An anthology series of six self-contained comedies starring Ronnie Barker, each set in a different historical period.
This London Weekend Television production presented Ronnie Barker in six separate one-act plays, using a different year as the setting for each story. In Hugh Leonard’s 1937: The Removals Person, Barker plays Fred, a short-sighted removal man, assisted by his daughter’s fiancé, Albert (Christopher Timothy), and hired by the elegant Travers (Josephine Tewson). 1899: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town, by Spike Milligan, is a Victorian melodrama about a mysterious figure terrorising the capital. 1970: The Odd Job sees Barker as Arthur Harriman, a man who hires an eccentric contractor (David Jason) to murder him after his wife (Joan Sims) leaves. 1915: Lola is a First World War comedy in which Barker appears in drag as a German spy. John Cleese’s 1971: Come In And Lie Down features Barker as a psychiatrist whose new patient (Michael Bates) is actually a gas man trying to avoid an awkward consultation. Finally, Barker’s own script, 2774 A.D.: All The World’s A Stooge, is a futuristic satire where laughter has become a state religion, featuring a cast that includes Michael Hordern and Lesley-Anne Down.
The series is notable for functioning as a highly effective pilot factory, with several of the individual plays generating successful second lives. It was constructed as a vehicle for Barker’s versatility, continuing the format of his earlier Ronnie Barker Playhouse. Three of the six episodes proved to have a significant afterlife: Hugh Leonard’s “The Removals Person” was the direct template for Barker’s 1980s sitcom Clarence; “The Phantom Raspberry Blower” became a recurring, much-loved serial on The Two Ronnies; and Bernard McKenna’s “The Odd Job” was adapted into a 1978 feature film. The format demonstrates how the one-off television play was used in the 1970s to test concepts and characters, a commissioning practice that has largely disappeared.
Broadcast: ITV – London Weekend Television, 6 Episodes, 8 January – 12 February 1971
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
Directors included: Maurice Murphy, David Catley, Darrell Lass, John Wood
Writers included: Hugh Leonard, Spike Milligan, Bernard McKenna, Ken Hoare, Mike Sharland, John Cleese, Ronnie Barker (as Gerald Wiley)
Main Cast: Ronnie Barker (Various Roles), Josephine Tewson (Travers), David Jason (Clive / Raspberry Sounds), Joan Sims (Kitty Harriman), Michael Bates (Gas Man), Freddie Jones (Major Rupert Yappe), Michael Hordern (Arch-Funster), Victor Maddern (Atlas), Lesley-Anne Down (Cheeky)
