
28:11through the wall.
28:13All granted.
28:15I didn't ask permission.
28:16Please,
28:17you always seek to hurt.
28:19It's not nice.
28:20Is there anyone in this house
28:21I can get a bit of peace
28:22and quiet?
28:22Yes, sir.
28:23At the back lawn.
28:24I'll thump you.
28:25All right, all right.
28:26We can do without
28:27the quartet.
28:30Cover your mouth, Billy.
28:31It's like having lunch
28:32with a manhole.
28:35On the other side
28:35of the fence
28:36are the couples
28:36for whom divorce
28:37is a dirty word.
28:39These are Mr and Mrs Nice,
28:41the couples who call
28:41each other darling.
28:43Sorry, darling.
28:44Is she darling?
28:44Oh, darling.
28:46Darling.
28:47Darling.
28:47I don't seem to be able
28:48to get low enough
28:49or back enough.
28:51I want to convey
28:52the majesty and strength
28:54I want to convey
28:54to you.
28:54I want to convey
28:55to you.
28:55I want to convey
28:56to you.
28:56I want to convey
28:57to you.
28:57I want to convey
28:58to you.
28:58I want to convey
28:59to you.
28:59Terry, are you all right?
29:03It was very popular,
29:05but it became,
29:07and still occasionally,
29:09is mentioned
29:11by various critics
29:13of, oh, we don't want
29:13to go back
29:14to the days of Terry
29:14in June, you know.
29:16But when you look
29:17at them, sometimes
29:18they bring them
29:19out on UK gold.
29:21And some of the
29:22situations were
29:23very funny,
29:24and Terry was
29:25a funny man.
29:26Now, you can't make
29:27it bark a little
29:28less loudly, can you?
29:29The recording level
29:30is a little high.
29:31Well, leave back
29:32a bit, then.
29:34Good idea.
29:36Right.
29:36Inca.
29:37Spit!
29:37Spit!
29:38Oh!
29:39Still too high.
29:40Spit!
29:41Oh!
29:42A bit more.
29:43Spit!
29:43I'm getting there.
29:45Yes.
29:46Oh!
29:47Oh!
29:48Yes.
29:49Yes, that's spot on.
29:51I mean, everything
29:52always went wrong
29:53for him.
29:54And although you
29:56knew it was going
29:57to go wrong,
29:57I think there has
30:00to be that element
30:01again in every sitcom
30:03that you, the audience
30:06can be a little bit
30:07ahead, anticipating
30:08disaster.
30:11Oh!
30:12Oh!
30:12Oh!
30:13I think the writers
30:19usually made him
30:23attempt something
30:25that he was quite
30:26incapable of doing
30:27but would never
30:28admit it.
30:32It's rubbish, isn't it?
30:34It wasn't quite to do
30:35with being accident prone.
30:37It was to do with
30:39being overconfident,
30:41perhaps.
30:43Nearly there,
30:44just a bit more
30:45throttle.
30:46Thinking that
30:47he could do anything.
30:48But there was a certain
30:56vulnerability about him
30:58again, like a little boy.
31:01I think probably that's...
31:02June was more like his
31:03mother than his wife.
31:05You know, trying to
31:06keep him under control.
31:09Hey, Terry, isn't that my
31:11calendar?
31:12Well, it was your
31:13calendar.
31:13Now it's the only
31:14radar scanner in the
31:15world that strains
31:16greens at speed.
31:17There's just one thing, darling.
31:24Oh, what, what?
31:25Well, I hardly like to
31:26mention it, really.
31:27Oh, what, what?
31:28How are you going to get it
31:29out of the kitchen?
31:30Have you room on your
31:37shoulder for a sobbing
31:38hysterical wreck?
31:40Terry and June did,
31:43really, with
31:43Happy Ever After,
31:44we did over a hundred
31:46episodes.
31:48And certainly,
31:49people did think that
31:51Terry and I were
31:52actually married.
31:54It's amazing how
31:55television does that to
31:57people.
31:57And I was out with my
32:03own husband one time in
32:05a restaurant, and a
32:07passerby said,
32:09hello, where's your
32:10husband?
32:12I said, right here.
32:13No, not that one, the
32:14real one.
32:16You know, you give up,
32:17really.
32:19Married Bliss wasn't the
32:21only recipe for sitcom
32:22success.
32:23Only Fools and Horses
32:24proved that actually two
32:26brothers could give us a
32:27few laughs.
32:30Right, just want to climb
32:32on a metaphorical soapbox
32:33for one second here.
