''All Gas and Gaiters'' is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 1966 to 1971. It was written by

Pauline Devaney Pauline Devaney (born ) is a British actress, writer, and artist, best known for her television writing in partnership with Edwin Apps. Devaney was born in Stoke-on-Trent, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She and Apps both bega ...

and

Edwin Apps Edwin Apps (14 May 1931 – 16 April 2021) was an English television actor and writer. He appeared in many British and French television series and films, which include ''Whack-O!'', '' I Thank a Fool'', ''Danger Man'', '' The Avengers'', '' ...

, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of John Wraith when writing the pilot. ''All Gas and Gaiters'' was also broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

from 1971 to 1972.

Cast

William Mervyn William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy ''All Gas and Gaiters'', the old gentleman in '' The Railway Children'' and Inspector Charles Rose ...

The Rt Revd Dr Cuthbert Hever, DD,

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of St Ogg's *

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, ''All Gas ...

The Ven Henry Blunt, the

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''Al ...

The Revd Mervyn Noote, the Bishop's chaplain * John BarronThe Very Revd Lionel Pugh-Critchley,

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of St Ogg's (pilot, series 1, 4 and 5) *

Ernest Clark Ernest Clark (12 February 1912 – 11 November 1994) was a British actor of stage, television and film. Early life Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving sc ...

The Very Revd Lionel Pugh-Critchley, Dean of St Ogg's (1968 special, series 2 and 3) *

Ruth Kettlewell Ruth Kettlewell (born Ruth Anne Berry, 13 April 1913 – 17 July 2007) was an English actress. She was, by her own admission, a "character bag"; that is, a face recognisable to regular television viewers, but not a household name. Early life Ke ...

Mrs Grace Pugh-Critchley, the Dean's wife (1967–1969) *

Joan Sanderson Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was a British television and stage actress born in Bristol. During a long career, her tall and commanding disposition led to her playing mostly dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intens ...

Mrs Grace Pugh-Critchley, the Dean's wife (1970–1971)

Plot

''All Gas and Gaiters'', predominantly

farcical Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

in nature, was set in the close of the fictional St Ogg's Cathedral and concerned intrigues and rivalries among the clergy in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. The bishop was easygoing; his friend the archdeacon was elderly, tippling, and still appreciative of attractive women; and the bishop's chaplain was naïve and accident-prone. Their wish to live a quiet bachelor life was continually threatened by the overbearing

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, who tried to bring by-the-book rule to the cathedral. The title is a pun, deriving from a comic expression ("all is gas and gaiters", meaning "all is well") uttered by an eccentric old gentleman clad in small-clothes and grey worsted stockings in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1839 novel ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

'', and later used by such writers as

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

, and

Powell and Pressburger The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. ...

(spoken in the film ''

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' is a 1943 British romantic drama war film written, produced and directed by the Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film making team of Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It s ...

''). The phrase "all gas and gaiters" has had different meanings. Sometimes it has been used to mean "a satisfactory state of affairs" and sometimes it has had the meaning of "nonsense". The relevance of this phrase to Anglican clergy is that gaiters (worn over shoes) were part of the

traditional dress A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

of bishops and archdeacons. The series initially aroused some controversy because of its portrayal of senior clergy as bungling incompetents, although some clergy enjoyed it. In the opening credits,

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Normans, Norman times. It cease ...

was shown as the fictional St Ogg's (but with the Crooked Spire of

Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield Chesterfield Parish Church is an Anglican church dedicated to Saint Mary and All Saints, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. Building of the church began in 1234 AD, though the present church dates predominantly from the 14th century. Designa ...

added to the central tower). The background to the opening credits was the headmaster's garden of St. Albans School. The name "St. Ogg's" may have been taken from a fictional village in George Eliot's novel ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York. Plot summary Spanning a period of 10 to ...

''. It proved to be the first of a series of comedies starring

in similar bumbling clerical roles(''

Oh, Brother! ''Oh, Brother!'' is a British television sitcom starring Derek Nimmo, which aired on BBC1 from 13 September 1968 to 27 February 1970. Synopsis The series was set in the fictional Mountacres Monastery, with Nimmo cast as the well-meaning but ine ...

'', ''Oh, Father!'' and ''

Hell's Bells Hell's Bells or Hells Bells may refer to: Music * "Hells Bells" (song), a 1980 song by AC/DC * ''Hells Bells'' (album), a 1980 album by John Hicks * "Hell's Bells", a piece of music written by Art Kassel and recorded in 1932 * "Hell's Bells", ...

'')but is regarded as the best, partly because of a strong supporting cast (particularly the experienced ''

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

ur''

as the

) and partly because it included some elements of gentle satire. All 11 surviving episodes were released on DVD by DD Home Entertainment in 2004, originally accompanied by a detailed behind-the-scenes booklet, written by Andy Priestner in consultation with the show's writers, Edwin Apps and Pauline Devaney, but later released without.

