*The Official "Keeping Up Appearances" Thread*

Bucket Bump!

Poor Emmet wasn't gay -- he was wounded, and wwanted nothing more than to play his piano and be left in peace. His sister was sweet to let him stay, but then came Hyacinth...

[quote]What was up with the Vicar's wife's accent? Was she suppose to be Irish?

I took her to be Scottish.

The Vicar's wife was Scottish -- I loved her exasperation

[quote]Did Hyacinth ever actually give a candlelight supper on camera during the show's run?

I think it was funnier that we were left to imagine what an ordeal the guests must have endured at Hyacinth's candlelight suppers.

It was amazing that they managed to wring so much good comedy from such an utterly repetitious formula.

I always thought the funniest parts were when Tarquin would call. Richard would sit back and roll his eyes. What was Tarquin's "roommates" name?

Tarquin WAS the roommate. Sheridan was Hyacinth and Richard's son.

[quote]It was amazing that they managed to wring so much good comedy from such an utterly repetitious formula. Exactly! Every episode was exactly the same, yet pure comedy goid.

Thanks R7. Got them mixed up.

Rose: I've decided to write my memoirs. How do you spell virgin?%0D %0D Onslow: Are you going back that far?

No you may not have another order of salty prawn balls. This is not a Chinese takeway.%0D %0D I am speaking to you from my white slimline telephone with last number redial.%0D %0D You will love my Royal Doulton with the handpainted periwinkles.

Rose: He said he would love me til the end of time. I didn't realize he meant closing time.

It's just the same scenarios and lines over and over again, but even reading them in here makes me laugh.

[R1] *exasperated*

It's NOT Bucket....it's Bouquet!

I love this show too. It's one note, but always funny. British sitcoms are the best

[R15] I love watching British sitcoms!

Of course, I have to make sure that my pussy is inside. The last time my pussy was out in the rain it was awful!

and R16 is unanimous in that.

Without the cast, the show would have been cancelled. It is not well-written, but somehow the actors make it comedy gold. It's premise, however, is very smart.

The opening was always a tad weird. Nothing happens for nearly 3 seconds, with the camera focused in on the bookshelf, then the music starts. The bug in the flower is a good touch, but you have to admit that whoever conjured up the plot for the opening, must have been high.

Which Rose was the original? I know one of them died, but I am not sure which Rose came first.

The one who died, R19.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

Was Hyacinth's maiden name ever mentioned on the show?

The original Rose was Shirley Stelfox, best known in the UK as town spinster Edna Birch on the soap [italic]Emmerdale.[/italic]

The damned vicar ain't dishy, 'k, peeps!

Patricia Routledge is an out leabian.

Pat is not a vagitarian, she does reside with another female, but they do not "cut the rug" in a canoopial cha cha.

Hyacith's maiden name was Porcine.

"Canoopial"???

Oh sweet jesus fucking christ.

The scene that makes me laugh every time is when Hy and Richard get stuck face to face in the doorway of the wee kitchenette in their tiny apartment in the country.

Hy tops it with "I don't like this level of intimacy, Richard."

R.I.P. Onslow and our Rose.

I'm watching right now; the ep I'm watching has her picking up vacation brochures and making Richard drive by a neighbor so she can throw the brochures out the moving car, run over and pick them up and be able to flaunt them in this woman's face. Her character is so pathologically narcissistic.

I always wonder how proper Hyacinth came from a family with such low rent sisters. She doesn't seem like she 'pulled herself up' from her beginnings -- she doesn't seem like she went to charm school or something to improve herself. And her unseen sister Rose seems to have moved up to the good life. Maybe by marriage?

I noticed that many British sitcoms do seem to have one premise and run it into the ground. KUA has one theme and this show ran how many years? Another example: I watched Little Britain and this one on BBC America called Katie Brand. They each had about 7-8 skits and just changed the words from week to week.

It was Violet who achieved upper class life through marriage.

OP wrote "the Keeping Up Appearances creators/writers/producers stated that they believed the series had many more years in it, that they had many more stories to tell, and that "it still had legs".

Pat Routledge knew the series had run its course, commenting that several episodes had been recycled. She also refused to a reunion show. The "had legs" crowd just wanted continued employment.

Pat is an old dykey bitch.

r29, Hyacinth pronounced the vacation fliers as BRA-shurs.

r32, she's never said a bad word about you.

[quote]I noticed that many British sitcoms do seem to have one premise and run it into the ground

They do that with everything and everyone.

Jeremy Gittins, the Vicar, was "the sexy nerd" personified. But he has NOT aged well.

R33, that's how the Brits pronounce it.

R30, Violet didn't and that was part of the point of her character in contrast to Hyacinth. Violet had a husband with money, a house with a sauna and room for a pony, but she would never be upper class or even upper middle. Her husband was a "turf accountant" (a bookie essentially). Hyacinth had class aspirations and affectations not only those of wealth. What mattered was what others thought of her not only what she thought of herself. The former was achieved by the signifiers and accoutrements of class. The latter could conceivably be achieved through money alone.

Were there many gay actors in those British sitcoms?

I've started watching the repeats of this recently, and become utterly obsessed. I've developed a pet theory: Richard and Elizabeth were having an affair. I find this theory vasly increases my enjoyment of the show. (And Emmet was blazingly gay.)

The only character that rubbed was the vicar's wife - she was so illogically jealous of every woman the vicar came into contact with.

We did see some of her Exclusive Outtdoors-Indoors Luxury Barbecue with Finger Buffet

I love the subtle humor of this show. One of my favorite episodes was when the whole family showed up to Daisy and Onslow's grandchild's baptism and it turned out their daughter was in a threesome.