32:35Did you know that 24
32:36million people, that's the
32:38highest audience ever for a
32:40sitcom, watched the
32:41episode of Only Fools and
32:42Horses when Del and Rodney
32:44finally became millionaires?
32:46But when the show began,
32:48it starred two people who
32:49weren't very famous.
32:51And the critics,
32:52the critics, sorry,
32:54that's the critics, hated it.
32:56And you lot, you didn't
32:58bother to watch it, you
32:59plunkers.
33:00And consequently, it was
33:01nearly axed after the
33:02second series.
33:03So all I'm saying is, give
33:05sitcoms a chance.
33:07Give them a second chance.
33:08A third chance, even.
33:10You never know.
33:11They might be the next
33:12Fools and Horses.
33:14They have time to grow.
33:16They might not, of course.
33:17They might be letting them
33:18make cake.
33:20There we go.
33:20No, no, no, no.
33:21Brush, brush, brush, brush.
33:23Oh, no.
33:27Mmm, sorry about that.
33:30Something else.
33:31Did you know the writer of
33:32Only Fools and Horses,
33:33John Sullivan, started life
33:35as a scene shifter on
33:36Dad's Army and Porridge?
33:38I mean, just think, if
33:40Only Fools and Horses had
33:41been axed, he'd be the
33:42bloke moving my sofa right
33:44now.
33:45Scene shifter.
33:47Scene shifter.
33:49That's actually quite hard
33:49to say.
33:50I'm telling you, a less
33:51experienced broadcaster
33:53would definitely have said
33:54short on success to start
33:56with, Only Fools grew to be
33:58Britain's favourite sitcom.
33:59The three-wheeler-dealing
34:00trotters have made us laugh
34:02for over 20 years.
34:03You know what I mean?
34:07One more turn, Dill.
34:09All right.
34:11Now brace yourself,
34:12Rodney.
34:13Brace yourself.
34:17I think what we love about
34:23Only Fools and Horses is
34:24the desperation of it.
34:27You know, people trying to
34:29get something for nothing
34:30and trying to support, you
34:33know, I think the relationship
34:34between Del and Rodney, that
34:36kind of infrastructure, the
34:38support system, because
34:39there was no mother figure,
34:41and I don't think there was
34:42any father figure either.
34:43You know, that brother
34:44looking after his younger
34:45brother is really, it's
34:48fabulous.
34:49I remember what Mum said
34:50on her deathbed.
34:52She said to me,
34:54Del, she said,
34:56please give little Rodney
34:57all the encouragement
34:59that you can.
35:01Never, Del.
35:03Never hold him back.
35:05She didn't have to say a lot
35:09on her deathbed.
35:13Whatever the subject is,
35:16Mum had something to say
35:17about it on her deathbed.
35:19She must have spent her
35:20final few hours in this
35:21mortal realm doing nothing
35:22but rabbiting.
35:24You are walking a
35:25bleeding tightrope here,
35:27Rodney.
35:27Hang on.
35:28Right, you remember last
35:29week we was having a row
35:30about whose turn it was
35:31to go down a chipper, yeah?
35:32And you climb that Mum
35:34said on her deathbed.
35:37Send Rodney for a fish.
35:42Sullivan's a great writer,
35:43John Sullivan who writes it.
35:44David Jason and
35:45Nicholas Lindhurst are,
35:47you know,
35:47great double act.
35:48And the dynamic between the two
35:49and the fact that they're
35:50brothers is funny.
35:51You know,
35:51just the way they look
35:52is funny.
35:53And then the whole,
35:54the whole,
35:55the situation they're getting
35:56into.
35:56And again,
35:57it's a trap situation,
35:58isn't it?
35:58Trying to get out of the
35:59flats,
35:59trying to get out of this
36:00lifestyle.
36:00But being really true
36:02to themselves.
36:03Again,
36:03characters that we can
36:04all associate with.
36:05You know,
36:05the grumbling crap student
36:08and the wide boy,
36:09you know,
36:09who's always got
36:10something going on.
36:11But it's completely
36:11and utterly harmless.
36:12What a nice guy.
36:13I can let you have this
36:14for what I paid
36:1540 knickers.
36:1640, huh?
36:17Hmm.
36:17Nice looking model.
36:18Yeah,
36:19well,
36:19I mean,
36:19you know,
36:19it is.
36:20It's top of the range.
36:23Aerial's a bit urgent,
36:24isn't it?
36:24Ah,
36:25yeah,
36:25well,
36:26that's the idea.
36:27It's called
36:27instant aerial.
36:28It's a feature of
36:29this particular model,
36:30you see.
36:31So I'll tell you what,
36:31I'll show you how it works.
