Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse[1] is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 128 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010. In all, 27 sitcoms started from a pilot in the Comedy Playhouse strand.
| Comedy Playhouse | |
|---|---|
 Titlecard for the 1961/1962 series episode "The Offer". This episode was the pilot for Steptoe and Son. | |
| Created by | Tom Sloan |
| Starring | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 137 (95 missing) |
| Production | |
| Running time | Usually 25 minutes, 30 minutes or 35 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Original release |
|
In March 2014, it was announced that Comedy Playhouse would make a return that year with three new episodes.[2] Two further series each comprising three episodes were broadcast in 2016 and 2017 respectively.[3][4]
Background
The series began in 1961 at the prompting of Tom Sloan, Head of BBC Light Entertainment at the time. Galton and Simpson were no longer writing for Tony Hancock and Sloan asked them to write ten one-offs with the hope that one might become established as a series.[5] Thus, the first two series of Comedy Playhouse were written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, but from the third series onwards, the episodes were written by various writers including the likes of Barry Took, Bernard McKenna, Bob Larbey, Brian Cooke, Carla Lane, Craig Cash, David Croft, Dick Clement, Dick Hills, Doug Naylor, Edwin Apps, George Evans, Graham Chapman, Harry Driver, Jack Docherty, Jack Rosenthal, Jeremy Lloyd, John Esmonde, John T. Chapman, Johnny Speight, Ian La Frenais, Ken Hoare, Kingsley Amis, Jilly Cooper, Marty Feldman, Michael Pertwee, Neil Shand, Pauline Devaney, Peter Jones, P.G. Wodehouse, Richard Harris, Ronald Chesney, Ronald Woolfe, Roy Clarke, Richard Waring, Sid Green and Vince Powell.
Archive Status
The first eight series were made in black and white, with the rest from Up Pompeii! onwards being in colour. Like many television programmes from the time, many of 1960s & 1970s episodes are lost. As a result, 95 episodes are currently missing from the archives, although audio recordings from the soundtracks of 15 missing episodes have been recovered, short extracts survive from Till Death Us Do Part and Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam, and a further episode The Melting Pot survives as a U-Matic video copy.[6]
In Australia the series was broadcast on ABC Television in the early 1960s-late 1970s.
Commercial Release
The series itself hasn't been released on home media, although some of the surviving episodes have been repeated on television or included on DVD boxsets as pilot episodes to their respective series. These include Steptoe and Son (The Offer), Meet The Wife (The Bed), All Gas and Gaiters (The Bishop Rides Again), Up Pompeii!, Are You Being Served?, Last of the Summer Wine (Of Funerals and Fish) and Happy Ever After. Clips from the series were also featured in the documentary Comedy Playhouse: Where It All Began, which was broadcast on BBC1 on 29 April 2014,[7] which featured interviews with actors and writers who participated in the series, including Ray Galton, Alan Simpson, June Whitfield, Bernard Cribbins and Keith Barron.[8]
Episodes
Series 1 (1961–2)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Cliquot et Fils" | Missing | N/A | 15 December 1961 | |
| Starring Eric Sykes and Warren Mitchell. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Lunch in the Park" | Missing | N/A | 22 December 1961 | |
| Starring Stanley Baxter and Daphne Anderson. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Private Lives of Edward Whiteley" | Missing | N/A | 29 December 1961 | |
| Starring Tony Britton and Raymond Huntley. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Offer" | Exists | TR16 | 5 January 1962 | |
| Starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett.[9] | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Reunion" | Missing | N/A | 12 January 1962 | |