The Christmas Special "Sea Fever" was fantastic.

Hyacinth finally succeeds in getting Richard to book a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth. Much of the episode was filmed on board QE2.

Rose; "It's a very posh affair. I'm going to wear a dress down to the ground!" Onslow; "Every dress you wear,ends up down to the ground."

Certain episodes have some very studly, handsome men hovering around in the background or with speaking parts.

The one that always catches my attention is the partner of the man whose mother is trying to marry "Daddy." Hy goes looking for him and finds the two of them unloading a lorry full of hot merchandise. When Hy approaches, they shut the door and lean against the back of the truck. The small one immediately shows the most prominent package he is handling is in his pants. Very upfront and very large.

One of the policemen in a couple of shows is a very good looking blond blue eyed guy. He looks even hotter in his uniform.

Richard has to confront a very big ruffian on the golf course. The guy isn't that good looking, but his package draws your eyes away from his face.

As Hy and Richard are hanging around a bank trying to meet a VIP and invite him to a candlelight supper, there is a very big, very handsome man standing in back of them in line. Very impressive looking.

R44 = our Rose

Emmett isn't the one who's gay. He sounds like that because of the boarding school posh background which his character's family had. If you were ever paying attention, you'd have worked out that it's mummy's boy Sheridan who's gay! I mean, what straight man would honestly be sharing an apartment at art school with a bloke called Tarquin!

Finally, I wish that they could have done a one off special, perhaps coinciding with the Royal Wedding or the Olympics, something with Sheridan working for a company that supplies the Royal Family, Hyacinth finds out and comes down to London and he trying to hide the truth about his life from her. Now that would have been good.

So Sheridan is gay right?

As mentioned by OP the actor who plays the vicar got naked in an episode of Tales of The Unexpected.

Naked vicar here...

Hmmm, was hoping Mr. Gittens would be furrier. Rockin' bod, though.

Don't forget the pink tent R46

R44 ... I love dorks and nerds, so the son who was fencing stolen goods was very cute to me. I know the policeman to whom you refer, who was quite dishy. The vicar did little for me - too scrawny. The scene where he and Emmett tap dance as "schoolgirls" was one of the gayest things I've ever seen, including porn!

One of the hotter minor characters was the guy with the stache who read the electric meter - WOOF!

I love the episode where the Vicar is exercising on a stationary bike. Short shorts which show his legs and thighs. I watch it over and over, his legs pumping away, imagining it's me he's getting so flushed and sweaty about

He's aged, yes, but he doesn't look [italic]that[/italic] bad.

Mary Millar was incredible as Mrs Potts in the stage version of "Beauty & The Beast"...

And who says Jeremy Gittins hasn't aged well?

Onslow had the best comic delivery. I agree about Richard and Elizabeth having a thing for each other.

Emmett and the vicar often spent late nights "choreographing" over the piano at the church hall.

I believe that the one episode with a dinner in the dining room, there is a floor plan of the home online somewhere, did not feature the Royal Doulton with the hand painted periwinkles but the double glazed Avignon. Hyacinthe rarely spoke of the double glazed Avignon even though it was her more formal pattern.

English porcelain is very good.

Hyacinthe never went on about the silver, even though it featured in the open and close, because English sterling is regulated into dull similarity.

And she would have never carried on about Irish linen or crystal.

Pity.

RIP Onslo

Watched a marathon all day!

R56 I must be a true fan of Mrs Bouquet, because I totally understand your point.

With the exception of Geoffrey Hughes (Onslow), the male actors on the show are gay in real life: Clive Swift (Richard), David Griffin (Emmett), Jeremy Gittens (Michael, the dishy Vicar). The show's writer Roy Clarke is gay and most of the actors were personal friends/acquaintances of his.

On one of their Christmas episodes, we saw Richard and Elizabeth share a cozy kiss which was broken up by a clueless Hyacinth; they pulled away from each other quite uncomfortable with having enjoyed it.

R60 Even the dishy vicar?

Yes, r47.

Well, now how about something you'll really enjoy – 30 minutes of Keeping Up Appearances outtakes.

Yay!

Re: "Unexpected" clip - now THOSE are Average White Guys. Eve Peter Davison's undies are beige, matching his "Doctor Who" costume.

Enjoyed the US version of KUA, starring Jill Zarin.

No love for "At Home With The Braethwaites"? Love Amanda Redman.

Big thanks to R48 for that clip! So cute with the mustache...

[quote]I noticed that many British sitcoms do seem to have one premise and run it into the ground.

Are you having a laugh?

[quote]With the exception of Geoffrey Hughes (Onslow), the male actors on the show are gay in real life: Clive Swift (Richard), David Griffin (Emmett), Jeremy Gittens (Michael, the dishy Vicar).

Uh, both David Griffin and Jeremy Gittens are straight. They also happen to be married to women and, in David Giffin's case, have children.

Well, I heard that the dog that lives in Onslow's car out front is gay .. so there!

First I've heard of Clive Swift being gay - he was married to Margaret Drabble and he's got three children. Did he come out in later life?

R60 Clive Swift was married to the author Margaret Drabble and they have three children.

Clive is meant to be notoriously prickly. This is a link to an interview he did with a Doctor Who magazine for an episode he was in a few years ago. Those DW fans are pretty serious and they hate him. Love his answer to "Do people shout Richard at you in the street?"

He's a bitter old man who will never be Sir Clive Swift.

Pity.

I always enjoyed watching the Vicar. Enjoyed the show where they volunteered at the local Thrift Shop with Councillor Nugent in charge and Rose decided to donate some clothing which turned out be be sexy panties. Also where they volunteer to drive Mrs. Fortescue only to pick up Rose and Daisy. Rose starts on her love life with Mrs. Fortescue.

