"Come Back Mrs. Noah" (1977) TV series 1977-1978

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

17 July 1978 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A 21st century British housewife wins a visit to Britain's new space station but accidentally gets stranded up in orbit on board it with its motley crew.

Cast

Mollie Sugden	...	Mrs. Gertrude Noah (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Ian Lavender	...	Clive Cunliffe (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Donald Hewlett	...	Carstairs (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Michael Knowles	...	Fanshaw (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Ann Michelle	...	Scarth Dare (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Joe Black	...	Garstang (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Jennifer Lonsdale	...	The Technician (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Gorden Kaye	...	Nicky Manson (6 episodes, 1977-1978)
Tim Barrett	...	Garfield Hawk (5 episodes, 1978)

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The Britannia 7 space wheel (callname X-Ray Tip-Top) accidentally blasts off from the Pontefract International Space Complex (PISC) on Wednesday 22nd June 2050.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Funny Women: Mollie Sugden (#3.1)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Come Back Mrs. Noah

'Are You Being Served' In Outer Space?

I read an article in 'Dreamwatch' magazine a good few years back which included the lines; "Science fiction and comedy are difficult to mix. For every 'Red Dwarf', there are about ten 'Come Back Mrs.Noahs'. At which point I fell on the floor laughing. "Come Back Mrs.Noah' wasn't intended to be science fiction comedy! I'm sure Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft would be the first to admit that.

The premise is this; Mollie Sugden plays 'Mrs.Gertrude Noah', a prize-winning housewife on a tour of a British space station ( ! ). Unfortunately, there's an accident and said station is blasted out of orbit, beginning a course that will take it out of the Solar System. Rescue is, for the moment, impossible. Also on board are two scientists played by Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett, and Ian Lavender as a news reporter.

The humour is crude and coarse; for instance, when in the first episode Mrs.Noah becomes weightless, the ship's computer advises her to propel herself forward by means of expelling natural body gas. Farting, in other words. Instead she takes a bottle of perfume from her handbag and uses that to do the same. If 'Grace Brothers' had been a space station instead of a department store, this is what it would have been. But what do you expect from Lloyd and Croft?

There were also a number of scenes back on Earth with Tim Barrett as the harassed head of the British space exploration centre and Ann Michelle as his sexy assistant. Spoof news broadcasts read by Gorden Kaye prefaced each edition. Great comedy? Absolutely not! But its not as half as bad as F.Gwynplaine McIntyre makes out. I think we should be allowed to see it for ourselves so we can make up our own minds. Besides, after the fiasco of 'Hyperdrive', could anything possibly be worse?