Tellyspotting

For almost thirty years, Mollie Sugden brought smiles and outright laughter to not only the North Texas area, but to the world, as Mrs. Slocombe on Are You Being Served. One can’t help but smile when the theme to AYBS plays and you sit there wondering just what color her hair will be in this episode. Like I Love Lucy, you know every line before it’s said, you know “that look” that’s getting ready to come, but you still laugh. Like Lucille Ball, you soon realize how much physical humor played a role in her characters.

Personally, I can’t think of Mollie, especially at holiday time, without thinking of a time almost ten years ago when we had the extreme good fortune to be able to create a documentary for PBS called Celebrating Mollie Sugden: An Are You Being ServedSpecial. We spent a week with Mollie at her home in England during the celebration of her 80th birthday. In addition to being the warmest, most genuine, individual, Mollie never ceased in her desire to make us all feel a part of her extended family.

Not only was she a genuinely caring person, Mollie loved to cook. So, it’s only fitting in our quest for the ultimate holiday menu that we include Mollie’s recipe for Trifle. I will always remember the time Mollie made this for our visit and we stood in her kitchen for several helpings along with John Inman and Wendy Richard. It was incredible! We were all unanimous in that. Although Mollie, Wendy and John are, sadly, no longer with us, we will never forget the smiles and the laughter you have given us over the years and will continue to give us for years to come. Thank you.

Mollie Sugden’s Trifle

Small sponge cake or 6 individual sponge cakes

1 tin of raspberries

3 eggs

1 pint full cream milk

1 Tablespoon sugar

½ pint double cream

Break up the sponge roughly and place in a pretty glass bowl. Pour over this the tin of raspberries, juice and all. (If liked, you can add a good sprinkling of sherry at this stage.)

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan, and while waiting for it to boil, beat the eggs in a jug along with the sugar. Pour the boiling milk over the eggs. Rinse the saucepan and return the egg and milk mixture to it. Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the custard over the raspberries and sponge. Leave to cool and set.

When cold, whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks (not too dense), then spoon this over the custard. Just before serving you can decorate with fresh raspberries.

Serve into individual dishes or glass bowls making sure that everyone gets some of each layer.

In Mollie’s own words: “This seems to be a particularly English dessert. There are as many recipes for Trifle as there are women who make it. However, this one is a fairly basic recipe and the one I always use – nobody has ever thrown it back at me!”

The holidays usually signal two things. First, families getting together and, second, some great football bowl games. Ok, three things. Food. And lots of it. Whether you spend weeks getting that perfect dinner menu together from books or magazines you haven’t opened all year or you go out to eat, one thing is clear: there are no calories, trans-fat, bad carbs or MSG in anything that you eat during the holidays. Never forget this. It’s important, people.

If you do choose the “let’s go out” option this year, please watch this before you venture out.

Should you not want to risk being reduced to tears in your favorite restaurant this year, over the next few days we’ll be hunting down and sharing with everyone recipe possibilities from your favorite Britcom stars that you might consider this year should you choose the “let’s stay at home” option.

First up, Jamaican Pepper Pot Soup from Lenny Henry (a.k.a. Gareth Blackstock, chef de cuisine of Le Chateau Anglais) as presented on Gordon Ramsay’s f Word series. Full disclosure, I haven’t tried this, but definitely will as we move into “soup weather”.

Next up, unfortunately, no recipe, but I thought you’d like to see Ronnie Corbett (of Two Ronnies fame with Ronnie Barker) challenge Gordon Ramsay with his Linguini with Chili and Crab. If you listen closely, you might be able to pick up all the ingredients.

Now that we have your soup course taken care of for that fast-approaching holiday dining experience, we’re on the hunt for a salad, appetizer, main course and dessert — Britcom style. If you have a favorite holiday recipe, send it on to tellyspotting@kera.org, especially if it’s for Shepherd’s Pie.