36:32I'll give you a little
36:33demonstration here.
36:35First of all,
36:35we press there,
36:36and then you start.
36:37where Del is a streetwise chancer,
36:48Rodney is a worrier
36:49with two GCs.
36:51Despite his best efforts,
36:52he's always...
36:53you pelonker.
36:56So have we got permission,
36:57have we?
36:58Well,
36:59we will have.
37:00We see the gamekeeper
37:01when we get down there
37:02and we pay him 25 quid.
37:04What,
37:04and he gives us
37:05a fishing permit?
37:06No,
37:06he shows us
37:07old in a fence.
37:09I knew it.
37:10It's called business.
37:11It's called stealing.
37:13No,
37:13it ain't,
37:13Rodney.
37:14Listen to your granddad.
37:15It's called poaching.
37:16You look at Jason and Lindus
37:21and it seems on the plate
37:22people think,
37:23yeah,
37:23I could do that
37:24because,
37:24and that's the beauty of it
37:26because you just can't.
37:27It's really hard to do.
37:28That kind of timing,
37:29that kind of patience,
37:30considering the situation
37:32you're in,
37:32you know,
37:33six cameras pointing at you
37:34and 300 people dying to laugh.
37:36It's a lot of pressure
37:36and then to be able
37:37to pull it off like that
37:38is great.
37:39Survived all my life
37:40with a smile and a prayer.
37:41I'm Del Boy,
37:41ain't I?
37:42Good old Del Boy.
37:43He's got more bounce
37:43than Zebedee.
37:46Heya pal,
37:47what you drinking?
37:47Go on.
37:48Hello darling,
37:48you have one for luck.
37:49That's me,
37:49that's Del Boy,
37:50ain't it?
37:51Nothing ever upsets Del Boy.
37:54I've always played
37:55the tough guy.
37:56I didn't want to,
37:57but I had to.
37:59And I've played it
38:00for so long now,
38:01I don't know how to be
38:03anything else.
38:07I don't even know
38:08how to...
38:10Oh,
38:12it don't matter.
38:14Bloody families,
38:15I'll finish with them.
38:17What do they do to you,
38:18eh?
38:20Hold you back?
38:21Drag you down?
38:25And then they
38:26break your bloody heart.
38:32Over the years,
38:33the show has expanded.
38:34It now fills an hour
38:36instead of the usual
38:37sitcom 30 minutes.
38:38The Trotter brothers
38:39have also finally found love.
38:41The Trotter brothers
38:42and the Trotter brothers
38:42are the only
38:43people.
38:47They done it.
38:50They bloody done it.
38:53Congratulations, son.
38:55What is it, Del?
38:56It's a little baby girl.
39:00Is it a boy or a girl?
39:01They'd look after us.
39:06I think that's what you
39:07feel about them.
39:08You think, Del,
39:08if you were really in
39:10trouble,
39:11he'd look after you
39:12or he'd sell your car for you
39:15without telling you.
39:16Sisters can be just as
39:27strong a force in sitcom.
39:28Thrust together when
39:29their husbands are banged up,
39:31Sharon and Tracy in
39:32Birds of a Feather
39:33couldn't have been
39:33more different.
39:34Tracy's trusting,
39:36naive and
39:36upwardly mobile.
39:38Sharon's down to earth
39:39and worldly wise.
39:41Yes, yes,
39:42I suppose tis a hona.
39:46Oh, no, no, no, no,
39:48no, of course,
39:48if he really wants to go.
39:51And a Merry Christmas
39:52to you too.
39:54Hona.
39:56Snobby neighbour
39:57Dorian completed the trio,
39:59always barging in
40:00through the back door.
40:01Why didn't they lock it?
40:03Have I called it a bad time?
40:04Yes.
40:06Oh, good.
40:06I love to see
40:07working-class women bitter.
40:09It's so Albert Square.
40:10Pauline Quirk
40:11and Linda Robson
40:12had been friends
40:13since primary school
40:14and it showed.
40:15Listen, Trace,
40:16nothing ventured,
40:17nothing gained.
40:19No matter what happens,
40:21we'll always have
40:22each other, eh?
40:24I suppose so.
40:26Because of the cuddle.
40:29Sitcom can also
40:30turn family life
40:31on its head,
40:32can't it?
40:33For instance,
40:34a show I've
40:35barely heard of
40:36called
40:36Absolutely Fabulous
40:38brought together
40:39a wayward mother
40:40and a sensible daughter.
40:42Actually,
40:43I've heard
40:44it started life
40:44as a rather
40:45marvellous sketch
40:46featuring some
40:48fat girl
40:49and a better
40:50even fatter girl.
