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00:00Music
00:01Music
00:02Someone once said to me
00:27The primary aim of a sitcom
00:29Is to be funny
00:31And the secondary aim of a sitcom
00:33Is to be funny
00:35Who said that to me?
00:37My gran
00:38Just after Let Them Eat Cake
00:39I thought it was like the Black Forest under there
00:42Sorry about that
00:45But what is funny
00:47What's funny to one person
00:48Is a colander full of vomit to another isn't it
00:50For instance my favourite sitcom
00:52In the whole world is this
00:54Sunnyside Farm
00:55What about now then Ken
00:57Did you find this funny?
01:00No
01:01Nobody
01:02Not even the writers' mothers liked this sitcom
01:06But I loved it
01:08So does that mean
01:09Tick box
01:10A
01:11I am mad
01:12B
01:13I am seriously mad
01:15C
01:16I am sleeping with the writers
01:19Which I am incidentally
01:20But they're not very good at it
01:22So it doesn't really count
01:22Or D
01:23That's D
01:25I am the only person with comedy taste
01:28Or of course
01:30E
01:31Sitcoms can be found in the strangest places
01:35With the strangest of people
01:36And this week
01:38We'll look at those strange ones
01:39Sitcoms set in the past
01:41Set in the war
01:42Set in the future
01:43Set in the church
01:44Oh look that's me
01:45Even set in outer space
01:47So long as outer space can be fitted into a small studio
01:50If you write a contemporary show
01:53It goes out of date
01:54If you write about the past
01:56It's already out of date
01:58It can't go out of date
01:59It's history
02:00And very funny history
02:02Stupid boy
02:04There's always something humorous I suppose
02:06About English vickers
02:07I don't know why
02:07It's just sort of because
02:08You always find when an Agatha Christie
02:10Was murdered
02:10Ladies and gentlemen
02:12Your new vicar
02:14Hello
02:14Jolby
02:16Boo
02:19In a sitcom
02:21You have to have a situation
02:23Which places the characters
02:24Into
02:25Some kind of adversity
02:26Is that a cigarette you're smoking mister?
02:29No it's a chicken
02:30Right
02:30You're on report
02:31So you have to have them
02:33Sort of cramped in close
02:34You know
02:35Kind of a sitcom on the phone
02:36Hello
02:38I'm the star
02:39Rising star of the new right
02:40It was a cartoon
02:41But like all great cartoons
02:43You could surely recognise the reality
02:46Beneath the distortions
02:48I do not see me
02:52I suppose there was a sort of
02:57A tendency to be a little bit grumpy at times
03:03I suppose
03:04We start by stepping back in time
03:06Sorry that's supposed to be a TARDIS
03:10Noise
03:11It wasn't very good was it
03:12At Pompeii
03:14Found Frankie Howard
03:15In ancient Italy
03:16And a toga
03:17Heidi High
03:18Gave us a 1950s holiday camp
03:20Complete with single beds
03:21Nobbly knees competitions
03:23And aspiring
03:24Chalet maids
03:25In ill-fitting mustard blazers
03:26Well it's alright for you
03:28Well it's alright for you
03:28You're all pretty
03:30And you've got nice figures
03:31And posh voices
03:32The only thing I've got
03:33Is my personality
03:35And lots of go
03:36But I'll get there somehow
03:38You'll sing
03:39Right history lesson
03:43Which two major historical characters
03:46Were born in 1460
03:49And died in 1917
03:51Ha ha ha
03:52That's got you
03:53No
03:54No
03:55No not Cliff Richard
03:56No not Mick Jagger
03:57They just seem to have been around for centuries
03:59No no
04:01No
04:02Shut up
04:03Edmund Blackadder
04:04And his interestingly perfumed servant
04:07Baldritch
04:08It's working
04:18It's working
04:20Te abbraccio
04:22E te amo
04:23Totalmente
04:24Oh I embrace
04:25And love you
04:26Utterly
04:27What?
04:29Che amores este
04:30Che tu ha dispratas
04:32Comune spagnol
04:33Per complatermi
04:34Oh what a love
04:35This must be
04:36That you dress like
04:37A spanish man
04:37To delight me
04:38I'm born rich
04:40Que amor
04:41Que amor
04:42What a love
04:43What a love
04:43What a love
04:44What a love
04:44What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:45What a love
04:46What a love
04:47What a love
04:47What a love
04:47What a love
04:48Look at the two lovebirds
04:49One love bird
04:50One love bird
04:50And one love elephant
04:52Well I think it's
04:53It's well known
04:54That Blackadder 1
04:56Wasn't considered a complete success
04:58By anyone involved in it
04:59It needed to be a sitcom
05:00Not a mini comic movie
05:02It didn't want to be
05:02Life of Brian
05:03It wanted to be
05:04Fawlty Towers
05:05But set in history
05:06And it was at that point
05:07You perhaps know this story
05:08But it was at just the point
05:09When we'd finished the sixth script
05:11That Michael Grade
05:12Became controller of BBC One
05:14And cancelled the Blackadder
05:15He took a look at Blackadder 1
05:17Looked at what it cost
05:18Looked at the reaction it got
05:20And said
05:20I'm not spending that on a sitcom
05:22I don't care if it is
05:23Ryan Atkinson
05:23I'm going to cancel it
05:24My lord
05:25I have a cunning plan
05:27Oh
05:28Oh Baldrick
05:29John Lloyd was brilliant
05:32He ran to Michael Grade
05:34And said
05:35Look I know exactly
05:35Why you cancelled it
05:36But we knew that too
05:37That's why we've done
05:38Blackadder 2
05:39This is the new thing
05:40It's different
05:40It costs half as much
05:41It's three times as funny
05:42You're going to love it
05:44And to Michael Grade's great credit
05:47He read it
05:48And reinstated it
05:49I think probably the only time
05:51And you need to be a pretty big executive
05:52To do that
05:53Because it makes you look very flaky
05:55Unless you're Michael Grade
05:56And I've got two letters framed
05:58Which was the cancellation letter
06:00And the reinstatement letter
06:01And what Michael Grade saw in Blackadder 2
06:04So did the audience
06:05Because as you know
06:06It was a big hit
06:07If I die Baldrick
06:09Do you think people would remember me
06:11Yeah of course they would
06:12Yes I suppose so
06:14Yeah people would always be
06:16Slapping each other on the shoulders
06:17And laughing
06:18And saying
06:19Do you remember old privy breath
06:20Do people call me privy breath
06:24Yeah
06:25The ones who like you
06:27Am I then
06:29Not popular
06:30Um
06:31Well put it this way
06:32When people slip in
06:34What dogs have left in the street
06:35They do tend to say
06:36Whoops I've trodden
06:37And Edmund
06:37Bloody cheek
06:40Now I'll show them
06:42Blackadder is
06:43Is rooted in the realities
06:45Of
06:45Of
06:45Of
06:46Any good comic character
06:47You know
06:48Mirrors the human condition
06:49And Blackadder's petty vanities
06:51His feeling that he is
06:53Above it
06:54He should be doing better
06:55His skills are not recognised
06:57The people he has around him
06:58Are not
06:59Are not
07:00Adequate for the job
07:01In Baldrick's case
07:02He's very right
07:03You know
07:04He's obsequious to his boss
07:06He's mean to the people under him
07:07I'm not saying that's what people are like
07:08But there are
07:09Those are the nastiest sides of humanity
07:11Obviously with Blackadder we mitigate it
07:13With a great deal of comedy
07:14But obviously he's a
07:15He is an unpleasant character
07:17Although at the very last minute
07:18You don't think he'd actually murder someone for fun
07:20Although he gets close at times
07:22Everything?
