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The Funny Side Of Christmas
''The Funny Side of Christmas'' is a Christmas special broadcast by BBC1 on 27 December 1982. Presented by Frank Muir, it comprised one comedy sketch each from 10 contemporaneous BBC comedy series: ''Butterflies (TV series), Butterflies'', ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''The Les Dawson Show'', ''Only Fools and Horses'', ''Open All Hours'', ''Alas Smith and Jones, Smith and Jones'', ''Sorry! (TV series), Sorry!'', ''Three of a Kind (1981 TV series), Three of a Kind'', and ''Yes Minister''. Comedy sketches The sketches below are listed in the order in which they appear in the programme. ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' It's Christmas Day, and no sooner than Reggie has settled in to relax with his wife Elizabeth, they are inundated by entreating houseguests. Written by David Nobbs. Cast: Leonard Rossiter as Reggie Perrin, Pauline Yates as Elizabeth Perrin, Sue Nicholls as Joan Greengross, John Barron (actor), John Barron as CJ, T ...
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Roy Clarke
Royston Clarke Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 28 January 1930), usually known as Roy Clarke, is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Open All Hours'' and its sequel series, ''Still Open All Hours''. Early life Clarke was born in Austerfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His jobs before becoming a writer included teacher, policeman, taxi driver, salesman and he was a soldier in the Royal Corps of Signals of the British Army.Roy Clark at screenonline
Retrieved 25 January 2015


Career

In the late 1960s, Clarke wrote thrillers for BBC Radio. The first in January 1968, ''The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb'', featured Peter Coke, Ben Kingsley, Bob Grant (actor), Bob Grant and Anne Stallybrass. ...
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Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sound from two microphones on the right and left side, which is reproduced with two separate loudspeakers to give a sense of the direction of sound sources. In mono, only one loudspeaker is necessary, but, when played through multiple loudspeakers or headphones, identical signals are fed to each speaker, resulting in the perception of one-channel sound "imaging" in one sonic space between the speakers (provided that the speakers are set up in a proper symmetrical critical-listening placement). Monaural recordings, like stereo ones, typically use multiple microphones fed into multiple channels on a recording console, but each channel is " panned" to the center. In the final stage, the various center-panned signal paths are usually mixed d ...
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Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series ''Rising Damp'' from 1974 to 1978, and Reginald Perrin in the BBC's ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' from 1976 to 1979. Early life and stage work Rossiter was born on 21 October 1926 in Wavertree, Liverpool, the second son of John and Elizabeth (née Howell) Rossiter. The family lived over the barber shop owned by his father. He was educated at the Liverpool Collegiate School (1939–46). In September 1939, when the Second World War began, Rossiter was evacuated, along with his schoolmates, to Bangor in north Wales, where he stayed for 18 months. While at school, his ambition was to go to university to read modern languages and become a teacher; however, his father, who served as a voluntary ambulanceman during the war, was killed in the Liverpool Bl ...
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Yes Minister
''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes from 1986 to 1988. All but one of the episodes lasted half an hour, and almost all ended with a variation of the title of the series spoken as the answer to a question posed by Minister (later, Prime Minister) Jim Hacker. Several episodes were adapted for BBC Radio; the series also spawned a 2010 stage play that led to a new television series on Gold (UK TV channel), Gold in 2013. Set principally in the private office of a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British cabinet minister in the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in Whitehall, ''Yes Minister'' follows the Minister (government), ministerial career of Jim Hacker, played by Paul Eddington. His various struggles to formulate and enact policy or effect departmental changes are op ...
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Three Of A Kind (1981 TV Series)
''Three of a Kind'' is a British comedy sketch show starring comedians Tracey Ullman, Lenny Henry and David Copperfield. Three series were made by the BBC between 1981 and 1983. The show bolstered the careers of Ullman and Henry, as well as being an outlet for young writers including Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, Ian Hislop and Nick Revell. Ullman and Henry went on to greater success after the show, with Ullman initially launching a brief but successful pop career in 1983 before starring in the ITV sitcom '' Girls on Top'' in 1985 and then going on to a career on American television. Henry was given his own BBC series ''The Lenny Henry Show'' in 1984, which ran in various iterations until 2005, and has continued appearing on British television, or series produced in Britain ('' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'' as of 2022). While Copperfield continued to appear on television, including his own series ''Lift Off! with Coppers & Co!'', he has had more success as a stand-up ...