The show was a one-joke thing which got real old real soon. Routledge is an aggressive lesbian who disgraced herself on a flight in Australia, fighting loudly with her girlfriend.

[quote] hosted by Moira Brooker and Philip Bretherton

Love these two!

I guess if you are married and have children, you aren't gay.

Ok, since someone mention Philip Bretherton, what is his story? I assume he is gay. He has one of those IMDB pages that is stripped of all personal information. His website tells very little about his personal life.

R74 Please, get real.

R74, whatever you're taking, it's not working. Please finish the whole bottle at once and slip into a tub.

There was one scene where some guys were moving furniture and one had a pronounced bulge in his pants. It was the only time anything remotely erotic ever appeared. Daisy rubbing herself and Rose acting star-struck don't count!

The dishy vicar never betrayed any evidence of manhood.

r79 - are you saying being gay does not fit into manhood?

r37, was surprised to hear a Brit say u-RY-nal for urinal.

Britain is quite class-structured, so I'm surprised that nouveau-riche Violet and Bruce were really considered all that "upper class" by the set Hyacinth craved acceptance from?

R82 they weren't. It was part of the joke that Hyacinth was impressed by their lifestyle but no-one else was.

Still no word on why anyone thinks Clive Swift is gay?

Violet's husband was a turf accountant which is a bookie. Did Hyacinth know what that was? Because it seems that someone who is trying to be upper class wouldn't brag about knowing a bookie. Especially when she makes a fuss about not going into pubs in the Mrs. Fortescue episode.

"Routledge is an aggressive lesbian who disgraced herself on a flight in Australia, fighting loudly with her girlfriend."

Any link with more information about this? Sounds delicious!

R71 Here is Philip with a girlfriend from 2001 apparently..

I would have loved to have seen Hyacinth sit down to tea with Mrs. Slocombe.

[quote]Violet's husband was a turf accountant which is a bookie. Did Hyacinth know what that was?

Well she didn't know what a "curb crawler" was; so, probably not.

Love the show, but the last handful of episodes they did weren't very good. Hyacinth "borrowing" the Rolls Royce from a car dealership comes to mind.

I wasn't wild about the Rolls episode either. However, it would've been nice to see Hyacinth terrorize the other residents of the manse as she does her neighbours back home.

Richard finally loses his shit. Elizabeth swoons.

R85 / R89 she knew what a turf accountant was - that was the joke. She couldn't bring herself to say bookie, but would say turf accountant because it sounded much more genteel, like chartered accountant if you said it fast enough. The "common" things she worried about, like having a bookie in the family, were exactly the sort of thing that nobody would've cared about, so the very fact of trying to cover up her humble beginnings set her apart from the social strata she wanted to be in. And that she used the word "common" - middle classes would be taught from an early age that it was poor manners to comment on someone else's class (or lack of it).

The series is still on PBS Channel 13 in New York, every Saturday evening at 8:00pm. Usually followed by "As Time Goes By" with Judi Dench. ... I never get tired of the re-runs. And I would give my left nut to get it on with the vicar. (Jeremy Gittens) where is this totally nude photo of him, to be found?

Did anyone ever see the episode where she corrected someone on how to pronounce Bucket. For those who don't know it's Boo-kay.

R89, it's "kerb crawling."

r93

Bookmaking wasn't legal in 1994 so I doubt Hyacinth would brag about someone doing something illegal.

r95

That episode was good but my fave was the episode where Onslow's dog barks at Hyacinth and she falls into the bushes.

What episode didn't she know what a curb crawler was?

Hyacinth falling into the bushes wore thin after the second episode. It's no wonder she didn't want to continue the series.

R97 nonsense - up until 1960 bookies were only on race courses, so he could have been one of those, but after 1960 off-course bookies were legalised. Under what circumstances do you think it would be illegal to be a bookie?

Depending on jurisdiction, bookmaking may be legal or illegal, and is often regulated.

In the United Kingdom, since the inception of the National Lottery, bookmaking is legal and even has a small contributor to the British economy, with a recent explosion of interest with regard to the international gaming sector industry.

However, gambling debts were unenforceable under English law until the Gambling Act 2005

God bless America

Land that I love

Stand beside her

And guide her

Through the night with a light from above

From the mountains, to the prairies

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, My home sweet home

God bless America, My home sweet home

R102 bookmaking has always been legal in the UK, the difference was they used to only be on racecourses and now they have shops on the street too - why would you even think bookmaking has only been legal since the lottery was introduced?

What was the name of the last episode and what was it about?

Do these episodes have official names? I believe the last episode had to do with a party Hyacinth threw at her Kuntry Kondo, ending with Emmett through the roof (literally!) with a jagged piece of wood in his jugular.

The final episode in Season 5 was on November 5, 1995, "The Hostess."

An excited Hyacinth has put an advert in the local newspaper to teach people social etiquette, but the clientele proves far different from what she expected. It turns out they wanted a strip tease dancer. Before leaving, she has to send Richard to get Daddy out.

There was a "Christmas Special" on December 25, 1995.

Remember when Emmett came out of the closet and Hyacinth said, "Don't give me the AIDS."

I like the one where Richard had athlete's foot and Onslow was into that and it made Hyacinth jealous. So she had to get into feet to keep Richard or risk losing the Mercedes and room for a pony.

Is Sheridan gay? Emmett is very hot. Episode he first showed up was of him in a towel.

Also the milkman who looks like lead singer for Journey is really hot. Also the Vicar

R110 Sheridan is gay, he tells Hyacinth him and his (boy)friend don't like girls.

My favorite show. Hyacinth is a riot. Pat played her to perfection and knew when to stop doing it. It's old fashioned and "nice", but I like it.