07:23Everything!
07:23The money
07:24The castles
07:25The jewellery
07:25Yes
07:26The highly artistic
07:27But also highly illegal
07:29Set of French lithographs
07:30Everything!
07:31The amusing clock
07:32Where the little man comes out
07:33And drops his trousers
07:34Every half hour
07:35Yes, yes, all right
07:37Very well, I accept
07:38A man may fight for many things
07:41His country
07:42His principles
07:42His friends
07:43The glistening tear
07:45On the cheek of a golden child
07:46But personally
07:47I'd mud-wrestle my own mother
07:49For a ton of cash
07:50An amusing clock
07:52And a sack of French porn
07:53You're on
07:55Hurrah!
07:56I think sometimes
07:58Situation comedies
07:59Are a bit like soap operas
08:01That both the actors
08:03And the writers
08:04Learn more
08:05About the emotional
08:07And intellectual terrain
08:09Of the characters
08:09As they go on
08:10And grow more confident
08:12About what a character would do
08:14Until eventually
08:15It comes to the point
08:17And I think this is why
08:18For writers
08:19It's easier to write
08:20Series 7 and 8
08:21Than it is
08:21Series 2 and 3
08:23You're so confident
08:24That you know the character
08:25That you can throw that character
08:26Into any situation
08:28However outlandish
08:30And you all know
08:31Exactly how that character
08:33Will behave in that situation
08:34I can't go on with this
08:35George, take over
08:36All right, sir
08:37Um
08:37I spy with my little eye
08:40Something beginning with R
08:41Army
08:42For God's sake, Paul
08:44Army starts with an A
08:45He's looking for something
08:46That starts with an R
08:47Rrrr
08:49Motorbike
08:50What?
08:51A motorbike
08:52Starts with a Rrrr
08:53Rrrr
08:54Rrrr
08:55Right, right, right
08:56My turn again
08:57What begins with
08:58Come here
08:59And ends with ow
09:00I don't know
09:01Come here
09:01I look at all four series
09:05As exercises in problem solving
09:08In the first series
09:09No one had ever written
09:10Created a series like this
09:12How do we do it?
09:13The second series
09:14How do you make
09:17Queen Elizabeth funny?
09:19In the third series
09:21How do you do a comedy series
09:23About a period of history
09:24The Georgian period
09:25That hardly anybody
09:26Knows anything about
09:27The fourth series
09:28How do you make
09:29A comedy series
09:30About a time of war
09:33Where millions
09:34Of your own people died
09:36Don't forget your stick, Lieutenant
09:37Rather, sir
09:38Wouldn't want to face
09:39A machine gun without this
09:40So when I look at them now
09:42I don't think
09:43Oh, I like this one better
09:44Or I enjoyed this one better
09:46I think
09:46How well or how badly
09:48Did we manage to solve
09:49That particular problem?
09:57Listen
09:57Our guns have stopped
09:59You don't think
10:01Maybe the war's over
10:03Maybe it's peace
10:05Oh, hurrah
10:06The big knobs
10:07Have got round the table
10:08And yanked the iron
10:09Out of the fire
10:10Thank God
10:11We lived through it
10:13The Great War
10:141914 to 1970
10:16Hip, hip
10:18Hooray
10:19We were very aware
10:20Of not, you know
10:20Making light
10:21Of that sacrifice
10:23Also, we had no intention
10:25Of trying to
10:26I suppose
10:27Make some grand statement
10:29About it either
10:30We wanted to write
10:31You know
10:31Honourable comedy
10:32And the fact
10:33That the last episode
10:34Turns out to have
10:35Been so very moving
10:37Is a great credit
10:37To the production
10:39John Lloyd
10:40And the performers
10:40And Richard Bowden's direction
10:42I mean
10:43The whole fade to poppies
10:44And everything
10:45Was John's idea
10:46I think if you plan
11:02To get a reaction
11:02Like that
11:03You're really going
11:03To fall on your face
11:04But it was a great
11:05Probably the best
11:06I won't call them
11:07Fan letters
11:08But letters of appreciation
11:09I've ever had
11:10Came from servicemen
11:11Or wives of servicemen
11:12Or indeed servicemen
11:13Who said that it
11:15You know
11:16It spoke to them
11:16Of their experiences
11:17In the second world war
11:18I mean
11:18That's an incredible thing
11:19Because obviously
11:19I have no experience
11:20Of war
11:20And long, long
11:21May that remain
11:22For all of us
11:23If the trenches
11:25Weren't an obvious choice
11:26For a sitcom
11:26Then nor was
11:27The French resistance
11:28But Allo Allo
11:29And its high farce
11:31In Nazi-occupied France
11:32Proved a big hit
11:33Ten years
11:35And 85 episodes later
11:36Café owner René
11:37Was still harbouring
11:39The British airmen
11:39Sabotaging the Germans
11:41And chasing after waitresses
11:42It was a big hit
11:47In France
11:47Though possibly not
11:49In Germany
11:50Can you feel
11:54My little heart
11:54Bounding
11:55And bounding
11:56I can hear it
12:00Is the coast clear?
12:09We are 50 miles
12:10From the coast
12:11Something very important
12:15Has just come up
12:16How long have you
12:18Been out there?
12:18Men and women
12:21In uniforms
12:21Have always been
12:22A popular sitcom theme
12:23We've had army surgeons
12:25Army conscripts
12:27Even army concert parties
12:28If that's what you want
12:30Then the boys
12:31Of It Ain't Half Hot
12:32Mum
12:32Are the boys
12:33To entertain you
12:34Oh sorry
12:35I should have sung that
12:36Shouldn't I?
12:36The boys
12:37To entertain you
12:39Correction
12:41I shouldn't
12:42Have sung that
12:43Did you hear that?
12:53We're being attacked
12:54You said the Japanese
12:56Were 10 miles away
12:57And they're here
12:58You ought to be
12:59Ashamed of yourself
13:00Somebody wave a white flag
13:03Tell them we're entertainers
13:05Some of us are civilians
13:07Shut up
13:08We're artists
13:10We're artists
13:11Oh look
13:15A tiger
13:15Actually
13:16Darkest Norfolk
13:17Stood in for the Indian jungle
13:19Complete with fake palm trees
13:20Can you see them?