| Starring Lee Montague, J. G. Devlin, Dick Emery, Patrick Cargill, Jerold Wells, Bernard Goldman, David Gregory and Cameron Hall. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Telephone Call" | Missing | N/A | 19 January 1962 | |
| Starring Peter Jones, June Whitfield, Richard Caldicot, Derek Bond, Harold Lang and Roger Avon. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Status Symbol" | Missing | N/A | 26 January 1962 | |
| Starring Alfred Marks and Graham Stark. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Visiting Day" | Missing | N/A | 2 February 1962 | |
| Starring Bernard Cribbins, Betty Marsden, Wilfrid Brambell, Hugh Lloyd and Molly Weir. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Sealed with a Loving Kiss" | Missing | N/A | 9 February 1962 | |
| Starring Ronald Fraser, Avril Elgar, Gladys Henson, Vic Wise and Rita Webb. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Channel Swimmer" | Missing | N/A | 16 February 1962 | |
| Starring Michael Brennan, Warren Mitchell, Sydney Tafler, Frank Thornton, Bob Todd and Joe Gibbons. | ||||||
Series 2 (1963)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Our Man in Moscow" | Exists | TR16 | 1 March 1963 | |
| Starring Robert Morley, Patrick Wymark, Frank Thornton and Anthony Newlands. | ||||||
| 12 | 2 | "And Here, All the Way From..." | Exists | TR16 | 8 March 1963 | |
| Starring Eric Barker, Erica Rogers, Terence Alexander, Roger Delgado and Roger Avon. | ||||||
| 13 | 3 | "Impasse" | Exists | TR16 | 15 March 1963 | |
| Starring Bernard Cribbins, Yootha Joyce, Leslie Phillips, Georgina Cookson, Harry Locke, Duncan Macrae and Campbell Singer.[10] | ||||||
| 14 | 4 | "Have You Read This Notice?" | Missing | N/A | 29 March 1963 | |
| Starring Frankie Howerd, Bill Kerr, Edwin Apps and Graham Ashley. | ||||||
| 15 | 5 | "A Clerical Error" | Exists | TR16 | 5 April 1963 | |
| Starring John Le Mesurier, Russell Napier,Yootha Joyce, Blake Butler, Andy Devine and John Caesar.[11] | ||||||
| 16 | 6 | "The Handyman" | Exists | TR16 | 12 April 1963 | |
| Starring Alfred Marks, Anthony Sharp, Damaris Hayman, Frank Williams, Edwin Apps, Julian Orchard and John Harvey. | ||||||
Series 3 (1963-4)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "On the Knocker" | Missing | N/A | 28 September 1963 | |
| Starring Ronald Fraser and Alfred Burke. | ||||||
| 18 | 2 | "Underworld Knights" | Missing | N/A | 5 October 1963 | |
| Starring Ron Moody, Bryan Pringle, Robert Raglan, Blake Butler, Trevor Peacock and Pat Coombs. | ||||||
| 19 | 3 | "Fools Rush In" | Exists | TR16 | 12 October 1963 | |
| Starring Deryck Guyler, Gordon Rollings and Patrick Newell. | ||||||
| 20 | 4 | "Shamrot" | Missing | N/A | 19 October 1963 | |
| Starring Dermot Kelly, Kathleen Harrison, Arthur Mullard, Thomas Baptiste, Tony Doyle and Alan Simpson. | ||||||
| 21 | 5 | "The Bachelor Girls" | Missing | N/A | 26 October 1963 | |
| Starring Tracy Reed, Anna Palk and Edward Fox. | ||||||
| 22 | 6 | "The Plan" | Missing | N/A | 2 November 1963 | |
| Starring Peter Cushing, P.G. Stephens, Graham Stark and Francis Matthews. | ||||||
| 23 | 7 | "A Picture of Innocence" | Missing | N/A | 9 November 1963 | |
| Starring Patricia Burke and Frederick Peisley. | ||||||
| 24 | 8 | "Nicked at the Bottle" | Missing | N/A | 16 November 1963 | |
| Starring George Cole, Margaretta Scott, Doris Hare and James Villiers. | ||||||
| 25 | 9 | "The Chars" | Missing | N/A[12] | 23 November 1963 | |
| Starring Elsie Waters, Doris Waters, Michael Balfour, Ann Lancaster and James Beck. | ||||||
| 26 | 10 | "Comrades in Arms" | Missing | N/A | 30 November 1963 | |
| Starring Ian Brennan, Fenella Fielding, Graham Stark and Elvi Hale. | ||||||
| 27 | 11 | "The Walrus and the Carpenter" | Missing | N/A | 14 December 1963 | |
| Starring Hugh Griffith, Felix Aylmer and Doris Hare.[13] | ||||||
| 28 | 12 | "The Bed" | Exists | TR35 | 28 December 1963 | |
| Starring Thora Hird, Freddie Frinton and Brian Oulton.[14] | ||||||
