''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

which ran on the

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 ...

network from 1974 to 1978. Set in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

town of Scarsdale, the series stars

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...

as Selwyn Froggitt, a council labourer, hapless handyman,

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

secretary and all-round public nuisance. It was created by

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'' a ...

from a concept by Maynard. Clarke wrote the pilot episode transmitted in 1974 but was replaced by

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his family ...

when the first series was commissioned. It was made by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

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

– Selwyn Froggitt *

Megs Jenkins Muguette Mary "Megs" Jenkins (21 April 1917 – 5 October 1998) was an English character actress who appeared in British films and television programmes. Life and career Jenkins was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, the daughter of a construction ...

– Mrs Froggitt (Series 1–3) *

Robert Keegan Robert Charles Keegan (August 4, 1920 – June 20, 2001) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox from 1953 to 1958. A native of Rochester, New York, he attended Bucknell University and performed Wo ...

– Maurice Froggitt (Series 1–3) *

Rosemary Martin Rosemary Martin (17 December 1936 – 14 August 1998) was an English actress, born in Birmingham. She appeared in dozens of films from 1964 to 1998 and is also known for television roles including Mrs. Partridge in ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ...

– Vera Parkinson (Series 1) *

Lynda Baron Lilian Ridgway (24 March 1939 – 5 March 2022), known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is best known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom ''Open All Hours'' (1976–1985) and its sequel ...

– Vera Parkinson (Series 2–3) * Richard Davies – Clive (Series 1–3) *

Bill Dean Bill Dean (born Patrick Anthony Connolly, 3 September 1921 – 20 April 2000) was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. Biography ...

– Jack (Series 1–3) * Harold Goodwin – Harry (Series 1–3) *Ray Mort – Ray (Series 1–3) *

Bernard Gallagher Bernard Gallagher (26 September 1929 – 27 November 2016) was an English actor known for his stage work, including with the National Theatre and the Royal Court; and his many appearances in television soap operas and dramas. He was born in Bra ...

– 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

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 Wilfred Duncan Wood (24 March 1925 – 11 January 1997) was a British comedy producer, director and writer, who has been described as "the founding father of the British TV sitcom". His best-known achievements were to produce all of Tony Ha ...

during his 1972–73 tenure as the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Plot

donkey jacket A donkey jacket is a medium-length workwear jacket, typically made of unlined black or dark blue thick Melton woollen fabric, with the shoulders back and front reinforced and protected from rain with leather or PVC panels. Originating in the ...

Maynard took inspiration from

Bottom Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...

, a comic character from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''. Froggitt has an urge to improve his life and that of everyone around him; he carries ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' 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

Malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...

s and

Spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words in a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, w ...

s, 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 (

) and his brother Maurice (Robert Keegan). Maurice's girlfriend, Vera Parkinson, was played by

in the first series. In the second and third series (during which Maurice and Vera marry), Vera was played by

. 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

, serving as concert secretary in charge of booking "turns". Froggitt's colleagues on the committee are the dour

Scouser Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Jack (

), Harry ( Harold Goodwin) and excitable, stereotypical Welshman Clive ( Richard Davies), often referred to as

Taff Taff may refer to: * River Taff, a large river in Wales * ''Taff'' (TV series), a German tabloid news programme * Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, an organisation for science fiction fandom People * a demonym for anyone from south Wales * Jerry 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 "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

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 Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

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 Skelmanthorpe is a clustered village 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2011 census, the village has 4,549 inhabitants. The village sits on the south (right) bank of the first river-like ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

and Elvington,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. 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

* * * {{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