"Comedy Playhouse" (1961) TV series 1961-1975

Creators:

A.J. Bacon
Neil Munro

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

Release Date:

15 December 1961 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Partially Lost TV Series

Cast

Frank Thornton	...	Captain Stephen Peacock / ... (6 episodes, 1962-1973)
Ronald Fraser	...	Anold / ... (5 episodes, 1962-1974)
Bernard Cribbins	...	Ambrose Twombly / ... (5 episodes, 1962-1970)
Warren Mitchell	...	Alf Ramsey / ... (5 episodes, 1961-1972)
John Le Mesurier	...	Caleb Bullrush / ... (5 episodes, 1963-1973)
Yootha Joyce	...	Lil Wilson / ... (4 episodes, 1963-1973)
Peter Jones	...	Clive / ... (4 episodes, 1962-1974)
Pat Coombs	...	Café Server / ... (4 episodes, 1963-1969)
Graham Stark	...	Cyril Bradley / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1964)
Richard Caldicot	...	Clanders / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1969)
June Whitfield	...	June Fletcher / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1974)
Wilfrid Brambell	...	Albert Steptoe / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1965)
John Junkin	...	Harold King / ... (3 episodes, 1965-1971)
Derek Francis	...	Harold Harbinger / ... (3 episodes, 1964-1972)
Alfred Marks	...	Mr. Oldenshaw / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1974)
Betty Marsden	...	Marcia Honeywell / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1972)
Harry H. Corbett	...	Ernest 'Ern' Conway / ... (3 episodes, 1962-1975)
James Beck	...	Johnny / ... (3 episodes, 1963-1972)
Dermot Kelly	...	Edwin Russell / ... (3 episodes, 1963-1967)
Harry Locke	...	AA Man (3 episodes, 1963-1965)
Derek Nimmo	...	Mr. Thornton / ... (3 episodes, 1963-1970)

Runtime:

UK:30 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Many episodes of this series are no longer extant. Please check your attic.

Soundtrack:

Happy Joe

Square one for many classics

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Not well known, but it should be, 'Comedy Playhouse' was a show that showed a sitcom pilot every week. Most of these pilots were just pilots, but some pilots became some of the most brilliant British Sitcoms of all time.

It kicked off with Galton and Simpson's 'Clicquot et Fills' starring Eric Sykes and Warren Mitchell (Mitchell would play his most famous role as a result of a Comedy Playhouse pilot, the infamous Alf Garnett). The fourth episode, titled 'The Offer' turned out to be the pilot of Galton and Simpson's best work 'Steptoe and Son' In the fourth series, Johnny Speight's 'Till Death us do Part' turned up as a pilot, which would be a massive show and with spin-offs etc. would go on till 1992. Though Alf Garnett was called Alf Ramsey (the name of the England football manager) in the pilot and his wife Else wasn't played by the great Dandy Nichols, but Gretchin Franklin. The first two episodes in series five would result in big rating successes when the respective series got commissioned, the first being 'The Bishop Rides Again' with led to 'All Gas and Gaiters' the second being Wolfe and Chesney's 'Beggar My Neighbour' starring future 'On the Buses' star Reg Varney. Series seven saw the pilot episode for Wolfe and Chesney's just about pre 'On the Buses' sitcom 'Wild Wild Women' which was basically a remake of their massive hit 'The Rag Trade' but set in Edwardian times. Series 8 began with 'The Liver Birds' which again was a series that had a very long run and ended with Frankie Howerd's most memorable series, 'Up Pompeii' The shocking murder of Israeli Athletes at the 1972 Olympic games led to chaos in the BBC's schedule, so a couple of Comedy Playhouse pilots were put on that were meant to be shown later that year, one of these being the first outing for Croft and Lloyd's high innuendo sitcom 'Are you Being Served' The first episode of series twelve titled 'Of Funerals and Fish' bought us to Holmfirth for the first time. The pilot was the opening episode of Roy Clarke's 'Last of the Summer Wine' which is still running to this day, thirty-five years on. The fourth episode of series thirteen was 'Happy Ever After' which of course lasted for many series and was then spun-off into the very memorable 'Terry and June' Series thirteen was the last series, ending with PG Wodenhouse's 'The Reverent Wooling of Archibald'

So, a lot of successful sitcoms were as a result of this series. The first two series were written solely by script-writing legends Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Then other writers contributed scripts. Most interestingly is the writing partnership of Vince Powell and Harry Driver who wrote scores of scripts for ITV. But in this series, they did contribute scripts, but not together. Powell wrote two episodes with Frank Roscoe and Driver wrote three episodes with the great Jack Rosenthal. A great, sadly and criminally forgotten series. 'Have you ever heard of Steptoe and Son?', 'Yes, of course I have', 'Have you ever heard of the show that gave it its pilot, Comedy Playhouse', 'No' Best Episode: The Offer, Series 1 episode 4: The pilot of Steptoe and Son.