| 29 | 13 | "The Mate Market" | Exists | TR16 | 3 January 1964 | |
| Starring Lance Percival, Francesca Annis, Richard Caldicot and Dilys Laye. | ||||||
| 30 | 14 | "The Hen House" | Missing | N/A | 10 January 1964 | |
| Starring Beryl Reid, Barbara Windsor and Dermot Kelly. | ||||||
| 31 | 15 | "The Siege of Sydney's Street" | Exists | TR16 | 17 January 1964 | |
| Starring Roy Kinnear, Gordon Rollings, George Benson, Arthur Mullard, Eric Dodson and Barbara Keogh. | ||||||
| 32 | 16 | "The Mascot" | Missing | N/A | 24 January 1964 | |
| Starring Dudley Foster, Robert Dorning and Joe Gladwin. | ||||||
| 33 | 17 | "Good Luck Sir, You've Got a Lucky Face" | Missing | N/A | 31 January 1964 | |
| Starring Graham Stark, Derek Francis and Frank Thornton. | ||||||
Series 4 (1965)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 1 | "Barnaby Spoot and the Exploding Whoopee Cushion" | Missing | N/A | 28 May 1965 | |
| Starring John Bird, John Le Mesurier, Ronald Lacey, Sheila Steafel, Alister Williamson, Bart Allison, Bill Burridge and Sidney Johnson. | ||||||
| 35 | 2 | "Mother Came Too" | Missing | N/A | 5 June 1965 | |
| Starring Peggy Mount and Graham Stark. | ||||||
| 36 | 3 | "Here I Come Whoever I Am" | Missing | N/A | 11 June 1965 | |
| Starring Bernard Cribbins, Helen Fraser, Mike Pratt, Edward Evans and Maureen Lane. | ||||||
| 37 | 4 | "Happy Family" | Missing | N/A | 18 June 1965 | |
| Starring Ted Ray, Daphne Anderson and Judy Geeson. | ||||||
| 38 | 5 | "Memoirs of a Chaise Longue" | Missing | N/A | 2 July 1965 | |
| Starring John Le Mesurier, Betty Marsden, Fenella Fielding, Jack Watling and Shay Gorman. | ||||||
| 39 | 6 | "Murray and Me" | Missing | N/A | 8 July 1965 | |
| Starring Chic Murray, Alan Baulche and Harry Locke. | ||||||
| 40 | 7 | "Hudd" | Missing | N/A | 15 July 1965 | |
| Starring Roy Hudd and Noel Dyson. | ||||||
| 41 | 8 | "Till Death Us Do Part" | Partial[15] | TR16 SEQ | 22 July 1965 | |
| Starring Warren Mitchell, Gretchen Franklin,[16] Anthony Booth, Una Stubbs, Derek Nimmo, Eric Dodson and Colin Welland.[17] | ||||||
| 42 | 9 | "The Time and the Motion Man" | Missing | N/A | 29 July 1965 | |
| Starring Leslie Phillips and Richard Moore. | ||||||
| 43 | 10 | "Sam and the Samaritan" | Missing | N/A | 5 August 1965 | |
| Starring Wilfrid Brambell, John Junkin, Roy Kinnear and John Scott Martin. | ||||||
| 44 | 11 | "The Vital Spark" | Missing | N/A | 12 August 1965 | |
| Starring Roddy McMillan, John Grieve and Robert Urquhart.[18] | ||||||
| 45 | 12 | "Betsy Mae" | Missing | N/A | 19 August 1965 | |
| Starring Hermione Gingold, Nicholas Phipps and Michael Gover. | ||||||
Series 5 (1966)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 1 | "The Bishop Rides Again" | Exists | TR16 | 17 May 1966 | |
| Starring Robertson Hare, William Mervyn, Derek Nimmo, John Barron, James Beck and Cheryl Molineaux.[19] | ||||||
| 47 | 2 | "Beggar My Neighbour" | Missing | N/A | 24 May 1966 | |
| Starring Reg Varney, Peter Jones, June Whitfield and Pat Coombs.[20] | ||||||
| 48 | 3 | "A Little Learning" | Missing | N/A | 31 May 1966 | |
| Starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge and Clive Morton. | ||||||
| 49 | 4 | "Judgement Day for Elijah Jones" | Missing | N/A | 7 June 1966 | |
| Starring Clive Dunn, Bernard Cribbins, Derek Martin and Peter Diamond. | ||||||
| 50 | 5 | "Room at the Bottom" | Missing | N/A | 14 June 1966 | |
| Starring Kenneth Connor, Deryck Guyler, Francis Matthews, Brian Wilde, Erik Chitty and Godfrey James.[21] | ||||||
| 51 | 6 | "The End of the Tunnel" | Missing | N/A | 21 June 1966 | |
| Starring George Cole, Lynn Redgrave, Tenniel Evans and Michael Spice. | ||||||
| 52 | 7 | "Seven Year Hitch" | Missing | N/A[22] | 28 June 1966 | |
| Starring Harry H. Corbett, Joan Sims and John Baskcomb. | ||||||
| 53 | 8 | "The Mallard Imaginaire" | Missing | N/A | 5 July 1966 | |
| Starring Robert Coote, Moira Lister, Daphne Anderson and Arthur Howard.[23] | ||||||
| 54 | 9 | "The Reluctant Romeo" | Missing | N/A | 2 August 1966 | |
