UK Sitcoms from the '70s Golden Age Vol. 1 Quiz

Answer: West Ham Utd.

Alf Garnett, played by Warren Mitchell, supported London football (soccer) team West Ham Utd. His son-in-law Michael who he called "Shirley Temple" or "Scouse Git", being from Liverpool, supported Liverpool which was a bone of contention between them. "Till Death Us Do Part" was created and written by Johnny Speight. It ran for 57 episodes (some shorter than others) from 1965 to 1975.

The comedy was set in the east end of London and was based on the happenings in the Garnett household. The family were Alf Garnett (Warren Mitchell), his wife Else who Alf always called a silly moo (Dandy Nichols), their daughter Rita (Una Stubbs) and her husband Mike (Anthony Booth). Booth from Liverpool is the father of Theresa Cara Booth who is better known as Cherie Blair, the wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. He is related to the family of the assassin of Abraham Lincoln John Wilkes Booth.

Mary Whitehouse, the self appointed guardian of the nation's morales and her organization the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA), were always complaining about "Till Death Us Do Part" and the BBC in general. They won a libel case against the series writer Johnny Speight after he gave an interview in which he implied that the NVALA and its head were fascists.

Answer: Vienna

Skinflint landlord Rupert Rigsby's black and white tom cat was named Vienna. The comedy was set in a boarding house somewhere in Yorkshire and Rigsby was the seedy, interfering, nosey and furtive boarding house owner. The series which ran for 28 episodes from 1974 to 1978 was developed for TV by Eric Chappell from his own 1971 stage play "The Banana Box".

Although there were various characters lodging at the house throughout the series, the main characters were Miss Jones (Frances de la Tour), Alan (Richard Beckinsale) and Philip (Don Warrington). Rigsby was regularly thwarted in his amorous pursuit of Miss Jones (Ruth). Most of his schemes against his lodgers or authority figures failed miserably with the tables usually being turned on him instead.

A spin off movie was released in 1980, reusing several story lines from the TV series. As a replacement for the now deceased Richard Beckinsale actor Christopher Strauli was added to the cast as a new character, an art student named John. Among the changes from the TV series was the setting of the movie which had now moved to a district of London. The TV series was set in Yorkshire.

Answer: Bob and Terry

The two main characters in "The Likely Lads" and "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" were Bob (Bob Ferris), played by Rodney Bewes, and Terry (Terry Collier), played by James Bolam. "The Likely Lads" ran for 20 episodes from 1964 to 1966. "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" ran for 27 episodes from 1973 to 1974. Both shows were created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

"The Likely Lads" was about the lives of two working class friends in Newcastle upon Tyne who first met at school and had been friends ever since. "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" was a sequel also set in Newcastle upon Tyne but the circumstances had changed. Terry had returned home after serving in the army and moved in with his married sister Audrey (Sheila Fearn). Bob had got married to Thelma Chambers (Brigit Forsyth) and had moved up the social ladder but Terry did his best to drag him back down again.

In real life, the two actors Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out with each other around 1976 and have never spoken to each other since. Bolam, a very private person was annoyed that Bewes had leaked to the press that Bolam's wife, actress Susan Jameson, was pregnant. While Bolam's career went from strength to strength, Bewes's didn't. It did not help matters that for years Bolam refused to allow repeats of "The Likely Lads" and "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" to be broadcast, so denying the cast members repeat fees.

Answer: The Lovers

"The Lovers" starred Richard Beckinsale as Geoffrey Scrimgeor and Paula Wilcox as Beryl Battersby. "Geoffrey bubbles bonbon" was Beryl's pet name for Geoffrey and "Percy filth" was a euphemism that Beryl used for anything to do with sex.

The show was about Geoffrey and Beryl's relationship while growing up in Manchester in the '70s. It was all very innocent after the sexual revolution of the previous decade, the '60s. It was created by Jack Rosenthal and written by Jack Rosenthal and Geoffrey Lancashire. The show ran for 13 episodes from 1970 to 1971.

Richard Beckinsale, husband of actress Judy Lo and father of actresses Samantha and Kate Beckinsale, went on to star in "Rising Damp" (1974-1978) and "Porridge" (1974-1977). He was about to complete the last episode of the sitcom "Bloomers" in 1979 but did not turn up at the studio. He was found at his home the same day, having from a heart attack at age 31. He had been feeling unwell for some time and had even had a medical check up but the doctor found nothing wrong.

Answer: London

"Love Thy Neighbour" was set in the London borough of Twickenham. It starred Jack Smethurst as Eddie Booth, Kate Williams as Joan Booth, Rudolph Walker as Bill Reynolds and Nina Baden-Semper as Barbie Reynolds.

It was created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver and ran for 56 episodes from 1972 to 1976. In 1979 a strange sequel was made with only Jack Smethurst from the original show in the cast. It was set in Australia and ran for 7 episodes.

The basis of the show was how a white working class couple dealt with a black couple moving in next door to them. The so-called comedy was mainly the bickering and racist taunts between the two men while the two women became friends. The white male character (Eddie) appeared to be stupid and bigoted while the black male character (Bill) appeared to be more educated and tolerant.

Answer: Last of the Summer Wine

"Last of the Summer Wine" was created and written by Roy Clarke and ran for 295 episodes over 37 years between 1973 and 2010. When the series ended it had become the longest running comedy programme in Britain and the longest running sitcom in the world. During the show's run many stalwarts of the British acting profession appeared on the show. The basis of the show revolved around three retired men in their second childhood getting up to endless silly things and the people that they involved in their schemes.

