I believe this is one of the three David Jason sitcoms that the well-known actor refuses to let either be repeated or released on D.V.D ( with the other two being A Sharp Intake Of Breath and The Top Secret Life Of Edgar Briggs ). He stars as a man called 'Shorty Mempstead' who is woman shy and tries to woo an attractive girl named 'Kathleen'. Does it sound familiar to anyone?
Wasn't a fan of Edgar Briggs and found Intake of Breath quite average (despite a brilliant episode titled The Seven Year Hitch), so would be unsure how much I'd like this if I saw it.
Apparently he doesn't want it shown because he hates the raw way he looked in those shows ( this is what he said in an interview once ). Well he didn't object when the Doctor series or Hark At Barker ( in which he played 'Dithers', the 100 year old gardener ) was released. Okay, so he wasn't the lead in those shows but if he looked raw in his own shows, then surely to God he would look raw in these ones?
The love interest in the show was played by Cheryl Hall who was also in Citizen Smith's first two series
Three episodes have surfaced on the website of Dominic Frisby who is the son of the writer behind Lucky Feller. It's a decent sitcom which deserves to be released. It's similar in setup to Only Fools, but much in the farcical 70s sitcom mould. I've done a piece on it for my blog too.
Also did you know Cheryl Hall appeared in an On The Buses episode called The Epidemic?
Quote: Ben @ May 31 2013, 8:49 AM BSTThree episodes have surfaced on the website of Dominic Frisby who is the son of the writer behind Lucky Feller. It's a decent sitcom which deserves to be released. It's similar in setup to Only Fools, but much in the farcical 70s sitcom mould. I've done a piece on it for my blog too.
Fab find, thanks for that.
http://dominicfrisby.com/news/lucky-feller-the-unknown-sitcom
Sadly, not the only programme David Jason has vetoed repeats or commercial releases of.
Just watched two of the three episodes that are online. Although it's by no means a classic, it certainly stands up against some of its contemporaries and is very of its time in style and humour. I can't understand why David Jason wouldn't want to see it released, as in terms of his character it's not dissimilar to Granville in Open All Hours, quite sweet and innocent and living in the shadow of a bigger personality. The episodes I watched also featured some familiar faces in Burt Kwouk, Mike Grady (Barry in Last of the Summer Wine) and Saeed Jaffrey who has appeared in hundreds of shows and films and does have some reasonably funny moments. Although it pales in comparison to some of his later work, David Jason has nothing to be ashamed of here and it is sad that it is a show that is destined to be forgotten when in fact it should be an important part of ITV Comedy history.
Hopefully he'll remove his objections before that. It then depends on whether the veto passes to family. Dave Allen's material is unreleased years after his death because his family and agent still have the power to say 'no', and are aware he didn't like repeats or commercial material.
It was obviously some forward thinking on David Jason's part to get this 'power of veto' written into his contract. Not sure how common this practice was back then or even nowadays.
Quote: Ben @ May 31 2013, 10:10 PM BSTIt was obviously some forward thinking on David Jason's part to get this 'power of veto' written into his contract. Not sure how common this practice was back then or even nowadays.
After ten years, the station has to ask the star's permission to repeat the show. This is how James Bolam was able to veto The Likely Lads from being repeated and Martin Shaw vetoed The Professionals from being repeated.
Bloody hell! It's finally coming out on DVD:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/lucky_feller/buy/3979/lucky_feller_the_complete_series_dvd/
I'll be interested in seeing a bit more of this. I wonder if they'll be including the pilot episode as well? It's practically the same as the first episode proper, but with a few cast changes.
Ditto. A very exciting release. I'm currently awaiting further info on it from Network.
Quote: Dave @ 31st May 2013, 10:19 PM BSTAfter ten years, the station has to ask the star's permission to repeat the show. This is how James Bolam was able to veto The Likely Lads from being repeated and Martin Shaw vetoed The Professionals from being repeated.
Well I've learned something new. I'd always assumed the bulk of The Likely Lads must have been wiped back in the 'Nah, we've already shown it, tape over it' days. Whatever Happened To... seems to be repeated on a fairly regular basis on Gold and BBC Four.
Quote: DougWonnacott @ 20th June 2014, 12:42 PM BSTWell I've learned something new. I'd always assumed the bulk of The Likely Lads must have been wiped back in the 'Nah, we've already shown it, tape over it' days. Whatever Happened To... seems to be repeated on a fairly regular basis on Gold and BBC Four.
It was. Only 8 full-length episodes survive, compared to 12 missing.
Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads is only repeated now because objections have been lifted. The Likely Lads continues to be rarely repeated because TV channels are allergic to broadcasting black and white.