I think this was the first show or movie where I remember hearing the (apparently very British) usage of "our" and "your" with someone's first name. ("Our Hyacinth," "your Rose," etc.) Is that commonly used throughout the UK? Is it considered lower-class or middle-class usage??

r114 Lower class, to be sure.

Did Hyacinth and the sisters live in that Council Estates flat before Daisy married Onslow? And how did she claw herself out of poverty to connect with Richard?

I get the impression Richard come from relatively modest origins himself, and worked his way up through the civil service.

Our Clive is reported to have gotten snippy when he did a Christmas episode of Doctor Who...

I've been watching "Hetty Wainthrop Investigates" on You Tube. In one, she meets an old friend from her vaudeville days and they end an episode with PR doing a song and dance in drag.

In the first episode Hyacinth makes many references to horses and attire so she clearly knows what a turf accountant is.

Emmett is not gay. Whenever Rose gets around him he gets all hot and bothered for her, especially when she sits on his lap as they ride in the car.

Sheridan is gay, even his father says to Hyacinth that they have to have a "talk" about him.

Hyacinth is not impressed with Violet's wealth. You've missed the point of the entire series. Hyacinth KNOWS what she is but as she points out, "If people think otherwise, it would be rude of me to correct them."

This is why she'll stand by a Rolls or steal, I mean test drive one, and she lets people think it's hers.

The only lesbian in the series was Councilmen Nugget or whatever that dyke's name was.

I believe your referring to the esteemed Mrs. Councillor Nugent R120

The only person not to be corrected when referring to Hyacinth as "Mrs Bucket"

Sent from my white slimline iPhone with push button redial.

I thought there were two dining episodes, The outside inside party and the party, without the greenery, where she used, not the Royal Doulton with the hand painted periwinkles, but the double glazed Avignon.

What about the Waterside Picnic with Riparian Entertainments?

What about the BBQ on Violet's patio where Hyacinth hosted an impromptu hootenanny to drown out the row Violet and Bruce were having? One of the funniest episodes ever, especially the ending where Hyacinth accidentally flings a bucket of manure on her dessert table.

r44 epitomizes what I love about Datalounge - that somebody has bothered to track and helpfully catalogue the package sizes of the bit players and extras on "Keeping Up Appearances".

[quote] Sent from my white slimline iPhone with push button redial.

I so want to change the message on my emails to this!

Routledge being a rug muncher is a well known fact.

If the PBS system really wanted to make money during pledge week they ought to team up with Royal Doulton and bring back that Colclough Braganza pattern. They could auction off or sell sets (hostess separate of course), and make a mint.

I binge watched the entire show over the holidays. I loved how Onslow's reading material was so intellectual. If you look closely the magazines always have scientific titles. So clever.

And our Rose is perfection (the 2nd one!!). So overplayed but you still buy it. I don't know of any American actor who could give such a performance.

Clive is a huge horsecunt.

OK, I just saw the episode somebody referenced where the Vicar is riding the exercise bike, and the poster was right, his legs and bulge look amazing!

Which Rose died of cancer?

Post a picture please -- I can never keep the actresses' names straight.

I finally saw the episode where Richard and Elizabeth kiss (and Rose kisses Emmett and the Vicar), vindicating my belief that they were having an affair all along and that's the only reason Elizabeth doesn't move house.

There's an episode where Hyacinth basically says they don't have sex anymore. Kind of on the nose for a gentle British sitcom.

No sex please, we're British.

Is it that Clive (Richard) has developed dementia to explain his churlish behavior of late?

[quote]Which Rose died of cancer?

Mary Millar, Rose #2. Shirley Stelfox, Rose #1, has a had a long-running gig on the UK soap [italic]Emmerdale.[/italic]

I simply will not tolerate this sort of impertinent chatter in my exquisite thread which is an exact replica of the one regarding the royal family.

[quote]team up with Royal Doulton and bring back that Colclough Braganza pattern.

ID, where dis you find that the pattern with the hand painted periwinkles was decal produced Colclough Braganza?

The hand painted periwinkle pattern was her nice everyday china, but for candlelight suppers she used the Double Glazed Avignon.

I hoped she had the Minton Avignon because the RD Avignon is, well, RD.

R120, Mrs. Councilwoman Nugent was not a lesbian. She was a butch outdoorswoman of a type well known to the British. Princess Anne being one specimen of the type.

Mrs. COUNCILLOR Nugent, R120 & R139.

One of the great mysteries of our time: "It is unknown whether [Mrs. Councillor Nugent] is the councillor herself or if she is married to one."

I've always thought it meant she, herself, was the Councillor.

Right. Thanks, R140. Lazy here.

But she, of course, was married ("Mrs." is not an honorific, even for a "Councillor." And if the character was intended to be the wife of a councillor, of course she was married.

Terrible show. One of the worse I have ever seen.

Dearest: That should have been "worst."

Even though it was formulaic, it was still very funny. You always knew the dog was going to bark and Hy would fall in the bushes. You always knew Liz was going to spill her coffee.

I love how Hy never caught on that her son was gay. "You're doing what with Tarquinn?"

I always loved Daisy. She was so sweet despite all the crazy around her.

I assumed she was married to Counciller Nugent. When I was a kid the doctors wife was called Mrs. Dr. Stevens.

That's like...German r147 (Fraulien Doktor)

I believe in the episode where they fake filming an independent film Hy trades a small roll, where MCN gets all dressed up in dominatrix drag, for a small position on "one of MY committees".

If they are HER committees, the implication is that SHE is the Councillor.

I also take it she was a widow.

R147 So what's the big deal?

