1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:04,320 PHONE RINGS 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,200 The Bouque-e-et residence! The lady of the house speaking. 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:09,880 Everybody knows a Hyacinth. 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,000 The mother-in-law, the next door neighbour, the aunt up the road. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,160 Everybody's got one. I think that's what made it such a success. 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:23,160 In 1990, the BBC unleashed on a defenceless public a monster 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,800 wearing a floral dress and an occasional matching hat. 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,560 I don't think Hyacinth had any self-awareness. 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,520 People like that don't. 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,160 They don't know what they're doing to the world. 11 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,960 With writer Roy Clarke and producer/director Harold Snoad, Patricia Routledge 12 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:45,720 made the name Hyacinth Bucket a shorthand for the worst excesses of snobbery and social climbing. 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:51,800 In her assault on decorum, she was backed up by a few of acting's big guns and Keeping Up Appearances 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,840 became a national pastime, running for 45 episodes over five years. 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,680 You know me, Richard. 16 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:00,960 I haven't a snobbish bone in my body. 17 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:07,920 The idea of rising up from your origins is built into all of us. 18 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,400 We all want to aspire. 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:15,920 What's so wonderful is that, with the other two sisters, you see exactly where she's come from. 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:21,680 No, Rose, not to one of your gentlemen friends on my white slimline telephone. 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,400 The public liked seeing her standing there, 22 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:29,080 thinking everyone's beneath her. They were just waiting for it to go wrong. 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:30,520 And it always did. 24 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,320 What is it, Richard? 25 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,800 - There's someone at the door. - Well, show them in. 26 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,200 It's your sister, Rose. 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,800 If you have to live with it, it must be murder. 28 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,240 Keeping Up Appearances was the third big hit from Roy Clarke, who had spent years telling tales 29 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:54,960 of Yorkshire backwaters, before plunging into the shark-infested seas of suburban snobbery. 30 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,000 Clarke's varied experiences out in the real world 31 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,120 would prove invaluable when it came to adding another trade to his CV. 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:03,800 I'd done everything. 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,320 Taxi driver. 34 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,840 I worked for Montague Burton's. I worked as a teacher. 35 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,840 I was in the police force for a couple of years, which was very valuable training for a writer. 36 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,840 But in all of them, I was still a writer trying to get into writing. 37 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:24,000 From writing drama for BBC Radio Leeds, Roy broke into TV in 1970 38 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,920 with The Misfit starring Ronald Fraser. 39 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,760 Three years later, the BBC asked him to invent a comedy 40 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,640 based on the adventures of three old men in Yorkshire. 41 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,360 It's now the longest running sitcom in British TV history. 42 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,320 Clarke stayed faithful to his Yorkshire roots with Open All Hours. 43 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:48,640 It began life as one of a series of one-off vehicles for Ronnie Barker, alongside the less memorable 44 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:55,560 Spanner's XI, which saw Clarke working alongside producer Harold Snoad for the very first time. 45 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,800 I mean, look at this here, look at this. 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,920 38 quid that cabinet cost to have made, and look at it. 47 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,880 Third prize in the snooker contest. 48 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:17,480 Roy Clarke was something of an outsider, but Harold Snoad was very definitely a BBC insider. 49 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:24,400 Among his credits were The Dick Emery Show, Dad's Army, Don't Wait Up and Ever Decreasing Circles. 50 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,360 - This is my private workshop. - I know. 51 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,840 What would you say if you opened your safe and found me inside it? 52 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,320 Don't laugh. It's a serious question. 53 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,440 Sorry, Martin. I'd say, "Hello, Martin. How are you?" 54 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:44,040 - You'd say, "What do you think you're doing in my safe?" - Well, I would be curious. It's only one foot square. 55 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:51,200 With so much experience, Harold Snoad was an obvious choice to bring Keeping Up Appearances to life. 56 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:56,840 I could actually see there could be a lot of fun from this snobbish lady, 57 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:03,440 especially when her attempts at being better than anybody else were brought to the ground rather rapidly 58 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,480 by the antics of her downmarket relatives on the other side of town. 59 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:13,400 Seeing the potential of a Hyacinth is one thing. Realising it through casting is quite another. 