"Hardwicke House" (1987) TV series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

24 February 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

School

Cast

Kevin Allen	...	Slasher Bates (2 episodes, 1987)
Pam Ferris	...	Cynthia Crabbe (2 episodes, 1987)
Liz Fraser	...	Agnes (2 episodes, 1987)
Tony Haygarth	...	Harry Savage (2 episodes, 1987)
Roy Kinnear	...	R G Wickham (2 episodes, 1987)
Cindy Marshall-Day	...	Donna (2 episodes, 1987)
Mick O'Donoughue	...	Ernie (2 episodes, 1987)
Duncan Preston	...	Moose Magnusson (2 episodes, 1987)
Gavin Richards	...	Dick Flashman (2 episodes, 1987)
Granville Saxton	...	Herbert Fowl (2 episodes, 1987)
Roger Sloman	...	Paul Mackintosh (2 episodes, 1987)
Paul Spurrier	...	Spotty (2 episodes, 1987)
Nick Wilton	...	Peter Philpott (2 episodes, 1987)

Runtime:

30 min (7 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Central Independent Television

Trivia:

Although seven episodes were made, only two were broadcast (the 60-minute premiere and one 30-minute episode) on consecutive nights. Due to extreme press and public reaction to its anarchic content, the series was pulled from the schedules and has never been shown since.

A real oddity - don't expect to see it again...

This anarchic, no-holds-barred explosion of bad taste, humiliation, sick jokes, physical slapstick and hilarious comic cruelty was way, way ahead of its time. Made by the Central company for the ITV network, Hardwicke House burst into the early evening schedules like an extremely potent stinkbomb with a hysterical hour-long opening episode that introduced us to the unruly pupils, horrible staff and general insanity of this comprehensive school from Hell. However, the mayhem was a little too strong for some sensitive souls to take, and the resulting public outcry that greeted this and the second episode (screened the following evening, if memory serves) was so hysterical that Central quickly pulled the programme from the schedules, issued an apology and promised that the series would return at a later date, and in a later timeslot. Sadly, some high-ups in the business put paid to that by demanding that all the tapes be wiped, an almost unprecedented move that literally removed Hardwicke House from existence, forever. As more recent sitcoms such as the BBC's 'School' and ITV's 'The Grimleys' have proved, Hardwicke House was quite simply ahead of its time, and it's sad that it was never given the chance to rise above its controversial origins.