Quote: beaky @ 31st July 2022, 10:21 AMMy brother in law has worked with him and confirms what everyone says - he's a lovely man and a delight to work with.
Yet he constantly said he was a failure
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em Page 13
Really? how strange!
Well that went down like a lead balloon ...............The character, not him personally. Sorry I was vague
Sad to hear about Raymond Allen. Can't believe he never wrote another sitcom after the success of Some Mothers. Did he have any involvement with the Sport Relief sketch a few years ago?
It's being rerun on Drama 6.40pm daily for anyone else who's had withdrawal symptoms since the the Beeb stopped its annual repeats of it and it's as wonderful as it ever was.
Its old school artificiality only adds to its charm now because it is so different to the dour realism of so called sitcoms made today. I mean who else could find the only hotel in England made of cardboard to spend a night in and wreck.
Quote: Sitcomfan64 @ 5th October 2022, 3:21 PMSad to hear about Raymond Allen. Can't believe he never wrote another sitcom after the success of Some Mothers.
I'm fairly sure that was at least partly to do with him being the real life model for his great Frank Spencer, maybe not as much with the chaos he caused but more with his lack of self confidence.
Only just finished my box-set, as it happens
The only episode I don't like is episode two - George's House
Especially the guy who plays George, he should have been shot for that display of terrible over acting
Plus, I think the script for this episode was the reason Norman Wisdom turned it down
All that head down the toilet business
Fully in agreement with you on that one. Bloody awful episode
Blimey I have that down as one of the classics, certainly of the early series. The fact he causes such full on chaos in ep 2 is a great eye opener for what's to come.
One of my favourite moments of the whole series is in this one, when Betty looks out of the window to see Frank stuck up a tree. Frank what are you doing up there? Gold dust.
Ooooh, Betty! Cat's done a whoopsie... That was my Frank Spencer impersonation. Good, isn't it?
Dunno if it's been mentioned in this thread already, but apparently Frank only actually said "ooh Betty" in one episode, but people think of it as his catchphrase because it was the 'go-to' line for people like Mike Yarwood (and more recently Mike Monkhouse) when doing an impression.
I read about that, too. Seems kinda strange he'd hardly ever use her name though.
Aw, found the level, have we?... I do Jasper Carrott too.
I feel this show doesn't get the credit it richly deserves and one of the reasons was the endless stream of naff, lazy comedians and impressionists who would dress up as Frank and just parrot hmmm Betty and woopsie etc etc
Like that was basically what this show boiled down to
It's a superb sitcom, probably top ten of all time, and Michael Crawford was absolutely hilarious
I agree. What the impressions all missing is Frank's sincerity. He isn't a buffoon. He makes mistakes and gets onto scrapes, but almost always it is because of his devotion to his wife.Look at the most famous stunt. That only happens because he is rollerskating to try and entertain the two girls. He's an innocent in a world of cynics.