60 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:19,440 This was vital to the success of the show and Harold Snoad knew that it would take an actor of star quality 61 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:26,320 to make a character of such incredible snobbery and pretension both believable and likeable. 62 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:32,320 It's my sister, Violet - the one with her own Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a sauna. 63 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,320 I've told you about Violet. 64 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,000 BOTH: Ye-e-es! 65 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,040 I wanted the character of Hyacinth, 66 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:43,200 who is the first person you'd obviously think about, to be a sort of stately galleon. 67 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:49,000 I didn't want somebody lightweight, either in, well, to be honest, size, or vocal tones. 68 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,800 Borrow a floral bikini? 69 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,280 Oh, dear, you know perfectly well I have no such garment in my wardrobe. 70 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,280 Look, look... 71 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,960 'People assume I wrote Keeping Up Appearances for Patricia Routledge. 72 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:09,120 'But placing Patricia Routledge in Keeping Up Appearances' 73 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:14,760 was entirely down to Harold Snoad who produced it and pulled off that perfect bit of casting. 74 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,040 Up, one-two. Down-one, two. 75 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,200 It's an exercise, you know, for the hips. Very good. Oh! 76 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:32,520 Long before becoming a weekly and appalling guest in 12 million homes, Patricia Routledge was already 77 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:34,960 one of the country's most celebrated actors. 78 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:42,320 As part of the satire boom in the early 1960s, she appeared regularly in That Was The Week That Was. 79 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,200 # Take a handout, you naughty boys 80 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,680 # You're not the type that one employs 81 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,560 # If you had coal you'd only keep it in your bath 82 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,000 # They should stamp out you naughty boys. # 83 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,280 But the theatre was Patricia Routledge's first love, 84 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:04,560 and she enjoyed stage success on both sides of the Atlantic. 85 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,640 Patricia Routledge... 86 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,240 APPLAUSE AND CHEERING 87 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,360 Hold it, babe. In Darling Of The Day... 88 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:18,920 On Broadway in 1968, she was presented with a prestigious Tony Award by the great Groucho Marx. 89 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,520 And from you! 90 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,920 Whoopee! LAUGHTER 91 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,720 Patricia Routledge's appearances on television included guesting 92 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:34,880 as a fake medium in Steptoe And Son, and Miss Ruddock in the very first of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. 93 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,120 But before Keeping Up Appearances fell into her floral lap, 94 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,680 she was best known as Kitty in Victoria Wood - As Seen on TV. 95 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,080 "Dear Kitty..." It says Arabella. 96 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,480 "My boyfriend and I used to make love twice a night, 97 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:54,600 "but now it has dropped off." I'm not surprised. 98 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,880 "Is he getting tired of me?" Well, I'm getting tired of you, and I've never even met you. 99 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,160 It took just one reading of the first Keeping Up Appearances script 100 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:10,240 to convince Patricia Routledge that she and Hyacinth Bucket were made for each other. 101 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,000 That character leapt from the page, 102 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,880 and I said...later on to my agent, 103 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,520 "If Roy Clarke wasn't writing this for me, 104 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,680 "he ought to have been." 105 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,240 A lot of the success of the series was down to the characterisation 106 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,320 and the relationships between those characters. 107 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,640 And Roy Clarke is brilliant at creating characters. 108 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:41,440 I must say that the character of Hyacinth Bucket is... 109 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,480 an absolute world-beater. 110 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,640 It's up there with the extraordinary characters 111 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,520 that somebody like Moliere creates, 112 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:57,560 because the obsession is driven to the absolute, ultimate degree. 113 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:02,640 I wanted your superiors to find out which cow my milk comes from. 114 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:08,280 I will not have my bottles coming from just any old animal. 115 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,760 We passed a very photogenic herd recently on the Earl of Crawford's estate. 