| Starring Leslie Crowther, Amanda Barrie, Keith Pyott and Sheila Steafel.[24] | ||||||
Series 6 (1967)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 1 | "Hughie" | Missing | N/A | 19 May 1967 | |
| Starring Hugh Lloyd, Patrick Cargill and Michael Sheard. | ||||||
| 56 | 2 | "House in a Tree" | Missing | N/A[25] | 26 May 1967 | |
| Starring Wendy Craig, Paul Daneman, Roberta Tovey and Kenneth Thornett.[26] | ||||||
| 57 | 3 | "Spanner in the Works" | Missing | N/A[27] | 2 June 1967 | |
| Starring Jimmy Jewel, Norman Rossington, Julian Holloway, Arnold Peters, Eric Dodson, Jon Rollason, Peter Bathurst, Blake Butler and Colin Douglas. | ||||||
| 58 | 4 | "Heirs on a Shoestring" | Missing | N/A[28] | 9 June 1967 | |
| Starring Jimmy Edwards, Clive Dunn, Sam Kydd, Frances Bennett and Eileen Way. | ||||||
| 59 | 5 | "Uncle Fred Flits By" | Missing | N/A | 16 June 1967 | |
| Starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ballard Berkeley, Gordon Rollings and Richard McNeff. | ||||||
| 60 | 6 | "Loitering With Intent" | Missing | N/A | 23 June 1967 | |
| Starring Daphne Anderson, David Tomlinson, Rudolph Walker, John Nettleton, Barry Fantoni and Madeleine Mills. | ||||||
| 61 | 7 | "To Lucifer: A Son" | Missing | N/A[29] | 29 June 1967 | |
| Starring John Le Mesurier, Jimmy Tarbuck, Pat Coombs and Gábor Baraker. | ||||||
| 62 | 8 | "The Old Campaigner" | Exists | TR16 | 30 June 1967 | |
| Starring Terry-Thomas, Derek Fowlds, Norman Claridge, Brian Cullingford, Susan Jameson and André Maranne.[30] | ||||||
Series 7 (1968)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 1 | "State of the Union" | Missing | N/A | 26 April 1968 | |
| Starring Les Dawson, Patsy Rowlands, Michael Robbins, Melvyn Hayes, Edward Evans and Roma Tomelty. | ||||||
| 64 | 2 | "View By Appointment" | Missing | N/A | 3 May 1968 | |
| Starring Beryl Reid, Hugh Paddick, Derek Fowlds, Pauline Collins and John Harvey.[31] | ||||||
| 65 | 3 | "The Family of Fred" | Missing | N/A | 10 May 1968 | |
| Starring Freddie Frinton, Jean Kent and Roberta Rex.[32] | ||||||
| 66 | 4 | "Stiff Upper Lip" | Missing | N/A | 17 May 1968 | |
| Starring Richard Vernon, Michael Bates, Bernard Bresslaw, George Baker and John Glyn-Jones. | ||||||
| 67 | 5 | "Wild, Wild Woman" | Missing | N/A | 24 May 1968 | |
| Starring Barbara Windsor, Derek Francis, Penelope Keith and Colette Gleeson.[33] | ||||||
| 68 | 6 | "Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam" | Partial[34] | TR16 SEQ | 31 May 1968 | |
| Starring David Lodge, Peter Glaze, Gordon Rollings, John Grieve and Veronica Clifford. | ||||||
| 69 | 7 | "B-And-B" | Exists | TR16 | 7 June 1968 | |
| Starring Bernard Braden, Barbara Kelly, Kim Braden and Pauline Collins.[35] | ||||||
| 70 | 8 | "Me Mammy" | Missing | N/A | 14 June 1968 | |
| Starring Milo O'Shea, Yootha Joyce and Neil Hallett.[36] | ||||||
| 71 | 9 | "The Gold Watch Club" | Missing | N/A | 28 June 1968 | |
| Starring Dennis Price, Peter Bayliss, Bob Todd, Derek Waring, Barbara Leake, Roger Avon and Norman Mitchell. | ||||||
| NB | NB | "Current Affairs" | Missing | N/A | Untransmitted | |
| Starring Harold Goodwin, Arthur White, Kenneth Fortescue, Ken Parry, Robert Dorning, Damaris Hayman and Bruce Wightman.[37] | ||||||
Series 8 (1969)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 1 | "The Liver Birds" | Missing | N/A | 14 April 1969 | |
| Starring Pauline Collins, Polly James, Roy Marsden and Hugh Walter.[38] | ||||||
| 73 | 2 | "The Valley Express" | Missing | N/A | 21 April 1969 | |
| Starring Nerys Hughes, Graeme Garden, Richard Davies and James Appleby. | ||||||
| 74 | 3 | "Tooth and Claw" | Missing | N/A[39] | 28 April 1969 | |
| Starring Warren Mitchell, Marty Feldman, Richard Caldicot, Anthony Dawes, Arnold Diamond, David Rowlands and Harry Brooks Jr. | ||||||
| 75 | 4 | "As Good Cooks Go" | Missing | N/A | 5 May 1969 | |
| Starring Tessie O'Shea, Robert Dorning, James Appleby, Norman Chappell and Brian Grellis.[40] | ||||||
| 76 | 5 | "The Loves of Larch Hill" | Missing | N/A[41] | 12 May 1969 | |
