Mildred Dorothy Roper (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Tremble) is a fictional character from the
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
sitcoms ''
Man About the House
''Man About the House'' is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 Apr ...
'' and ''
George and Mildred
''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Ge ...
''. She was portrayed by
Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce Needham (20 August 1927 – 24 August 1980), known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and its spin-off ''George and M ...
.
Biography
Mildred Dorothy Tremble was born in
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and had three siblings: Arthur, Ethel (
Avril Elgar
Avril Elgar Williams (1 April 1932 – 17 September 2021) was an English stage, radio and television actress.
Early life and career
Elgar was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School ...
) and Hilda (Jean Marlow). Although her
maiden name
When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...
is given as Tremble, in the 1974 film ''
Man About the House
''Man About the House'' is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 Apr ...
'' she is referred to as Mildred Askwith by the Doorman at
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
who turns out to be her wartime boyfriend Arthur Mulgrove.
Her eldest sibling was her only brother, Arthur Tremble, who had emigrated to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and was employed branding sheep; it is hinted that he was
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
. He died in 1950. Her eldest sister, Ethel, married Humphrey Pumphrey (
Reginald Marsh), and moved into a large mansion in
Oxshott
Oxshott is a suburban village in the borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England. Oxshott includes hilly acidic heath which is partly wooded (see Esher Commons and Prince's Coverts) and occupies the land between the large towns of Esher and Leatherhead ...
. Hilda, married a man called Fred, nicknamed 'Fertile Fred' by George and Humphrey, and had five unnamed children. During the Second World War, Mildred worked in the canteen at an airbase near London with Gladys (
Eunice Black
Eunice Black (23 October 1914 — 27 August 2007) was an English character actress best known for her roles in various sitcoms and comedy movies.
Early life
Eunice Black was born on 23 October 1914 in West Ham, Essex, as Eunice Holden.
Career
...
) and Kitty, and several others; Mildred had many boyfriends, including flight sergeant Lee Kennedy (
Lionel Murton
William Lionel Murton (2 June 1915 – 26 September 2006) was an English character actor. Born in Wandsworth, London, he was resident at Little Orchard, Weston Road, Upton Grey, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, before his death at age 91. He was cr ...
), army sergeant Arthur Mulgrove (
Norman Mitchell
Norman Mitchell Driver (27 August 1918 – 19 March 2001), known professionally as Norman Mitchell, was an English television, stage and film actor.
Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, his father was a mining engineer and his mother a ...
) and many others including a ginger one, a tall one with a
crew cut
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp ( pompadour) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the cro ...
and one with a moustache.
After the war, Mildred had a fling with Charlie Roper (
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 ...
) (with whom she went to the cinema to see ''
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Win ...
'' on seven consecutive nights, but claims she still needs to see the film), who introduced her to his brother
George Roper
George Roper (15 May 1934 – 1 July 2003)
was an English comedian, best known for his appearances in the long-running UK television series '' The Comedians''.
Early history
He was born George Francis Furnival in Liverpool to a working-cla ...
(
Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer
* Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer
* Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...
) who was wearing his gas mask at the time. Mildred married George in 1953, who was working as a bus conductor - a job he would hold for two weeks. Their wedding day was a disaster as when Mildred was walking up the aisle in her navy blue dress, George accidentally stepped on her bridal
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
and ripped it clean off. George wore his bus conductor's uniform for his wedding as he had come straight from work. All of George's fly buttons were undone and Mildred had to discreetly do them up at the altar as George was not sober. At the wedding reception, George was at the pub getting drunk to 'steady his nerves' and then put the ring on the vicar's finger. They honeymooned in
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Paula Wilcox
Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. With a career spanning over 50 years, she is best known for her role as Chrissy in the popular ITV sitcom ''Man About The House'' from 1973 to 1976. She has also had roles in TV shows ...]
), Jo (
Sally Thomsett
Sally Thomsett (born 3 April 1950) is an English actress who starred as Phyllis in the film ''The Railway Children'' (1970) and played Jo in the TV sitcom ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976). She also appeared as Janice in the film '' Straw Do ...
