British Television. Suggestions?

[Avonlea22]

Up Stairs, Down Stairs

and for the record: No, Ireland isn't part of the UK nor are we British (that's why we call ourselves Irish).

My bad. I'm always thinking Northern Ireland.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

MacMillan of Rathdown came up with one of my favs: Upstairs-Downstairs. Don't forget the spin off, Thomas and Sarah.

Speaking of Pauline Collins, The Ambassador is a good Anglo-Irish production. The Irish RM is a good one as well.

The Ealing Comedies aren't really TV, but are very British. Whisky Galore was indeed an Ealing Comedy.

[starbkjrus]

Oops! I forgot a few more.

snip...
The Banana splits (American Import)
...snip

Wow David! That was a blast from the past. I loved that one as a kid.

These two have already been mentioned but since I have every episode of both programs on DVD I'll mention them again -
"Keeping up Appearances" and "Are You Being Served?".

I'll also add two British TV series' done by Aussie Barry Humphries - AKA Dame Edna Everedge - The Dame Edna Experience and Dame Edna's Neighborhood Watch.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

I keep forgetting to mention the State Within.

The only problem is that the star, Jason Isaacs, plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter Movies. "Mess with me at your peril, Mudbloods, for I have the dark lord's support!"

[McClef]

There was a series called, I think, The Inheritance, about a cloth weaving dynasty in the North of England, but I have not seen it ever again since the first screening so it might not survive.

What comes immediately to mind is Inheritance which came out in the mid 60s (1967) made by Granada TV. It was based upon the novels of Phyllis Bentley and included James Bolam and the late John Thaw playing various roles as the members of the Oldroyd and Bamforth family.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215422/

I would love to see it again but I don't know if it has survived.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

McClef, Inheritance might have survived since it was in independent broadcasting production.

For those not in the know, the BBC did not archive TV programs until the late 60s-early 70s on the basis that they didn't want to waste video/audio tape. Many classics were lost from this period: in particular work by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It was common UK television practice at the time, when agreements with actors' and musicians' unions limited the number of repeats. This policy ceased in the late 1970s.

[Pleater]

I supose I associate the Ealing comedies with TV is that I have only ever seen them on TV - they were too old to be on at the cinemas, so they popped up from time to time on the box.

I can still recall an incident in Inheritance, when a piece of cloth was brought to the mill by an important customer complaining about its poor quality and the young man (I believe James Bolam played him) was able to tell that it was not of their production as it has the wrong number of threads in the stripe, and was actually the product of a mill further up the valley.
By eck!!

It is so annoying to be able to remember something on TV 40 years ago but can't find the new store cards that arrived a couple of weeks ago.

I believe that the BBC's tape of the moon landing 'one giant leap for mankind' was reused later - for reasons of economy.

I do wish that I had a working reel to reel tape recorder, as I have tapes of The Navy Lark and Round the Horn, and numerous other jems from the 60s. I still remember 'Fred Shadow and the 40 charted accountants' and Troutbridge's encounter with the Popadum... This is making me very nostalgic.

[McClef]

I guess only Granada TV could answer the question. The series was, as far as I am aware, only made in good old monochrome. Few DVD releases are available of that vintage and especially if they are not in colour. You can sometimes find old series on DVD around on the net (I recently managed to obtain the old Terence Morgan Sir Francis Drake series) but it would be great to see the young Thaw and Bolam again in what was a wonderful series with (as I remember) a great theme tune.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Well, the Ealing comedies do pop up on Boxing Day. So I guess that counts as TV. Not to mention the old St. Trinian's movies.

It's amazing that the Beeb was as cavalier in its archiving material. Some of the old British TV and Radio shows were saved because the shows were exported to other English speaking countries, which had the knowse to save the shows.

Pleater, try Old Time Radio Show Catalog (OTRCAT) as they have a catalogue of old British Radio. They have such things as Doctor at Large, Doctor in the House, Goon Show, Hancocks Half Hour, I'm Sorry I'll Read that Again, Navy Lark and Round the Horn in MP3 format.
http://www.otrcat.com/british-c-103.html

Unfortunately, they don't have the Archers.

So, pleater, you don't have to regret that I gave my Revox B-77 Reel-to-Reel to a church and not you.

McClef, how about the Red Cap with John Thaw version, not Tamzin Outhwaite one?

[Ozman1944]

Also;
"O Brother!"
"Never mind the quality, feel the width"