116 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,360 Would you please ensure that my two pints daily come from them. 117 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,120 'Her pretensions were about everything.' 118 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,440 She had ideas above her station, and that's always funny. 119 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,680 The Bouque-e-et residence! The lady of the house speaking. 120 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:34,840 In the search for the right name for Hyacinth, I always knew I wanted to play on Bucket and Bouquet 121 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:40,520 because that seemed to me such a symbol of what she was on about anyway, what she was. 122 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,960 My name is Bouquet. 123 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,440 B-U-C-K-E-T. 124 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,440 No, it's not Bucket. It's Bouquet. 125 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:58,320 I've seen it done and heard it done by persons called Bottom, who insisted that it was "Bo-tome". 126 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,920 It was very kind of you to invite us, Mrs Bucket. 127 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,640 - It's Bouquet, Vicar. - Oh, I'm sorry. 128 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,680 It's of French origin. 129 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,040 I believe my husband's family, in the distant past, 130 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,640 were Hugenicks or something. 131 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:22,240 Like every other cast member, her husband Richard was there as a foil for Hyacinth, 132 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:27,400 a character expressly designed to show off her personality to the worst advantage. 133 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:33,560 I wish you wouldn't raise your arms like that, Richard, not when you're overheated. 134 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:39,680 - It's warm work, Hyacinth. - If you have to perspire, I wish you'd go into the back garden, 135 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,520 so you don't disturb people who respect us socially. 136 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,160 The character of Richard was almost non-existent. 137 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,080 Richard said, "You're wanted on the phone, dear," 138 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,560 and, "Yes, dear," and "No, dear." 139 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,280 And that was about it. 140 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,520 Do you know who passed by today? 141 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,520 My goodness, is that a dead leaf? 142 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,680 If I put together Roy Clarke's track record 143 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:07,480 and Miss Routledge's track record and Harold Snoad's track record, 144 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:12,240 I thought, "I can't say no to this because it could be a job for life." 145 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,200 Frivolity? 146 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:18,240 30 years married, I can't remember a single frivle. 147 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,840 Like his leading lady, Clive Swift had a theatrical background, 148 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:29,880 and was also prominent in the TV satire of the '60s, appearing in Dig This Rhubarb. 149 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,440 # When I was single, my pockets did jingle 150 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,040 # I wish I was single again 151 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,560 # Again and again and again 152 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,920 # Again and again and again 153 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,680 # When I was single, my pockets did jingle 154 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:45,280 # I wish I was single again. # 155 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,120 After appearing in an episode of Roy Clarke's The Misfit, 156 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,440 Clive Swift was regularly seen in costume dramas throughout the '70s and '80s, 157 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:58,680 and first worked with Harold Snoad on The Further Adventures Of Lucky Jim in 1982. 158 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,240 But one of his most acclaimed and telling performances 159 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,400 was as Bishop Proudie in The Barchester Chronicles. 160 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,360 So this is our palace. 161 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,840 This is our palace. 162 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,160 The place is falling to pieces. 163 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,320 - Is it? - Of course it is. 164 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,800 And no doubt, the interior is even worse. 165 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:24,040 I shall speak to Mr Slope. 166 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,760 Clive Swift believes it was his bumbling bishop that brought him 167 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,160 to Harold Snoad's mind when casting the hen-pecked Richard Bucket, 168 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:35,680 sorry - Bouquet. 169 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:40,560 The pairing of Swift and Routledge was a marriage made in heaven... and hell. 170 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,600 Be firm, Richard. 171 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,440 Don't be pushed around. 172 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:54,400 Clive Swift brought to life the truth that everybody who was watching the series suspected - 173 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,520 what an awful thing she must be to live with. 174 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:59,920 To make that part believable, 175 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:04,080 that a husband would stay with that woman, 176 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,640 not be totally browbeaten, manage to keep his own character 177 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,480 and make that believable - I thought that was really good acting. 