| Starring Robert Dorning, Gillian Blake and Denis Cleary. | ||||||
| 77 | 6 | "The Making of Peregrine" | Missing | N/A[42] | 19 May 1969 | |
| Starring Dick Emery, Pat Coombs, Andrew Ray and Sam Kydd.[43] | ||||||
| 78 | 7 | "Up Pompeii!" | Exists | VT625 | 17 September 1969 | |
| Starring Frankie Howerd, Max Adrian, John Junkin, Aubrey Woods and Richard McNeff.[44][45] | ||||||
Series 9 (1969-70)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 79 | 1 | "Joint Account" | Missing | N/A[46] | 19 December 1969 | |
| Starring Keith Barron, Sarah Atkinson and Geoffrey Whitehead.[47] | ||||||
| 80 | 2 | "The Jugg Brothers" | Missing | N/A | 1 January 1970 | |
| Starring Bob Grant, Stephen Lewis, Fanny Carby and Queenie Watts. | ||||||
| 81 | 3 | "An Officer and a Gentleman" | Missing | N/A | 8 January 1970 | |
| Starring James Grout, Ken Wynne, Patricia Hayes, Diana King and Raymond Westwell. | ||||||
| 82 | 4 | "Who's Your Friend?" | Missing | N/A | 15 January 1970 | |
| Starring Bernard Cribbins, Maggie Fitzgibbon and Frank Thornton. | ||||||
Series 10 (1970)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 | 1 | "Keep 'Em Rolling" | Missing | N/A[48] | 11 March 1970 | |
| Starring Derek Nimmo, Timothy Bateson, Gordon Rollings, Michael Collins and Peter Diamond. | ||||||
| 84 | 2 | "Better Than a Man" | Missing | N/A[49] | 18 March 1970 | |
| Starring Sheila Hancock, Leslie Sands, Willoughby Goddard and Bartlett Mullins. | ||||||
| 85 | 3 | "Last Tribute" | Exists | TR16 | 25 March 1970 | |
| Starring Bill Fraser and Raymond Huntley.[50] | ||||||
| 86 | 4 | "Haven of Rest" | Missing | N/A | 1 April 1970 | |
| Starring Ballard Berkeley, Deryck Guyler, John Le Mesurier, Colin Gordon and Vivienne Bennett. | ||||||
| 87 | 5 | "Mind Your Own Business" | Missing | N/A[51] | 8 July 1970 | |
| Starring Norman Bird, Hilda Fenemore, Derek Griffiths, Tony Selby and Cheryl Hall. | ||||||
| 88 | 6 | "The Old Contemptible" | Missing | N/A | 15 July 1970 | |
| Starring Arthur English, Gretchen Franklin, John Sharp, Michael Osborne, Derrick Gilbert and Kenneth Thornett. | ||||||
| 89 | 7 | "Don't Ring Us...We'll Ring You" | Missing | N/A | 29 July 1970 | |
| Starring John Junkin, Norman Rossington, Colin Welland and Barbara Knox. | ||||||
| 90 | 8 | "Meter Maids" | Missing | N/A | 5 August 1970 | |
| Starring Pat Coombs, Joan Sanderson, Barbara Windsor, Martin Wyldeck and Robert Lankesheer. | ||||||
Series 11 (1971)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 1 | "Just Harry and Me" | Missing | N/A | 1 April 1971 | |
| Starring Sheila Hancock, Donald Houston and Lynne Frederick. | ||||||
| 92 | 2 | "Uncle Tulip" | Missing | N/A | 8 April 1971 | |
| Starring Geoffrey Lumsden, Renu Setna and Madhav Sharma. | ||||||
| 93 | 3 | "It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling..." | Missing | N/A | 15 April 1971 | |
| Starring Joanna Lumley, Jane Carr and Anna Palk.[52] | ||||||
| 94 | 4 | "The Rough with the Smooth" | Exists | VT625 | 22 April 1971 | |
| Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin, Jenny Till, Timothy Carlton and Clovissa Newcombe.[53] | ||||||
| 95 | 5 | "Equal Partners" | Missing | N/A | 29 April 1971 | |
| Starring Nicky Henson and Angela Scoular. | ||||||
| 96 | 6 | "The Importance of Being Hairy" | Missing | N/A | 6 May 1971 | |
| Starring John Cater, James Copeland, Gerald Flood, Gilly Flower and David Simeon. | ||||||
Series 12 (1972)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 1 | "Idle at Work" | Missing | N/A | 14 January 1972 | |
| Starring Ronnie Barker, Graham Crowden, Derek Francis, Mary Merall, William Kendall, Roland MacLeod, Angela Leventon and Timothy Carlton. | ||||||
| 98 | 2 | "And Who's Side Are You On?" | Missing | N/A | 21 January 1972 | |
| Starring Patrick Newell, Tim Barrett, Freddie Earlle, Terence Edmond and John Hollis. | ||||||
| 99 | 3 | "Born Every Minute" | Exists | VT625 | 28 January 1972 | |
| Starring Ronald Fraser, James Beck, Juliet Harmer, Campbell Singer, Mollie Sugden, Harry Landis and Gordon Peters. | ||||||
