''Yanks Go Home'' 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 ...

about

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

men stationed in

Lancashire, England Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashir ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was produced and directed by Eric Prytherch for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

and broadcast 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 ...

between 1976 and 1977. The series ran for 2 series and 13 episodes in total before its cancellation.

Plot

The series focused on a group of

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

stationed in a small northern town in

during the

and their sometimes tense relationship with the local men, most often over the attentions of the young women in the town. The early interactions and friction between British civilians and the U.S. military during WWII, best summed up by the wartime slogan of American servicemen "over paid, over sexed, and over here", was intentionally played up for humorous effect in the series.

Characters

*Phoebe Sankey ( Meg Johnson) *Sgt. Gus Polaski (

Bruce Boa Andrew Bruce Boa (10 July 1930 – 17 April 2004) was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token American in British films and television, usually playing military types. Boa's most recognizable film role is in ''The Empire Str ...

) *Cpl. Vince Rossi (

Stuart Damon Stuart Damon (born Stuart Michael Zonis; February 5, 1937 June 29, 2021) was an American actor and singer. He was best known for his 30-year portrayal of Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he won an ...

) *Doreen Sankey (

Catherine Neilson Catherine Neilson (born 3 October 1957) is a British stage, television and film actress, who was active from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Career On stage, Neilson starred as Christie in ''Traps'' by Caryl Churchill, at the Royal Court Theatre ...

) *Harry Duckworth ( David Ross) *Bert Pickup (Harry Markham) *Cpl. Pasquale (Freddie Earlle) *Col. Ralph Kruger (

Alan MacNaughtan Alan MacNaughtan (4 March 1920 – 29 August 2002) was a Scottish actor, born in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow Academy, trained at RADA, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienc ...

) *Col. Irving (

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 ...

) *Pfc. Burford Puckett (

Richard Oldfield Richard Oldfield (born 1950) is an American film and television actor who has worked mostly in Britain. Born in the US, Oldfield moved to Britain in the 1960s. His stage debut was in the musical '' Hair'' at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's We ...

) *Leonard Chambers (

Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...

) *Pvt. Floyd Tutt (

Jay Benedict Jay Benedict (April 11, 1951 – April 4, 2020) was an American actor who spent most of his life and career in the United Kingdom. He was frequently cast as American characters in British films and television programmes. He was best known for hi ...

)

Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Reception

Upon the premiere of the first episode, originally aired on 22 November 1976, the show's title "Yanks Go Home" raised some mild controversy as the United States had celebrated its bicentennial months before. The show received considerable publicity from the network and appeared on the cover of ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...

''. The show failed to meet the network's expectations however, mostly due to the concept already having been touched upon in ''Dad's Army'' (such as in the episode ''

My British Buddy "My British Buddy" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on BBC 1 on Wednesday 7 November 1973. Synopsis Following Pearl Harbor, the Americans have joined the fig ...

'', 3 years and 15 days broadcast before the first episode) but also because of the lack of a regular writing staff. Nearly each episode was written by a different writer which created noticeable inconsistencies as the series progressed. The studio-based setting and

canned laughter A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

also lessened the feel in comparison with ''Dad's Army''. The show was cancelled a year later, the final episode airing on 19 September 1977, and was never brought back for a third. One of the breakout stars of the show was Freddie Earlle (who was in ''Dad's Army'', ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' and ''Hi-de-Hi!) whose character Corporal Pasquale was favourably compared to

Sgt. Bilko ''Sgt. Bilko'' is a 1996 American Military fiction, military comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn and written by Andy Breckman. It is an adaptation of the 1950s television series ''The Phil Silvers Show'', often informally called ''Sgt. Bilko'' ...

. The series also featured

of ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ITV ...

'', who also wrote one episode. H

DVD releases

The Complete Series is set to be released on 5 March 2012 by Network DVD.

References

External links

* *{{BFI, 4ce2b7bd40624 1976 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms World War II television comedy series Military comedy television series Aviation television series Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows