''Alexander the Greatest'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

that aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 1971 to 1972. Starring Gary Warren, it was written by

Bernard Kops Bernard Kops (born 28 November 1926) is a British dramatist, memoirist, poet and novelist. Early life Born in the East End of London, the son of Dutch-Jewish immigrants, Kops was evacuated from London in 1939, and recounted that experience in e ...

and made for the ITV network by ATV.

Cast

* Gary Warren – Alexander Green *

Sydney Tafler Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979) was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s. Personal life Tafler was bor ...

– Joe Green *

Libby Morris Libby Morris (born 1930) is a Canadian clown and actress. She appeared in several BBC radio shows of the 1950s and moved into TV and film from the 1960s onwards. She then moved on to London, England, where she starred in her own show doing imperso ...

– Fay Green ''(series 1)'' * Stella Moray – Fay Green ''(series 2)'' *

Adrienne Posta Adrienne Posta (born Adrienne Luanne Poster, 24 March 1949) is an English actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname 'Posta' in 1966.Adrienne Poster, page on "Ready Steady Girls" (readysteadygirls.eu). Retr ...

– Renata Green *

Peter Birrel Peter Birrel Cohen (19 July 1935 – 23 June 2004) was an English actor who played numerous parts on British television for nearly forty years. He appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' story ''Frontier in Space'' in 1973, as well as in the documentar ...

– Murray ''(series 1)'' *

Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...

– Barney ''(series 1)'' *Vic Wise – Archie ''(series 1)'' * David Lodge – Sam ''(series 2)''

Plot

Alexander Green is a 16-year-old boy, who lives in

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and who wants to leave his middle-class

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

home. He is based on the writer's fourteen-year-old son Adam. Alexander's parents, Joe and Fay Green, try to understand him and he has a sister Renata.

Episodes

Series One (1971)

#"A Week to Live" (15 July 1971) #"The Third World Starts Tonight" (22 July 1971) #"The All Night Party" (29 July 1971) #"The Match" (5 August 1971) #"The Disengagement of Murray and Renata" (12 August 1971) #"Happy Anniversary" (19 August 1971)

Series Two (1972)

#"Charity Ends at Home" (1 March 1972) #"The New Policy" (22 March 1972) #"Israel Needs You" (29 March 1972) #"Kicking the Filthy Habit" (5 April 1972) #"The 21 Year Itch" (3 May 1972) #"Sam Leaves Home" (10 May 1972) #"Renata's Secret Affair" (31 May 1972)

Archival existence

Copies of all 13 episodes still exist, but (as of September 2013), 11 of these are in monochrome only as the original colour tapes were wiped in the mid 70's by ATV. The only 2 episodes left in colour are numbers 1 and 3 from the first series.

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
''Alexander the Greatest''
at British TV Comedy

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander the Greatest 1971 British television series debuts 1972 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) English-language television shows