178 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:17,560 He made him into a slightly lazy person that she did everything for him and that was fine. 179 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:19,520 She kept a good table. 180 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,440 His shirts were ironed. 181 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,200 He was always well turned out. That's what a lot of men like. 182 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,240 They get used to it, so they put up with anything. 183 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,280 As we all know, the secret of marriage is give and take, 184 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,840 kindness, understanding, 185 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,360 tolerance. 186 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:44,600 At one point, I thought this marriage was so awkward 187 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,680 that perhaps they had single beds. 188 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:50,080 I don't like this level of intimacy, dear. 189 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,880 I don't think it's natural at our age. 190 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:01,400 Would you please remove yourself from my person. 191 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,960 Other than that, there is never any, 192 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:10,120 in inverted commas, sexual contact between them at all. 193 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:16,040 Yet there must have been a brief moment when intimacy was on the agenda for Mr and Mrs Bucket. 194 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,840 How else to explain their invisible son, Sheridan? 195 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:21,720 Sheridan! 196 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,080 How sensitive of you to call, dear. 197 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,960 - What a close psychic link we have, you and I. - What does he want? 198 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,640 I don't know that he wants anything. He's just ringing his mother. 199 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,920 You need how much, Sheridan? 200 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,880 It's a super idea that you never, never see him, and of course you never should. 201 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,160 Sheridan, you're not moving in with some designing female. 202 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,200 Oh, it's not a girls' flat. It's a boys' flat. 203 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,040 And you're making your own curtains? How inventive, dear. 204 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,640 Then of course that he should turn out gay is perhaps not surprising. 205 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:02,320 And again, designed of course to show Hyacinth being Hyacinth, 206 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,880 that behind all the bluster and the snobbery is a total innocence. 207 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,560 Oh, you and Tarquin aren't interested in girls. 208 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,920 What a comfort that is to a mother's heart, dear. 209 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:21,000 I thought Patricia played it wonderfully, in that she was so totally unaware of... 210 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,240 A different actress might have played it more knowingly. Who knows? 211 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:30,480 Hyacinth, do you ever wonder why Sheridan shows no interest in girls? 212 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,040 D'you think I should take a few of my favourite ornaments? 213 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:40,320 The character of Sheridan exemplifies a pet theory of mine, 214 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,280 that you can get away with murder if you don't actually show it. 215 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,360 But the cast found that Roy was even more elusive than Sheridan. 216 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,360 The show's creator didn't like to attend rehearsals or recordings 217 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,400 and in five series visited the set just once. 218 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:00,200 Harold said you're all allowed to ask him one question. 219 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,160 And I said, "Am I married?" And he said, "Oh, I don't know." 220 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:11,440 "Oh, well, am I a single mother?" "Oh, I don't know. Yes, you can have a husband if you like." 221 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,880 I said, "Well, is he away or or is he there?" 222 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:20,120 "Well, he could be working in the oilfields, it doesn't matter. It's all right, I don't mind." 223 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:25,000 I said, "Oh, right." I went away thinking, I'm still none the wiser. 224 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,840 They're a very close couple. 225 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,160 Of course they are close. 226 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,360 She has him on a lead. 227 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,240 Well, at least their marriage survives. 228 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,280 My husband works abroad, you're divorced - who are we to criticise? 229 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:44,800 Roy Clarke's remoteness from the day to day production of Keeping Up Appearances 230 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:50,560 eventually led to serious creative differences between himself and Harold Snoad. 231 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,720 I'm a writer and I'm nothing but a writer. 232 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,000 When I submit a script, 233 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,000 I've got no interest in producing it or directing it. I leave it to people. 234 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,200 It's a great pity that Roy Clarke and I didn't see eye to eye 235 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,040 in making Keeping Up Appearances. 