13:22Co-creator Jimmy Perry
13:23Drew directly on his own experience
13:25As the member of a
13:27Royal Artillery concert party
13:28Stationed in India
13:30In 1945
13:31My shoes are going to get ruined
13:34That's my fucking
13:35Shut up
13:36Actually
13:38Jimmy Perry
13:39Has made a fortune
13:40Out of the Second World War
13:41On the 14th of May
13:431940
13:43The government broadcast
13:45An appeal
13:45For the local
13:46Defence volunteers
13:47Or Home Guard
13:49And one recruit
13:50Was
13:51Guess who
13:5216 year old
13:53Jimmy Perry
13:54With his co-writer
13:55David Croft
13:56He then turned this experience
13:58Into Dad's Army
13:59Little story
14:03About Dad's Army
14:04When David Croft
14:06Had made the pilot
14:07He showed it to his bosses
14:08At the BBC
14:09And they were a little bit worried
14:11It was the late 60s
14:12And war wasn't that long ago
14:14People might be offended
14:15So he said
14:17He'd do some research
14:18And show it to some audiences
14:19And see what they thought
14:20And so he did
14:21And the audiences
14:22Didn't like it at all
14:23And they made comments like
14:25Oh I've made enough of the war
14:27So when the BBC bosses
14:29Asked David
14:30What the results
14:30Of the test were
14:31He said
14:32Ah
14:33Um
14:33Haven't quite got them yet
14:36They're still in the post
14:36And he did this
14:38Week after week
14:39After week
14:40He kept them waiting
14:41So long
14:42They just put the programme
14:43Out anyway
14:44Thank god
14:45Holy god
14:46The interesting thing
14:55You see about
14:55Jimmy Perry's work
14:56Is that he writes
14:58About the past
14:59Now if you write
15:01A contemporary show
15:02It goes out of date
15:03If you write about the past
15:05It's already out of date
15:07It can't go out of date
15:08So
15:09Dad's army means
15:11As much now
15:12As when it went out
15:1430 years ago
15:15Because it's writing
15:16About the 1940s
15:17This is why
15:18A young audience
15:19Coming to
15:20Dad's army now
15:21You know
15:22They weren't alive then
15:24But it's history
15:25And very funny history
15:28Falling in three ranks
15:29Like the sergeant said
15:30Come on out
15:31Three ranks
15:31Like the sergeant said
15:32What sir
15:33We've fallen in three ranks
15:35Like the sergeant said
15:36Sir
15:36Thank you Jones
15:39Watch watch
15:40Hands
15:41Stand at ease
15:44Hurry up Jones
15:46That's better
15:47I think with
15:50Things like Dad's army
15:51You do get to know them all
15:52And they become friends
15:53You know what they're going to say
15:55You know that that man's
15:56Going to say
15:56You stupid boy
15:57You know that he's
15:59Going to lose his pet
15:59To his hat goes like this
16:00Very old jokes
16:01But Arthur does them
16:02So beautifully
16:03He bridles
16:04He's got this tremendous
16:06Again it's
16:07Followed to grandeur
16:07It's again it's sort of
16:08You know
16:08He's a very important
16:09Little man
16:10He isn't
16:11And John Le Meijer
16:12Is so infuriating
16:13Because he's the man
16:14Who went to a public school
16:15He's far better class
16:17Than he is
16:17Far better educated
16:18But
16:18You get that
16:20Lovely conflict
16:22Of the
16:22Gentle
16:23Charming snob
16:24Who had everything
16:26Silver spoon
16:27And this little bank manager
16:28Who has to fight
16:28Every inch of his life
16:29Well
16:31All the rings
16:32Things were used up
16:33So
16:33He didn't come from there
16:35Yeah
16:36Point is
16:37What are we going to do next
16:38First sir
16:39There's a
16:39A
16:40Jonesy
16:41Shotis
16:42I mean
16:42I suppose
16:43It rightfully
16:43Belongs to him
16:44No no
16:44He was on duty
16:45He was wearing one of my uniforms
16:47Carrying one of my rifles
16:49And he fired one of my bullets
16:51I see
16:51I see
16:51But does that mean
16:52You're bagging it sir
16:53No it doesn't mean
16:54I'm bagging it
16:56Not all of it
16:56In that case
16:57I bagged it
16:57I'm afraid you can't do that
17:00I bagged it first
17:01But you said you didn't want it
17:02Anyway you didn't use the word
17:03Bag you see
17:03So it doesn't count
17:04Now don't start any of that
17:07Public school cheating with me
17:09There had to be some abrasiveness
17:11Between Wilson and Mannering
17:13That was
17:14That was
17:14The idea that they had
17:16Right from the beginning
17:18Perry and Craft
17:19Very good sergeant
17:20Shows great imagination
17:21Thank you very much
17:21As a matter of fact
17:22My nanny taught me how to do that
17:23Years ago
17:24And that was in the nursery
17:25Did she?
17:28People thought
17:29That Arthur
17:31Would be the sergeant
17:33And Le Measurer
17:34The captain
17:36Because that is in fact
17:37What they were
17:38During the war
17:40You see
17:40Both of them
17:41He was
17:43I think
17:44A lieutenant
17:45Wilson
17:47John Le Measurer
17:48And Arthur
17:49Arthur was a staff sergeant
17:50But it worked
17:52The other way around
17:52Because there was
17:53Always in that
17:54Slight feud
17:54That here was
17:57The staff sergeant
17:58Who was the bank manager
17:59And the captain
17:59Of the home guard
18:00And there was
18:01The lieutenant
18:03John Le Measurer
18:04As Wilson
18:04Being the sergeant
18:06Just pay attention
18:08A minute will you please
18:08When the bus stops
18:09Stay where you are
18:11And let Captain
18:12Mannering
18:12Get off first
18:13Alright?
18:14All right
18:14See you
18:15Great time
18:16Cheers
18:17It's closing time
18:22In five minutes
18:22All these sitcoms
18:37Have to have
18:37Some sort of villain
18:38Don't they?
18:39Apart from Hitler
18:40Bill Pertsch
18:41He was our hit
18:43For the ARP warden
18:44Trying to upset everything
18:46Hodges is down there
18:47Can you see
18:47Chalking a reply
18:49On the pavement
18:49What did your message say sir?
18:52How are we going to get down?
18:54What does his message say?
18:56How are you going to get down?
19:05Madman!
19:05What message was in that Pike?
