Keeping Up Appearances
| Keeping Up Appearances | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Roy Clarke |
| Starring | Patricia Routledge Clive Swift David Griffin Josephine Tewson Geoffrey Hughes Judy Cornwell Shirley Stelfox Mary Millar |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 44 + 1 short (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Harold Snoad |
| Running time | 42x30 minutes 1x50 minutes 1x60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 29 October 1990 – 25 December 1995 |
Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom starring Patricia Routledge as eccentric, social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket. It aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The series was written by Roy Clarke, who also wrote Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours. In 2004, it came 12th in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll.
Cast
- Patricia Routledge — Hyacinth Bucket
- Clive Swift — Richard Bucket
- Judy Cornwell — Daisy
- Geoffrey Hughes — Onslow
- Shirley Stelfox — Rose (series 1)
- Mary Millar — Rose (from series 2)
- Josephine Tewson — Elizabeth Warden
- David Griffin — Emmet Hawksworth (from series 2)
- George Webb — "Daddy"
- Anna Dawson — Violet (from series 3)
- John Evitts — Bruce (from series 3)
- Jeremy Gittins — Michael, the Vicar
- Marion Barron — Vicar's wife
- Peter Cellier — The Major (series 1 and 2)
- David Janson — Michael, the Postman
- Robert Rawles — The Milkman
Plot
Hyacinth Bucket, who insists her last name is pronounced "bouquet", spends most of her time trying to impress her neighbours and friends. She does this through boasting about her wealthy sister Violet, and by pretending to be of a more "aristocratic" class than she actually is. However it is Hyacinth's lower-class relatives — Daisy, Rose and Onslow — who fail to fall in line with her standards, and thus she goes to great effort in keeping them hidden in order to save face.
Hyacinth lives in a suburban bungalow on Blossom Avenue. A middle-aged, house-proud housewife, she will answer the phone with the greeting: "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking", and from her shining kitchen to the well-polished wood-block, her home is a paragon of perfection. She is constantly warning her visitors not to brush up against the walls and tells them to remove their shoes on arrival. Her long-suffering and hen-pecked husband is Richard, who initially works for the local council; later in the series however, he reluctantly takes early retirement. Richard often tries in vain to stop Hyacinth in her snobbish endeavours, but she never listens to him nor anyone else. He regularly gets dragged into assisting his wife in her numerous attempts at climbing the social ladder, despite a reluctance to do so.
The couple have an unseen son, Sheridan, who makes frequent phone calls from his polytechnic, (one which Hyacinth claims is "of university standard"), asking for money. There are strong suggestions that Sheridan is homosexual, however Hyacinth seems unaware of this.
Hyacinth has three sisters: Daisy, Rose and Violet. The lustful Daisy is married to the unromantic slob, Onslow, and the pair have a daughter called Stephanie. Neither Daisy nor Onslow work, and Instead they spend their time lounging about in their sitting room, where Onslow drinks beer, eats crisps and watches television, and Daisy reads romantic novels; these being her last hopes of romance. The pair live with the promiscuous Rose and their senile father, who is referred to by Hyacinth as "Daddy".
Rose has a brief job in series four, selling custom-made jewellery door-to-door. She spends most of her time chasing married men and Hyacinth’s neighbour Emmett, along with the local vicar. Meanwhile "Daddy" chases elderly women and frequently believes he is back in World War II. Daisy, Rose, their father and Onslow together live in squalor; their home is a three-bedroom house on a run-down council estate. An abandoned car, lived in by Onslow's dog, occupies the front garden.
Despite Hyacinth's desire for "upper-crust" relatives, she loves them, and never fails to rush to their assistance when they need her help. Often it is Daddy that has got into an embarrassing situation which Hyacinth has to always solve. Hyacinth’s other sister Violet, is rarely seen but is often boasted about by Hyacinth to the neighbours, referred to as "the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony". Violet is unhappily married to the cross-dressing bookmaker Bruce.
Hyacinth's next-door neighbour is Elizabeth Warden, the closest witness to her snobbery. Frequently invited round to the Bucket residence for coffee, Elizabeth's nerves often cause her to spill it. Her husband is away working in Saudi Arabia. Elizabeth’s brother Emmett, who abbreviates his sister's name to "Liz", arrives in series two to live with her after his messy divorce. Emmett runs a local amateur operatic society, and Hyacinth frequently drops hints by singing, that he should include her in his performances. Thus Emmett quickly develops a fear of Hyacinth to such an extent that he barely leaves the house. Hyacinth however is under the impression that this is because Emmett is attracted to her,yet the only character who is attracted to Hyacinth is the excitable Major, who recurs in the first two series.