40:51And then the
40:52even fatter girl
40:53was very, very busy
40:54getting clever
40:54and successful,
40:55so the fat girl
40:56stole the sketch
40:58because she had
40:58no other ideas
40:59in her head
41:00and turned it
41:01into a sitcom.
41:02And lucky for her,
41:04it was a big,
41:04big hit.
41:05But hang on a minute,
41:07let's examine
41:07why it was a hit.
41:10It was very,
41:10very clever casting,
41:12wasn't it?
41:14You've got
41:14Julia Sawala,
41:16wow,
41:17John and Lumley,
41:17double wow.
41:19There was another
41:19J,
41:20June Whitfield
41:22was in it
41:23and the other J
41:24was Jane Horrocks,
41:25of course.
41:26So,
41:27there were
41:27four clever J's
41:29and one lucky
41:30bitch.
41:33Right on time.
41:36Right on time.
41:39Sweetie,
41:40right on time.
41:42I saw the
41:43original sketch
41:44and I always
41:44remember Jenny
41:45singing,
41:46right on time,
41:47trying to be
41:47the groovy
41:48mother and Dawn
41:48played the
41:49square daughter
41:50and I thought,
41:51yeah,
41:51that's a great
41:52observation.
41:53It's one we've
41:53all sort of been
41:53aware of,
41:54you know.
41:55Great comedy
41:56often merely
41:56tells you what
41:57you already know
41:58but you haven't
41:58articulated.
42:00And Jenny and Dawn
42:01pointed out
42:01this funny thing
42:03of parents,
42:0460s and 70s
42:05parents,
42:06who basically
42:06are trying to
42:07be hipper than
42:08their kids
42:09who have been
42:09brought up
42:10then under
42:10Thatcher
42:11and were just
42:11desperate not to
42:12be one of the
42:13three million
42:13unemployed.
42:14I mean,
42:14things have sort
42:15of changed again
42:15but there was
42:16definitely a period
42:17where every kid
42:18was just worrying
42:19about will I get
42:19a job in Topshop
42:20and every parent
42:22was saying Topshop
42:23should be closed,
42:23it's international
42:24capitalism.
42:24Not every parent
42:25but, you know,
42:26there was an element
42:27of that,
42:27the 60s
42:28and 80s
42:28generation gap.
42:31It was a great
42:32sketch.
42:32If she'd said to me
42:33that day
42:34I'm going to make
42:34that into one
42:35of the biggest
42:35sitcom hits
42:36of all time
42:36I'd have thought
42:37she was mad
42:37but, you know,
42:38that's what
42:39originality's about.
42:40You've got to be
42:40original.
42:43I think we should
42:44get a help,
42:45don't you?
42:47Veronica says
42:47we should get
42:48a Filipino
42:48because they work
42:49like buggers
42:50and cosplay
42:50all.
42:51I don't know.
42:53Oh, Mum.
42:54Look at me
42:56with your father's
42:56eyes.
42:57It is possible
42:59to be a socialist
43:00and have staff,
43:01you know,
43:02darling.
43:04I think
43:05women in comedy
43:07changed
43:09when
43:09women started
43:11writing their
43:12own material
43:12because
43:14before then
43:16the material
43:17was, you know,
43:17it was all
43:18written by
43:18men
43:19and the women
43:20were stereotypes
43:22really.
43:22They were the
43:23little woman
43:23at home
43:24or they were
43:24the, you
43:25know,
43:26big beefy,
43:27I don't know,
43:28teacher or,
43:29you know,
43:31games mistress
43:31or jolly hockey
43:32and all that
43:33stuff.
43:34But as soon
43:36as people
43:37like Victoria
43:39Wood and,
43:40you know,
43:41all the girls
43:42who write
43:42their own
43:42stuff,
43:43Jennifer and
43:44Dawn,
43:45arrived,
43:46that all
43:47changed because
43:48they,
43:48they wrote,
43:51you know,
43:52what they saw
43:53as,
43:53as women.
43:55Morning, dear.
43:56Morning,
43:57surprise,
43:57surprise,
43:58you're here.
43:58Can you make
43:58Mama a cup
43:59of coffee,
43:59darling,
43:59please?
44:00Oh,
44:00and how
44:01shall we do
44:01that,
44:02dear?
44:02Rub two
44:02sticks together
44:03and draw
44:03some water
44:04from the
44:04well?
44:07Don't think
44:08you're so
44:08clever.
44:10I've started
44:11repressed
44:11false memory
44:12therapy.
44:13I'll get
44:13something on
44:13you yet.
