Watching 'Fawlty Towers'

We've been watching 'Fawlty Towers' on the digital television channel 'GOLD.' I have seen this countless times and infact I saw it when it was originally broadcast on BBC2 in the mid 1970's. Since that time I can't say how many times I've seen all the episodes, but even then it matters not as it's so well written and performed it stands up to endless repeat viewings, considering it's age and the limitations of technology and such things as editing and set construction. As  a series it has been described as 12 of the best farces ever written. In that respect it can't be bettered. It also features heavily in polls when the public has to vote on their favourite television programme or sitcom.

What makes it such a successful situation comedy? It follows all the rules of a well-written sitcom. It is set in a closed setting, in this case a hotel. The characters are recognisable, with Basil as the owner and manager of the hotel (at the top of the hierarchical pile.) It has a definite class structure (again, Basil at the top) and below him the staff are further down the class pile. Basil looks down on those who are below him, or so he believes, and is an incredible snob as a result. It is set in a work-place, with the characters forced together. They wouldn't presumably meet if they met in the outside world. It is set firmly within the walls of the hotel and rarely departs from this setting. The set of the hotel is clearly defined and as such we, the viewer, have to know the layout, where the bar is, the reception desk, the dining room and the kitchen, which allows the machinations of the characters to work the way they do. It uses such tropes as deception, secrecy, misunderstandings and slapstick which have been used as devices in comedy for centuries. Basil Fawlty has an unhappy marriage. He's married to a dragon of a wife in Sybil. She's bossy and incredibly lazy. The rest of the cast play off these two central characters superbly; the maid/waitress, Polly (played by Connie Booth, and Manuel, the  Spanish waiter, played by Andrew Sachs.

The 1970's was a fertile period for sitcoms. Not just 'Fawlty Towers,' but 'The Good Life,' 'Last of The Summer Wine,' 'Porridge,' all on BBC television. Meanwhile, ITV had success with shows such as 'George and Mildred,' 'Robin's Nest,' 'On The Busses' and 'Mind Your Language.' Many of these shows would never have been produced today, due to the racist and sexist content of some of them. 'Last of The Summer Wine' ran for well over 40 years, making it the longest-running sitcom in the world. It couldn't  have survived much longer because most of the cast died. It seemed to be a bit repetitive. Only so many times you can have a group of old men sliding down a hillside in a tin bath, or at least doing crazy things and getting away with it. If anything, the show can't have harmed the Yorkshire tourist industry.

When I did some walk-on work on something or other, several years ago, but I'm not sure, but I think it was at either Pinewood Studios or Elstree, I spoke to one of the other walk-on's, as I always did when we were waiting to be called onto the set of whatever it was (there's always a lot of waiting about on these jobs, so you have lots of opportunities to talk to people.). This was a lady who had worked on Fawlty Towers as a 'stand-in/double' for one of the old ladies who are regular characters in the show, Miss Tibbs or Miss Gatsby, (Renee Roberts and Billy Flower). She was more likely a 'stunt double' during a scene where Basil Fawlty hits one of the around the head or something and they obviously couldn't have him hit either of the actresses as they were probably quite elderly at the time. You wouldn't know this if you watch that particular episode as its edited in cleverly so it's not obvious. But this actress gets a repeat every time Fawlty Towers is repeated. I'm not sure this would be when it's on GOLD as it's always on at some time or other.

Reviving Television Comedy

We're currently watching 'Still Open All Hours,' the BBC1 sitcom on Sunday evening. I'm not sure whether it's as good as the original. I don't see how it could be, without the brilliant Ronnie Barker. David Jason is alright, but who can forget him as the down-trodden Granville, Arkwright's nephew. Now he's running the shop, but it's not quite as amusing. It's got the feeling of 'Last of The Summer Wine', which is bound to happen, seeing as it's written by the same writer, Roy Clark, who also wrote 'Keeping Up Appearances.' It's even in the same slot in the schedules as 'Summer Wine.' That ran for goodness knows how long, something live 42 years and near enough 200 episodes, making it the longest running sitcom in the world. That had to come to an end because most of the actors died and it they kept recycling the storylines and towards the end became very predictable and cliched. There's so much you can do with a group of old men in a northern landscape (which was actually an important part of it's success as the actors or scripts) doing crazy things in tin baths sliding down hillsides, and old women with wrinkled stockings. 