Was Rose the only recast in a sitcom where the replacement was better than the original?

Mrs. Councillor Nugent held office in her own right IIRC. Hyacinth makes huge efforts go ingratiate herself with the woman in hopes of getting on this or that committee she chairs.

One episode Emmett is worried about encountering Hyacinth at some event (an art exhibit?), but Elizabeth reminds him she will be too busy trying to impress the mayor and Mrs. Councillor Nugent.

If she were only married to a local government official you can bet Hyacinth would be angling to meet/impress him and not just the wife.

Mary Millar was actually quite pretty and you can see how she would have been the local bike in her youth. OTOH Shirley Stelfox looks like an old slag trannie, which makes the character of Rose all the more funny as she prances around like mutton dressed as lamb.

You can see how the first Rose (Mary Millar) would still pull, but Shirley Stelfox?

Patricia Routledge the Old Dyke is basically the real life 'The Killing of Sister George'.

Mary Millar was the SECOND Rose.

[quote]You can see how the first Rose (Mary Millar) would still pull, but Shirley Stelfox?

Shirley's role on [italic]Emmerdale[/italic] has her playing the neighborhood scold/busybody.

[quote] Patricia Routledge the Old Dyke is basically the real life 'The Killing of Sister George'.

You're claiming she has a history of spousal abuse? Not to mention groping stangers?

Got them backwards, sorry.

Shirley Stelfox as Rose sort of reminds me of Dot Cotton

Yes, R157.

Was Stelfox the "hard" Rose?

Yes. The dowdy one. The "dishy vicar" one is the one who died, Ms. Millar.

Yes.

Millar was musical theatre actress. She was in the Original Phantom. But more importanly, she played Sally in every DLer's favourite musical, FOLLIES.

Remember when Hyacinth said, "I'm not comfortable with this level of intimacy." And Richard replies, "C'mon Hyacinth I have hairy toes, no one but Rose will do me and Rose has AIDS."

So Mary is the one who died, she was Rose 2 ( my favorite).Why was Rose 1 Shirley replaced. I'm glad she was though because she didn't suit the part.

Slightly thread drift, R163, but I didn't like Follies much; my ex's friend bought tickets for the three of us. Best part for me was seeing Kaye Ballard from The Mothers-in-law live on stage.

[quote] I didn't like Follies much; my ex's friend bought tickets for the three of us. Best part for me was seeing Kaye Ballard from The Mothers-in-law live on stage.

It isn't very loveable. Like many a Dler.

I read Netflix and PBS are parting ways and many things are going to be gone the end of the month. Many PBS shows say they will not be available 2/1 but doesn't say KUA so I hope it stays on Netflix...

I wonder what songs were on Sheridan's mixtapes

Wasn't Violet's husband revealed to be a cross dresser?

You mean Bruce? The "funny" one? Yes, he was a cross dresser.

Last Saturday was the episode where Hyacinth uses Violet and Bruce's country cottage and meet "Bunty" from the manor house. She calls Bruce every polite English slang for gay in the book. *LOL*

"Quaint chap, owns the place"

"He's quaint as a four pound note"

"He's weirder than my Spaniel bitch"

"Your sister is it? She's married to the weirdo."

R165, the first Rose was replaced because she had committed to other acting roles in between seasons. British series aren't always produced on a regular schedule from year to year.

Routledge had a very brief role in the Sidney Poitier movie, 'To Sir With Love'; it's in the beginning when he enters the teacher's conference room. She has stated that she was a big fan of Lucille Ball. Which explains her physical comedy, in episodes such as when she left Elizabeth in the car, and climbed over walls, or falling into the bushes, etc. I first saw her in a series called Introducing Victoria Wood(?), she had a 3-5 minute scene where she dishes the dirt on people she meets. It's on YouTube, and worth checking out. Also on Wood's show is s series called Acorn Antiques. Routledge isn't in it, but it's hysterical, due to Julie Walters.

"Why was Rose 1 Shirley replaced."

The first Rose was already in a series called "Making Out." Many British shows only do 6-8 episodes a year and so an actor can take on two or three series in one year. However, KUA was broadcast late in 1990 and they wanted to see if it was popular before moving on to a second season. They waited a bit too long and the first Rose had already committed to another season of "Making Out."

R173

I first encountered Patricia as part of Victoria Wood's comedy team, too!

Anyone who has *NOT* seen Patricia Routledge doing Kitty on Victoria Wood strongly urge you to start now.

Kitty was early work for Miss. Routledge and you can see the beginnings of Hyacinth

For a complete 360 catch Miss. Routledge in "A Woman of No Importance". It is part of Alan Bennett's excellent Talking Heads series of monologues.

There is another but not on Youtube "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet".

Finally unlike Hyacinth Bucket, Ms. Routledge can actually sing quite well.

Patricia Routledge would have made a much better Margaret Thatcher than Meryl.

Catch Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle in Made in Dagenham. Think she would have made a better Maggie than either.

Patricia Routledge played a Hyacinth like character in 'If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium' that was made in '68 and I was very surprised to see her. I associate her with the '90s but she was clearly knocking around for decades before getting her career defining role.

[quote] Patricia Routledge played a Hyacinth like character in 'If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium' that was made in '68 and I was very surprised to see her. I associate her with the '90s but she was clearly knocking around for decades before getting her career defining role.

Have you never to seen To Sir, with Love...? No champagne for you!

I wish they would've shown Sheraton and Troquey

Sheridan and Tarquin.

I think someone should write,"Keeping Up Hyacinthe", where, after Richard dies, and Tarquin moves on, Sheridan moves in to take care of his mummy.

Hilarity ensues!

Sheridan, the patron saint of Data Lounge parental basement dwellers.