19:07None at all
19:08I was just trying
19:08To hit the warden
19:09Of course Captain Mannering
19:12Obviously a pompous little man
19:15Brave
19:16Would have died
19:17As demonstrated
19:18By the fact
19:19He lived with Elizabeth
19:19And the enemy
19:21Was far greater
19:22Than the Nazi hordes
19:23It was Elizabeth
19:24In the top bunk
19:25We were supposed to be
19:30Helping to protect
19:31The UK
19:32From
19:33Probably one of the most
19:35Evil characters
19:36That's ever been on earth
19:37And here we all
19:39Tiddling about dead
19:40And
19:41That was the little man
19:43Against the monster
19:45That's one of the things
19:46A very very
19:47Strong
19:48Situation
19:49If you're talking about
19:50Situation comedies
19:51You couldn't get anything
19:52Much stronger than that
19:54The war was the threat
19:55And the threat
19:56And the threat
19:56Was epitomised
19:58By Elizabeth
20:00Hodges
20:00An ever present threat
20:02To just ruin
20:03Our nice time
20:04Apart from anything else
20:06Our nice evening
20:07In the hall
20:08But I'm not so sure
20:12That you'd
20:13Need
20:14The vast threat
20:16Of the war
20:16To make
20:17To make the series work
20:19To make the programmes work
20:20There were times
20:21When happily
20:22I think
20:22It really was
20:24Just wallpaper
20:24The war
20:25I tell you
20:26Wilson
20:27They're a nation
20:28Of automatons
20:29Led by a lunatic
20:30Who looks like
20:30Charlie Chaplin
20:31How dare you compare
20:34Our glorious leader
20:35With that non-Arian clown
20:37I am making notes
20:40Captain
20:40And your name
20:42Will go on the list
20:44And when we win the war
20:46You will be brought
20:47To account
20:48You're right
20:50What you like
20:50You're not going to win this war
20:51Oh yes we are
20:52Oh no you're not
20:53Oh yes we are
20:54Whistle while you work
20:57Hitler is at work
20:59He's half-army
21:00So's his army
21:01Whistle while you work
21:02Your name will also
21:03Go on the list
21:04What is it?
21:07Don't tell him Pike
21:08He's half-army
21:09I could swear I heard a bugle
21:33It is a bugle
21:37Hey
21:39I think we're in the army
21:42Reveille has blown sirs
21:46All right
21:46Let's look
21:47MASH started as a novel
21:54Became a feature film
21:55Then became a TV series
21:57First broadcast in 1972
21:59It was set in the Korean war
22:01Of the early 1950s
22:03But the parallels with Vietnam
22:04Were obvious
22:05This was sitcom as satire
22:08MASH left television conventions behind
22:12No sitcom up till then
22:13Had ever presented
22:14The bloody reality of war
22:16251 episodes were made
22:19120 million Americans
22:22Watched the last one go out
22:24That's nearly half the population
22:25And the series lasted
22:27Four times longer than the war
22:29The power of television
22:30I think one of the things
22:34That MASH shows us
22:35That Dad's Army shows us
22:36And indeed what
22:37Fawlty Towers shows us
22:38Is that there's no
22:39That comedy and tragedy
22:41Are not mutually exclusive
22:42In fact quite the opposite
22:43They are
22:44The better
22:45For being represented together
22:49I mean because that's life
22:50Give me some more negative blood here
22:51Quick
22:52Blood's for me
22:53I'm anemic
22:53MASH is a great example
22:56Of the Korean war
22:56You can't get much more
22:57Of a tragedy than that
22:58And they didn't shrink
22:59From having sort of
23:00You know bodies
23:00Sort of in the foreground
23:01With drips attached
23:02To their severed limbs
23:04You know
23:06Comedy's a part of life
23:07Tragedy's a part of life
23:08And I think that
23:10The great comedy
23:12Often finds itself
23:13In uncomfortable areas
23:15Please
23:16I don't want to go home
23:18Please
23:19I
23:19Just stay here
23:22Don't reach for your appendix
23:25Kid
23:25It's gone
23:25How do you feel?
23:28I'm ready to go out
23:29And kill me some more gooks
23:30Sir
23:30Wendell
23:32Another word for gooks
23:33Is people
23:33I mean the North Koreans
23:35The Chinese
23:37Sir
23:37The enemy
23:38I'm a marine
23:39We're the best
23:41I'm a coward
23:42We're the worst
23:43I think what the Americans
23:45Do so well
23:45Is schtick
23:46You know
23:47Is talk
23:47You know
23:49The scripts are always sublime
23:50Just as they still are
23:51From Friends to Seinfeld
23:52You know
23:53They do great chat
23:54They do great comic
23:55Stuff
23:56I mean
23:57And that's a big tradition
23:57In their theatre
23:58With Neil Simon
23:59It's a big tradition
24:00In their stand up
24:01That's where the term
24:02Schtick comes from
24:03The smart talking guy
24:04He's got a line
24:06For everything
24:06You know
24:07Not inadequate
24:08Not on
24:08You know
24:09Not saying I'm stupid me
24:10But getting up
24:11And being like
24:12The smart aleck
24:13And you know
24:14Alan Alder's character
24:15Is a smart aleck
24:16Unashamedly so
24:17How old are you Wendell?
24:1820
24:19Really I'm 18
24:24For somebody who's
24:26Both 20 and 18
24:27You look awfully 16 to me
24:28See you later
24:31Okay
24:36Politics
24:37And here's a sentence
24:38I thought I'd never say
24:40Thank you
24:41Thank you
24:41Mrs Thatcher
24:42She made politics
24:44So monstrous
24:45She spawned
24:46Spitting Image
24:47And The New Statesman
24:48And one of her speechwriters
24:49Anthony Jay
24:50Wrote a little something
24:52With Jonathan Lynn
24:53Oh look
24:55It's Humphrey
24:56Burn that noise off
25:16It's all right
25:17It's all right
25:19I'm perfect this thing
25:20To what do we owe this pleasure
25:31I must protest in the strongest possible terms
25:37My profound opposition
25:40To a newly instituted practice
25:42Which imposes severe and intolerable restrictions
25:45Upon the ingress and egress
25:47Of senior members of the hierarchy
25:48And which will in all probability
25:50Should the current deplorable innovation be perpetuated
25:53Precipitate a constriction of the channels of communication
25:56And culminate in the condition of organisational atrophy
26:00And administrative paralysis
26:01Which will render effectively impossible
26:04The coherent and coordinated discharge of the function of government
26:07Within Our Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
26:11You mean you've lost your key
26:15When I first heard that they were going to make a series
26:20About ministers and civil servants
26:22And I had just myself entered government
26:25I thought this was mad
26:27I thought there was no way that this programme could have mass appeal
26:32I mean how on earth were people to get the in jokes about the inside of Whitehall
26:36And I think the BBC had doubts about it too
26:39And to me one of the enduring mysteries
26:42And actually one of the enduring joys
26:44Is that this pretty serious comedy was such a success
26:48And by the way not only in Britain
26:49Where you can just about understand that people got to grips with the programme
26:53But in India, in Russia, all over the world
26:57What on earth did the Russians make of these conflicts
26:59Between British civil servants and British ministers
27:02It was one of these spectacular unexpected successes
27:07With audiences of 8 million at its peak
27:09Well, who else is in this department?
27:11Well, briefly, sir, I am the permanent undersecretary of state
27:14Known as the permanent secretary
27:16Woolley, here's your principal private secretary
27:18I too have a principal private secretary
27:19And he is the principal private secretary to the permanent secretary
27:22Directly responsible to me are 10 deputy secretaries
27:2687 undersecretaries and 219 assistant secretaries
27:30Directly responsible to the principal private secretaries
27:33Are plain private secretaries
27:34And the prime minister will be appointing 2 parliamentary undersecretaries
27:37And you'll be appointing your own parliamentary private secretary
27:40They all type
27:42None of us can type, minister
27:46Mrs Mackay types
27:47She's the secretary
27:49Pity, we could have opened an agency
27:52Very gross
27:54Yes, very amusing, sir
27:55I suppose they all say that, don't they?