The Telegraph UK recently sat down with Tony Robinson, the genius mind behind the dimwitted servant, Baldrick, from the Blackadder series, for a little Q&A. While the series had its’ BBC premiere over 25 years ago, the talents and comic timings of the likes of Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny, Brian Blessed and Miranda Richardson have kept this series among the top for a new generation of Britcom viewers. In fact, the most recent Britain’s Best Sitcom poll, conducted by the BBC, has Blackadder firmly entrenched at #2, behind perennial UK favorite, Only Fools and Horses.

Britcom lovers can’t help but gravitate to the star of any successful series when discussing the reasoning behind their popularity. One can’t think of Blackadder without thinking of Rowan Atkinson or the Vicar of Dibley without focusing on Dawn French. With the top notch writings of the likes of Richard Curtis, Roy Clarke, Bob Larbey and others a given, the British have had the knack over the years of creating an ensemble supporting cast of characters that not only complement the lead actor/actress, but also add to overall feel of the show.

Without Jim, Owen, Alice, Frank, David and Hugo, there would be no Vicar of Dibley. Without Baldrick, Percy or even the Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh, the twisted antics of Blackadder just wouldn’t be the same. It’s probably safe to say that Patricia Routledge IS Keeping Up Appearances. But, the talents of Richard, Onslow, Daisy, Rose, Elizabeth, Emmett and, how can we forget, Daddy, bring so much to the table that complement the antics of Hyacinth.

Sorry, Fawlty Towers, but one of the all-time best lines in the history of British comedy belongs to Baldrick in Blackadder Goes Forth. Realizing that somewhere, in war, there is a bullet with your name on it, Baldrick, cunningly, carves his name on a bullet thinking that if he owns that bullet, he never gets hit because, obviously, he won’t shoot himself. Brilliant, Mr. Curtis, brilliant! Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson.

As we approach the holiday season, chances are you could find yourself grasping for that elusive conversation starter that we all desperately seek at one time or another. What better way to both start a conversation and immediately let it be known that you are intelligent AND have a sense of humor than to lob the opening grenade starting the British comedy discussion.

Here are a few fun facts and pieces of trivia guaranteed to turn heads at any gathering from your favourite British comedy series to get the ball rolling.

Are You Being Served

- Premiered Sept 8, 1972 when the BBC cancelled live reports from the Munich Olympics due to the Black September terrorist hostage siege as part of a hastily put together Comedy Playhouse.

- While the idea for the series came from co-writer, Jeremy Lloyd’s brief period working at Simpson’s Department store in Picadilly, the department store in the series was based on the real-life store, Clements, the first department store in England in Watford, just north of London.

- American producer, Garry Marshall (Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley) attempted a failed American version of the program titled Beane’s of Boston in 1979.

Keeping Up Appearances

- The FH on Onslow’s hat stands for Fulton Hogan Ltd., a New Zealand asphalt and road-building company.

- Hyacinth’s china pattern, described as “Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles”, is actually a pattern called “Braganza” and was manufactured by The Colclough China Company. The Colclough China Company was founded in 1890 and was taken over by Royal Doulton in the early 1970s (so Hyacinth is only stretching the truth a bit).

As Time Goes By

- The man and woman in the photographs in the opening of the show, who are supposed to be Jean (Judi Dench) and Lionel (Geoffrey Palmer) when they first met, are actually Dench’s daughter, actress Finty Williams, and Palmer’s son.

- The program was originally titled “Winter with flowers”, but when a cake bearing the title was presented at the filming of the first episode, the cast and crew refused to eat any cake unless the name of the series was changed.

Last of the Summer Wine

– The original working title for the series was The Library Mob

- The series was nearly cancelled before it had even started, when Bill Owen (Compo) who was very left-wing and Michael Bates who was very right-wing started having a heated and vigorous argument about their different political affiliations, over dinner when they first met. Producer James Gilbert read them the riot act and told them that unless they agreed to differ, and not to argue about politics, he was going to cancel the project. Owen and Bates meekly agreed and never discussed politics again.

- Officially announced by Buckingham Palace in 1996 as being Her Majesty the Queen’s favourite television series.