| 100 | 4 | "The Dirtiest Soldier in the World" | Exists | VT625 | 27 March 1972 | |
| Starring John Standing, Freddie Earlle, Jack Watson, Moray Watson, Allan Cuthbertson and Ben Aris. | ||||||
| 101 | 5 | "No Peace on the Western Front" | Exists | VT625 | 30 August 1972 | |
| Starring Ronald Fraser and Warren Mitchell. | ||||||
| 102 | 6 | "Weren't You Marcia Honeywell?" | Missing | N/A | 7 September 1972 | |
| Starring Hilda Fennemore, Jo Garrity, Betty Marsden, Hugh Paddick and Royce Mills. | ||||||
| 103 | 7 | "Are You Being Served?" | Exists | TR16[54] | 8 September 1972 | |
| Starring Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Trevor Bannister, Wendy Richard, Arthur Brough, Nicholas Smith and Larry Martyn.[55] | ||||||
Series 13 (1973-4)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 104 | 1 | "Of Funerals and Fish" | Exists | VT625 | 4 January 1973 | |
| Starring Bill Owen, Peter Sallis, Michael Bates, Jane Freeman, John Comer and Kathy Staff.[56] | ||||||
| 105 | 2 | "The Rescue" | Exists | TR16 | 11 January 1973 | |
| Starring Moyra Fraser, Peter Jones, Lucita Lijertwood and Nicholas Parsons. | ||||||
| 106 | 3 | "Elementary, My Dear Watson" | Exists | VT625 | 18 January 1973 | |
| Starring John Cleese, Willie Rushton, Bill Maynard, Norman Bird, Larry Martyn, Michael Gover, Ivor Salter, Gordon Faith and Dawn Addams. | ||||||
| 107 | 4 | "The Birthday" | Exists | VT625 | 25 January 1973 | |
| Starring Gordon Peters, Frank Thornton, Bill Pertwee, Mary Millar and Edward Evans. | ||||||
| 108 | 5 | "Marry the Girls" | Missing | N/A | 1 February 1973 | |
| Starring John Le Mesurier, Barbara Murray, Sally Thomsett, David Simeon and John Leeson. | ||||||
| 109 | 6 | "Home From Home" | Exists | TR16 | 8 February 1973 | |
| Starring Carmel McSharry, Michael Robbins, Yootha Joyce, Tony Selby and Olive Mercer. | ||||||
Series 14 (1974)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | 1 | "No Strings" | Exists | VT625 | 16 April 1974 | |
| Starring Keith Barron and Rita Tushingham.[57] | ||||||
| 112 | 2 | "Franklyn and Johnnie" | Missing | N/A | 23 April 1974 | |
| Starring Geoffrey Bayldon, Ronnie Barker, Richard Hurndall, Sydney Bromley and Hugh Morton. | ||||||
| 113 | 3 | "Howerd's History of England" | Missing | N/A[58] | 30 April 1974 | |
| Starring Frankie Howerd, Patrick Newell, Cyril Appleton and Patrick Holt. | ||||||
| 114 | 4 | "Happy Ever After" | Exists | VT625 | 7 May 1974 | |
| Starring Terry Scott, June Whitfield, Dave Carter and Philip Ryan.[59] | ||||||
| 115 | 5 | "The Dobson Donut" | Missing | N/A | 14 May 1974 | |
| Starring Milo O'Shea, Bernard Spear, Jo Kendall, Brian Miller, John Ringham and Ken Barker. | ||||||
| 116 | 6 | "The Big Job" | Exists | VT625 | 21 May 1974 | |
| Starring Prunella Scales, Peter Jones, Alfred Marks, Andonia Katsaros, Nick Brimble and Aubrey Woods. | ||||||
| 117 | 7 | "It's Only Me" | Missing | N/A | 28 May 1974 | |
| Starring David Jason, Patricia Hayes, Daphne Heard, Olive Mercer, Edward Burnham, Paul Greenwood, Adrienne Burgess and Bernard Spear. | ||||||
| 118 | 8 | "The Last Man on Earth" | Exists | VT625 | 4 June 1974 | |
| Starring Ronald Fraser and Dandy Nichols. | ||||||
| 119 | 9 | "Sitting Pretty" | Missing | N/A | 11 June 1974 | |
| Starring Nicky Henson, Una Stubbs and James Cossins. | ||||||
| 120 | 10 | "Pygmalion Smith" | Exists | VT625 | 25 June 1974 | |
| Starring Leonard Rossiter and T.P. McKenna. | ||||||
| 121 | 11 | "A Girl's Best Friend" | Missing | N/A | 3 July 1974 | |
| Starring Zena Walker, Reginald Marsh, Carolyn Courage and David Knight. | ||||||
| 122 | 12 | "The Reverend Wooing of Archibald" | Missing | N/A | 9 July 1974 | |
| Starring Joan Benham, Julian Holloway, William Mervyn, Madeline Smith, John Leeson and Julian Fox. | ||||||
| 123 | 13 | "Too Much Monkey Business" | Missing | N/A | 12 December 1974 | |
| Starring Norman Rossington, Pat Heywood, George Innes, John Ringham and Harold Goodwin. | ||||||
