''Sez Les'' is a British

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

show that starred

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and Mother-in-law joke, jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Earl ...

. It was produced 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 aired on

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 ...

from 1969 to 1976. Les Dawson and

Roy Barraclough Roy Senior Barraclough (12 July 1935 – 1 June 2017) was an English comic actor. He was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy, the devious, mournful landlord of the Rovers Return in the long-running British TV soap '' Coronation Street'', a ...

(who was a cast member from series four onward) regularly performed together as the characters

Cissie and Ada Cissie and Ada, in full Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebotham (or Sidebottom),Ada's surname is recorded both as Sidebottom and as Shufflebotham in various sources. ''The Guardian'' records it as Shufflebotham in "The Guide: Hard as Males" (9 ...

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

appeared in a few sketches in series 3 and appeared regularly in series 8 and 9. Other cast members included

Norman Chappell Norman Chappell (31 December 1925, Lucknow, India – 21 July 1983) was an English character actor, known for numerous roles in television and film. Biography Born in India, during the British Raj Chappell appeared mainly in television series as ...

Brian Glover Brian Glover (2 April 1934 – 24 July 1997) was an English actor and writer. He worked as a teacher and professional wrestler before commencing an acting career which included films, many roles on British television and work on the stage. His ...

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 ...

, and

Kathy Staff Kathy Staff (born Minnie Higginbottom; 12 July 1928 – 13 December 2008) was an English actress known for her work on British television. She is best known for her portrayal of Nora Batty in ''Last of the Summer Wine'', the longest running sit ...

. Music for series 1-5 and 7-8 was provided by

Syd Lawrence Syd Lawrence (26 June 1923 – 5 May 1998) was a British bandleader, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's Big Band sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of Glenn Miller and Count Basie amongst others. Career Born in Wilmslo ...

and his orchestra. Currently on sky channel 187 (That's TV) March 2022

Cast

Broadcast history

According to Barfe and IMDb,IMDb
"Sez Les"
Retrieved on 12 April 2020. the broadcast episodes were as follows: * Series 1: 6x30 min, 30 April-18 June 1969. * Series 2: 6x30 min, 10 September-19 November 1969. * Series 3: 4x30 min, 16 August-6 September 1971. * Series 4: 6x30 min, 13 January-17 February 1972. * Series 5: 7x45 min, 29 July-9 September 1972. * Series 6: 6x30 min, 30 October-4 December 1972. * Series 7: 7x45 min, 28 July-8 September 1973. * Series 8: 7x45 min, 25 January-8 March 1974. * Series 9: 7x30 min, 28 June-9 August 1974. * Series 10: 4x60 min, 2 January, 25 February-10 March 1976. * Series 11: 7x30 min, 19 October-30 November 1976 All of series 1 and episodes 1-5 of series 2 were made in black and white. All others were made in colour. Timings are given including advertising breaks: the actual running times are several minutes shorter. Most episodes followed a 'variety' format, including musical and dance numbers with various musical guests. An exception is Series 6, which although treated by IMDb and video label Network as part of the series, bears a different title, ''Les Sez'' and consists only of comic sketches and standup. Series 11 also lacks musical and dance items. Most episodes were directed by David Mallet, later a prominent director of music videos. The exceptions were Series 6, directed by Bill Hitchcock, and Series 10-11, directed by Vernon Lawrence. A Christmas special aired in 1973, and a New Year special in 1976. All episodes of series one and two are missing, and are believed to have been

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 ...

. The remaining episodes survive in the archive and have been released on DVD by Network.

Video releases

* ''Sez Les, Volume 1'' (October 2008), series three and four * ''Sez Les, Volume 2'' (25 May 2009), series five and six * ''Sez Les, Volume 3'' (8 February 2010), series seven and eight, plus the 1973 Christmas special * ''Sez Les, Volume 4'' (7 May 2012), series nine, ten, and eleven, plus the 1976 New Year special

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Sez Les''
at the

BFI Film & TV Database The BFI Film & TV Database (ftvdb) is an online database created by the British Film Institute containing information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual e ...

1969 British television series debuts 1976 British television series endings 1960s British television sketch shows 1970s British television sketch shows ITV sketch shows Television series by Yorkshire Television English-language television shows