My Commanding Wife Trivia Quiz

Answer: Coronation Street

'Coronation Street' was first broadcast in 1960 and continued to appear on British television in the twenty-first century. Ena Sharples was one of the original characters, usually shown wearing a hairnet. She spent her free time in the snug bar of the Rovers Return with her friends, Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst. From there they took great delight in commenting on the behaviour of the residents of the Street. Violet Carson played the role until 1980, when her character was written out due to the ill health of the actress. Violet died in 1983 at the age of 85.

Answer: Mollie Sugden

The programme was notorious for its innuendo, with Mrs Slocombe regularly making references to her pussy(cat). The show ran on BBC1 from 1972 until 1985 and also starred Wendy Richard as Miss Brahms, assistant to Mrs Slocombe, and John Inman as Mr Humphries. Mollie Sugden also appeared in 'The Liver Birds' as the mother of Sandra, one of the 'birds', and played Nellie Harvey in 'Coronation Street' between 1965 and 1976.

She died in 2009 at the age of 86.

Answer: Arkwright

Arkwright was the proprietor of a small grocery store in the series 'Open All Hours', with Granville, portrayed by David Jason, as his nephew and long suffering assistant. Arkwright was noted for being tight-fisted and for making sure Granville does all the work. Gladys and he had an 'understanding' that they would marry when her elderly mother died, although she brooked no nonsense when he made advances towards her. Fletcher was Barker's character in 'Porridge' and 'Clarence' was his final series, aired in 1988, before he retired.

Answer: Prunella Scales

All the actresses appeared in the series, with Connie Booth playing Polly, the waitress and general assistant, Gilly Flower being Miss Tibbs and Renee Roberts as Miss Gatsby. The latter two characters, along with Major Gowen (Ballard Berkeley) were the permanent residents of the hotel.

The show ran for only twelve episodes and was jointly written by Connie Booth and then husband John Cleese, who played Basil Fawlty. Sybil had one of the most annoying laughs ever heard, described by Basil as 'like someone machine-gunning a seal'.

She was variously described by her husband as 'the dragon', 'my little kommandant' and 'my little nest of vipers', but usually just out of her earshot.

Answer: Peggy Mitchell

Peggy Mitchell was the landlady of the Queen Victoria pub, the place for the spilling of secrets in the show. Well known for her phrase 'get outta my pub', Peggy was the mother of Grant and Phil, the original resident hard men. The character made her first appearance in 1991, played by a different actress, with Barbara playing her from 1994 until her departure from the show in 2010. Dot Cotton (now Branning) was acted by June Brown, Pat Evans by Pam St. Clement and Pauline Fowler by Wendy Richard, who also featured in 'Are You Being Served?'.

Answer: Last of the Summer Wine

Nora Batty, played by Kathy Staff, was Compo's next door neighbour and frequently appeared with her hair in rollers and brandishing a broom. Compo was one of three elderly men who spent their time getting into rather childish mischief. He was played by Bill Owen, who died in 1999.

His real life son then appeared in the series to play Compo's son. The series ran from 1973 until 2010 and featured many well known British character actors, including Peter Sallis, Brian Wilde and Brian Murphy. The female characters, in contrast to the antics of the menfolk, were portrayed as strong and in control.

Answer: Peggy Mount

Sid James played a chauffeur/handyman employed by John Le Mesurier's Colonel Maynard. George's lecherous ways forced the departure of numerous housekeepers but the arrival of the widowed Mrs Dragon stopped him in his tracks. Peggy Mount was the epitome of the British battleaxe when portraying characters, due to her distinctive voice, although her real life character was reportedly very different. Dora Bryan and June Whitfield both appeared in 'Last of the Summer Wine', and Whitfield also appeared regularly in 'Absolutely Fabulous'. Yootha Joyce was best known for her role as Mildred Roper in 'Man About the House' and 'George and Mildred'.

Answer: Les Dawson

Les Dawson made a career out of his deadpan delivery and numerous 'mother-in-law' jokes, but Cissie and Ada remain a highpoint of his career. They were portrayed as two elderly women with Cissie in particular having delusions of grandeur. They were shown discussing people they knew, with references to anything considered indelicate being mouthed, rather than spoken out loud, and referred to via euphemisms. Dawson was an accomplished pianist, but developed a routine of playing the occasional wrong note to great comic effect.

Answer: The Good Life

'The Good Life' ran from 1975 to 1978 and starred Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers as Barbara and Tom Good. Tom had given up his job to become self-sufficient in their suburban home, turning over their garden to growing produce and keeping pigs, chickens and a goat.

The Leadbetters were their next door neighbours, who struggled to understand the alternative lifestyle, although Margo did her best to help, often with hilarious results. Penelope Keith starred in all the other shows with 'To the Manor Born' probably being the best known.

Answer: Hyacinth Bucket

Hyacinth Bucket, which she insisted was pronounced 'Bouquet', lived in fear of her working class roots being exposed. Her attempts at social climbing were doomed to failure as her sisters, Rose and Daisy, regularly embarrassed her and brought her back down to earth. Patricia Routledge played the role to perfection despite (or maybe because) stating that Hyacinth was the type of woman she couldn't bear in real life. Routledge also played the other characters listed.

Hetty Wainthropp was from 'Hetty Wainthropp Investigates', which also featured Dominic Monaghan who went on to portray Merry in the 'Lord of the Rings' films and appear in the television series 'Lost'. Peggy Schofield and Irene Ruddock were characters from Alan Wood's series 'Talking Heads', a series of monologues from the 1980s.