| NB | NB | "French Relish" | Missing | N/A | Untransmitted | |
| Starring Derek Nimmo.[60] | ||||||
| NB | NB | "Bird Alone" | Missing | N/A | Untransmitted | |
| Starring Liz Smith and Yootha Joyce.[61] | ||||||
Series 15 (1975)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 | 1 | "The Melting Pot" | Exists | DV[62] | 11 June 1975 | |
| Starring Spike Milligan, John Bird, Peter Jones, Frank Carson, Harry Fowler, Alister Williamson and Freddie Earlle.[63] | ||||||
| 125 | 2 | "Only on Sunday" | Missing | N/A | 18 June 1975 | |
| Starring Trevor Bannister and Peter Bowles. | ||||||
| 126 | 3 | "For Richer...For Poorer" | Missing | N/A | 25 June 1975 | |
| Starring David Battley, Harry H. Corbett, Don Henderson and Eric Pohlmann. | ||||||
| 127 | 4 | "Captive Audience" | Missing | N/A[64] | 2 July 1975 | |
| Starring Derek Fowlds, Daphne Heard, Leslie Dwyer, Cheryl Hall and Leon Vitali. | ||||||
| 128 | 5 | "Going, Going, Gone...Free?" | Exists | VT625 | 9 July 1975 | |
| Starring Pauline Yates, Geoffrey Palmer and Peter Duncan. | ||||||
Revived Series
Series 16 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | 1 | "Over to Bill" | 29 April 2014 | |
| Starring Shai Ahmed, James Baxter and Hugh Dennis. | ||||
| 130 | 2 | "Miller's Mountain" | 6 May 2014 | |
| Starring Jimmy Chisholm, Kevin Guthrie, Kathryn Howden, Sheila Reid and Sharon Rooney.[65] | ||||
| 131 | 3 | "Monks" | 13 May 2014 | |
| Starring Seann Walsh, James Fleet, Mark Heap, Justin Edwards, Fergus Craig and Angus Deayton. | ||||
Series 17 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 132 | 1 | "Hospital People" | 26 February 2016 | |
| Starring Tom Binns, Amit Shah, Janine Duvitski and Mandeep Dhillon. | ||||
| 133 | 2 | "Broken Biscuits" | 4 March 2016 | |
| Starring Alison Steadman, Stephanie Cole, Timothy West, Lisa Millet, Alun Armstrong, Brian Compton, Warren Brown and Gemma Whelan. | ||||
| 134 | 3 | "Stop / Start" | 11 March 2016 | |
| Starring Jack Docherty, Kerry Godliman, Nigel Havers, Laura Aikman, Sarah Hadland and John Thomson. | ||||
Series 18 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | 1 | "Tim Vine Travels Through Time" | 1 September 2017 | |
| Starring Tim Vine, Ore Oduba, Sally Phillips, Tim Key, Spencer Jones, Mandeep Dhillon and Marek Larwood. | ||||
| 136 | 2 | "Mister Winner" | 8 September 2017 | |
| Starring Spencer Jones, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Dorothy Atkinson, Shaun Williamson, Romesh Ranganathan and Shobu Kapoor. | ||||
| 137 | 3 | "Static" | 15 September 2017 | |
| Starring Rob Beckett, Alison Steadman, Phil Davis, Samson Kayo and Jacqueline Chan. | ||||
Scottish Comedy Playhouse
The BBC aired six comedy pilots in 1970 in Scotland only under the title Scottish Comedy Playhouse, none of which developed onto a full series. While these were being aired, Monty Python's Flying Circus was broadcast in the rest of the UK. All episodes from this series were wiped soon after transmission and are currently missing from the archives.[66] The episodes are as follows:
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Media | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Stand-In For a Hearse" | Missing | N/A | 22 September 1970 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Siege of Castle Drumlie" | Missing | N/A | 29 September 1970 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Dinner Party" | Missing | N/A | 20 October 1970 |
| 4 | 4 | "To Gracie a Son" | Missing | N/A | 28 October 1970 |
| 5 | 5 | "Stobo Takes The Chair" | Missing | N/A | 3 November 1970 |
| 6 | 6 | "Made in Heaven" | Missing | N/A | 10 November 1970 |
See also
- Galton and Simpson Comedy - a six part anthology series of stories written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, produced by London Weekend Television, that aired on the ITV network in 1969
- Six Dates with Barker - a six part anthology series featuring sitcom pilots starring Ronnie Barker, produced by London Weekend Television, that aired on the ITV network in 1971.