One of the three main characters was played by Peter Sallis (the voice of Wallace of "Wallace & Gromit" fame). He portrayed the intellectual and meek Norman Clegg. Bill Owen portrayed another character until his death in 1999, the scruffy idiot up for anything mad and dangerous, Compo Simmonite. The third man in the triumvirate involved four different actors as four separate characters: Michael Bates as the militarist and snobbish Cyril Blamire, Brian Wilde as the militarist and pompous Walter "Foggy" Dewhirst, Michael Aldridge as the ex-headmaster and eccentric failed inventor Seymour Uttherthwait, and finally Frank Thornton as the authoritarian and legend in his own lunch time former police officer Herbert "Truly of The Yard" Truelove.

Some of the other actors and actresses that appeared in the show were Brian Murphy, Burt Kwouk, John Comer, Jane Freeman, Joe Gladwin, Kathy Staff, Dame Thora Hird, Jean Alexander, Stephen Lewis, Dora Bryan, Josephine Tewson, June Whitfield, Trevor Bannister, Sir Norman Wisdom, John Cleese, Ron Moody, Eric Sykes, Liz Fraser, Gordon Wharmby, Mike Grady, Sarah Thomas, Robert Fyfe, Juliette Kaplan, Jean Fergusson, Danny O'Dea, Christopher Beeny, Ken Kitson, Tony Capstick, Louis Emerick, Russ Abbot, Barbara Young, Jonathan Linsley, Jack Smethurst, Norman Rossington, Julie T. Wallace and Tom Owen.

Answer: Stan Butler

Stan Butler (played by Reg Varney) had a sister named Olive (played by Anna Karen), a work colleague named Jack (played by Bob Grant) and a boss name Cyril "Blakey" Blake (played by Stephen Lewis). "On The Buses" was created and written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. Bob Grant and Stephen Lewis also wrote for the series in the later years. It ran for 74 episodes from 1969 to 1973.

The series revolved around bus driver Stan Butler, his bus conductor best friend Jack Harper and their battle of wits with their superior, bus inspector "Blakey". At home he lived with his mother and his bickering relatives, sister Olive and her husband Arthur.

There were three spin off movies, "On the Buses" (1971), "Mutiny on the Buses" (1972) and "Holiday on the Buses" (1973). The first movie, "On the Buses", was the top box office movie of 1971 in the UK.

Answer: Five years

These were the judge's words spoken by Ronnie Barker over the credits at the start of each episode: "Norman Stanley Fletcher, you have pleaded guilty to the charges brought by this court, and it is now my duty to pass sentence. You are an habitual criminal, who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard, and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner. We therefore feel constrained to commit you to the maximum term allowed for these offences, you will go to prison for five years". "Porridge" was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and ran for 21 episodes from 1974 to 1977.

Fletcher and his prison cronies were forever trying to put one over on the prison authorities at the fictional Slade prison. The prisoners were Fletcher (Ronnie Barker), Godber (Richard Beckinsale), Bunny Warren (Sam Kelly), McLaren (Tony Osoba), Lukewarm (Christopher Biggins), "Horrible" Ives (Ken Jones), Harris (Ronald Lacey) and tobacco baron "Genial" Harry Grout (Peter Vaughan). The prison officers were Principal Prison Officer Mr. MacKay (Fulton MacKay) and Prison Officer Mr. Barrowclough (Brian Wilde). Others actors that appeared as irregular characters were David Jason as Blanco Webb, Brian Glover as Cyril Heslop and Alun Armstrong as Spraggon.

Ronnie Barker had suggested Paul Henry (Benny, in "Crossroads") for the part of his cell mate Lennie Godber but the decision was taken by the production team to cast Richard Beckinsale instead. It just goes to show that even Ronnie Barker could get it wrong sometimes.

Answer: Man About The House

"George And Mildred" was a spin off from "Man About The House" which was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. "Man About The House" starred Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, Paula Wilcox as Chrissy Plummer, Sally Thomsett as Jo, Brian Murphy as George Roper and Yootha Joyce as Mildred Roper. The scenario was that Chrissy Jo and Robin rented rooms in the house of bumbling accident prone George Roper who was also henpecked by his frustrated wife Mildred. The series ran for 39 episodes from 1973 to 1976.

"George And Mildred" starred Brian Murphy as George Roper, Yootha Joyce as Mildred Roper, Norman Eshley as Jeffrey Fourmile, Sheila Fearn as Ann Fourmile and Nicholas Bond-Owen as Tristram Fourmile. In this spin off George and Mildred moved to a more affluent area after a compulsory purchase order on their previous home by the local council. Mildred and Ann became friends but lazy and unemployed George was at loggerheads with the snobbish estate agent Jeffrey especially as George got on so well with his young son Tristram. It ran for 38 episodes from 1976 to 1979.

Answer: Sunshine Desserts

Sunshine Desserts was the name of the company in the comedy "The Rise And Fall Of Reginald Perrin", which was created and written by David Nobbs. The series ran for 21 episodes from 1976 to 1979.

The main characters were Leonard Rossiter as Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, Pauline Yates as Elizabeth Perrin, Sue Nicholls as Perrin's secretary Joan Greengross, John Barron as Perrin's boss CJ, Geoffrey Palmer as Elizabeth's brother Jimmy Anderson, John Horsley as Doc Morrissey, company doctor, Trevor Adams as Tony "Great" Webster and Bruce Bould as David "Super" Harris-Jones.

Reginald Perrin worked in the marketing department of Sunshine Desserts but was slowly going mad with the pointlessness of it all and was prone to fantasizing about his life and the people around him.