The Vicar of Dibley

- Dawn French initially requested to play Alice Tinker, because she felt the vicar wouldn’t be funny enough and that she understood Alice’s humor. She later requested that the Vicar have some sort of faults – hence her being a bit lonely, a bit vain, and having a massive chocolate obsession.

– Dawn French and Lenny Henry (Chef) are married in real life.

This should get the ball rolling enough for you to turn heads and make you the new Most Interesting Man or Woman in the World. Let me know if you need more.

Ricky Gervais, co-creator/co-writer of The Office, has a new job. It’s been eight years since David Brent left the drudgery and unglamorous world of selling paper in Slough. Gervais is now involved as script editor on PhoneShop, created, written and produced by Phil Bowker. Head of comedy at Talkback Thames, Bowker gave Gervais his first job in television back in 1999 when he hired a young scriptwriter, Stephen Merchant to help develop a new series for Channel Five. Merchant asked if he could bring along his “hilarious” friend, Gervais, who had just left radio station, Xfm. Not long after, Merchant and Gervais co-wrote The Office and changed British comedy forever.

Set in a mobile phone shop, PhoneShop, starring Tom Bennett and Martin Trenaman and follows the daily battles of pressure selling in a “high street UK” shopping mall. The special premiered this past weekend on Channel 4 in England as part of the experimental Comedy Showcase series. So highly regarded internally, especially given the involvement of Gervais, the show has already been commissioned for 6 episodes slated for production in the new year. If it’s half as good as The Office, I can’t wait.

From the incredibly gifted mind of Richard Curtis, who brought you the likes of Vicar of Dibley, Blackadder, and Mr. Bean, not to mention Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Bridget Jones Diary, comes the rockin’ Pirate Radio.

In true British fashion, the script was spot on, the casting was perfection, headed by Bill Nighy as Quentin, leader of the pirates, and, oh yeah, the music was not too bad either. In fact, I’ll bet that no less than half the theatre was already thinking about where to buy the soundtrack as the first song played over the opening credits.

The story is a simple one. It’s a rock radio station that happens to be on a boat. No harm there, right? Not according to the British government, who decides they are a menace to society and need to be shut down. That task is put in the hands of Jack Davenport (Steve from Coupling) who runs with the mandate that “…it’s the job of the government that if you don’t like something, you make up a new law that makes it illegal“.

“Take me to a microphone, I need to broadcast” – DJ Gavin

Mixed in the “heroes and villains” aspect of the story, you have an interesting subplot of the DJ hierarchy that existed between The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Gavin (Rhys Ifans). Throw in the boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again and with the soundtrack of your life blaring in the background, you have an enjoyable trip down memory lane.

Now, take away the fact that it was on water. Take away that they all had British accents (except the incredible Philip Seymour Hoffman). Take away the idea that it was the 60’s and not early 70’s. Ok, and take away that it took place in the North Sea and not North Texas. All I could think of while watching Pirate Radio was growing up listening to KZEW. The “Zoo” was rebellious. It was not conventional North Texas. You had the cast of characters of Tempe Lindsey, John Wells, Jon Dillon, Mike Rhyner, John Rody and John Labella. As with pirate radio, there were plenty of times that you listened and thought you were doing something illegal. Anyone out there with a “zoo” story to share?

Dragging myself into the 21st century, there’s a new radio sheriff in North Texas. KXT 91.7 signed on the air Monday, November 9 and has already made it to the #1 preset on the radio. Doesn’t have the “I’m doing something illegal by listening” aspect as did KZEW but it’s already head and shoulders above any music radio in North Texas or the North Sea.  Check it out at www.kxt.org if you’re outside the North Texas area.

Go see Pirate Radio. Listen to KXT 91.7 and remember KZEW. Never forget the music, which will live on forever. How ’bout it then?

With yet another unsettling American re-make looming on the horizon this Sunday on, as they say, another network, I thought it only fitting to pay tribute to one of the all-time classic series from the 60’s, or for that matter, anytime — THE PRISONER.