- The Comedy Game - an Australian sitcom anthology series that aired on ABC between 1971 and 1973.
- Seven of One - a seven part anthology series featuring sitcom pilots starring Ronnie Barker that aired on BBC2 in 1973.
- Cilla's Comedy Six - an anthology series of comedic stories starring Cilla Black, produced by ATV, that aired on the ITV network between 1975 and 1976.[67]
- The Sound of Laughter - a six part of anthology series of sitcom pilots produced by ATV, that aired on the ITV network in 1977.
- The Galton and Simpson Playhouse - a seven part anthology series of sitcom pilots written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, produced by Yorkshire Television, that aired on the ITV network in 1977.
- The Comic Strip Presents... - an anthology series of one off comedic stories that aired on Channel 4 and BBC2 between 1982 and 2016.
- Murder Most Horrid - a black comedy anthology series featuring comedic stories starring Dawn French, that aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1999.
- ITV Comedy Playhouse - an eight part anthology series of sitcom pilots produced by Carlton Television, that aired on the ITV network in 1993.
- Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's... – an anthology series of comedic stories starring Paul Merton, based on scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, produced by Central Television, that aired on the ITV network between 1996 and 1997.
Notes
- "Comedy Playhouse". IMDb (Comedy). British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 15 December 1961. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- Ian Burrell (17 March 2014). "BBC1 to revive 'Comedy Playhouse' after 40 years". The Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- "BBC films hospital sitcom for Comedy Playhouse pilot". British Comedy Guide. 26 January 2016.
- "Rob Beckett to star in BBC Comedy Playhouse pilot". British Comedy Guide. 26 July 2017.
- Radio Times, 25 March 1971
- "Comedy Playhouse". TV Brain.
- "Comedy Playhouse: Where It All Began". BBC Genome. 29 April 2014.
- "Comedy Playhouse: Where It All Began". British Comedy Guide.
- The pilot episode of Steptoe and Son, which ran for eight series between 1962-5, and 1970-4.
- This was remade as the Pride segment in the anthology film The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, and again for Paul Merton In Galton & Simpson's... in 1996.
- A Clerical Error was remade for The Galton & Simpson Radio Playhouse and broadcast on 12 January 1999 on BBC Radio 4 and starred Keith Barron as Bullrush and June Whitfield as Rita.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1965.
- The pilot episode of Meet the Wife, which ran for five series between 1963-6.
- A short two minute excerpt exists, the complete program is still missing.
- Franklin was replaced by Dandy Nichols in the TV series
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for seven series between 1966-75.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for three series between 1965-74.
- The pilot episode of All Gas and Gaiters, which ran for five series between 1967-71.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for three series between 1967-8.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1967.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode of The Whitehall Worrier, which ran for one series in 1967.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1967.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode of Not In Front of the Children, which ran for five series between 1967-70.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series between 1968-9.
- The pilot episode of Wink to Me Only, which ran for one series in 1969.
- The pilot episode of Thicker Than Water, which ran for one series in 1969.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1969.
- A short extract exists, the complete program is still missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series broadcast later that year.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for three series between 1969-71.
- "Current Affairs". British Comedy Guide.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for ten series between 1969-79 and a further series in 1996.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1970.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The last edition to be produced in black and white.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for two series between 1970-1 and two further specials in 1975 and 1991.
- The first edition to be produced in colour, although it was originally broadcast in black and white, as BBC1 didn't start colour transmissions until 15 November 1969.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The first episode to broadcast in colour following the launch of colour transmissions on BBC1.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode of That's Your Funeral, which ran for one series in 1971.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series broadcast later that year.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series in 1975.
- Survives as a b&w telerecording, restored back to colour in January 2010.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for ten series between 1973-85.
- The pilot episode for the world's longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine which ran for thirty one series between 1973-2010.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for one series broadcast later that year.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot episode for the series of the same name, which ran for five series between 1974-9.
- "French Relish". British Comedy Guide.
- "Bird Alone". British Comedy Guide.
- The only known copy exists on U-Matic videotape.
- A series of six episodes was taped in August 1975, however they weren't transmitted.
- A domestic audio recording exists of the soundtrack, but the programme itself is missing.
- The pilot of Mountain Goats, which ran for one series in 2015.
- "Scottish Comedy Playhouse". TV Brain.
- For the second series, the show was retitled as Cilla's World of Comedy.
References
- Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
- British TV Comedy Guide for Comedy Playhouse
External links
- Comedy Playhouse at Television Heaven
- Comedy Playhouse at BBC Online
- Comedy Playhouse at IMDb
- Comedy Playhouse at British Comedy Guide
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