Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!

''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' is a British television sitcom which ran on the ITV network from 1974 to 1978. Set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Scarsdale, the series stars Bill Maynard as Selwyn Froggitt, a council labourer, hapless handyman, working men's club secretary and all-round public nuisance. It was created by Roy Clarke from a concept by Maynard. Clarke wrote the pilot episode transmitted in 1974 but was replaced by Alan Plater when the first series was commissioned. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was a ratings success. For its fourth and final series, the programme was renamed ''Selwyn'' and its location changed to a holiday camp.

Cast

*Bill Maynard – Selwyn Froggitt
*Megs Jenkins – Mrs Froggitt (Series 1–3)
*Robert Keegan – Maurice Froggitt (Series 1–3)
*Rosemary Martin – Vera Parkinson (Series 1)
*Lynda Baron – Vera Parkinson (Series 2–3)
* Richard Davies – Clive (Series 1–3)
*Bill Dean – Jack (Series 1–3)
* Harold Goodwin – Harry (Series 1–3)
*Ray Mort – Ray (Series 1–3)
*Bernard Gallagher – Mervin Price (Series 4)

Conception

Bill Maynard had the initial idea for the show, wanting to create a sitcom based around the members of the working men's club in his home village Sapcote, Leicestershire. Maynard would later say "every character came from that club". Maynard modelled his lead character on a larger-than-life patron named Peter Wright. Wright would often exclaim "magic!" and order "a pint of cooking and a bag of nuts", both of which became catchphrases of Maynard's character. Wright had arms so muscular he could not fold them properly so he often kept them high on his chest, another attribute Maynard borrowed.

Maynard attempted to get the show commissioned by Duncan Wood during his 1972–73 tenure as the BBC's Head of Comedy. Wood commissioned a pilot after he had moved to Yorkshire Television to be Head of Light Entertainment. Wood brought in Roy Clarke, the creator of ''Last of the Summer Wine'', to write the pilot. As Clarke felt he lacked the familiarity to write about a working men's club, Maynard took the train to Leeds to assist him. Clarke titled the programme ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'', and the pilot episode was transmitted on 30 September 1974. This initial episode rendered Selwyn's surname as 'Froggit'. Feeling the pilot was at odds with his original concept, Maynard met again with Clarke to discuss the show's direction. Clarke admitted he had found it difficult to write about situations he had not thought up himself, and decided he was not right for the job.

Maynard approached Alan Plater to take Clarke's place as writer, having worked with the playwright and screenwriter on ''Trinity Tales'' (1975). Plater was best known for writing television drama including ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' (1974) and ''The Stars Look Down'' (1975); ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' was his only foray into sitcom writing. This has been noted as indicative of Plater's maverick and prolific approach to television writing.

Plot

The first three series centred on the bungling exploits of Selwyn Froggitt as Working Men's Club secretary and a council labourer in the fictional Yorkshire town of Scarsdale. Bill Maynard described Froggitt, a burly, balding and good-natured man often clad in a donkey jacket, as "this naïve boy who never grew up". Maynard took inspiration from Bottom, a comic character from Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Froggitt has an urge to improve his life and that of everyone around him; he carries ''The Times'' and often tells people "there was an article about it in ''The Times''" regarding subjects he has brought up. Maynard considered this an important part of the character, explaining "I wanted him to be intelligent, always anxious to improve himself. The easy route would've been to use old cliches, like Malapropisms and Spoonerisms, but that would have made the character too one-dimensional. By getting him to read ''The Times'' and be an ardent student of dynamic word power, we gave him the breadth to spread the comedy over a wide range of subjects. We wanted people to laugh ''with'' him, not ''at'' him".

