You rang m`lord

[Dave Homewood]

You Rang M'Lord had a richness both in the fantastic set design (they used genuine antiques and furniture, etc, and the house has a genuineness about it) but moreso the 50 minute long episodes allowed Jimmy and David to really develop the characters and their interactions so much more than a 28 minute episode could. There is so much intrigue, so many secrets, love affairs and crushes, and so much skulduggery going on. It is brilliant.

The characters are wonderful, each of them has warmth and personality but many have a dark side and secrets. Paul Shane was amazing as Alf Stokes, and this was definitely Su Pollard's best role. My absolute favourites are Perry Benson as young Henry Livingstone, Barbara New as Mabel Wheeler, and Mavis Pugh as the potty Lady Lavender. Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles were once again the wonderful double act too.

In my opinion the hugely successful and popular Downton Abbey was clearly ripped off You Rang M'Lord, so many of the plots of Downton were simply lifted from YRML.

After reading your post earlier I watched a few episodes online this afternoon and was very glad to see it again, as it had been some years since I last watched. I think I'll have to try and get the DVD set.

[Alan Hayes]

It sounds like my delivery cannot come soon enough.

You've definitely piqued my interest, Dave!

[Alan Hayes]

Well, my DVD set arrived and I've just watched the first episode (the 1988 pilot).

Thoroughly enjoyed it - the premise and the characters are very well set up - and great to see so many familiar faces from It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-De-Hi and Dad's Army. As with other Croft and Perry shows, the ensemble cast is superb and each is allowed to shine. Plenty of laughs too.

I am sure that I am going to really enjoy viewing the rest of this series.

[Alan Hayes]

Saw the second this morning - 'The Phantom Sign Writer' - very funny. It's not often these days that I laugh out loud at situation comedy, but this definitely had me laughing. Su Pollard gets me every time. She's a brilliant comic performer.

Loving the frosty rivalry between Stokes and Twelvetrees, and seeing Frank Williams turn up (complete with clerical promotion!) was a lovely surprise.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, it is an excellent series and I knew you'd love it. The good news is like Bill Pertwee, Frank is a regular cast member.

Lots of Dad's Army guest performers got major roles too, Michael Knowles, Mavis Pugh, Brenda Cowling, etc. Wonderful.

[Alan Hayes]

It's the Croft and Perry Repertory Company! And all the better for it!

[Alan Hayes]

And as if to prove my suggestion, I just watched episode 3, 'A Deed of Gift', and who should show up but John Clegg from It Ain't Half Hot Mum!

Wonderful.

[Dave Homewood]

Yep. You'll even see one or two from the Croft and Lloyd company soon too.

[Alan Hayes]

Didn't get a chance to watch any today - tomorrow, for sure!

[marie]

Having finishing watching the complete series before Christmas, have to say I was very pleasantly surprised!. The first episode was like watching a mini movie (especially the war scene)....all the characters are brilliant as you would expect from Croft and Perry, and the one liners from Henry(Perry Benson), have be laughing everytime (and gives him a sore head)...shows what great actors (as well as comedy performers) the cast is.

Its puzzling how the BBC never repeat it, the only thing I can think it doesn't follow their PC agenda so is pushed away.

[Alan Hayes]

I do wonder if it being a 50-minute comedy works against it in terms of repeats - quite unusual.

And yes, the battlefield scene in the first episode is exceptionally well staged for a comedy show - production values are very good on You Rang M'Lord. Nice that the BBC threw that sort of money at a series made by Croft and Perry when they were nearing the end of their careers.

[Dave Homewood]

I think Perry Benson must have got a few good wallops to the head in the making of the series, the cast do not hold back or fake those slaps.

[Alan Hayes]

These days it'd be CGI.

[Alan Hayes]

Well, I've just watched Episode 5, and am absolutely loving it. It is so well written and acted. As you say, Dave, it's a bit of a hidden masterpiece. I'm genuinely surprised that more isn't made of it in terms of it being talked of or recommended. It's as well written and cast as Dad's Army, has a lovely period feel and yet a timelessness (much like Dad's Army), but where I think it really wins through is in the serial nature of the storyline.

It's early days but I think this is going to be my discovery of 2019.

What a thoroughly enjoyable, brilliant series!

[Dave Homewood]

Agreed, it was extremely cleverly written in that each episode can stand alone nicely if you only see one, but they are all interwoven with a serialised storyline so you see the bigger, wider plots unfold week by week.The web of intrigue that unfolds as you watch, the affairs, the jealousies, the deceit, underlie the humour, but there is also genuine warmth and love among the characters too.

Don't you just love Mabel and Henry? Fantastic characters. And Ivy is far better than the scatterbrain Peggy in Hi De Hi. Mrs Lipton is great too, and Alf Stokes is a complex character, a man full of anger and jealousy but also good-hearted when it's needed. And Jim Twelvetrees is the best character that I have ever seen Jeff Holland play too.

[Alan Hayes]

I'm just over halfway through Series 2 of You Rang M'Lord now... Watching an episode or two a day. Really enjoying it. I don't think there's a weak character among the lineup.

One thing I probably would have changed if I was casting though, is that John Horsley as Sir Ralph is not as imposing or threatening-looking as a jealous husband out for Meldrum's blood.

[Dave Homewood]

I liked Sir Ralph Shawcross, I think John Horsley played hi well because he's all bluster but actually doesn't have the real guts to do much.

I am glad you're enjoying the series so much, and that you were not disappointed after I built it up for you. I really need to find the DVD set since I only have them on VHS and no longer have a TV to play them on. Only a handful seem to be online to watch. I have enjoyed rewatching a few of them in the past couple of weeks thanks to the discussion here.

I like how Jimmy and David would often seek out old music hall and stage act entertainers from their own youth to appear in bit parts in their series, they did it in Dad's Army, Hi De Hi and in YRM'L.

[Alan Hayes]

The other thing I'd say is that Su Pollard is the beating heart of You Rang M'Lord. For someone so seemingly scatterbrained and wildly theatrical (but thoroughly likeable, I should add), she plays Ivy with real heart and an affecting innocence. She conveys the character's feelings with the subtlest of facial expressions and body language. I think that's often forgotten and people remember Su's colourful, bonkers public persona. She is brilliant.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, she is absolutely wonderful in this series. She was great for pathos and tugging heart strings as Peggy in Hi De Hi, but Ivy is a much better character and she played it so well.

I really like Henry, always pushing his luck and getting into trouble, but he has a good heart.

I love the fact that poor old Mabel is based loosely on Jimmy Perry's family's own maid too.

[jonboy]

They did show the complete series here in the UK last year, though cos it ran for 40 minutes commercial channels are rather reluctant to give a 50 minute slot to old comedy programmes, I agree with Come Back Mrs Noah, not a great idea & with a limited budget & limited technology at the time it does looks pretty tacky today.