) and a young woman called Eleanor. After Eleanor leaves in 1973, Robin Tripp moves in, but George does not think it's morally appropriate to have a man sharing a flat with two women. Chrissy allays his fears by falsely telling George that Robin is
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
.
When George and Mildred go to stay at her wealthy sister Ethel's house in 1974, the flatmates plan a party. But when George makes fun of Humphrey because he has lost his driving licence, Ethel and Humphrey ask them to leave. Upon arriving back home, the Ropers realise a party is happening and join in the fun, until they find out that George has parked awkwardly and is asked to move his car, where he is stopped by a policeman and is arrested for driving a car above the alcohol limit.
The flatmates throw a party for the Ropers' 21st wedding anniversary, and Robin invites his German friend Franz Wasserman (
Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', ''Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of the ...
), a fellow cookery student, to come along. Unfortunately this sets off George's obsession with the Second World War, leading to a falling-out between the two men. One of a set of cuff-links bought as a present for George also goes missing and ends up in the food. Robin's friend Larry (
Doug Fisher) moves into the flat but his slovenly ways and habit of pinching the others' food are not exactly endearing him as a house-mate. Then Mildred comes up with an excellent idea to clean out the attic and let him take it as his room. George was spending too much time up there anyway. While clearing it out, Chrissy finds some old love letters written by George to someone named 'Mil'. Robin, Chrissy and Jo assume these are to Mildred, but when they are presented to Mildred it is revealed by George that they were not to Mildred but to Millicent Briggs, who was Mildred's maid of honour at their wedding!
Chrissy and Jo are going to their staff dinner dance and Chrissy hasn't got a partner, so she decides that Robin should accompany her. Robin cannot dance, so is taught a few dance lessons by Mildred and given a dinner jacket from George. There's a mouse loose about the house and, though Larry kills it, Robin wants him to keep quiet about it as the girls are scared of the mouse and Robin can exploit their fear to get closer to Chrissy. George also wants to keep up the pretence that the mouse is still around to ward off a visit from Mildred's mother, which ultimately fails as they go to visit Mildred's mother instead of her visiting them. In 1975, it is revealed that in order to fiddle his tax returns, George has been claiming for a non-existent son for the past nineteen years, and is in danger of this being found out when a tax inspector is about to visit. There is only one thing for it: Robin will have to pose as George and Mildred's son to fool the inspector (
Anthony Sharp
Dennis Anthony John Sharp (16 June 1915 – 23 July 1984) was an English actor, writer and director.
Stage career
Anthony Sharp was a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and made his stage debut in February 1938 ...
). Chrissy receives two tickets for a
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
concert, but doesn't want them. Instead, she enjoys being pampered by Jo and Robin as they compete for the tickets. Meanwhile, George buys Mildred a budgie for their 22nd wedding anniversary. He gives it to the tenants to look after so it remains a surprise for Mildred, but it escapes, so the tenants give George the concert tickets as a replacement present.
In February 1976, the youngsters want a party but George, recalling the last one, is against the idea. Mildred, however, is all for it and gives it her blessing. Unfortunately, come the night of the party, none of the guests show up; it turns out that George put a sign on the door saying the party was cancelled. This leads to more friction between the Ropers. Summer holiday brochures remind Chrissy, Jo and Robin that they're all looking rather pale and wan. And Mildred owns a sunray lamp - or at least she thought she did. Strangely enough, it disappears after Robin suddenly gets a tan. but George pinches it so they cannot use it. When Chrissy is to marry Robin's brother Norman, George tries to keep the Ropers' invitations from Mildred because he wants to go to a darts match instead and Mildred is furious when she finds out. Chrissy moves out and Robin and Jo shortly follow her. When the Ropers receive a
compulsory purchase order
A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...
from the council who wanted to knock down their house to make room for a flyover in 1976, they moved to 46 Peacock Crescent,
Hampton Wick
Hampton Wick, formerly a village, is a Thames-side area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is contiguous with Teddington and Kingston upon Thames. It is buffered by Bushy Park, one of the Royal Parks of London from Hampton and ...
, next door to the Fourmile family: Jeffrey (
Norman Eshley
Norman Eshley (born 30 May 1945) is an English actor best known for his television roles.