[quote]Sheridan, the patron saint of Data Lounge parental basement dwellers

Sheridan apparently fled from his mother's house as quickly as possible, much like Serge, Eddie's gay son on AbFab, the difference being that Sheridan is forever phoning for money.

And moving in with an elderly parent to be caregiver isn't the same thing as being a basement dweller.

R178...that is hilarious....she is such a masterful comedienne

No one's mentioned Routledge's Tony for Lead Actress in a Musical (shared with DL fave Leslie Uggams)?

Patricia Routledge is a great singer. You can see her in the original Shakespeare in the Park Kline/Ronstadt production of "Pirates of Penzance" as the nursemaid.

She also played Nettie Fowler and sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" in the Carousel revival in London in the 90s.

She also won the 1968 Tony Award for the Broadway musical "Darling of the Day."

She's also appeared a few times in Christmas concerts in London.

Routledge is also in the Jerry Lewis comedy "Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River."

Her imdb bio says that she was born in 1929. So the first year she started playing Hyacinth, she was 61? Can that be right? All that physical comedy at 61?

I know just how Hyacinth feels. I shop at Western Beef and then sneak in the back door of Chelsea Market so my friends see me coming out of stylish shops.

Why yes, I purchase all my dairy needs from Ronnybrook. Only the best for my household. They don't put hormones in their milk, so you'll see no breasts growing on me.

I watched the first few minutes of To Sir With Love...which I have seen a million times....I saw it when it came out...

and there she is!!!!!

Her Kitty series is hilarious. The only difficulty of it is that there are so many name references that Yanks don't get...but her delivery is enough.

Fun? I hate fun. I haven't had fun since 1958 when I was stuck in that elevator with the hula hoop salesman...that was enough....

I liked the one where Richard was in his undies and Hyacinth says something about "expect a real package."

Remember when Richard used to call Hyacinth his "Little Piranha Fish"

Sheridan didn't flee the homestead, but went off to college, well a Polytechnic anyway.

Later he moves in with his "friend" Tarquin, a young man who has won prizes for his embroidery.

Sheridan does visit home but we always hear about after he just left. In one episode Richard complains his wallet is lighter and that he sat on something Sheridan left (pin cushion?).

Characters like Sheridan are far better left off screen and to one's imagination. Josephine Tewson (Elizabeth) was asked in an interview during a PBS pledge run why we never saw Sheridan on screen. Her response was basically nothing any actor could come up with would match what most have in their minds about Sheridan.

What was that, dear? Hm. Sheridan is what?

R178

Am glad you liked it!

Saw it first on a PBS/British television salute to Patricia Routledge. Nigel Hawthorne introduced the scene saying he had invited PR to perform and it was for an HIV/AIDs hospice he was connected with. Many at said benefit along with others who saw came up to NH saying they were not aware Miss. Routledge could sing. He replied "ohhh yes"!

"We're spunky in Cheadle. We totter on!"

Really wish someone would release either the entire Victoria Wood series on DVD or least the Kitty series. They simply are priceless.

Think anyone who has watched enough British television and or knows something about the place would get the references. Ms. Routledge's timing and deliver transcend borders anyway. *LOL*

Patricia Routledge was pursued to play Mrs Lovett in SWEENEY TODD in London, but she didn't like all the gore.

I believe Sheridan, himself, won the embroidery prize, not Tarquin.

Mrs. Councillor Nugent always pinged to high heaven for me as a lez.

Now that I would have paid good money to see.

On the ARTS Channel, they rotate a clip of her performance in The Beggar's Opera, where she sings very well.

R200

You could be correct, however seem to remember Hyacinth coming out to Richard and Onslow who were working on the latter's wreck of a car to say Sheridan just rang. She goes on to say he has met or moved in with a "suitable" friend who apparently has won prizes for his embroidery. Onslow looks at Richard with a "WTF" expression and repeats "prizes for embroidery?".

"Hyacinth is blissfully oblivious to the seemingly obvious hints that Sheridan, who lives with a man named Tarquin (who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas, and has won prizes for embroidery), is homosexual"

I could have mis-remembered. I've only seen the episode 2,764 times yet. Ha Ha!

Stealing the Rolls ranks as one of the lamer episodes, IMHO.

Off the top of my head Patricia Routledge besides the one posted above also recorded the Sound of Music and a selection of Cole Porter music. The latter also features the late Elaine Stritch.

[quote]Sheridan didn't flee the homestead, but went off to college, well a Polytechnic anyway.

What exactly is a Polytechnic?

R206

You've never heard of RPI or Cal Poly?

It means that unlike Oxbridge the emphasis isn't on "classics" but more practical, ordinary courses. The equivalent I got from that would be if he couldn't manage Ivy League, but had to settle for a public (state) school: Rutgers, etc.

Cal Poly is just one (well actually, TWO) campuses in the California State University system. No one would refer to is as "a Polytechnic." We would just say college or university.

Oxford ='s Harvard Polytechnic ='s CUNY or SUNY

Is welfare really that good in England that Onslow and family can live on what he makes off the horses?

You have three adults plus a senior in that house and not one is employed. Aside from their telephone being cut off not and then Onslow and Daisy seem to get on well enough. There is plenty of beer and crisps not to mention bacon for sarnies.

Don't forget the doggie too!

R210

Daddy probably has a pension, as well as owning the decrepit flat. Rose may have some sort of part time job that they don't refer to as well. However, your point is valid that that Onslow does live like a welfare queen.

Yes, "Daddy" does have a pension. Hyacinth makes reference to it a few times. He did serve in WWII and then there would be his OAP. That along with whatever he managed to save could amount to something.