27:57Certainly not, minister
27:58Not quite all
28:00The casting, I think, was perfect
28:02I mean, genuinely
28:04As well cast as Dad's Army
28:07And I know no greater praise than that
28:09And simply brilliantly written by people who knew their business
28:13And wonderfully intelligent
28:15Flattering its audience
28:17You know, this is the great truth
28:19And that is that the audience actually can take a great deal more complexity
28:23Than sometimes programme makers give them credit for
28:26What do you think of our new minister?
28:29Well, er, absolutely fine
28:31Yes
28:32We'll have him house trained in no time
28:35I've been in the position of James Hacker the minister
28:37I've been there when the permanent secretary arrives on the first day
28:40With your diary mapped out
28:41And all the proposals of how you might implement your policies
28:44And the great thing about Yes Minister is that it was very close to the truth
28:48I mean, obviously, it was a cartoon
28:50But like all great cartoons
28:52You could surely recognise the reality beneath the distortions
28:57Tell me, General
28:58Aren't you the most senior soldier?
29:00As it happens, I believe I am
29:02Thank you
29:04Good advice
29:05Oh, er, Prime Minister, can I introduce you to Mrs Glossop?
29:08Extraordinary things
29:09Roger
29:10Last, I've actually come across a Prime Minister with a bit of sense
29:13Really? Where? Which is the lucky country?
29:16Was Jim Hacker Conservative or Labour? We never knew, did we?
29:23No doubting which party Alan Bastard belonged to though
29:26In The New Statesman, Ritmail showed us just how much British politics had changed
29:35Hello, Alan Bastard, rising star of the new right
29:38The New Statesman was a sitcom for the late 80s
29:43All that gentleness of Yes Minister was gone
29:46And this was really raw
29:48And it was raucous
29:49And it was satire
29:50And it was anti-sitcom
29:51It was a very, very sort of negative sort of programme
29:54And I think it did actually have an effect on the Conservative Party
29:58I mean, along with spitting image
30:00And along with Tory boy
30:02Yes, I think it did
30:03I think it did create those very negative images about the Tories
30:07But I always think that any government has to be robust enough
30:10To withstand the satire of the day
30:12And I think satire plays a very important part in the political process
30:16I told you what would happen if you failed your French oral again
30:23What?
30:24Oh, God!
30:25Oh, God!
30:26It hurts!
30:27Oh, God!
30:28Oh, God!
30:29Oh, God!
30:30It hurts!
30:31Oh, God!
30:32Oh, God!
30:33It hurts!
30:34Oh, God!
30:35He's supposed to hurt!
30:36You stupid guy!
30:38Stupid troller!
30:39I'm not a masochist, I'm a salientist!
30:40I've tried to be people!
30:43I'd just been elected in a by-election in North London.
30:48And it turned out that one of my constituents was a guy called Lawrence Mark.
30:52So one day he writes to me and he says,
30:54I'm thinking of writing a series with Maurice Grant, my writing companion.
30:59And we'd like to bring in a guy called Rick Mayle.
31:02And we wonder whether you'd be able to show us around the House of Commons.
31:05So in they come.
31:07By luck, it was the middle of August, which means that there was no one there.
31:12Which means that whereas usually you can only show them the chamber and the public lobbies,
31:17at that time, when there were no members there,
31:19we could show them the dining room, the tea room, the smoking room,
31:23all the intimate places where the real nitty-gritty of politics takes place.
31:29And I could see Rick Mayle's face lighting up as he saw all these secret chambers
31:34where his grand devices were going to be unveiled.
31:38Hopkins, good to see you.
31:40You're looking well.
31:42Baxter, good lord man.
31:44I thought they'd kicked you upstairs years ago.
31:47Oh, I'm still hanging on.
31:49On the back benches.
31:51This is a young protégé of mine, Alan Bastard.
31:55How do you do, sir?
31:57This is indeed a great honour for me.
31:59You must allow me to buy you a drink.
32:00Allow you?
32:01Well, that's a little hardship.
32:03Certainly a pint of best bitter.
32:05A pint of best bitter it is.
32:06A pint of best bitter, please, or I'll have a large brandy.
32:08I don't think they serve fishermen's friends, do they?
32:13When the new statesman was first shown, I was just on the first rung of the ladder of promotion.
32:20And suddenly, here was this unbelievably disrespectful, raucous, outrageous programme about the Conservative MP.
32:29And first of all, people were going to say, how did this get made, and who helped these guys to make it?
32:34And secondly, people were going to say, hang on, this Alan Bastard, who exactly is he based on?
32:41I decided to take a couple of days off at that point.
32:43Now then, aha, the church.
32:47I don't wish to be holier than thou, although, of course, I am, bless you.
32:54But I believe that the church inspired something rather special in the world of sitcom, did it not?
33:01In actual fact, I believe it led to one of the greatest, most successful sitcoms ever.
33:08Let's have a little look.
33:09Hey, I come here.
33:12No, not that.
33:14You know what I mean.
33:16This.
33:19Right.
33:20I'm not joking, now.
33:22Show it.
33:23Go on, show it, or somebody dies.
33:26Hello, I'm Geraldine.
33:27Believe you're expecting me.
33:28No, I'm expecting our new vicar.
33:31Unless, of course, you are the new vicar, and they've landed us with a woman.
33:34Some sort of insane joke.
33:37Oh, dear.
33:38Oh, my God!
33:41You were expecting a bloke, beard, Bible, bad breath?
33:44Yes, that sort of thing.
33:46Yeah.
33:47And instead, you've got a babe with a bobcat and a magnificent bosom.
33:50So I see.
33:51The ordination of women was a controversial issue when the Vicar of Dibley was first broadcast,
33:56but writers Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew Archer made it funny.
34:00Oh, did they?
34:01They barely made it to the studio.
34:03The cast made it funny.
34:05Coming!
34:05That's romantic.
34:10So's that.
34:12I just don't think it's going to be your sort of evening.
34:18Lord is...
34:19Yes, Geraldine Granger was a wonderful woman.
34:21A saint, really.
34:22She loved God, chocolate, and the opposite sex.
34:27Well, always, we've done the church thing, you know, the Vicar of Dibley and so forth,
34:31things like that, the Lady Vicar.
34:33But there's always something humorous, I suppose, about English Vicar.
34:37I don't know why.
34:38It's just sort of because you always find when an Agatha Christie usually is murdered.
34:41But I think that those sort of rather polite Vicar who take tea, and usually on the touch
34:48quite a bit, are always sort of quite humorous for English comedy.
34:52It's part of the English comedy scene, I suppose.
34:54How do you do?
34:56I'm Frank Pickle.
34:58I take the minutes on the council.
35:00Splendid.
35:00Very important job.
35:02Do forgive me if I instantly forget your name, won't you?
35:04I'm absolutely dreadful with names.
35:06Ask me to name the Virgin Mary's eldest son, and...