236 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,480 I watched on occasions and found scenes I hadn't written. 237 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:24,480 That's of course death to a writer - you can't have it. 238 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,520 That was the problem. 239 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:33,520 Roy Clarke would never actually accept the fact that anything was wrong with his scripts. 240 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,720 so when I found bits that didn't work, I had no alternative but to 241 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,360 rewrite large chunks myself, with the blessing of the BBC. 242 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,640 They were very happy. 243 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,040 They just left it to me to get on with it. 244 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,720 You will have to get out and push. 245 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,360 - What? - You will have to get out and push. 246 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,280 Me? 247 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,480 Well, there is no one else about! 248 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,800 - But I've never pushed anything in my life. - There's a first time for everything! 249 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:08,320 The BBC brought in a script editor to act as peacemaker. 250 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,760 It's a mark of Keeping Up Appearances' success 251 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:18,240 that the Corporation worked so hard to overcome the writer and producer being at loggerheads. 252 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,120 You'll pay for this, Richard Bucket! 253 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:23,240 Bouquet! 254 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:31,160 More than creative differences, there were differences in temperament between myself and Howard. 255 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:36,920 I have warm feelings about Keeping Up Appearances despite any of the troubles that we had, 256 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,800 which are par for the course in many a production anyway. 257 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,960 And, um... at times, we weren't the best of mates over that, 258 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:52,560 but the final analysis is that in the end, it did work extremely well. 259 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:59,600 - Is there anything...? - Just give me time to recover my composure, then come and take tea with me at 3.25. 260 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,760 Josephine Tewson, Hyacinth's next door neighbour Elizabeth, 261 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:09,160 was one of Harold Snoad's comedy favourites. She first worked with him on The Dick Emery Show. 262 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,640 Oh, he played me a dirty trick, he did. 263 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,040 Sir Thomas? What ever did he do, dear?. 264 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,560 He deliberately gave me the wrong that date for a concert at the Albert Hall. 265 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:21,720 I turned up there at eight o'clock, 266 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:26,600 and by five past, I was in the ring, fighting for my life with Rocky Marciano. 267 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:35,160 He cast her as the housekeeper alongside Ronnie Barker and David Jason in His Lordship Entertains. 268 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,920 Then she moved upstairs playing Lady Cynthia in Elementary, My Dear Watson 269 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,040 with John Cleese and Willie Rushton. 270 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:47,200 Did I ever tell you the story of my first marriage? I was a young girl of 17. 271 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,200 Well, 21. 272 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:55,600 After Harold cast Josephine again in No Appointment Necessary, 273 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:00,240 he felt there'd be great comedy chemistry if he moved her in next door to Hyacinth. 274 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:01,720 PHONE RINGS 275 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,680 Patricia Routledge has an excellent sense of farce 276 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,440 which, when I put that together with Jo Tewson, 277 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,000 who also is very farcially-inclined, the two of them were absolute magic. 278 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,960 When Hyacinth is not watching, 279 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,440 I can handle Royal Doulton as well as the next person. 280 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:26,600 It is perfectly simple - you just take hold of it firmly but gently, 281 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,160 you raise it carefully... 282 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,000 'Roy Clarke had written Hyacinth off stage' 283 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,440 calling Elizabeth and me rattling the cup and putting it down. 284 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,680 I thought that is a bit tame after some of the things we've done. 285 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,720 So I said to Pat, "How good are you at catching things, Pat?" 286 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,560 She said, "Oh, yes, yes!" 287 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,440 So, why can't I do it when Hyacinth is here? 288 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:48,960 Elizabeth. 289 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:57,000 While Roy Clarke created Elizabeth just to be intimidated by Hyacinth, 290 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:03,320 her sisters Rose and Daisy and brother-in-law Onslow were designed to embarrass Hyacinth 291 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,120 by reminding her of exactly where she came from. 292 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:11,720 We were the slobs and Hyacinth, the snob. 293 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:16,640 I'll be with you in a minute! 