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Sorry! (TV Series)
''Sorry!'' is a BBC television British sitcom, sitcom that aired on BBC One, BBC1 from 1981 to 1982 and from 1985 to 1988. It starred Ronnie Corbett and was created and written by Ian Davidson (scriptwriter), Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent, both of whom had previously written for Corbett on ''The Two Ronnies''. The theme music was composed by Gaynor Colbourn and Hugh Wisdom, arranged by Gaynor Colbourn and conducted by Ronnie Hazlehurst. Plot ''Sorry!'' is centred on Timothy Lumsden who, 41 years old in the first three series (his age increased to 42 and then 48 in subsequent series - Corbett was actually 50-57 during the series' run), is a librarian who still lives at home with his domineering mother Phyllis and henpecked father Sidney. Although quite shy around women, Timothy longs to find love and leave home, but Phyllis is always against the idea and constantly manipulates her son into staying at home. One of the catchphrases of the series is Sidney's "Language, Timothy!", t ...
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Alas Smith And Jones
''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring comedy duo and namesake Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smith and Jones'' for six series on BBC1 until 1998. A spin-off from ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', the show also had a brief run in the United States on A&E and PBS in the late 1980s, as well as on CBS in the early 1990s during their late-night block. History Background The show's creation followed the ending of ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' in 1982. Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson followed individual career paths, whilst Smith and Jones opted to form a double act instead. The first post-''Not…'' appearance as a duo was in a short sketch in the BBC1 comedy special ''The Funny Side of Christmas'' in 1982, where Jones played a complete stranger who annoyed hospital patient Smith to the extent that Smith's character walked out in a r ...
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Open All Hours
''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronnie Barker's comedy anthology series, ''Seven of One'' (1973). ''Open All Hours'' ranked eighth in the 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll. A sequel, entitled ''Still Open All Hours'', began airing in 2013. Premise The setting is a small grocer's shop in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The owner, Arkwright (Ronnie Barker), is a middle-aged miser with a stammer and a knack for selling. His nephew Granville (David Jason) is his put-upon errand boy, who blames his work schedule for his lacklustre social life. Across the road lives Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), largely occupied by her professional rounds, and her elderly mother. Arkwright longs to marry Gladys, but she resists his persistent pressures. In later episodes i ...
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Only Fools And Horses
''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger brother Rodney Trotter, alongside a supporting cast. The series follows the Trotters' highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll. Lennard Pearce appeared in the first three series as Del and Rodney's elderly grandad. After Pearce's de ...
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The Les Dawson Show
''The Les Dawson Show'' was a variety show that aired on BBC1 intermittently from 1978 through 1989. The show starred comedian Les Dawson (1931–1993), who had previously starred in the ITV sketch comedy programme ''Sez Les'' (1969–76), followed by ''Dawson and Friends'' (1977). ''The Les Dawson Show'' also featured sketch comedy, as well as stand-up comedy, guest appearances, dance numbers, and musical performances. Overview Series 1–2 In the first series, transmitted in 1978, Dawson co-hosted the show with Scottish singer-songwriter Lulu. In addition to comedy sketches and songs by Dawson, Lulu, and guests artists, each episode featured performances by the Dougie Squires Dancers, with choreography by Dougie Squires. The musical director at this time was John Coleman, and the arranger was Alan Roper. Episodes of this first series aired fortnightly rather than weekly. No new episodes of the show aired for more than three years. Then, in May 1981, BBC1 transmitted a bank ...
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Last Of The Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show. The BBC confirmed on 2 June 2010 that ''Last of the Summer Wine'' would no longer be produced and the 31st series would be its last. Subsequently, the final episode was broadcast on 29 August 2010. Since its original release, all 295 episodes, comprising thirty-one series—including the pilot and all films and specials—have been released on DVD. Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on BBC One (until 18 July 2010 when the 31st and final series started on 25 July of that year), Gold (UK TV channel), Gold, Yesterday (TV channel), Yesterday, and Drama (British TV channel), Drama. It is also seen in more than 25 countries, inclu ...
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The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin
''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series from the novel. Some of its subplots were considered too dark or risqué for television and were toned down or omitted. The story concerns a middle-aged middle manager, Reginald "Reggie" Perrin, who reveals himself in the first series to be aged 46, who is driven to bizarre behaviour by the pointlessness of his job at Sunshine Desserts. The sitcom proved to be a subversion of others of the era, which were often based on bland, middle-class suburban family life. The first novel in the series, ''The Death of Reginald Perrin'', was published in 1975. Later editions were retitled to match the title of the television series. ''The Return of Reginald Perrin'' (1977) and ''The Better World of Reginald Perrin'' (1978) were written by Nobbs to be ...
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