Cannot recall but yes, *think* they all grew up in that house which means "Daddy" owns it, and would also explain why Rose never leaves.

Part of the humor was Hyacinth's efforts to access socially beneficial people and places that her family on the dole accessed with no effort.

Big sucks to Hyacinth that those very same persons often preferred Onslow, Daisy, Rose et al over herself.

Say one thing for Hyacinth, she was popular with the opposite sex. Besides the Major there was that farmer and of course "good old" Dorian.

Yes, R214, like the classic episode where the old and deadly cane-wielding Mrs. Fortescue takes great interest in the lurid details of Rose's latest affair and enjoys a stiffener and a round of darts at the pub with Onlsow while Hyancinth, who refuses to set foot in a pub, ends up being carried off in the back of an open van.

Keeping Up Appearances and Are You Being Served? are two of the funniest British sitcoms ever. Their humour is timeless.

Anyone else like the episode in which Hyacinth awaits delivery of her new three piece suite, an exact replica of the one at Sandringham House? I love it. That and the holiday brochures episode are the two in which she goes off the deep end the most.

I'd say the one I like least, that gets turned off immediately when it comes up on PBS rotation, would be the day at the seaside.

r217 and surely pronounced brah-SHOORE.

r218 I get the same feeling riverside over the riparian refreshments?

Remember when Hyacinth was on Fawlty Towers as the woman who wouldn't use her hearing aid?

Polytechnic University is like DeVry or Community College in America.

I always wondered if it was considered somewhat déclassé (or at least bourgeois) for the siblings to have flower-themed names (Daisy, Rose, Violet and Hyacinth.) And of course our heroine has the most pretentious name of the four.

I was watching Pioneer Woman on Food Network the other day and she was going on about her best friend and neighbor named Hyacinth! I think that's the only other time I've encountered that name.

R220 ... I think that was an older, skinnier old bat. My favorite FT episode by far!

r220 That would be the late British actress Sheila Keith, instead of Miss Routledge. Miss Keith played the imperious Mother Stephen on the Bitcom "Bless Me Father."

Pardonez moi, *Britcom*

Buying Emmet (and the Vicar, once we see them on stage together) as straight is really pushing it.

[quote]Remember when Hyacinth was on Fawlty Towers as the woman who wouldn't use her hearing aid?

That was Joan Sanderson, who played Prunella Scales' mother on After Henry. That show had a classic episode where the old bat filled in as Lady Bracknell in a local production of The Importance of Being Earnest. She got all sorts of unintentional laughs for ad libbing her way through a part the audience knew better than she did.

Did we ever know what Hyacinth's (and her sisters') maiden name was?

No, nor Onslow's and Bruce's either. Liz is Mrs. Warden (nee Hawkesworth).

And, by the way, what happened to Elizabeth's husband?

Maybe a good way to end the series would have been for Elizabeth and Richard to run off together, leaving Hyacinth in the lurch, Sheridan to come home then run off with Emmett, Rose scheme to steal the dishy vicar from his wife and they run off, and due to money problems Hyacinth is forced to move in with Onslow, Daisy, Dad and the dog. The final scene would be Hyacinth staring at the dirty dishes.

Before N.Y.C. changed to all numerals, our phone number was Hyacinth 9. I always loved it and put it into My Fair Lady, when I played Col. Pickering.

Her husband is working overseas.

Elizabeth was a divorcee with a trashy daughter that lived with a guy.

No, Elizabeth was not divorced, just her husband was abroad all the time. Hyacinth cast dispersions on Gail's boyfriend that she was living "unashamedly" not married with, however Elizabeth defended the guy saying he had a "first class brain".

As for "trashy" Hyacinth was hardly one to throw those stones. Her entire family including that "we don't know which lad knocked her up" niece were dead common.

No Elizabeth was divorced like her brother Emmit. Remember she says "We're one to talk being divorced with my ex husband in the middle east."

[quote]Richard was a pretty hot daddy.

OP was quite insane when she started this thread a few years ago.

Look at me, sitting here, completely surrounded by no beer.

I liked it when Hyacinth would talk about her pussy, but here's the thing, it was a her pet cat named Noodles.

Well I'd fetch one if you could bother yourself to show me a bit of love once in a while.

R238...

That was Mrs. Slocum on Are You Being Served

[quote]"We're one to talk being divorced with my ex husband in the middle east."

She meant Emmet was divorced, and I'm fairly sure you she didn't say EX husband.

[quote]That was Mrs. Slocum on Are You Being Served

It was actually Mrs. SLOCOMBE. And on that we are unanimous.

[quote]I'm fairly sure you she didn't say EX

And you were "fairly sure" your husband didn't have AIDS, and that's why now you're on antiretrovirals.

R235

No, Elizabeth was not divorced, but her husband spent his time abroad.

Her brother was ragging on Hyacinth's marriage wondering how Richard puts up with it to which Elizabeth responds "Who are we to .... you're divorced and my husband is abroad all the time", or similar words.

Emmett is introduced to the show when Hyacinth spots him coming out of Elizabeth's house early in the morning to fetch the newspaper or milk (cannot remember). Hyacinth assumes Elizabeth she is having an affair and hatches a plot to save her neighbor and friend from a continental lifestyle.

How come Richard is such a douche bag?

For example Hyacinth is at a church function and brings her China and says "It was a gift from my little Rodan" and without missing a beat Richard chirps in "I paid for it." Fortunately Hyacinth cuts him back to size with, "You can expect a school boy to afford things like that."

Why does Richard always put down his gay son? Clearly he's a homophobic and Hyacinth is a saint to put up with him, 'cause you know he doesn't wipe properly, you can tell by looking at him and she gets stuck doing his skidmarked drawers.

Yech.