35:09Nope, mine's gone black.
35:11Jesus.
35:12That's it!
35:13Yes.
35:13So, that's three clips at 20 pence a clip.
35:16That's...
35:1650 pence!
35:18Yes!
35:19Sorry?
35:20Moving on.
35:21Right.
35:21OK.
35:22The Catholic Church.
35:23Are you sure you don't want a few more Dibley clips?
35:25I'll do you two Dibleys for one Ted.
35:27Yes?
35:27No?
35:28OK.
35:28Suit yourself.
35:29In 1995, Father Ted introduced us to a less than holy trinity.
35:35Hello!
35:37Father Dougal Maguire here.
35:40And welcome to this week's Top of the Pops.
35:42And in at number 45 this week is Father Ted Crilly with I've Got the Power.
35:47And at number 15 for the 16th week in a row is Father Jack Hackett with I'm a Sleepy Priest.
35:54How did that gobshite get on the television?
35:58A lot of the characters in Father Ted are very childish.
36:01And, you know, I think that may be true of the priesthood.
36:07Oh, controversy.
36:08Um, you know, I think priests in the Catholic Church are possibly, you know, a bit like that.
36:17You know, there are certain areas of life close after them and, you know, perhaps in some cases, you know,
36:21some priests are kind of, they're emotionally, um, retarded.
36:26God, Dougal, you should have seen him.
36:29He's just a shadow of a sheep.
36:32You're not surprised, Ted.
36:33If I was a sheep, I'd be watching my back right now.
36:35Why?
36:39Because of the beast.
36:40They say it's as big as four cats and it's got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better.
36:46But you know what, Ted?
36:48It lights up at night and, uh, it's got four ears.
36:51Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears.
36:53And its claws are as big as cups.
36:56And for some reason, it's got a tremendous fear of stamps.
37:00Mrs. Doyle was telling me that it's got magnets on its tail.
37:03So as if you're made out of metal, it can attach itself to you.
37:06And instead of a mouth, it's got four arses.
37:10Dougal!
37:10It's a legend.
37:15It doesn't exist.
37:17Right, Ted.
37:18The way the Phantom of the Opera doesn't exist.
37:20The Phantom of the Opera doesn't exist.
37:21Look, I'm not going to get into this what does exist and what doesn't exist debate again.
37:25Okay?
37:26But I'm going to have to insist you add those last two examples to the chart.
37:29But, Ted, Dougal!
37:30Like Dougal's stupidity, I think he was there, I suppose, principally to undermine Ted.
37:44That was his job.
37:45And I think you'll find that throughout television history and throughout literature and so on.
37:49You know, that the fool is, you know, not quite the clever one,
37:53but certainly the one that undermines, you know, the bigger fool who doesn't know he's a fool.
37:57Okay, one last time.
38:02These are small, but the ones out there are far away.
38:16Small, far away.
38:21I forget it.
38:23Maybe Father Ted's happened to that a little.
38:25The fact that these three are three men who are largely fearful of women.
38:32Women.
38:34Where?
38:39And that they live together in a house with a woman who isn't, you know, isn't really a woman.
38:44She's a tea machine.
38:46Who's for tea?
38:48Me, please, Mrs Doyle.
38:49Tea!
38:50Fuck!
38:52I'm fine, Mrs Doyle.
38:54You won't have a cup.
38:55Ah, no, thanks, Mrs Doyle.
38:56Honestly, I won't have a cup.
38:57Are you sure now it's hot?
38:59No, I'm not in the mood.
38:59Thanks.
39:00All right, so.
39:02Agawam, would you not have a drop?
39:03No, thanks anyway, Mrs Doyle.
39:05Just a little cup.
39:05I'm fine.
39:05No, really.
39:06I'll tell you what, Father.
39:07I'm sorry.
39:08Seriously.
39:08Ah!
39:09Take a hand if you want.
39:11Now.
39:14And what do you say to a cup?
39:17Fake off, cup!
39:18Father Ted was surreal, but at least it was set on Earth.
39:24In Red Dwarf, writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor took sitcom one giant step further and put
39:29man in space.
39:31And not just any old man, no.
39:33Here was a curry-loving slob, an anally retentive hologram and a being descended from a cat, along
39:39with a morose computer and a pedantic robot servant.
39:43So nothing weird about that set-up, then.
39:47Shouldn't this plug into something?
39:49Oh, yeah, that joins up with the white cable.
39:51The white cable?
39:52Yeah.
40:04Or is it the yellow cable?
40:06I kind of thought it was like Steptoe and Son or Porridge and Space.
40:12It was about, um, it was about, you know, chaps who are stuck in an environment where
40:17they can't get away from each other and they don't particularly get on, you know.
40:20And it was sort of like a classic comedy, a classic situation.
40:24It was taken out of jail or taken out of a scrapyard and stuck on a spaceship three million
40:28years into the future, looking for the way home in a really hot curry.
40:31Go to blue alert.
40:33What for?
40:34There's no one too alert.
40:35We're all here.
40:36I would just feel more comfortable if I know that we're all on our toes because everyone's
40:40aware it's a blue alert situation.
40:42We all are on our toes.
40:44May I remind you of Space Corps Directive 34124?
40:4834124.
40:49No officer with false teeth should attempt oral sex in zero gravity.
40:56Damn you both!
40:57All the way to Hades.
40:58I want to go to blow alert.
40:59Okay, okay.
41:06Bit of professionalism.
41:07Wait.
41:08I've got something.
41:08I'm punching it up.
41:12It's so small for a vessel.
41:14Maybe some kind of missile.
41:15It's impossible to tell at this range.
41:17Whatever it is, they clearly have a technology way in advance of our own.
41:20It's all the Albanian State Washing Machine Company.
41:24Step up the red alert.
41:25Sir, are you absolutely sure?
41:27It does mean changing the bulb.
41:28It's character-based comedy, Red Dwarf, you know?
41:33I mean, it's how the list of characters would react to a situation is where the humour is.
41:37He's not there telling jokes, you know?
41:39He's jumping.
41:40Punchline.
41:40It's not like that, you know?
41:41It's about how the character would react.
41:44And which makes sitcoms funny to the fans and followers of that particular sitcom.
41:51More so than if you'd just switched it on.
41:53You'd think, why are they laughing at that?
41:56You have to know the character before you can laugh at how he'd react, you know?
42:00So that's why so many sitcoms go, by the way,
42:03because the characters aren't established quickly enough in the nation's consciousness.
42:10So the nation doesn't find them funny.
42:12You have to give a sitcom legs before you know if it's going to work or not.
42:17While Red Dwarf launched humans into outer space,
42:20recent BBC sitcom My Hero based in alien Superman in Northolt.
42:24Oh, there's Mrs Raven on the left, right?
42:33Hi, George.
42:34Been anywhere nice?
42:35Alice Springs, Bangladesh, Lima and Venice.
42:39It was a quiet night.
42:44George, you haven't, have you?
42:46Well, just a little something.
42:50Oh, George, it's very sweet of you,
42:53but you really don't have to bring me back a souvenir from every trip.