294 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:22,320 Daisy, again another wonderful creation by Judy Cornwell, 295 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,560 of a child bride with her hopes of romance. 296 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,640 You are so attractive to women. 297 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,280 I am work shy, bone idle and out of condition! 298 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:41,160 - What makes you think I'm attractive to women? - I married you, didn't I? 299 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:48,000 I found this wonderful grey cardigan which was awful. It was out of shape, 300 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,440 it was something you could sleep in or wrap round a dog. 301 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,000 I said, "That's the one. That's the one I love." 302 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,400 That's her cardigan - her favourite one. 303 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:04,040 You won't find this in your romantic novels, but if you wear see-through nightie, don't wear a vest! 304 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:10,320 I think one of my favourite characters in the show was Onslow. 305 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,960 Geoffrey Hughes was marvellous as that Onslow. 306 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,760 His relationship with his wife became very, very popular. 307 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:22,200 He was designed to embarrass Hyacinth and couldn't have been more effective at it. 308 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,320 Morning, Onslow. 309 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,440 Don't say good morning to him when I've just been savaged by his dog. 310 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,320 Less noise, you daft bitch. 311 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,280 And that goes for you as well, dog. 312 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,920 ONSLOW LAUGHS 313 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,960 In series two, Roy Clarke introduced David Griffin as the faint-hearted Emmet, Elizabeth's brother. 314 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,160 She's been singing at me, Liz. 315 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:50,160 He was someone for Hyacinth both to look up to and fondly imagine herself the social equal of. 316 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:55,600 - We are invited to a candlelight supper tonight. - Well, that was inevitable. 317 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,960 He loved his music and he loved his job as a music teacher. 318 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,320 He was also running the local amateur operatics society. 319 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:08,600 If there was one thing that Hyacinth was aiming at, 320 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:13,600 it was being the leading light of the amateur operatics society. 321 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,520 SHE HUMS 322 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,560 SHE SINGS OPERA 323 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,520 He gave a wonderful extra lift to the series, 324 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,840 so that she had somebody she had to woo to get what she wanted. 325 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,840 She couldn't browbeat him into it. 326 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,840 I was caught hiding behind a screen or behind the bushes. 327 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,880 She'd never actually say I was trying to avoid her. It was because I was so shy. 328 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,200 - Was that Emmet? - He must have forgotten something in the house. 329 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,720 No, dear. 330 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,360 I am afraid it's me. 331 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:57,000 I rather think I send his senses reeling. 332 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,600 Dear Emmet. 333 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,920 With Keeping Up Appearances steamrollering on its merry way, 334 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,200 Roy Clarke and Harold Snoad combined on another BBC sitcom 335 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:12,200 starring Tony Britton, Susan Hampshire and Caroline Quentin. 336 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,680 But Don't Tell Father just didn't have that special something. 337 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,600 - Where's Garth? - Behind the sofa. 338 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,240 - What's he doing? - Meditating. 339 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,080 Trying to remember his song. 340 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,120 That never totally took off. 341 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,560 But it was fun to do. 342 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:37,320 It's still not clear why some things happen and others don't. 343 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:41,840 If it doesn't hit that spot, you've not got a winner. 344 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,760 Oh, no doily! 345 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:55,400 Keeping Up Appearances clearly was a winner and if the BBC had its way, it might still be running today. 346 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,360 But in 1995, the show stopped dead in its tracks. 347 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:00,920 I know! 348 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,560 Emmet, you can play and we'll all sing sea shanties. 349 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,120 Keeping Up Appearances came to an end because Patricia, 350 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:16,320 to be perfectly frank, wanted to move on to do something else. 351 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:22,440 I decided to part company with Hyacinth because there were other adventures to have. 352 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,840 I'm an actor and I like to play other roles. 353 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,720 First on the list of adventures was a trip into Miss Marpleshire, 354 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:36,040 as Patricia Routledge swapped Hyacinth for Hetty Wainthrop, the sixty-something crime buster. 