44:15Jennifer
44:16apparently
44:16had always
44:17said she
44:18wanted me
44:18to play
44:19her mother
44:19and,
44:21um,
44:22mind you,
44:24I've met
44:25Jennifer's
44:25mother and
44:26she's
44:26absolutely
44:26delightful
44:27and nothing
44:28like mother
44:29in a fab.
44:31Purple
44:31face,
44:33all in my
44:33brain.
44:34Mother
44:34started as
44:35a perfectly
44:35ordinary
44:36sort of
44:37suburban
44:38housewife
44:39and I
44:40always thought
44:41that Edina
44:42was christened
44:44Edwina,
44:45but she
44:45didn't like
44:46it,
44:46so she
44:46changed
44:47it to
44:47Edina.
44:49You,
44:50remember,
44:50cancel my
44:51aromatherapy,
44:51my psychotherapy,
44:52my reflexology,
44:53my osteopath,
44:54my homeopath,
44:54my naturopath,
44:55my crystal
44:55reeve,
44:55my shiatsu,
44:56my organic
44:56hairdresser
44:56and see if I
44:57can be
44:58rebirthed
44:58next Thursday
44:58afternoon.
45:00Consider it
45:00done.
45:02I think
45:02one of the
45:03great things
45:04about
45:04ABFAB
45:06is
45:06it's
45:07technicolor
45:08in every
45:09sense.
45:09It's
45:09everything
45:10is
45:11over the
45:12top.
45:13Sweetie
45:14darling,
45:14is my
45:15missy,
45:15yes,
45:15sweetie,
45:16my...
45:16You know,
45:18the drinking,
45:19the sort of
45:20drug taking,
45:21it's so
45:22ludicrous and
45:23the two
45:24women are
45:24really so
45:25awful
45:26that
45:27one hopes
45:28it would
45:29certainly act
45:30as a warning
45:31to any
45:33girl who
45:33thinks she
45:34wants to be
45:35like either
45:35of them.
45:36Some BBC
45:37executives said
45:38nobody wants
45:39to see drunk
45:39women.
45:40Well,
45:40he couldn't
45:41be more
45:41wrong than
45:42that,
45:42could he?
45:42Because we
45:43loved seeing
45:44those two
45:44drunk women
45:45more than
45:45anything during
45:46the early
45:4790s sitcom,
45:47I imagine.
45:51But I'm
45:52sure she
45:52didn't set
45:53out to
45:54show the
45:55world that
45:55there's a
45:55lot of
45:56drug taking
45:56and,
45:56you know,
45:57she just
45:57wrote about
45:58a world
45:59that was
45:59very amusing
46:00to her,
46:00which is
46:01that whole,
46:01you know,
46:02media,
46:02PR world
46:03of people
46:04who've
46:05frankly seen
46:06her,
46:06have no
46:06visible means
46:07of support
46:08but soon
46:08to spend
46:08hundreds of
46:09thousands of
46:09pounds a
46:10year.
46:10This isn't
46:11a rave,
46:12it's happening.
46:14I thought
46:14she'd take
46:15it, Pat.
46:16I promised
46:17Safi I
46:17wouldn't,
46:17but she'll
46:18never find
46:19out.
46:20She didn't
46:20scare me.
46:24Mum,
46:26keep the
46:28noise down.
46:30Safi,
46:31Eddie's
46:31daughter,
46:32is permanently
46:33trying to
46:36look after
46:37her mother.
46:38She really
46:39loves her
46:39mother,
46:40but she
46:40can't cope
46:41with her.
46:42Sweetheart.
46:44Friends?
46:45No.
46:47Mother and
46:47daughter.
46:49I think
46:49Safi is
46:50very fond of
46:51grandmother,
46:52and grandmother
46:54in a way
46:55wants to see
46:57that Safi's
46:59all right.
46:59Why are you so
47:00close to your
47:00mother like that?
47:01It doesn't
47:03get too
47:04corrupted by
47:05these awful
47:06women,
47:07except, of
47:08course, that
47:09you gradually
47:10discover that
47:11mother is
47:13just as bad
47:14as the rest
47:15of them.
47:23While Safi
47:24was the
47:24perfect daughter,
47:25I think you
47:26created her,
47:27other sitcom
47:27children aren't
47:28so nice.
47:29That was at
47:29my raincoat.
47:30Family sitcoms
47:33wouldn't be
47:34complete without
47:34children.
47:35Where Ab, Fab
47:36and Only Fool
47:37showed us
47:37single parents
47:38and siblings,
47:39other series
47:40stayed true to
47:41the traditional
47:41nuclear explosive
47:42family, mum,
47:44dad, and
47:442.4 children.