I agree Hyacinth gets a bad rap. Goslow and Daisy and Rose were welfare cheats and Violet was a self entitled cunt.

Hyacinth cared enough to try to help others improve their lot in life. And can you imagine her having to put up with Richard, that fat, over hirsute, uncut, smelly asshole pawing her.

[quote]Hyacinth assumes Elizabeth she is having an affair and hatches a plot to save her neighbor and friend from a continental lifestyle.

Wrong, Hyacinth doesn't even know if that is Elizabeth's EX husband or what.

You really are thick:

Title

Directed by

Written by

Original airdate

Duration

7 "A Strange Man" Harold Snoad Roy Clarke 1 September 1991 30 minutes

Hyacinth is shocked to see a strange man wearing only a towel emerge from Elizabeth’s house, sending her into hysterics at what she perceives the moral degradation of the neighbourhood. But it turned out the man was Emmet, Elizabeth’s brother. Meanwhile, Daddy has gone missing again, and it’s up to Onslow and Daisy to find him.

First appearance of Emmet

-------------------

You can watch the episode yourself you mook!

Hyacinth knows very well the man coming out of Elizabeth's house is not her husband. When Richard suggests so she shoots him down that it isn't.

The Vicar in his hot pants. You're welcome!

i love khloe and kim and lamar and rob. and courtney and scott and kim and her rapper and brucelladeville

i love when rob and lamar are hanging and chloe dresses up sexy and cant get lamars big schlong in her bed. u know he pumps out a huge creampuff

This is about Keeping up Appearances, Kanye

I think I love Jews

So what am so afraid of

I'm afraid that I'm not sure of

A Christian can't be cured of.

[quote]I love this show too. It's one note, but always funny. British sitcoms are the best

This is the first positive thing I've read about the British on DL in a very long time...even if it was posted in 2011.

RIP Shirley Stelfox, who played the original Rose on KOA

I wish they had showed Hyacinth's son Rodan and his boyfriend Torquay

Just saw the christening episode, loved it!! My least fave episode is the church ladies luncheon, where daisy tried to make onslow jealous with the boy toy.

[quote]Why wasn't Patricia Routledge made a Dame? It's pretty unbelievable, especially after her most infamous character favored the Royals.

Oh hon, that's not how it works.

I too wish that they would have filmed more shows at the country apartment - if just to bring in new characters and sets. Jeremy Gittins was really quite the dish (at least in comparison to the rest of the cast). He had such a beautiful ass for sure. There was an episode that ended where Hyacinth and Richard were arguing or something while driving and ran the vicar off the road (I believe that he was on the way to see Rose). He ends up bent over a hedge with his big, round ass in the air. Quite the visual!

Posted before but bears posting again 😛

Timeless classic. Never tire of seeing it. Sad that both Roses and Onslow are gone.

That Boy Toy (or Toy Boy for the Brits) is none other than a young, hot Jonny Lee Miller.

Daisy is gone, too I think. Not long before or after Onslow.

Along with Pat Routledge, Judy Cornwell (Daisy) is still kicking, as are Clive Swift (Richard), David Griffin (Emmet), and Josephine Tewson (Elizabeth).

More trivia:

Clive Swift's wife is the novelist and literary critic Margaret Drabble.

David Griffin co-starred in [italic]Trog,[/italic] Miss Joan Crawford's final masterpiece.

Dishy vicar's wife was annoying cunt.

What is she doing in the bushes!

I wonder what Hyacinth thought about Willy Wonka?

Young Judy Cornwell

Torque was the friend, Rodan Was her son.

Who is Rodan?

Rodan was the son and Torquay was his boyfriend.

Sheridan was the son.

I love that piece of trivia R265!

[quote]Why wasn't Patricia Routledge made a Dame? It's pretty unbelievable, especially after her most infamous character favored the Royals.

Miss Routledge has now been made a Dame!

Just watched the Rose wanting to be a nun episode. So many great laughs, love the jealous vicars wife.

Link to nun episode

I know this is an old thread and I haven't gone through all responses, but last year a special prequel called "Hyacinth" was broadcast. It was terrible, awful and humiliating. And worst of all, it was boring.

I wonder if Hyacinth had met Elizabeth's husband? When Hyacinth sees Emmett and tells Richard, Richard asks if it's her husband and Hyacinth says no.

If Richard and Hyacinth met him, Richard wouldn't have to ask that. Perhaps Hyacinth had seen his photo?

I don't mean to resurrect an old thread, but I couldn't find a newer one.

I watched the entire series for the first time during a trial subscription to BritBox and it was perfect as a background show. I have some thoughts I need to get off of my chest before I can go on with my life! Just enough going on to capture my attention, but I could do other things without missing much.

I didn't enjoy it as much after season 3, though. I thought the specials and season 5 were TOO repetitive. I couldn't STAND the vicar's annoying wife, glad someone else agreed (R39). Most of the characters (except for Hyacinth and Richard, oddly) became very grating during the last season, IMO. The segments with Daisy, Onslow, and Rose ended up really annoying me. Despite the great acting from the actors. They should have added a new foil for Hyacinth during the later seasons. It didn't have to be someone who wouldn't deal with her bullshit, but maybe another deluded social climber who wasn't so put-off by her? An actual rival could have worked, instead of a perceived rival.

Love it. Anyone know where to free stream today?

You posted an old thread because you wanted to tell us how cheap you are, R280? And then you take a feeble little crap on the show while not recognizing the integrity of the theme, plot and character devices obliged the show to remain as it was?

A "foil" would have ruined the balance.

Shoo, cheap.

r282

You're so right.

[quote]You posted an old thread because you wanted to tell us how cheap you are

My Sheridan would be appalled.