British Comedy Guide
The Many Faces Of.... Copyright: Green Inc Film And Television
The Many Faces Of...

The Many Faces Of...

  • TV documentary
  • BBC Two
  • 2009 - 2016
  • 14 episodes (3 series)

Comedy actors look back at their career, with archive footage and testimony from friends and colleagues. Features Sally Phillips.

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The Many Faces Of June Whitfield

Comedy actress June Whitfield tells her own story, from her early days in the West End to her successful sitcom career.

Further details

June Whitfield

Comedy actress June Whitfield tells her own story, from her early days in the West End working with Noel Coward, her ill-fated Broadway debut, and with the help of rarely seen archive, her fifty plus years of impeccable comedy performances on radio and TV. She also offers insights into her onscreen relationship with Terry Scott and the secret behind her continuing success.

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 29th December 2009
Time
9pm
Channel
BBC Two
Length
60 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Sally Phillips Narrator
Guest cast
June Whitfield Self
Jon Plowman Self
Suzy Aitchison Self
Miriam Karlin (as Miriam Karlin OBE) Self
Sylvia Syms (as Sylvia Syms OBE) Self
Denis Norden (as Denis Norden CBE) Self
Nicholas Parsons (as Nicholas Parsons OBE) Self
John Kane Self
Enyd Williams Self
Production team
Graeme Hart Director
Graeme Hart Producer
Stephen Stewart Executive Producer
Alan Tyler Executive Producer
Greg Darby Editor

Press

As safe as houses

People giggled when I said I was going to be reviewing The Many Faces of June Whitfield. What was it? The mismatch between the fusty bombast of the first half of the title and the slightly parochial connotations of the subject? Would the name June Whitfield have done it on its own - as a marker of a very Middle English type of comedy - or did it need the mildewed showbiz-bio description as well? It is, you'd have to admit, the kind of title that keys you up for a spoof. It's got something of "Balham - Gateway to the South" about it, an association that wasn't exactly dispelled by the opening line of the voiceover: "For more than 60 years, one woman has been at the beating heart of British comedy". But while Steve Coogan - the Inside Story took the very wise precaution of sending itself up now and then, The Many Faces of June Whitfield was played absolutely in earnest. Tongue and cheek never met once as a parade of approbatory clichés ("consummate professional", "pin-sharp timing", "joy to write for") filed past. If this documentary had been a person it would have been wearing a Pringle sweater and a silk cravat, just as Nicholas Parsons was, in fact, when he popped up to hymn June's indispensability to the string of top-of-the-bill comics she'd worked with.

Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent, 30th December 2009

Latterly remembered for looking vaguely appalled as Terry Scott's deckchair collapsed, or for some deliciously acid exchanges in Ab Fab ("In this body there is a thin person dying to get out." "Just the one, dear?"), there's more to June Whitfield than just a succession of second fiddles. Covering her West End debut during the Blitz, to her postwar heyday (Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd) and beyond, this is a charming celebration of her career.

Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 29th December 2009

If you're of an age where June Whitfield is best known for playing Jennifer Saunder's mum in Absolutely Fabulous, or even as "that woman from Doctor Who". This is a lovely insight into the Queen Mum of Comedy (Victoria Wood, you may remember from last Monday, already has the title of the Queen of Comedy).

June takes us on this trip down her memory lane. She made her West End debut during the Blitz and became a household name in the 1950s radio comedy Take It From Here, which at its peak attracted 22 million listeners.

But to many she will always be Terry Scott's long-suffering wife in Terry And June. Prior to the documentary is another chance to see the 1985 Christmas special of that show and also relive the moment Michael Aspel surprised June with the big red book in This Is Your Life. And at 10pm is an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, a term that could have been coined to describe June herself.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 29th December 2009

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