47:45Dad's lost
47:46the fuse wire.
47:47Oh, dear.
47:48There's no
47:48rope in this
47:49time of night.
47:49Oh, God.
47:52Well, looks
47:53like we'll just
47:54have to spend
47:55an old-fashioned
47:56family evening
47:56just talking
47:58to each other.
48:00In sitcom,
48:05once you have
48:05children, the
48:06trouble is
48:06getting rid
48:07of them.
48:08The royal
48:08family brought
48:09together four
48:09generations, if
48:10you can't
48:10baby David.
48:12Pig of a
48:12dad, put-upon
48:13mum, spotty
48:14son, daughter,
48:15and son-in-law
48:16all sat around
48:17the telly.
48:17It's the
48:18garnets again,
48:18but different.
48:19No studio
48:20audience this
48:21time.
48:21I've done
48:22tinned salmon
48:23and some
48:23hard-boiled
48:24eggs.
48:25What else
48:25do they
48:26eat, Denise?
48:27Well, you
48:29could make
48:29turkey sandwiches
48:30for everyone
48:30and then they
48:31could just
48:32take the
48:32turkey out
48:32themselves.
48:34Oh, yeah.
48:36What are you
48:37going to all
48:37that trouble
48:38for, Barb?
48:39They're only
48:39popping in for
48:40ten bloody
48:40minutes,
48:41aren't they?
48:42Jim, I'm
48:42only doing a
48:43finger buffet.
48:44Oh, finger
48:45my ass.
48:46Oh.
48:51You're having
48:51that same
48:52finger?
48:54Good one,
48:55that James.
48:57I remember
48:58when the first
48:59episode was
48:59shown and
49:00my mother
49:00rang me up
49:01and she
49:01said,
49:02I don't
49:03know,
49:03she said,
49:03where did
49:04you hear
49:04language like
49:05that?
49:06And I
49:07said,
49:08ma'am,
49:08I served
49:08me time
49:09as a
49:09plasterer.
49:10I stood
49:10on the
49:10cop in
49:11Liverpool
49:11for 20
49:11years.
49:12Me
49:12mates
49:12are
49:13dockers
49:13and
49:13semen.
49:14That's
49:14where I
49:14heard
49:15language
49:15like
49:15then.
49:16She said,
49:16it's a
49:17good job
49:17your father's
49:18not here.
49:19Now,
49:19the second
49:20week,
49:20when the
49:20viewing
49:20figures
49:21started
49:21going
49:21up
49:21and
49:22that
49:22was
49:22becoming
49:23a
49:23cool
49:23thing,
49:23she
49:23rang
49:24them,
49:24she
49:24said,
49:24oh,
49:25it
49:25must
49:25be me,
49:26Rick,
49:26she said,
49:26I haven't
49:26got a
49:27very good
49:27sense
49:27of you.
49:30It grew
49:31on people,
49:31didn't it,
49:32you know?
49:33It's all right,
49:33it's only
49:33Dave and
49:34Denise.
49:36Hiya.
49:36Hiya.
49:37Hiya.
49:37Hiya.
49:37Hiya.
49:38Hiya.
49:44It wasn't
49:46full of jokes
49:47and it
49:47wasn't
49:48full of
49:48contrived
49:49incidents,
49:50it was
49:50just,
49:51if you
49:52will,
49:52it was
49:52just
49:52observing
49:53a family,
49:55if you
49:55will,
49:55who were
49:55sitting
49:55watching
49:56the
49:56television.
49:57Nothing
49:58particularly
49:58is happening,
49:59but everything's
50:00happening,
50:00you know.
50:02Bloody
50:03teas?
50:04Yeah.
50:06What do
50:07you have?
50:08Daryl
50:09on toast.
50:10Bloody
50:10hell.
50:12I bet
50:12you were
50:12looking forward
50:12to that
50:13all day,
50:13eh,
50:13Dave?
50:14Woo!
50:15Waking
50:16hard,
50:16waiting to
50:16get home
50:16to that
50:17little
50:17delicacy.
50:18Sure
50:18it,
50:19Dad.
50:19Bloody
50:19hell,
50:20girl.
50:20Daryl
50:20on toast.
50:21Come
50:21on,
50:22now.
50:23Eh?
50:24Delia
50:24Smith's
50:24got nothing
50:25to worry
50:25about,
50:25has she?
50:26I
50:27made it
50:27myself.
50:28Go
50:29away.
50:30For
50:30instance,
50:30Sue Johnson's
50:31Sue's line
50:32every time
50:33Caroline and
50:34Craig come
50:34in and say,
50:35oh,
50:35have you
50:35had your
50:36tea?
