The Sun Trap

Anybody seen this 1980s David Nobbs sitcom?

The reason I ask is this. I went to an exhibition today headed by Nobbs. At the end, I got my Reggie Perrin boxset signed by him and I asked him about this sitcom. He told me that once he'd created Perrin, he was in a position to do whatever he wanted for the BBC. So he came up with this sitcom. He came up with the idea as he knew people who were amongst the first wave of Brits to go and live abroad. He went to visit them. At night in the bar when they were all pissed, they told him under no circumstances move to Spain. "It's rubbish, never rains, not a decent lawn from Malaga to Madrid, never get a workman out when you need then etc." Then the next day at the pool when they were sober they told him "Come over to Spain. So much better than England. All it does it rain. Not a decent lawn North of Watford. Can't get a workman out when you need him."

The problem was nobody in Britain could relate to it. Had it been a sitcom about dodgy Spanish plumbing it would have got a lot more laughs. As a result, it was the worst viewed sitcom on the BBC ever at the time of broadcasting (apart from in Guernsey, where many viewers there could understand it). It got me thinking, it was probably well ahead of its time. It would probably be a lot better received today and could be one of the forgotten gems of sitcom. Shame really that we'll never know as it's highly unlikely to get a DVD release, let alone a repeat.

However, The Sun Trap aside, I really enjoyed my meeting of David Nobbs today. Fascinating man who told some outstanding anecdotes.

Sounds like Benidorm.

Nobbs had a similar 'blank cheque' offer from the Beeb in the mid-90s and came up with The Legacy of Reggie Perrin. I got it on bootleg in 2004, saw it all at once (three hours). Not bad, but far too 'gentle', and had a lot of Geoffrey Palmer, as was pretty much the main character (and you can't have enough of GP). Goodness knows what people unfamiliar with the original series thought of it.

Quote: Jack Massey @ September 10 2011, 11:31 PM BST

Anybody seen this 1980s David Nobbs sitcom?

The reason I ask is this. I went to an exhibition today headed by Nobbs. At the end, I got my Reggie Perrin boxset signed by him and I asked him about this sitcom. He told me that once he'd created Perrin, he was in a position to do whatever he wanted for the BBC. So he came up with this sitcom. He came up with the idea as he knew people who were amongst the first wave of Brits to go and live abroad. He went to visit them. At night in the bar when they were all pissed, they told him under no circumstances move to Spain. "It's rubbish, never rains, not a decent lawn from Malaga to Madrid, never get a workman out when you need then etc." Then the next day at the pool when they were sober they told him "Come over to Spain. So much better than England. All it does it rain. Not a decent lawn North of Watford. Can't get a workman out when you need him."

The problem was nobody in Britain could relate to it. Had it been a sitcom about dodgy Spanish plumbing it would have got a lot more laughs. As a result, it was the worst viewed sitcom on the BBC ever at the time of broadcasting (apart from in Guernsey, where many viewers there could understand it). It got me thinking, it was probably well ahead of its time. It would probably be a lot better received today and could be one of the forgotten gems of sitcom. Shame really that we'll never know as it's highly unlikely to get a DVD release, let alone a repeat.

However, The Sun Trap aside, I really enjoyed my meeting of David Nobbs today. Fascinating man who told some outstanding anecdotes.

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Sounds like a terrific day!

Yes, I'm sure 'The Sun Trap' is good, would love to see it. Watching 'Fairly Secret Army' at the moment, semi-forgotten C4 Nobbs sitcom also starring Geoffrey Palmer. Excellent stuff.

I remember this, I thought it was good.

One thing I found out later was that, in the show there was a joke about some of the ex-pats nephew hitching a lift to their villa from the airport. They were not to know that sticking your thumb out to the locals meant the same as sticking up two fingers back home.

This is actually the case in some south european countries.

I was beginning to think that I had imagined 'The Sun Trap' until I came across this website. I don't know anyone who either remembers watching it or who even remembers thinking, "that was rubbish...didn't watch that," or words to that general effect.

More than 35 years on, I can't now remember any of the storylines. But the catchphrases have stayed with me ("There aren't many of us left"; Absolutely"; "I made a cock-up of the symbols and forecast deep snowdrifts in the Irish Sea"; and my favourite, "Let's have some drinkingtons", which I still say occasionally).

Reading the posts about it, a bit of inverted snobbery kicks in: I am quite proud of the fact that I was part of BBC1's worst-ever audience for a comedy. I watched every episode, although I do seem to recall getting a sense at the time that it did drift a bit towards the end, which would seem consistent with the comments about low cast morale during the latter stages of the recordings. But equally, that could be my memory playing tricks on me; I was right in the middle of my adolescence in 1980 and would have had lots of other things on my mind.

That having been said, it must at the very least have raised a few smiles for me to stick with it, although the fact that (as far as I know) it's never been repeated speaks volumes about its lack of success. I am sure, though, that it could stand a late-night repeat on BBC4, if only for curiosity value...

Quote: John from Leicestershire @ 13th June 2016, 7:46 PM BST

I was beginning to think that I had imagined 'The Sun Trap' until I came across this website. I don't know anyone who either remembers watching it or who even remembers thinking, "that was rubbish...didn't watch that," or words to that general effect.

More than 35 years on, I can't now remember any of the storylines. But the catchphrases have stayed with me ("There aren't many of us left"; Absolutely"; "I made a cock-up of the symbols and forecast deep snowdrifts in the Irish Sea"; and my favourite, "Let's have some drinkingtons", which I still say occasionally).

Reading the posts about it, a bit of inverted snobbery kicks in: I am quite proud of the fact that I was part of BBC1's worst-ever audience for a comedy. I watched every episode, although I do seem to recall getting a sense at the time that it did drift a bit towards the end, which would seem consistent with the comments about low cast morale during the latter stages of the recordings. But equally, that could be my memory playing tricks on me; I was right in the middle of my adolescence in 1980 and would have had lots of other things on my mind.

That having been said, it must at the very least have raised a few smiles for me to stick with it, although the fact that (as far as I know) it's never been repeated speaks volumes about its lack of success. I am sure, though, that it could stand a late-night repeat on BBC4, if only for curiosity value...

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Welcome to the forums.

I had forgotten that I wrote the guide to this show for this site and that Jimmy Gilbert suggested this idea to David Nobbs. I'd also forgotten the following:

'Unusually, the first episodes were transmitted whilst filming was still taking place, and this allowed cast and crew members to gauge public reactions. Sadly the dismal viewing figures and poor critical reaction which the show received, meant that filming on the final episodes concluded with morale severely damaged.'

Must have been a tough experience for all concerned.

Sorry for the gastropod-like delay in responding: and thank you.

Yes, everything in these posts just serves to reinforce the points about the programme's spectacular lack of success: and having myself in the past been part of a demoralised workforce, I can (I think) identify with how those involved must have felt.

I think also that the suggestion that it may have been ahead of its time is valid: anyone who has holidayed in Spain recently could testify to the fact that there is a substantial number of British expats there today - I suspect a lot more than there were in 1980 - so maybe the programme would be better received now.

During the time between my posts on this forum, I tried a search on YouTube to see if anyone had posted any videos of 'The Sun Trap'. Whilst I won't pretend that the search was extensive (no more than 5-10 minutes), I drew a complete blank. I won't hold my breath for a DVD release anytime soon.

I have, however, brought one of the catchphrases up to date (and it's catching on in the office where I work). If I have had a couple of shandies over the weekend, this has now become known as 'binge drinkingtons'; so in a small way, 'The Sun Trap' does live on...