42:56Well, I actually think My Hero is a domestic sitcom in the classic British sitcom tradition.
43:05It's got the slight twist that there's an alien involved,
43:07but I actually think that's incredibly slight,
43:10and it's not really dwelled upon very much.
43:13Well, Janet's told me all about you,
43:15and not just the bad stuff.
43:16So, are you Irish?
43:21He wasn't sure last time.
43:22Yes, I am now, yes.
43:23Irish, born and bred.
43:25Killini, County Wicklow, September 1966.
43:28Parents, Patrick and Siobhan Sunday,
43:30Ni, O'Reardon.
43:31Sister, Bridget, brother, Eamon, dog, Danny boy.
43:33I entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992.
43:39Monks at the age of eight,
43:40measles at ten,
43:41first tell-tale signs of puberty at the age of...
43:43Well, in some ways,
43:47it's just really the most obvious example
43:51of putting someone from an alien environment into a sitcom.
43:55I mean, just to use an example from film, for example,
43:57you know, you drop Crocodile Dundee in New York,
44:00and, you know, that's kind of a very similar device.
44:03And I think most sitcoms do something similar.
44:05You know, you put somebody who's clearly not equipped
44:08to cope with the situation he's in,
44:11and you put him in that situation, or her.
44:13And, you know, it kind of works.
44:16So, you know, it's kind of obvious
44:18to really put someone from a different planet
44:20into those situations to see how they would react.
44:22But I think, ultimately, you know, the end is the same.
44:24The aim is the same.
44:25It's to, you know,
44:28gently satirise suburban manners.
44:32So, you know, in many ways, it's a comedy of manners.
44:35That'll be him.
44:36Now, just do as I do.
44:37And remember, no F-words.
44:39Don't tempt me.
44:40Dad!
44:40Come on in.
44:42Oh, thanks, son.
44:44Good to see you again.
44:47LAUGHTER
44:48It's good to see you too, Dad.
44:49LAUGHTER
44:50You must be George's artful one.
44:55Pleased to meet you.
44:57LAUGHTER
44:58And you, Mr Sunday.
45:01LAUGHTER
45:01So, over the last three weeks,
45:07we've looked at sitcoms about family,
45:09friends, workmates, soldiers, vicars and aliens.
45:12So, what's left?
45:14Yes.
45:15Old people.
45:16The nearly dead.
45:18Let's face it, there's nothing we like more
45:20than to ridicule those who pretty soon
45:22won't be able to answer us back.
45:24Yeah, that's right.
45:27You, dear.
45:28Do you want to see one foot in the grave?
45:32No, you're not being put in a grave.
45:35It's one foot in the...
45:36Oh, never mind.
45:38Just settle down in your walking bath.
45:41Yes.
45:42And put your bits away.
45:44Cos I can see them all from here.
45:46Like Hancock and Basil Fawlty before him,
45:50Victor Meldrew is a flawed, frustrated man
45:52battling against a hostile, deeply stupid planet.
45:56He is a man who has had early retirement thrust upon him.
45:59He is a man who, quite simply, doesn't believe it.
46:02I don't believe it.
46:04LAUGHTER
46:05You lazy bastards!
46:21Could you leave a murder out of the way first?
46:24The actual phrase, I don't believe it,
46:27was never written as a catchphrase.
46:30It appeared in scripts quite a lot, I suppose.
46:36But it was the public and the press who took it up,
46:41who made it into a catchphrase.
46:44And once they did,
46:47David Wenwick started to ration it
46:49so that there were less of them.
46:52Or you might get a half of one,
46:54like I don't be...
46:56or I do...
46:58So there was lots of little abbreviated ones.
47:03LAUGHTER
47:04LAUGHTER
47:04LAUGHTER
47:05LAUGHTER
47:06LAUGHTER
47:07I don't believe it!
47:13LAUGHTER
47:14LAUGHTER
47:15LAUGHTER
47:16LAUGHTER
47:17LAUGHTER
47:18LAUGHTER
47:19LAUGHTER
47:20LAUGHTER
47:21LAUGHTER
47:22LAUGHTER
47:23There are so many types of situation comedy, aren't there?
47:28I mean, you get the American situation comedy,
47:32like MASH, for example,
47:34which is one of my favourites,
47:36and that, to me, is an ideal situation comedy
47:39in the sense that it's very, very funny,
47:43but it's also treating a serious subject seriously.
47:47And that, I think, is very good,
47:51and I think that's what David Redenwick did with One Foot in the Grave,
47:54was one of the first British sitcoms, in a sense,
47:58to do serious matters within a situation comedy format.
48:03PHONE RINGS
48:04I've got so much of Northern Ireland and Scotland
48:06have been pretty cloudy from sunshine, haven't I?
48:08PHONE RINGS
48:09PHONE RINGS
48:114291
48:13Jean!
48:15How are you?
48:17No, no, no, just outside.
48:18Oh, you know, trying to bring a few wilting specimens back to life.
48:22LAUGHTER
48:23Uh-huh.
48:34I think I still have my number for that somewhere.
48:37Can you just bear with me?
48:38LAUGHTER
48:39Oh, my God!
48:57LAUGHTER
48:58Don't tell me I've reached that stage now.
49:02Victor and Margaret,
49:05I think the first thing you have to say about Victor and Margaret
49:09is that they were very much in love with each other.
49:12A lot of people asked Annette
49:16how she could stick with Victor,
49:19how Margaret could stay with him.
49:22But I think it was a marriage of dependency
49:24that neither of them could really exist on their own.
49:27And I think there are, although on the screen
49:31it may not have seemed a perfect marriage by any means,
49:35they needed each other.
49:37And when it came down to it, they did love each other.
49:40And the show couldn't have worked
49:43if it wasn't a show about the two of them.
49:45That was very, very important.
49:48One foot in the grave struck a chord with the British public.
49:51Victor railed against the ills of modern life
49:54and we could all sympathise.
49:56When it was announced that the series would end,
49:58few believed that Victor would finish the final episode
50:01with both feet in the grave.
50:03MUSIC PLAYS
50:05It had never been done in a sitcom before,
50:23I don't think.
50:25So it was a very bold move and a very daring one.
50:29And indeed, you were taking a national treasure off screens,
50:36never to be seen again.
50:39We killed him because there would be no speculation
50:42that he was dead and that was it.
50:45Now, of course, I get people saying,
50:48when there is another series of one foot in the grave,
50:50and I say, well, he's dead.
50:52And they say, yes, but when there is another series.
50:56But I don't think there will ever be any more.
51:06Victor Meldrew wasn't the only one growing old disgracefully.
51:10For the last 30 years,
51:11a trio of geriatric delinquents
51:13have been terrorising a small Yorkshire town.
51:21Our Last of the Summer Wine
51:23is a unique show.
51:27It is the longest-running situation comedy in the world.
51:32And every episode has been written over those 30 years
51:37by Roy Clarke.
51:38What are you doing, peering rancarders?
51:41Not so loud.
51:44It's a man assaulting a woman.
51:46Well, do something about it.
51:49I can't.