In some ways 'Still Open All Hours,' doesn't really make sense, because in reality Arkwright's shop would have been taken over by a large supermarket chain such as Tesco or Sainsbury's. And Granville would have retired years ago. You just wouldn't run a corner shop the way it's portrayed. It's a bit of an anachronism. For all that, it does have a sort of gentle charm. Non-offensive, and anything that has David Jason in it is going to be something that gets good viewing figures. I suppose it has something to do with being nostalgic. For a time long-gone. As someone said, and I don't know who precisely, that 'nostalgia's not what it used to be.' A sort of cozy, non-existent past, where people actually talked to one another, a world without mobile phones, social media and self-serivice supermarket checkouts. We watched a few of the original 'Open All Hours' episodes on Gold and David Jason looks about 18, or even younger in it. He's come a long way since those episodes were made and it's surprising that he would want to return to this sort of thing. Once you've done a particular show, why return to it? They've opened it out a good deal more than it was in the original 1970s show as well as adding more characters. This episode has scenes set in Scarborough, which I recognise, having been there. It's understandable that they would open it out somewhat as it gives more possibilities for storylines and characters.  Watching it, and listening, it seems as if the audience laughter has been mixed in after the show was recorded. Why does the studio audience for these shows always sound as if they've been prerecorded and then added as a sort of afterthought? Just sounds fake to me. Why do they have a studio audience in the first place? I can understand in one respect, as it gives the actors a sort of sounding-board to play off, but do they think that without an audience cackling in the background, we, the home-audience, won't realise it's comedy and so not get the gags and jokes? 

They did a series of one-off comedy revivals a few years ago, to mark the 60th anniversary of 'Hancock's Half Hour' transferring to BBC television, with the idea that they could revive some of them as complete series. One was a revamped version of 'Porridge.' (yet another former Ronnie Barker vehicle in the 1970's.) as well as a prequel to 'Keeping Up Appearances' which had Hyacinth Bouquet as a teenager. Another, a revival of 'Are You Being Served,' which was, frankly, really awful and unfunny. As it is, the original version of 'Are You Being Served' wouldn't pass the political correctness brigade, and certainly wouldn't be made today in the same sort of style. A bit like a lot of Benny Hill's shows or even 'Mind Your Language' or many other 1970's comedies, including 'Till Death Us Do Part.'

Unfortunately all this 'reviving' television comedy shows a complete lack of imagination and laziness on behalf of the television executives in charge of the various channels. Why not simply develop fresh stuff? Just commission a set of pilot scripts as they did in the 1960's with 'Comedy Playhouse,' which is where such shows as 'Steptoe and Son' originated and then, if those one-off pilots are a success, then make them into full series. 

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and other great British Television Drama

We've been avidly watching the B.B.C. Television adaptation of the Susanna Clarke novel "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell." I have to say that when I had first heard that this was to be adapted for television I had reservations, but now we are into the fourth episode of a seven-part adaptation, I am more than pleased with the result. I enjoyed the novel, and read it when it first came out in 2004. It is a weighty novel, the original hardback edition is some 780 pages long. When it eventually appeared in paperback I noted at the time that it was published in two volumes in a slip-case. I was concerned that if it was made into a film it would be condensed considerably to fit into a reasonable running time. Which is why it works best as a seven-part television adaptation as it allows for the story and the characters adequate space to develop. The special effects don't detract from the rest of the drama and are used sparingly and don't look, like a lot of computer generated effects in television and film, as if they've been stuck onto the film rather like using Photoshop and seems to fit in very well. In 'Doctor Who' (the revised version which began in 2005.) many of the C.G.I. effects, particularly many of the alien creatures, look 'stuck on' and very fake and not very scary. (I have to admit to being a 'Doctor Who' fan and saw the very first episode when it was first transmitted back in 1963. I have enjoyed the reincarnation of the show, but for some reason it just doesn't have the magic of the original. Those stories may have been somewhat 'low-tech', having very unconvincing sets, wobbly or otherwise, but the stories were always 'edge-of-the seat.' You always wondered where the Tardis would end up in the next stories when the good Doctor and his companions left at the end of each story and it was a surprise when they ended up on some weird and wonderful planet or different historic time and then meet the alien or lifeform that lived there. Spending more on the new Doctor Who episodes don't always mean that the stories or monsters will be better. In some cases the new stories are just not up to standard.) Back to "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell." The setting is totally convincing. For once someone has spent time and effort with the dialogue and it sounds genuine. It seems that when they adapt a classic novel the dialogue which is used doesn't always sound convincing. In fact, in some other types of drams, particularly science fiction and fantasy, the dialogue is really awful. It's a wonder the actors can bear to speak such utter drivel. A good example is "Atlantis." Some of the dialogue in that was really poor. It's no wonder this series was cancelled.

