To The Manor Born
- TV sitcom
- BBC One
- 1979 - 2007
- 22 episodes (3 series)
Riches-to-rags-to-riches romantic tale of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her beloved stately home to pay off her late husband's debts. Stars Penelope Keith, Peter Bowles, Angela Thorne, Gerald Sim, John Rudling and more.
- Series 1, Christmas Special repeated tomorrow at 8:30pm on BBC4
Streaming rank this week: 3,097
To The Manor Born trivia
At the time of the original series' production, the Cricket St. Thomas estate - the location for Grantleigh - was owned by the father-in-law of creator and writer Peter Spence, a Mr Taylor.
The final episode of the series proper, broadcast in November 1981, attracted a record-breaking audience of 24 million. This figure was not surpassed by any other single sitcom episode until the Only Fools And Horses Christmas trilogy of 1996. It is still one of the highest rated British sitcom episodes of all time.
Peter Penry-Jones, who plays Julian Gayforth in the last two episodes, is the real life husband of Angela Thorne (Marjory).
The Lodge, which appears to be a short distance from Grantleigh Manor, is in actual fact approximately a mile away from the house. The effect of their close proximity was achieved with fake gateposts in a number of key scenes.
A To The Manor Born film was announced by Rank in 1980, but never went into production as the company withdrew from producing movies.
Peter Spence was in fact married in the estate's church, also as seen in the series.
To The Manor Born began as a radio sitcom pilot in 1968. Unaired, it starred Penelope Keith and Bernard Braden.