Biography
Eshley attended Bristol Grammar School and worked in a bank, before training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played many ...
) Ann (
Sheila Fearn
Sheila Fearn (born 3 October 1940 in Leicester) is an English retired actress best known for playing Audrey, the sister of Terry Collier in BBC situation comedies ''The Likely Lads'' and ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', and also lat ...
), Tristram (
Nicholas Bond-Owen
Nicholas Bond-Owen (born 13 November 1968) (sometimes billed as Nick or Nicholas Owen) is a child actor of the 1970s and 1980s best known for playing Tristram Fourmile in all five series of the popular comedy ''George and Mildred'' and in the fi ...
) and later, baby Tarquin (Simon Lloyd).
After George and Mildred move into their new home, they are invited for a welcoming drink by the Fourmiles, but Jeffrey doesn't want them around by the time the Fourmiles' dinner guests arrive - the local Conservative MP (
Diana King
Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican-American singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They were born to an Indo-Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father. They are best known f ...
), and her husband (
John Harvey John Harvey may refer to:
People Academics
* John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician
* John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...
). George doesn't want to go and has a rare bath instead. Unfortunately, when Mildred goes home, she finds George has accidentally locked them out and left the bathwater running. Mildred later gets a job as a secretary in Jeffrey's estate agency. George is thus the house husband but he is a disastrous cook and home-maker. Mildred is relieved when he finally gets a job, but less so when she discovers it is as a night-watchman, and he will be away all night; thankfully, he leaves the job soon after. Having baby-sat Tristram for Ann and Jeffrey while they go out for the night, Mildred is broody and wants a child of her own. George is less keen but is persuaded to apply for adoption. His crassness and the Ropers' age means that the adoption agency turns them down, but instead, George buys Mildred a
Yorkshire Terrier
The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.[Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...]
, Mildred is given the key to their house so she can water their plants, but George abuses this by going in to watch the couple's superior colour television. Mildred has asked George to decorate their lounge but George calls in professionals - who follow him into the Fourmiles' house, wrongly assuming that this is where the re-decoration is needed. George and Mildred have to put the resultant unwanted make-over back to normal.
For the Ropers' 24th wedding anniversary in 1977, Mildred gives George a pipe and tobacco as a present. George gets her a carriage clock, which he bought for ten pounds from a man in the pub. Meanwhile, Jeffrey, Ann and Tristram get back from a golfing holiday to find they have been burgled, and one of the missing items is a carriage clock. Later on, initially opposed to George's idea of taking in a lodger to make more money, Mildred changes her mind when the charming salesman Edward Rogers (
Derek Waring
Derek Waring (born Derek Barton-Chapple; 26 April 1927 – 20 February 2007) was an English actor who is best remembered for playing Detective Inspector Goss in ''Z-Cars'' from 1969 to 1973. He was married to fellow actor, Dame Dorothy T ...
) turns up to rent their back bedroom for a month. Edward is everything George is not, charming, cultured, always goes for an evening walk, and dead keen to help Mildred with all those little jobs George can't be bothered with. George gets jealous and is a weed as ever. Ultimately, his worries are proved to be unfounded, for Rogers has been going to the pub during his evening walk to see his girlfriend. He announces that he is gay, to throw Mildred off his tail, and leaves shortly afterwards.
In December 1977, Mildred decides to have a spring-clean and to turf out some of George's clutter, including his wartime gas mask. She discovers letters he has written to a woman named Dorothy for years and fears that he has been unfaithful and brings a
marriage counsellor
Couples therapy (also couples' counseling, marriage counseling, or marriage therapy) attempts to improve romantic relationships and resolve interpersonal conflicts.
History
Marriage counseling originated in Germany in the 1920s as part of the eu ...
in - though it turns out that they are unsent fan letters to film actress
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...
. Christmas 1977 brings news that Jeffrey is producing and directing the Hampton Wick Players Christmas pantomime, Cinderella. A problem arises however, which leaves the production short of a second ugly sister. Mildred, who has been eager to take part, is offered the role, and accepts. Ethel and Humphrey arrive for the evening of the performance, but by then, Mildred has fallen ill and lost her voice leaving George to take her place. In September 1978, Mildred is thrilled to get a letter from Lee Kennedy, an American ex-airman with whom she had a wartime fling during her time working at the airbase, who is visiting England and wants to see her again. A jealous George rings up his old flame Gloria Rumbold (
Claire Davenport
Claire Bernice Davenport (24 April 1933 – 25 February 2002) was an English character actress well known for her large physique.
