''Six Dates with Barker'' is a series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

. All were broadcast by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

early in 1971. Writers on the series included John Cleese and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

. The producer was

Humphrey Barclay Humphrey Barclay BEM (born 24 March 1941, Dorking, Surrey, England) is a British comedy executive and producer. Career Barclay was educated at Harrow School, before reading Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his first foray into sh ...

Episode list

#Show 1 – 1937: The Removals Person #*Transmitted 8 January 1971 #*Barker plays Fred, a short sighted removals man who works whilst the owner of the house watches The Coronation. Also starring

Joan Benham Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

, Gillian Fairchild,

Nan Braunton Minnie Malinda "Nan" Braunton (4 April 1895 – 27 March 1978) was a British actress who had a prolific stage career during the 1930s and 1940s but who is best remembered for playing Cissy Godfrey in the BBC comedy ''Dad's Army''. Braunton was ...

Josephine Tewson Josephine Ann Tewson (26 February 1931 – 18 August 2022) was an English actress, best known for her roles in British television sitcoms, such as Edna Hawkins ("Mrs H") in '' Shelley'', Elizabeth "Liz" Warden in ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1 ...

and

Christopher Timothy Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

. Written by

Hugh Leonard Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiograph ...

. #Show 2 – 1899: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town #*Transmitted 15 January 1971 #*A mysterious figure who blows raspberries at people terrifies Victorian London. Also starring Alan Curtis,

Moira Foot Moira Foot (born in Northampton) on 19 June 1953 is an English actress. She starred in '' 'Allo 'Allo!'',. playing Denise Laroque, the leader of the local communist resistance. She also played Miss Thorpe, Mr Rumbold's temporary secretary, i ...

, Larry Noble, Christine Ozanne and John Sharp. Written by Spike Milligan. #Show 3 – 1970: The Odd Job #*Transmitted 22 January 1971 #*When his wife leaves him, Barker hires a passing odd job man to kill him when he least expects it. When his wife returns he finds his previous request impossible to cancel. Also starring

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran i ...

, Derek Ware,

Larry Martyn Lawrence Martyn (22 March 1934 – 7 August 1994) was a British film and television actor known for his comedy performances. Martyn was born in London and was a member of the Parachute Regiment. He was famous as store maintenance man "Mr ...

and George Waring. Written by Bernard McKenna. This episode was videotaped in black and white owing to the 1971 ITV

Colour Strike The Colour Strike was a period of industrial action by technicians at all ITV companies from 13 November 1970 to 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black-and-white were having their first transmission as late as Dec ...

. In 1978 this episode was remade as a feature length film with

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...

taking Barker's role and David Jason reprising his role as the odd job man. #Show 4 – 1915: Lola #*Transmitted 29 January 1971 #* A top female agent goes missing after the German Head of Espionage fails to monitor her properly. Also starring

Graham Armitage Graham Armitage (24 April 1936 – 6 March 1999) was an English stage, film and television actor. Armitage was born in Blackpool in Lancashire, the son of Albert Edward Armitage (1908–1959) and Isabel W. ''née'' Bailes (1909–). In 1947 Harv ...

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

, Freddie Earlle,

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

, Dennis Ramsden, Peter Stephens and Hugh Walters. Written by Ken Hoare and Mike Sharland. #Show 5 – 1971: Come in and Lie Down #*Transmitted 5 February 1971 #*Barker plays Dr Swanton, a psychiatrist who is visited by a patient ( Michael Bates), who is so terrified of being diagnosed with mental problems, he pretends to be a gasman. Written by John Cleese. #Show 6 – 2774 AD: All the World's a Stooge #*Transmitted 12 February 1971 #*In the far future, comedy has become the religion of the world and there are dire consequences for those who do not join in. Also starring

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in ...

Joyce Grant Joyce Grant (23 January 1924 – 11 July 2006) was a UK-based South African actress known for her comedic roles. Grant was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and her father encouraged her to move to London to study acting. When she returned to ...

, Michael Hordern and

Victor Maddern Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, ...

. Based on an outline by Gerald Wiley (Barker's pseudonym) and Maurice Murphy.

Spin-offs

There were several spin-offs to come from this series. * The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was turned into a serial for the 1976 series of ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'',

performed the required 'Raspberrys' blown by the Phantom (but did not appear on screen). Actor David Rowlands appeared as The Phantom in the penultimate instalment. * The Odd Job Man became a 1978 film, retitled ''

The Odd Job ''The Odd Job'' is a 1978 British comedy film starring Monty Python member Graham Chapman. It tells the story of a man named Arthur Harris (Chapman) who is recently abandoned by his wife. He becomes so depressed that he hires an "odd job man" ...

''. Extended from the original TV version to feature length. Though this time, original co-writer

took Barker's part,

Diana Quick Diana Marilyn Quick (born 23 November 1946) is an English actress. Early life and family background Quick was born on 23 November 1946 in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of four children. Her father was Leonard Qui ...

took the part of his wife, originally played by

as the hitman was the sole original cast member in this movie (though even his part was at first going to be played by Keith Moon). * The Removals Persons was turned into Ronnie Barker's final TV series ''

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

'', seventeen years after the original was made. This time the series was written by Barker using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Bob Ferris. This was the name of

Rodney Bewes Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017) was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom ''The Likely Lads'' (1964–66) and its colour sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' ...

' character in

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. ...

...

Episode list

Spin-offs

Archive status and DVD release

References

External links