Created by and starring Patrick McGoohan as No. 6, the series tracks a British secret agent who is held captive in “The Village”, run by No. 2, who desperately needs to know why he resigned his position. Just to add to the complexity of the series, the identity of No. 2 changed from week to week. Numerous well-known actors had guest roles in the series including Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey), Peter Bowles (To the Manor Born) and Paul Eddington (Good Life and Yes, Minister).

Originally broadcast during 1967-68 and even counting The Beatles as avid fans, this brilliant series’ location filming was done mostly in Portmeirion in North Wales. If you’re packing your bags, that’s 1 and 1/2 miles south of Porthmadog and 1 and 1/2 miles west of Penrhyndeudraeth, just off the main road at Minffordd. Should be easy enough for you to find with these parameters, don’t you think?

The cool thing about Portmeirion is that it still remains today true to “the village” look of the series. The surreal architecture and Mediterranean feel of the village was the vision of Welsh architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who acquired the desolate coastal village in 1926 for 5,000 pounds. You can stay at the Portmeirion Hotel, stroll through gardens and dine in numerous restaurants.If you decide to leave, however, make sure you know just where the bouncing ball is. Kind of like Hotel California. You can checkout any time you like but you can never leave. Or maybe the Overlook?

I remember the first time I watched the series in its’ entirety, I sat there with a “WTH” look on my face wondering what just happened during the 17 episodes I had just seen. Even though it was created over 40 years ago, it has stood the test of time and remains one of the best series ever made. I’ll try and watch the remake beginning this Sunday, but even with Ian McKellen as No. 2, I don’t know. I hope they prove me wrong.

Tonight on KERA Channel 13 in Dallas, season 5 of MI5 begins at 9:00pm. This is appointment television, people. This is must see TV. If you missed any of seasons 1-4, Tom was set up to look like he had turned, then decommissioned and forced to leave the service, ultimately, cleared of any wrongdoing. Zoe goes on trial for conspiracy to murder, is sentenced to 10 years in prison, but avoids prison and is “sent” to Chile with a new life and identity when MI5 arranges for a replacement to serve the time.

Then, Adam takes Tom’s place and has to choose who dies, Fiona, his wife, or Danny. Well, Danny’s dead,  Fiona goes undercover and meets up with her ex-husband, a Syrian secret service agent, then dies in Adam’s arms when he shoots her, Ruth’s friend and former MI5 agent, Angela, wants to prove that Harry had Princess Diana assassinated. That’s just seasons 1-4. Deep breath. Caught up? Good. Now, a look at season 5.

Patricia Routledge in Steptoe and Son

In 1974, Patricia Routledge played Madame Fontana in one episode of this long-running hit BBC TV series. It’s said that in 1966, the audience was so big that PM Harold Wilson asked the BBC to delay transmission of a repeat episode until after the polls closed on election day for fear his supporters wouldn’t show up and, instead, opt to watch the telly instead.

Much of it’s success centered around the concept that it really broke the mould of what traditional British comedy was at the time, which was 30 minutes of slapstick, sight-gags and farce. Steptoe and Son relied heavily on everyday issues, realism and working class characters.

Steptoe and Son also has the distinction of being one of only a handful of British comedy series that made a successful leap to the States with the popular Sanford and Son series starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson. I won’t even bring up the 5 different remakes of Fawlty Towers or the miserable U.S. versions of Coupling or AbFab.

Many of your favorite Britcom stars had several series under their belts before that one classic role that we all know them for today. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll dig up some classic telly clips from the early days of British comedy stars so you can enjoy not only where they are now, but where they came from.

Dawn French and Hugh Laurie in Girls on Top – Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ruby Wax and Tracy Ullman starred in this short-lived 1985 series about four women who share nothing in common (except a liking for Hugh Laurie) that end up living together in a flat in Kensington.

There are lots more of these to be tracked down. If you have a favorite Britcom star, let me know and I will dig into the video vault and showcase some more early days on the telly. Cheers.