''Rosie'' 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 ...

written 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 ...

that was broadcast between 1977 and 1981. It was set in the fictitious

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 Ravensbay, a name most probably derived from a combination of Ravenscar and

Robin Hood's Bay Robin Hood's Bay is a small Yorkshire coast fishery, fishing village and a bay located in the North York Moors National Park, south of Whitby and north of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough on the coast of North Yorkshire, England. Ba ...

, seaside villages near the seaside town of

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

where the series was filmed. The central character was PC Penrose ("Rosie"), a young and inexperienced

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

, played by

Paul Greenwood Paul Greenwood (born 2 August 1943) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his role as PC Michael "Rosie" Penrose in the short-lived sitcom ''The Growing Pains of PC Penrose'' and its successor '' Rosie'', and as ...

. The titular character is a nod towards Charles Penrose, who famously recorded the comedy song " The Laughing Policeman". ''Rosie'' was preceded by an earlier series of seven episodes, broadcast in 1975, called ''The Growing Pains of PC Penrose'' which was set in the fictitious

town of Slagcaster and filmed in Clarke's native

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, with the majority of the opening scenes of series one filmed in the village of New

Rossington Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West R ...

, although the colliery shown in episode one is possibly

Hatfield Colliery Hatfield Colliery, also known as Hatfield Main Colliery, was a colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield, mining the High Hazel coal seam. The colliery was around northwest of Hatfield, South Yorkshire, adjacent north of the railway line from ...

. The series then underwent a revamp with a new title (Rosie), setting and signature tune.

Cast

as PC 'Rosie' Penrose *

Tony Haygarth George Anthony Haygarth (4 February 1945 – 10 March 2017) was an English television, film and theatre actor. Life and career After leaving Marlborough College, Liverpool, Haygarth worked unsuccessfully in 1963 as a lifeguard in Torquay, and a ...

as PC Wilmot *Frankie Jordan as Gillian *Penny Leatherbarrow as WPC Brenda Whatmough *

Paul Luty Paul Graham Luty (5 May 1932 – 12 January 1985) was an English wrestler who later became a film and television actor. In 1973 Luty played window cleaner, Bert Henshaw on '' Coronation Street''. Other television credits include '' Love ...

as Chief Inspector Dunwoody *

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 ...

as Millie Penrose (series 1–3) *

Patricia Kneale Patricia Kneale (17 October 1925 – 27 December 2008) was a British stage and television actress. She was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Career Kneale gained a Meggie Albanesi scholarship to RADA, where she was awarded the Bancroft gol ...

as Millie Penrose (series 4) *Lorraine Peters as Aunt Ida *

Allan Surtees Allan Joseph Surtees (31 December 1924 – 1 November 2000) was an English actor who appeared in many television productions and films over a 30-year period. Television appearances His television appearances included roles on '' Coronation ...

as Uncle Norman *

Don McKillop Donald Harley McKillop (15 February 1928 – 19 December 2005) was an English actor who trained at RADA. Notable roles include Bert the Landlord in the '' Doctor Who'' fifth and final serial of the eighth season, ''The Dæmons'' in 1971, Jack i ...

as Bill (series 1–3) * Maggie Jones as Glenda (series 1–3)

Episodes

''(first airdate in parentheses)''

Series 1

*"Woman Pressure" (5 January 1977) *"A Smile from Antonio" (12 January 1977) *"I Wish They Wouldn't Call Me Son" (19 January 1977) *"Sunday" (26 January 1977) *"Wholesale Fish" (2 February 1977) *"The Cheese and Wine" (9 February 1977)

Series 2

*"Mirror, Mirror on the Floor" (18 May 1978) *"Wilmot Gets a Bad Case of Big Cyril's Second Wife" (25 May 1978) *"Wilmot Gets an Even Worse Case of Big Cyril's Second Wife" (1 June 1978) *"The Eyes of the Law" (8 June 1978) *"Complications" (15 June 1978) *"Further Complications" (22 June 1978) *"Our Intrepid Birdmen" (29 June 1978)

Series 3

*"Those Wonderful People in the C.I.D." (7 June 1979) *"Free Sample" (14 June 1979) *"The Worm that Turns Us All" (21 June 1979) *"Happy Birthday, Mr Chizlehurst" (28 June 1979) *"Looking for Herbie" (5 July 1979) *"Turn Left at the Parrot" (12 July 1979) *"A Day in the Country" (19 July 1979)

Series 4

*"Tune on a Silent Dog Whistle" (18 September 1981) *"Arresting Gordon by Instalments" (25 September 1981) *"You're Beautiful, Miss Parkinson" (2 October 1981) *"The Eight-Foot Goat" (9 October 1981) *"Big Night at Freezi-Pops" (16 October 1981) *"An Informer for Engelbert" (23 October 1981) *"Caught in the Act" (30 October 1981)

DVD release

The complete series (seven episodes) of ''The Growing Pains of PC Penrose'' was previously released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2007; however, , ''Rosie'' has not yet been released.

External links

* * {{Roy Clarke 1977 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms 1980s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Television shows set in Yorkshire Scarborough, North Yorkshire