''Up Pompeii!'' is a

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

comedy series set in ancient

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

and broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the ''Carry On'' films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991 and a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

was released in 1971.

Background

''Up Pompeii!'' first appeared in the '' Comedy Playhouse'' series, after Michael Mills and Tom Sloan from BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment visited the ruins of

. Since Mills had recently seen Frankie Howerd in the stage musical ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specif ...

'' he casually remarked to Sloan that he half expected Howerd to suddenly appear round the corner. Sloan had replied 'Why not?', and the idea took root. Talbot Rothwell was invited to write a script and the designer Sally Hulke visited

with a sketch book and camera to ensure realism and authenticity. A slight variation of this is related by Bill Cotton who, in a June 2000 interview with author Graham McCann, said the idea originated with Mills, then the BBC's Head of Comedy, after seeing Frankie Howerd in that same play.Nicholas J. Cull "Infamy! Infamy!" in Sandra R. Joshel (et al., eds.
''Imperial Projections: Ancient Rome in Modern Popular Culture''
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 001 pp.180–81 There were concerns in the Corporation's copyright department that the parallels between the musical and the comedy series might lead to litigation over possible plagiarism, but Rothwell told the BBC that he had seen neither the stage musical nor its film adaptation.

Plot

The series is set in ancient, pre-eruption

, with the players bearing Latinised names suggestive of their character. Howerd is the slave Lurcio (pronounced ''Lurk-io''); his bumbling old master Ludicrus Sextus ( Max Adrian, then Wallas Eaton), the promiscuous wife is Ammonia ( Elizabeth Larner), their daughter Erotica ( Georgina Moon) and their virginal son Nausius (Kerry Gardner). Other regulars are Senna the Soothsayer ( Jeanne Mockford) who constantly warns of impending death and destruction and, in series one,

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

( Willie Rushton) a semi-godlike figure, making pithy comments from a location somewhere between the clouds and Mount Olympus. Guest stars included several actresses from the '' Carry On'' film series, including

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.

Wendy Richard Wendy Richard (born Wendy Emerton; 20 July 1943 – 26 February 2009) was an English actress, best known for her television roles as Miss Shirley Brahms on the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1985, and Pauline Fowler on the ...

and Valerie Leon. The format was an exotic backdrop for an endless series of double entendres and risqué gags from Howerd, constantly breaking the fourth wall with asides to the live studio audience which go unheard by the other characters (a device harking back to classical theatre). He also bemoans the quality of his script, complaining the other players have the best lines. Each episode starts with a

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

from Howerd – which is invariably interrupted by the doom-laden warnings of Senna, or the demands of his master or mistress. Thirteen 30-minute episodes were made, in two series (March – May and September – October 1970). In between there was also a 13 minute ''Up Pompeii'' segment in the 1970 ''Royal Television Gala Performance''. In addition, it had been preceded by a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

episode (1969) as part of Comedy Playhouse, and it was followed up with two later special episodes both called ''Further Up Pompeii'', one in 1975 and the other, written by Brian Leveson and Paul Minett, in 1991 (the former with, and the latter without exclamation mark). The latter sparked speculation that there could be a new series, but Howerd's death in 1992 put an end to any such prospect. Apart from the change to the actor playing Ludicrus Sextus, there are some differences between the two series of ''Up Pompeii'', the second series using noticeably fewer sets than the previous. This may have been due to the second series being commissioned, filmed and broadcast within four months from the end of the first.

Films and sequels

The show inspired three films. The first was also called '' Up Pompeii'' (1971) and added such characters as Bilius, Voluptua, Scrubba and Villanus. It ended with the eruption of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...

, which anachronistically (for AD79) included

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

(who added, " Wait till you see what I've up for Rome!"), and had a brief epilogue in which Howerd played a modern-day museum guide showing the petrified remains of the Pompeiian characters. It was produced by Ned Sherrin and retained only Frankie Howerd from the cast of the original series (Ludicrus, for example, was played by Michael Hordern in the film adaptation, Erotica by Madeline Smith and Nausius by Royce Mills). However, Aubrey Woods appeared in the TV series and the film, playing different roles. The two sequels were '' Up the Chastity Belt'' (1971) and '' Up the Front'' (1972) which transported Howerd's servile, cowardly character to

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times (as Lurkalot) and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(as Private Lurk). A few years later, the BBC made one final special called ''Further up Pompeii!'' (with exclamation mark) in 1975. The format of ''Up Pompeii'' inspired two later TV series, '' Whoops Baghdad'' (1973) and '' Then Churchill Said to Me'' (1982), both starring Howerd. The later series was shelved due to the outbreak of the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

and – thought politically insensitive – the series was aired after Howerd's death in 1993. A