Froggitt lives with his mother (Megs Jenkins) and his brother Maurice (Robert Keegan). Maurice's girlfriend, Vera Parkinson, was played by Rosemary Martin in the first series. In the second and third series (during which Maurice and Vera marry), Vera was played by Lynda Baron. A running gag is Froggitt's mother saying, "Don't open that cupboard our Selwyn, things fall out!" whenever he opens the cupboard in the Froggitt front room, before objects fall from it. Froggitt is on the committee of his local working men's club, serving as concert secretary in charge of booking "turns". Froggitt's colleagues on the committee are the dour Scouser Jack (Bill Dean), Harry ( Harold Goodwin) and excitable, stereotypical Welshman Clive ( Richard Davies), often referred to as Taff by Selwyn. All decisions taken by the club committee are taken on a "show of hands..." and "carried unanimously". In keeping with the ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' characterisations, Maynard saw the committee as the mechanicals. Froggitt is incompetent at everything he turns his hand to, being equally inept at his day job (digging holes and filling them in), do-it-yourself at home, and booking acts for the club. Nevertheless, he is honest and hard-working, unlike the other committee members, who usually sit back in comfort while Froggitt does the manual labour. They generally tolerate him because he is prepared to volunteer for unwanted tasks. Barman at the club is Raymond (Ray Mort), often seen answering the telephone with a number of highly fictitious and fanciful addresses.

The show's humour included a fair measure of slapstick alongside Plater's typical northern humour. It was mainly shot at Yorkshire Television Studios on Kirkstall Road, Leeds, whilst outdoor location filming for the series took place in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire and Elvington, North Yorkshire. The series was a ratings success, reaching peak viewing figures of 29 million.

Between the second and third series, Bill Maynard suffered a slipped disc and used a wheelchair. He recovered sufficiently in time for the commencement of filming of the third series on 5 September 1977. Alan Plater would later say that Maynard had "a constitutional resistance to learning the script".

In the fourth (and final) series, the format of the show changed radically. This version of the series was entitled ''Selwyn''; all of the regular cast from the first three series (bar Maynard) left the show, to focus on and pursue other TV work. The Froggitt character became entertainments manager at a seedy holiday camp on the east coast. Plater was no longer involved with the series, but with disappointing audience reactions a planned fifth series was cancelled.

List of episodes

Pilot (1974)

*Oh No- It's Selwyn Froggit (30 September 1974)

Series 1 (1976)

* Three Fifths of the World Loves a Lover (7 January 1976)
* We Are the Masters Now (14 January 1976)
* There Are Several Businesses Like Show Business (21 January 1976)
* The Grand Outing (28 January 1976)
* The Master Builder (4 February 1976)
* Ladies' Desire (11 February 1976)

Series 2 (1977)

* Daze of Hope (21 February 1977)
* The Game of the Name (28 February 1977)
* Raffles (7 March 1977)
* Selwyn Rides Again (14 March 1977)
* Alphabetic Orders (21 March 1977)
* The Protection Racket (28 March 1977)
* Just Cause and Impediment (4 April 1977)

Series 3 (1977)

* Be It Ever So Humble, There's No Place (8 November 1977)
* Gala Performance (15 November 1977)
* Boom Boom (22 November 1977)
* Occupational Hazard (29 November 1977)
* Sling Along with Selwyn (6 December 1977)
* A Little Learning (13 December 1977)
* Around the Houses (20 December 1977)
* On the Feast of Selwyn (27 December 1977)

Series 4 (1978)

NOTE: Series 4 of ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' was retitled ''Selwyn''

* The Road to Paradise Valley (5 September 1978)
* Wish You Were Here (12 September 1978)
* Better Never Than Late (19 September 1978)
* Take a Tip from Selwyn (26 September 1978)
* I've Gotta Jockey (3 October 1978)
* Don't Make Waves (10 October 1978)
* A Man for One Season (17 October 1978)

DVD release

All four series of ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' have been released on DVD. A four-disc set of the complete series of both complete series titles has also been released.

References

External links

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{{Alan Plater

ITV sitcoms
1974 British television series debuts
1978 British television series endings
1970s British sitcoms
English-language television shows
Television series by ITV Studios
Television series by Yorkshire Television
Television shows set in Yorkshire