Episodes
Keeping Up Appearances aired for five series, four Christmas specials, and one short Children in Need special, from 29 October 1990 to 25 December 1995. The series ended after the episode "The Pageant" because Patricia Routledge wanted to focus on other work.[citation needed] Clive Swift, who played Richard, stated in a BBC interview that Routledge "didn't want to be remembered as simply Mrs Bucket".[citation needed]
Production
Filming locations
Exterior shots around Hyacinth's house were filmed in Binley Woods village near Coventry. Exterior shots around Daisy and Onslow's council terrace were filmed in Stoke Aldermoor in Coventry. Other exterior street and town shots were filmed in Leamington Spa and in various towns throughout Warwickshire, along with many scenes from the large town of Northampton. Some scenes were also shot in Swindon and Oxford.
The setting of the show is not entirely clear, but there are several references to the characters being in the West Midlands throughout the series.
After Keeping Up Appearances
In March 1997, Geoffrey Hughes and Judy Cornwell reprised their roles as Onslow and Daisy for a special compilation episode filmed for broadcast in the United States. The Memoirs of Hyacinth Bucket saw the pair introduce classic clips from the series.
In 1998, the BBC released three episodes of the show: "A Job For Richard", "Country Retreat" and "Sea Fever" on audio cassette, and Clive Swift reprised his role as Richard, recording a narrative to compensate for the lack of images.
In 2004, the documentary series Comedy Connections featured an episode dedicated to Keeping Up Appearances. Stars Clive Swift, Josephine Tewson, Judy Cornwell and David Griffin, writer Roy Clarke and producer/director Harold Snoad all discussed the series. Clips from an interview with Patricia Routledge from 2002 were also included. The episode revealed that there were serious artistic differences between Clarke and Snoad.
Two cast members died within two months of each other in 1998: Mary Millar, who played Rose from 1991 to 1995, on 10 November 1998, of ovarian cancer, and George Webb, who played Daddy throughout the show's run, on 30 December 1998, of natural causes. Charmian May, who appeared as Mrs Councillor Nugent recurringly earlier in the series, died on 24 October 2002.
Media
VHS
In the 1990s, 2 Entertain Video released several episodes to VHS cassette, including:
- "Rural Retreat" - Released on 12 June 1995, and comprises three episodes, "Rural Retreat", "Let there be Light" and "Please Mind Your Head".
- "How to Enhance Your Husband’s Retirement" - Released on 3 June 1996, and comprises three episodes, "How to Enhance Your Husband's Retirement", "What to Wear When Yachting" and "How to Go On Holiday Without Really Trying".
- "Sea Fever" - Released on 2 April 1997, and comprises "Sea Fever" and "Hyacinth Tees Off".
DVD
Series 1 and 2 were released to Region 2 DVD by Universal Playback on 7 March 2003, followed by Series 3 and 4 and the 1991 Christmas Special on 16 February 2004. The fifth series and 1993, 1994 and 1995 specials were released on 26 December 2006. A box set, Keeping Up Appearances: The Essential Collection, was released on 8 October 2007.[1]
In 2004, the first five series and the specials were released as a box set entitled Keeping Up Appearances: The Full Bouquet to Region 1 DVD. Series box sets combining series 1 and 2 and series 3, 4 and 5 have also been released.
The entire series was released in Region 4 in 2005 under the title Keeping Up Appearances: The Complete Collection. Two additional sets, Series One & Two and Series Three & Four and Five are also available, as well as a Keeping Up Appearances: Christmas Specials DVD.
Books
Two books related to the series were released in the UK. One is entitled Hyacinth Bucket's Book of Etiquette for the Socially less Fortunate, which is a rather light-hearted guide to manners, as seen through Hyacinth Bucket's eyes. It is based on the TV series' scripts. It contains many black-and-white photos of scenes from the series and was first published in 1993. The other is entitled Hyacinth Bucket's Hectic Social Calendar, which is presented in a diary format chronicling a year in her life, with typical comments about her relations and neighbours. This was published in 1995. Both were written by Jonathan Rice and published by BBC Books.
References
- ^ "Keeping Up Appearances - The Complete Collection". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
External links