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

for a US version of ''Up Pompeii'' for ABC, initially called ''The Pompeii Way'' but later renamed ''Up the toga'', still starring Frankie Howerd and co-starring Foster Brooks, was recorded in 1971, but it did not proceed to a full series and was never shown. Publicity shots on Getty Images show that it involved the "Olympia Theatre Company", suggesting it may have been based on episode 5 of series 1 ("The actors"). The existence of this pilot was undocumented for a long time, until the publicity photographs were noticed online. For a long time, it was unclear if the program still existed, until a

16mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

copy was sold on eBay in late 2022. The 1991 special ''Further up Pompeii'' (without exclamation mark) was made (by ITV/LWT) twenty years after the series had ended and by different writers. Lurcio is now a freedman with slaves of his own, but still has more than enough problems in his life. It could have served as a

for a revival of the series, but Howerd's death prevented that.

Stage play

In 1988, Howerd asked one of his writers, Miles Tredinnick, to work on an updated stage version of ''Up Pompeii!'' for a proposed national UK tour, but the play was shelved when Howerd was offered a chance by

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series '' M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the ...

to reprise his role as Pseudolus in ''

'' at the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End. The play was eventually revised and updated and had its premiere in Chesterfield in January 2011 and then embarked on a UK tour. Produced and directed by Bruce James, it starred Damian Williams, host of Sky One's '' Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?'', as Lurcio the slave. An acting edition of the play was published by Josef Weinberger Ltd in 2012.

Audio revival

In 2019, British production company Spiteful Puppet celebrated the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of the "Comedy Playhouse" pilot by releasing an audio adaptation based on the stage play by Miles Tredinnick. The script was adapted by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Daniel McGachey and Iain McLaughlin, with Eaton-Jones serving as producer and director of the live recording sessions at London's Shaw Theatre on 12 October. The two staged performances starred Madeline Smith as Ammonia,

Frazer Hines Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in ''A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in ''Doctor Who'', appearing i ...

as Ludicrus, Rosa Coduri as Erotica, Jack Lane as Nausius, Jilly Breeze as Senna, Ben Perkins as Corneus and Barnaby Eaton-Jones as Kretinus, with guest stars Cleo Rocos as Suspenda, Camille Coduri as Voluptua, and

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies. Brooke-Taylor became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and beca ...

as Trecherus. The lead role of Lurcio was played in the manner of Frankie Howerd by David Benson, who had previously played Howerd on stage and radio. A double CD was released on 29 November.

DVD release

For many years, no complete home video release had been undertaken due to the nature of the

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

master materials. Like many television series of this era, most of the original videotapes were wiped. In the late 1970s, missing episodes of ''Up Pompeii!'' were found in the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(CBC) archive. Because of the differences in international broadcasting, these copies had been converted to the North American

NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...

television standard, and so one chunk of the series remained in its native PAL format, but the majority were found in a poorly-converted (dating long before digital conversion methods) NTSC state.The lostshows.com websit
lists
12 of the 17 surviving in the North American standard. The picture quality of some of the Canadian finds was not high, and so their marketability was severely limited. However, six episodes were released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

in 1991 by BBC Video. These tapes were re-released by Second Sight in 1999, with a small music edit made to the episode featuring Jamus Bondus. In 2004–05, through the success of a group of BBC employees' restoration work on similar NTSC-only episodes of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', the BBC decided to convert all their NTSC-only productions (as reclaimed from various international stations) back to their original PAL format using a new computer-controlled process, Reverse Standards Conversion. A PAL-like, higher-quality image resulted in a more stable picture. The newly-restored masters made their debut on BBC FOUR in August 2006, and the BBC's DVD distribution arm 2entertain released a box-set of Series 1 and 2 - including the pilot episode - and the 1975 special as well as a brand new ''Frankie Howerd Collection'' set in mid-September. “The Frankie Howerd Collection” set includes not only both original series of ''Up Pompeii!'', but also the 1975

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

special ''Further Up Pompeii!'' (not to be confused with the 1991 ITV special ''Further Up Pompeii''), “The Best of Frankie Howerd” DVD, and another Howerd series along a similar vein, '' Then Churchill Said to Me''.

List of episodes

Pilot

Series 1

Series 2

Specials

Film

References

External links

* * * {{British Comedy Guide, tv, up_pompeii
''Nearly Up Pompeii!'' by Miles Tredinnick

1969 British television series debuts 1991 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms 1970s British sitcoms 1990s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Pompeii in popular culture British English-language television shows ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into plays Television dramas set in ancient Rome Television series set in the Roman Empire