355 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,040 And in between regular returns to the theatre, she appeared on TV 356 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,200 in the second helping of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. 357 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:50,480 She didn't want to simply end of her career by being known as Hyacinth Bucket. 358 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,640 She'd made it so much her own, obviously. 359 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,800 So, I take my hat off to her, in that respect. 360 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:01,720 I know that Harold was extremely disappointed because in a way, 361 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,440 to cut a thing off, in its prime almost. 362 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,120 I told you, they're going away. 363 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,400 But the other thing of course, is to go out on top, at one's peak. 364 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,160 That was quite a send-off. 365 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,960 We must never move, dear, we'd be greatly missed. 366 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:29,360 I don't think the other cast members were thrilled silly that they weren't going to do any more 367 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:35,400 because they all enjoyed it, they loved the parts and they obviously were glad to be part of a success. 368 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:40,320 But without the star, what could you do, really? 369 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,880 We all knew it could go on and we knew the BBC wanted it to go on. 370 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,760 But we knew Pat didn't want to do any more. 371 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:53,040 So everybody was sort of waiting to see what happened. 372 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,840 I think for a while they were hanging on, 373 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:02,960 hoping Patricia would change her mind and come back and do more. 374 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,760 They didn't want to tackle anything that might get in the way of that, 375 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,600 and then by the time it dawned that she was serious 376 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,840 and she wasn't coming back, it had become too late, I think. 377 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,280 Roy Clarke still had a few more drops of Summer Wine to squeeze out 378 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,640 and the show enjoyed a guest appearance from Josephine Tewson. 379 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:28,280 - He promised me marriage. - I never said marriage! 380 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,440 I may have said "garage". 381 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,720 - Excuse us a minute. - He's so strong when he's aroused! 382 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,160 I call him my Hercules! 383 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,480 Clive Swift starred in The Aristocrats 384 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:48,280 before going back into the Church in 2002 as Reverend Brewer in the BBC's Born And Bred. 385 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,640 - You have the look of the devil. - The Lord moves in mysterious ways, 386 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,280 his wonders to perform. 387 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,120 Before appearing regularly in Heartbeat, 388 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:01,800 the nation's favourite slob, Geoffrey Hughes, 389 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,080 changed his vest but not much else to play Twiggy in The Royle Family. 390 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,280 Wash'n'Go - the ad where that bird washes and pisses off. 391 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,680 It's the genuine stuff, only it's got Arabic writing on it. 392 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,440 - 50p a bottle. - ALL: Nah. - No, thanks. - Oh, please yourself. 393 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,680 Go on then, Twiggy, I'll have two quid's worth. 394 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,600 I tell you what - as you're my best-looking customer, 395 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,720 - I'll chuck in a box of panty pads. - All right. 396 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,400 Since finishing up in 1995, 397 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,760 Keeping Up Appearances has found a new audience abroad, 398 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:39,520 becoming an unexpected worldwide hit as it flies the flowery flag. 399 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,360 Are you playing the right note? 400 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:44,000 HE PLAYS THE SAME NOTE TWICE 401 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,880 SHE REPEATS THE SAME NOTES 402 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,320 I suppose Irving knew what he was doing. 403 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,520 It's huge in America at the moment 404 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:58,360 cos I think Americans think that Hyacinth is the typical British middle-class lady. 405 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,840 Then you have Israel loving it, India loving it, China loving it. 406 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,680 I believe it sold in over 45 countries. 407 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:06,960 I'm very big in Botswana, you know. 408 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,280 I love saying that. 409 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,960 # ..To battle With someone's herd of... # 410 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,840 Keep it going! Faster! 411 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,800 # ..Was done 412 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,040 # Then if I shot the herder they'd holler bloody murder... # 413 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,360 You said he'd been certificated. 414 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,520 No! No! No! 415 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,080 Enough! That's it!