50:36Oh,
50:37what did
50:38you laugh?
50:39That
50:39normally
50:41wouldn't
50:41be funny,
50:42but the
50:42way it
50:42was done,
50:43it was
50:43done week
50:44week out.
50:45I just
50:45thought it
50:46was brilliant,
50:46it was
50:46hilarious.
50:48Dad?
50:49What?
50:50Your fly
50:51hole's all
50:51undone.
50:53Ah,
50:53the cage
50:54might be
50:54open,
50:54but the
50:55beast is
50:56asleep.
50:58Beast my
50:59arse.
51:04It's like
51:04that relationship
51:05between Sue
51:06Johnson and
51:06I and that,
51:07you know,
51:07I see
51:09similarities in
51:10my own
51:11relationship,
51:12a.e.
51:12I'm bone
51:13idle,
51:13and B,
51:15Rita does
51:15everything,
51:15she calls
51:16me drop
51:16it and
51:16hop it.
51:18And also,
51:18I'm very,
51:19very mean,
51:19absolutely mean.
51:20I switch the
51:21lights off all
51:22the time and
51:22I even turn
51:24the gas off
51:24when I'm
51:25turning the
51:25bacon over
51:26the
51:26morning.
51:26off.
51:27I love the
51:43character and I
51:43want him to be
51:44what the audience
51:45would, you know,
51:46visualize him.
51:47So I wouldn't have,
51:48not only wouldn't have
51:48me hair washed,
51:49I wouldn't have it
51:50cut, and the same
51:51went for me beard.
51:52I was like Captain
51:53Baird's Eye when I
51:54finished, the beard
51:55was down here, and
51:56me clothes used to
51:56get dropped off
51:57overnight and left
51:58there, and the
51:59poor dresser used to
52:00go bonkers, you
52:01know, wanting to
52:01pick them up and
52:02clean them, and
52:02just leave them
52:04there, leave them
52:04there, so that was
52:05it.
52:06Get that door,
52:06will you,
52:06Anthony?
52:08Anthony, bring me
52:10the phone.
52:11Red sauce?
52:12Get the red sauce,
52:13you lazy sod.
52:15Anthony was lazy,
52:17idle, why doesn't he
52:18get a job, and the
52:19kid never sat down.
52:20He couldn't sit
52:21down, it was
52:21either put the
52:22kettle on, open the
52:23door, go and see
52:24Joe, he never got a
52:25minute to himself,
52:26but Jim would keep
52:27having the go,
52:27lazy one, idle, lazy
52:29little kid.
52:31One step left, and
52:32one step right.
52:33I had to go and
52:34present some trophies
52:35to about eight or
52:37nine kids' football
52:37teams, you know, and
52:38every single kid who
52:40come up to get the
52:41trophy, I would shake
52:42hands with them, give
52:43them the trophy, and
52:44give them a little
52:44line like, well done,
52:45or keep going, one
52:46day you'll be a
52:47professional, and every
52:48one of them answered
52:49back, my arse,
52:50was, you know, like
52:51a hundred arses in
52:53one go.
52:55Mambo number nine,
52:57Mambo number nine.
53:00Hello, this is
53:01Pete and Jeff on the
53:01best music mix on
53:024.9 FM.
53:05It's kind of
53:06exceptional, the
53:07royal family, I
53:08mean, for lots of
53:09reasons, but it's
53:09brilliant, but it's
53:10exceptional in as
53:11much as it's genuinely
53:15very real wit in that
53:17show, I mean, a kind
53:18of, that is the sort
53:21of humour one has with
53:22one's family, it's not
53:24like a written show,
53:25it's what's so kind of
53:27really, you really feel
53:30like you live in their
53:31house, don't you?
53:32Better or worse.
53:35Dad?
53:35If Dave doesn't come
53:38back, will you come with
53:39me to the hospital?
53:42Of course I will.
53:45I'll be right there,
53:47outside.
53:49But your mum will be
53:50inside with you.
53:52You promise you will,
53:53Dad, you will stay with
53:54me.
53:54Of course I'll stay
53:58with you.
53:59I've always been there
54:00for you.
54:01Yeah.
54:01Always.
54:06Hey, Denise.
54:09I'm going to be a
54:10granddad.
54:23So,
54:24what have we learnt?
54:25Well, I've learnt that
54:27sitting on a trowel for
54:28five minutes is very
54:29pleasurable.
54:31However, sitting on a
54:32trowel for a whole hour
54:33renders the trowel part of
54:35the body.