I love British television drama. So we've seen a bumper crop of really excellent home-grown productions recently and the sort of shows that you want to tune into week after week and keep you guessing what is going to happen next with the characters and storylines. One of these series was called "In The Club" which is yet another excellent show written and created by Kay Mellor who always seems to come up with brilliant ideas. It's set around a group of women and their partners who are pregnant and each week we see the trials and tribulations of their lives leading up to the birth of their babies in the same hospital's maternity ward. Another Kay Mellor-scripted series is "The Syndicate." I haven't seen any of the earlier series of this series, which tells of the different groups of characters who's lives are changed with lottery wins. This one features Lenny Henry who seems to be making a career change from comedy to more serious acting roles. Yorkshire seems to be the location of a whole range of dramas (including the previously-mentioned "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.") Over the years we've had "Heartbeat", "Last of The Summer Wine" and of course the Granada Television series of "Brideshead Revisited"  which was filmed there, particularly the central location at Castle Howard. I suppose it does provide a very wide range of locations. Scarborough in particular is used a great deal and features in the new series of "The Syndicate." "Downton Abbey" is supposed to be set there, but is actually filmed at Highclere Castle in the south of England. The locations for the fictional Downton village is filmed in the Oxfordshire village of Bamford. We began watching "Downton Abbey" when it was originally shown but gave up because it had so many commercials in it that it was ruining our enjoyment of the show. I realise it's the advertising which pays for commercial television, but having ads every ten minutes or so for sofas and stupid car insurance really drove us mad at one point. So it was fortunate that we can currently watch this series from the first episode through download from Sky and watch without the interruption of the confounded adverts. I suppose as regards earning money from advertising this isn't such a good idea for I.T.V., but from the perspective of the viewer who has to endure the adverts which breaks up the shows it's a godsend.

We are enjoying 'Downton Abbey.' I have to say, though, that the stories revolving around the 'downstairs' characters are far more interesting than those of the 'upstairs' characters. The Hugh Bonneville character is somewhat wooden. Although it's supposed to be set in Yorkshire, there is absolutely no feeling at all that it's set anywhere in particular. Some of the characters mention places in Yorkshire, but you don't see anything at all that might suggest 'Yorkshire,' nothing of the scenery of landscape. They have used that village in Oxfordshire which I have mentioned earlier supposedly because it has houses that are made of a similar stone to that you find used in buildings in Yorkshire, but I don't get any feeling of 'Yorkshire.' The best character is that played by Dame Maggie Smith who seems to get all the best lines and a lot of the humour revolves around her character. We visited a National Trust property recently, Basildon Park, which is used for a lot of the interiors in 'Downton Abbey' and it seems that another National Property, Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, is used for the interiors of another of the fictional houses in the series.

Another drama series which we have enjoyed considerably has been "Last Tango In Halifax.' Again, it's set in Yorkshire. In fact we have had holidays in this part of Yorkshire and stayed on one occasion in a rented house not far from where this series is filmed, in a small town called Cowling. The plot, if you didn't watch it, revolves around Celia and Alan, who are re-united after 50-plus years. At age 16, Alan's late wife failed to pass on his letter with apology for missing their first date and forwarding address. Both now have daughters with their own relationship problems. Derek Jacobi plays Alan and Anne Reid plays Celia. It also stars Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker. The series is written by Sally Wainwright and apparently it is based loosely on real events and situations. The series started in November 2012 and has now reached it's third series.

Yet another series we've seen is called "Ordinary Lies" which is set in and around  .J.S. Motors. Each episode tells a story from the angle of each of the central characters and how they tell lies to get out of a situation and how such lies causes problems for themselves and those around them. For example, the first episode revolves around Marty, one of the company's salesman, who is late for work consistently and then makes up the story that his wife has died. He is played by Jason Manford, not known for playing parts in television drama. It also stars Sally Lindsay, Mackenzie Crook (best known for his appearances in 'The Office' and the film 'Pirates of The Caribbean.'), Jo Joyner (EastEnders), Rebecca Callard, Max Beesley and Michelle Keegan (another former 'Coronation Street' actor.) It is written by Danny Brocklehurst.

Later episodes centre around the other characters. One is about receptionist Tracy who gets involved with fellow receptionist Viv when they get immured in a drug-trafficking charge into the Dominican  Republic when they go on holiday abroad.