51:50I have not.
51:52He's not started yet.
51:53I think Roy is an observer.
51:59You know, sitting at the back of the bus,
52:01listening to the conversation in front of him.
52:03That sort of thing.
52:04And I think he saw
52:06a lovely way
52:09of making it work.
52:11Which was
52:12to have the three old men
52:15all think and behave
52:17like children.
52:21Here we go, then.
52:22Why aren't we moving?
52:29He's got his brakes on.
52:32Why have you got your brakes on?
52:34Because he's got his brakes on.
52:36Come on, let's go.
52:38If anybody asks me
52:39to describe the programme,
52:43I'd say,
52:44have you read
52:45Wind in the Willows?
52:47Last of the Summer Wine
52:48is Wind in the Willows.
52:51It's about ratty,
52:52mole,
52:53badger,
52:54toad.
52:55It's people
52:56living in a community
52:58which has absolutely
53:00nothing at all
53:01to do with the outside world.
53:02No, no,
53:03there's something
53:04that's all due together.
53:06Now, you watch
53:06for my sickle.
53:08Come on.
53:09Breaking detail.
53:10Ready,
53:11steady,
53:13go!
53:13In 1999,
53:17Roy had written this episode
53:20called About the Millennium.
53:22The end of that episode
53:23was where he and Frank,
53:28truly,
53:28and Clegg,
53:29me,
53:30stand together
53:31and he blows
53:32the last post.
53:33While we were filming that,
53:38Bill had,
53:40but didn't know
53:41he'd got,
53:43an incurable disease.
53:45When Bill died,
53:47we had already started
53:48into the series.
53:49We'd done some of them.
53:51And so they had to,
53:53so Compo had to die,
53:55which is very unusual
53:57for situation comedy.
53:59People don't die.
54:00They emigrate to Australia
54:01or something like that.
54:02Well, Compo couldn't do that,
54:04so Compo had to die.
54:06This is a first.
54:08He's never written
54:09to me before.
54:11He's never been
54:12so far away before.
54:13He really excelled himself.
54:15He came up
54:15with some wonderful stuff
54:17to do,
54:18which was so poignant,
54:20but so funny.
54:23It mixed them both,
54:24you know.
54:26And of course,
54:26to play it,
54:27we were,
54:27the characters,
54:29Clegg and Truly,
54:30were talking about
54:30the death of Compo,
54:31but there was Peter Sallis
54:32and Frank Thornton
54:33thinking about
54:34the death of Bill Owen.
54:35It was an extraordinary situation.
54:38He spelt Clegg
54:39with only one G.
54:41Just be thankful
54:42you're not Greek.
54:44Maybe he didn't have
54:45the strength for two Gs.
54:47Oh, give over.
54:48He never could spell.
54:50Well,
54:51not when he was alive,
54:52but somehow you expect
54:55dead people
54:56to spell better.
54:57He's gone there.
54:59Wait till I've had him
55:00for a while.
55:02I can't get used to him
55:04being dead.
55:05I know what you mean.
55:07Never seemed the type,
55:08did he?
55:10I mean,
55:10if he can die,
55:11nobody's safe.
55:12Even without Bill Owen,
55:15life in Last of the Summer Wine
55:17still goes on,
55:18as it has done
55:19for the past 30 years.
55:21Some people have asked me,
55:23did I ever think
55:24that it would last
55:25for 25 years
55:26or 26 years
55:27or 30 years?
55:28And my stock answer
55:29has always been yes.
55:30Oh, yes,
55:32I knew straight away
55:33that it would last
55:34for 25 years.
55:35And then I'd like
55:36to make a joke
55:37and say afterwards,
55:39what amazes me,
55:40of course,
55:41is that it's taken so long.
55:43It should give hope
55:44to those people
55:45who merely look forward
55:47to retirement
55:48as the end of everything.
55:50And then I'm just going
55:51to sit in the corner
55:52and watch a telly.
55:55No.
55:57This is the great thing
55:58about being an actor,
55:59you see.
56:00They don't want
56:01old ballet dancers.
56:02They don't want
56:03old singers.
56:04They do want
56:05old actors.
56:07So actors don't retire.
56:10We just drop down dead.
56:12Peter Sallis and I,
56:14we're both 81,
56:15you see,
56:15and we're still going.
56:18Still going.
56:19Cut.
56:19Very, very good.
56:21So, sitcom.
56:22I've been sitting here
56:23for the last three weeks
56:24and what do I think?
56:26Well,
56:27one,
56:28I like this sofa.
56:30Please,
56:30can I have it?
56:32No?
56:32Thank you very much,
56:33you stingy old bag.
56:35Number two,
56:36I think our sitcoms
56:37define us as individuals.
56:39I mean,
56:39I actually judge people
56:41by the sitcoms they like.
56:43For instance,
56:43if you don't like
56:44Fawlty Towers
56:45and Dad's Army,
56:45oh dear,
56:46I'm afraid I'm not able
56:47to be your friend.
56:48And I bet you'd probably
56:49do the same.
56:50I mean,
56:50you're thinking right this minute,
56:51well,
56:51she liked Sunnyside Farm.
56:53What a weird girl.
56:54And three,
56:56I think our sitcoms
56:57define us as a nation.
56:59I mean,
56:59let's face it,
56:59and I shall say this
57:01only once,
57:02we are a nation
57:03of lovely jubbly plonkers,
57:05stupid boys
57:06and silly moos,
57:07and dirty old men
57:08who go around
57:08saying,
57:09ooh,
57:09Betty,
57:09no,
57:10no,
57:10no,
57:10no,
57:10no,
57:10no,
57:11no,
57:11yes,
57:12sweetie darling,
57:12my arse,
57:13I don't believe it,
57:14don't tell him,
57:15Pike,
57:15don't mention the war,
57:16don't panic,
57:17I have a cunning plan,
57:18I'm free,
57:19oh,
57:19I can do that one,
57:20oh,
57:21that's good,
57:21that's very,
57:21very rewarding.
57:23Sitcoms are part of us,
57:24you see.
57:25This means,
57:26get it wrong in a sitcom,
57:28fail to make people laugh,
57:30and you've not just made
57:31a disappointing show,
57:32you've actually invaded
57:34the nation's living rooms,
57:35burnt a hole in the curtains
57:36and weed on the carpets.
57:38But get it right in a sitcom,
57:39make people laugh,
57:41and you're part of the family.
57:42And if you're Del
57:43and Rodney Trotter,
57:45you'll have more viewers
57:46than a royal wedding.
57:47Well,
57:47than Edward's wedding,
57:48anyway.
57:49So that's what I think.
57:50But then,
57:51what do I know?
57:52Cos I like this.
57:54I don't know,
57:55people around here
57:55seem to be getting
57:56stranger and stranger
57:57every day.
57:59Oh,
57:59well,
58:00come on,
58:00Avril.
58:12What is that
58:14little white dot?
58:17It's a sign,
58:19that little white dot.
58:20It means something
58:21really heavy.
58:23It means
58:24there's no more telly.
58:26So thank you.
Recommended
58:40
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