54:37And I just know that the
54:38removal of said trowel
54:39will necessitate the
54:41services of a doctor
54:42and possibly a builder.
54:44That's what I've learnt.
54:46Hopefully, what we've
54:47learnt together is that
54:48family is a strong theme
54:50in sitcom because it's
54:51something we can all
54:52relate to.
54:52Relate to family.
54:54Do you see?
54:55Do you see what I did
54:55with the words there?
54:56That's quite clever.
54:57OK.
54:58Overbearing fathers,
55:00competing siblings,
55:012.4 children.
55:02They're all there to be
55:03laughed at.
55:04Well, actually, no, not
55:06all.
55:07Because I know a woman
55:08who's got 0.4 of a child
55:09and she's got 0.2 of a
55:10husband, actually.
55:11It's not funny at all.
55:13In fact, it's quite scary.
55:14So, so, why do we like
55:17watching these dysfunctional
55:19families?
55:20Psychologist Raj Persaud
55:21isn't here.
55:24That's the wrong show
55:25entirely.
55:27So, right, so I'll tell you.
55:29Um, well, I think we like
55:32them because they're a bit
55:34like us, but much, much
55:35worse.
55:36And we don't have to live
55:37with these terrible people.
55:38We can just watch them from
55:39the safety of our own
55:40sofas, can't we?
55:41Oh, and one other quite
55:43important thing.
55:44They're funny.
55:45So, that's, um, family
55:47sitcoms done with.
55:49But while family is the
55:50heart of sitcom, friends,
55:53neighbours, colleagues and
55:54customers are the lungs and
55:56the bladder.
55:58Really, really wish I hadn't
56:00said bladder then, because
56:01the tip of that trowel's just
56:03nudging away at mine.
56:04Anyway.
56:05Anyway, anyway, anyway.
56:06In our next programme, we'll
56:08look at how the people we
56:09work with and share
56:11flats with open up a whole
56:13new range of situations.
56:16Need the doctor.
56:18That quickly.
56:27Good morning, Mrs. Slocum.
56:28Good morning, Mrs. Peacock.
56:30One minute late.
56:31You're lucky to have me at
56:32all, Captain Peacock.
56:34I had to thaw me pussy out
56:36before I came.
56:36It was domestic, but it
56:40wasn't.
56:41It was a family, but they
56:42weren't related.
56:44Two boys share a flat, girl
56:47moves in upstairs, other boy
56:49fancies girl upstairs and lots
56:51of lager.
56:52Have one yourself.
56:53You see, the more
56:57opportunities for jokes there
56:58are, the more jokes you will
57:00get.
57:02I am not about it!
57:04I am not about it!
57:06I am not about it!
57:08I love that as a student.
57:11I mean, I think that really
57:12kind of appeals to any other,
57:13just smashing the conventions
57:15of TV sitcom.
57:16I mean, I've never set out to
57:20change the sitcom any more
57:22than Python's set out to
57:24destroy sketch shows.
57:25They set out to do what they
57:26did.
57:27The workplace is, uh, must be
57:30a source of comedy.
57:32It's because everyone works
57:34somewhere.
57:35Now, Alison, you are a lady.
57:36I don't want this to be
57:37honest.
57:37Are you sucking me as well?
57:38Yes, I am.
57:39You're rotten shit.
57:39Yeah, well, you're rotten
57:40shit too.
57:40Get your coat.
57:43The horrible truth is,
57:44they're out there, those
57:46people.
57:47They're really out there.
57:52Stay that long.
57:57There's my tea in the oven,
57:58Mum.
57:59No.
58:01Not doing anybody's tea
58:02tonight.
58:05We're having chippies!
58:09Get a pen and paper,
58:11Anthony, he'll have to
58:11write this down.
58:13Chip!
58:13Ooh, I love it!
58:16Sorry, I've only got to
58:19babysit until ten.
58:20Very long.
58:22Right.
58:23Roger's hopefully back next
58:25Monday at 10.35, here on
58:27BBC One.
58:27Good night.
58:28Good night.
58:28Good night.
58:29Good night.
58:29Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:30Good night.
58:31Good night.
58:31Good night.
58:31Good night.
58:32Good night.
58:32Good night.
58:32Good night.
58:32Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:33Good night.
58:34Good night.
58:34Good night.
58:34Good night.
58:35Good night.
58:35Good night.
58:36Good night.
58:36Good night.
58:36Good night.
58:37Good night.
58:37Good night.
58:37Good night.
58:38Good night.
58:38Good night.
58:39Good night.
58:40Good night.
58:40Good night.
58:41Good night.
58:42Good night.
58:43Good night.
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