Cinema Club 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

have since bought the DVD rights. Eight scripts of the lost episodes were published in 2015: "Only Three Can Play", "The Dean Goes Primitive", "The Bishop Goes To Town", "The Bishop Learns the Facts", "The Bishop is Hospitable", "The Bishop Takes a Holiday", "The Affair at Cookham Lock" and "The Bishop Gives a Shove".

Episodes

The pilot and first two series were videotaped in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

. The third series was videotaped in colour, but was originally broadcast in

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

. The fourth and fifth series were made and shown in colour. Only 11 episodes still exist in the archive, the others were

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

as was the standard policy of the BBC in this era. Two of the colour episodes from series 5 are preserved as black and white 16mm film recordings only (three earlier episodes were always black and white). Only six colour episodes are preserved in their original colour videotape format.

''Christmas Night with the Stars''

'' Christmas Night with the Stars'' was a programme screened annually on Christmas night, when the top stars of the BBC appeared in short versions of their programmes, typically five to ten minutes long. ''All Gas and Gaiters'' appeared once alongside its sitcom spin-off ''

'' in 1968. This telerecording no longer exists in the BBC's film and videotape archives.

Radio

A radio version of ''All Gas and Gaiters'' was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

from 5 January 1971 to 4 December 1972 for 33 episodes. The radio show used the same cast as the television series with the exception of Derek Nimmo, who left after the first series and was succeeded by

Jonathan Cecil Jonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil (22 February 1939 – 22 September 2011), known as Jonathan Cecil, was an English theatre, film, and television actor. Early life Cecil was born in London, England, the son of Lord David Cecil and the grands ...

. Although seven radio episodes were thought to have been wiped, these were later found and all are available through radio enthusiasts. Some episodes were rebroadcast on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

in October and November 2006, and again a year later and in early 2009. They continued to be broadcast on the station, now renamed

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

, in August 2011 and again in early 2017 and 2022.

Radio episodes

Series One: 1971

#"The Bishop Rides Again" (5 January 1971) #"The Bishop Writes a Sermon" (12 January 1971) #"The Bishop Meets a Bird" (19 January 1971) #"The Bishop Turns to Crime" (26 January 1971) #"The Bishop Sees a Ghost" (2 February 1971) #"Only Three Can Play" (9 February 1971) #"The Dean Goes Primitive" (16 February 1971) #"The Bishop Gets a Letter" (23 February 1971) #"The Bishop Gives a Party" (2 March 1971) #"The Bishop Goes to Town" (9 March 1971) #"Give a Dog a Bad Name" (16 March 1971) #"The Bishop Gives a Shove" (23 March 1971) #"The Bishop Pays a Visit" (30 March 1971)

Series Two: 1972

#"The Bishop Learns the Facts" (24 July 1972) #"The Bishop Takes a Holiday" (31 July 1972) #"The Bishop Buys a Car" (7 August 1972) #"The Bishop Gets the Sack" (14 August 1972) #"The Bishop Has a Flutter" (21 August 1972) #"The Affair at Cookham Lock" (28 August 1972) #"The Bishop Loves His Neighbour" (4 September 1972) #"The Bishop Beats the System" (11 September 1972) #"The Bishop Entertains" (18 September 1972) #"The Bishop Gains a Reputation" (25 September 1972) #"The Bishop Buys a Mug" (2 October 1972) #"The Bishop Loses his Chaplain" (9 October 1972) #"When In Rome" (16 October 1972) #"The Bishop Is Hospitable" (23 October 1972) #"The Bishop Gives a Present" (30 October 1972) #"The Bishop Takes Up Business" (6 November 1972) #"The Bishop Keeps his Diary" (13 November 1972) #"The Bishop Warms Up" (20 November 1972) #"The Bishop Shows his Loyalty" (27 November 1972) #"The Bishop Has a Rest" (4 December 1972)

Influence and legacy

In April 2016, the radio drama based on the story behind the making of the series, ''All Mouth and Trousers'' by Mark Burgess, was aired by BBC Radio 4. The production featured

John Sessions John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist o ...

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wro ...

, Nicholas Boulton as Stuart Allen, Gareth Williams as

, Trevor Littledale as

Zeb Soanes Zebedee Soanes (born 24 June 1976) is a British radio presenter who presents the weekday evening music show ''Smooth Classics at Seven'' on Classic FM. He was previously a newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extr ...

and

David Collings David Collings (4 June 1940 – 23 March 2020) was an English actor. In an extensive career he appeared in many roles on stage, television, film and radio, as well as various audio books, voiceovers, concert readings and other work. He garnered ...

as John Barron.

References

External links

* * *
''All Gas and Gaiters''
at lostshows.com

at British TV Comedy
''All Gas and Gaiters''
at Nostalgia Central * {{IMDb title, 0061232 1960s British sitcoms 1966 British television series debuts 1970s British sitcoms 1971 British television series endings 1971 radio programme debuts 1972 radio programme endings BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC television sitcoms Black-and-white British television shows Comedy Playhouse English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes Religious comedy television series