Life and career
Davenport was born on 24 April 1933 in Sale, Cheshire, and began acting in 1961 with a thea ...
) and arranges to meet up for a drink with her - though neither reunion turns out to be as the Ropers had hoped as Lee invites half the airbase to the reunion and Gloria turns out to be an overweight loud-speaking massage parlour worker.
In late September 1978, Mildred is not happy about George mending his motorbike in the house but when Ann goes into labour with Jeffrey away in Birmingham and no chance of a mini-cab, George has to rush her in, in his motorbike. Inevitably George is mistaken for the father but a grateful Ann shocks her husband by suggesting they call their new baby son George. In November 1978, Mildred wants a new Hollywood-style bathroom shower but the professionals' quotes are too pricey for penny-pinching George, so he gets his dodgy friend Jerry to do the installation. Unfortunately Jerry connects the shower to the Fourmiles' plumbing system so that the Ropers end up stealing their neighbours' water.
In December 1978, Mildred decides that she wants her dog Truffles, who is in season, to have puppies. She wants the Ropers to mate her with Ethel's dog in order to produce pedigree puppies that they can sell but find that the pub Labrador has been with Truffles, who is we find out is non-pedigree and when she gives birth, a load of spotty Yorkshire terriers are born.
Christmas 1978 becomes a drag for George and Mildred. Having had an extremely boring and non-eventful Christmas Day, George and Mildred spend next day with the Fourmiles where George and Jeffrey become addicted to Tristram's present, a digital table tennis video game, which sees George losing money. Ethel and Humphrey arrive for an exchange of presents but George and Mildred don't have any presents for them as George ate Ethel's present, a box of chocolates, after he thought they weren't coming to see them. Mildred quickly improvises and gives Humphrey a pair of oven gloves and Ethel a pound of cheese.
George buys Mildred a fur coat from the Oxfam shop for their 26th anniversary in 1979 but when she hears that he found a credit card in the pub she assumes he used it in the shop and returns the coat - only to find, too late, that she was mistaken. Shortly after, Mildred goes into hospital with suspected appendicitis so kindly Ann, to Jeffrey's annoyance, has George round for dinner. When he gets home he finds Jerry, who has been evicted, wanting to stay, along with his 'niece' (
Sue Bond
Sue Bond (born 9 May 1945) is a British actress, cabaret singer and comedian, best remembered for her appearances on ''The Benny Hill Show'' in the early 1970s. She appeared with Benny Hill for three years between 1970 and 1973, making her on ...
). But the appendicitis is actually indigestion, and Mildred comes home early. She is not happy to find two unwelcome guests and throws them out. Mildred becomes disenchanted by her failure to be included in the social life on her middle-class estate. She and George return to George's old neighbourhood, with an eye to moving back, and visit his old neighbours Alf and Gladys (
Michael Robbins
Michael Anthony Robbins (14 November 1930 – 11 December 1992) was an English actor and comedian best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the TV sitcom and film versions of ''On the Buses'' (1969–73).
Career
Michael Robbins was born in ...
and
Queenie Watts
Queenie Watts (born Mary Spenton; 21 July 1923 – 25 January 1980) was an English actress of film and television, as well as an occasional singer. ), but they find the terraced streets are gone, replaced by modern tower blocks, so the idea is abandoned. Mildred starts taking driving lessons from the elderly Mr. Bowles (
Robert Raglan
Robert Raglan (7 April 1909 – 18 July 1985) was a British actor best known for his semi-regular role in ''Dad's Army'' as Colonel Pritchard. He also starred in a number of other television series and films such as ''Fabian of the Yard'' (1954 ...
) from the Common, but wants to keep it secret from George, because every time he has tried to teach her, it ends in disaster, so she says she is going to the Keep Fit class. When Ann accidentally lets slip that the Keep Fit class has finished George suspects Mildred of having an affair and, taking advice from Jeffrey, attempts to be more romantic with her. A misunderstanding arises when the supposed lover comes to the Ropers' house but all is resolved as Mildred passes her test.
Browsing through '
Country Life', Ethel sees a photo of a Ming dynasty china horse worth ten thousand pounds. Her mother tells her Mildred owns the only other one in the world and Mildred agrees to sell it to her, having first established that it is one of many worthless copies made in 1927 and not the real thing. For once the Ropers come out on top as Mildred pockets Ethel's cheque for 1,500 pounds. Jeffrey gets an invitation to the Young Conservatives' Dinner Dance, but Ann will be away so she persuades him to take Mildred instead. A jealous George chats up widowed barmaid Beryl, telling her he is single and arranging to meet with her on the night of the dance whilst he is alone in the house. However, Mildred feels out of her depth and returns home early, forcing George to tell Beryl the truth. The Ropers go to bed and, whilst Mildred declares that she loves George for all his faults, his response is less assured - he calls her Beryl. In 1980, Mildred is keen to ascertain whether or not her husband George has remembered their 27th wedding anniversary. Needless to say, he hasn't. By the time he comes to remember, he books a table at the restaurant where he first proposed to Mildred but to his horror, he discovers on arrival that it has been turned into a greasy spoon café run by Hell's Angels-style bikers. Mildred then decides that she and George will celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary in style at the plush, world famous London Hotel in London - however unhappy George might be at the cost involved. But on arrival, George is mistaken for a ruthless hit-man by a shady businessman (
Stratford Johns
Alan Edgar Stratford Johns (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the long-running ...
), who wants a rival eliminated.
She adapted easily to the surroundings, but George didn't. Her ageing 74-year-old mother (
Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin (7 July 1911 – 11 July 2005) was an English actress and dancer with a career in show business spanning over 70 years. She was born in Covent Garden, Central London. She played Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap ope ...
) was a frequent visitor, and where she loved her, George didn't.
Storylines
Most of Mildred's storylines for Mildred were for her trying to climb the
social ladder
Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Stat ...
, and with George ruining her attempts. In ''George and Mildred'' she makes friends with her neighbour Ann Fourmile (Fearn), who is married to the snobbish Jeffrey (Eshley). When Ann gave birth to Tarquin in series three, Mildred thinks of adopting a child, and George agrees (providing the baby is not black). The person from the orphanage later declares that the Roper's cannot adopt, for unknown reasons. Feeling sorry for Mildred, George buys her a
Yorkshire Terrier
The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.[Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce Needham (20 August 1927 – 24 August 1980), known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and its spin-off ''George and M ...]
, who had played Mildred, Thames Television did talk of producing a spin-off for the character of George, looking at him cope with life as a widower. This project did not materialise, but Brian Murphy did reunite with ''George and Mildred'' co-star
Roy Kinnear
Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in ''How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeers ...
and writers Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke for ''The Incredible Mr. Tanner'', a comedy produced for Thames soon after Yootha Joyce's death.
Appearances
Yootha Joyce appeared as Mildred Roper in all episodes of ''
Man About the House
''Man About the House'' is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 Apr ...
'' and all of the spin-off series, ''
George and Mildred
''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Ge ...
''. She also appeared as Mildred in the
film version
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
. When Yootha Joyce died in 1980, the character of Mildred died with her.
Analysis
Maggie Andrews sees her as part of a tradition of portraying women characters as consumerist, social-climbing, and pretentious, prefiguring characters such as
Hyacinth Bucket
Hyacinth Bucket is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'', portrayed by Patricia Routledge. Routledge won a British Comedy Award in 1991, and was nominated for two BAFTA awards in 1992 and 1993 for her portrayal.
Hyac ...
in ''
Keeping up Appearances
''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class so ...
''. She was also an influence on the character of
Dot Cotton
Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
in
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
.
References
Further reading
*Fisher, Tex, ''Man About the House - George and Mildred: The Definitive Companion'', Deck Chair Publishing, 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roper, Mildred
British sitcom characters
Roper, Mildred
Female characters in television
Fictional people from London