David Jason
Tribute celebrating the iconic sitcom featuring classic archive material. We meet the insiders to find out exactly why this sitcom is one of the most successful TV shows ever.
Sir David Jason explores his favourite great British inventions and discovers how and why they were first thought up
In this five-part series, comedy legend Sir David Jason hits the West Coast of the USA. He’s on a revealing and entertaining journey of a lifetime by planes, trains and automobiles, discovering the machines that made America and changed the world.
In this documentary, Michael Palin tells the story behind his success, after being honoured with a special award at the Baftas in 2013. With an outstanding career in television and film, this special delves into the archives to showcase some of Michael's incredible work, featuring an in-depth interview with the man himself.
Actor and British national treasure Sir David Jason travels around the UK and beyond to reveal the secret places and people who act as guardians and gatekeepers of the incredible but true story of Britain’s spy history.
In this definitive six-part UKTV Original, Gold explores every aspect of Britain's most loved sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. With exclusive access to the key cast members, including Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, the series gives rare insights into the show and what went on both on and off camera. The Story Of Only Fools And Horses reunites cast members, rebuilds some of the sets and features rare and previously unseen material.
A retelling of England's only World Cup victory, fifty years later, placing special emphasis on the work of manager Sir Alf Ramsey.
Documentary celebrating the British sitcom and taking a look at the social and political context from which our favourite sitcoms grew. We enjoy a trip through the comedy archive in the company of the people who made some of the very best British sitcoms. From The Likely Lads to I'm Alan Partridge, we find out the inspiration behind some of the most-loved characters and how they reflect the times they were living in.
Still Open All Hours is a sitcom set in a grocer's shop. It is a sequel to the series Open All Hours, written by original series writer Roy Clarke and featuring several of the permanent cast members of the original series
The Royal Bodyguard is a British television sitcom, written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni, and starring David Jason, Geoffrey Whitehead, Tim Downie and Timothy Bentinck. A series of six episodes began on 26 December 2011, concluding on 30 January 2012. The first episode picked up more than 8 million viewers but the series declined in ratings throughout, with the fifth episode barely achieving 2 million viewers. The series was heavily criticised by viewers and critics. At 71 Jason was widely felt to be too old for the lead role. The show was cancelled by the BBC and will not return for further episodes.
David Jason stars as cockney ex-docker Don Mitchell in this emotional drama. Don is incredibly proud of his son David’s affluent lifestyle. The cars, the detached house and private schooling for the children were things Don could only dream about as a young man. His wife Dora, on the other hand, has doubts about her son’s financial affairs. When David’s life starts to unravel under a mountain of debt, family bonds are tested to the limit.
One-off comedy drama that follows the story of three World War II veterans: Harry, Frank and Albert. It is October 2000 and, at the age of 76, Albert's dying wish is to be buried on the little hill outside Hinderburg in Germany where he watched the Russians take position in the closing stages of the Battle for Berlin. The notion of Harry and Frank transporting Albert's body after his death is a crazy one, but life is short, friendship precious and, after all, the trio have known each other for more than half a century.
As Rincewind involuntarily becomes a guide to the naive tourist Twoflower, they find themselves forced to flee the city of Ankh-Morpork to escape a terrible fire, and begin on a journey across the Disc. Unknown to them, their journey and fate is being decided by the Gods playing a board game the whole time.
Using his knowledge of today’s animal kingdom and the latest research, wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven uses a time portal to take him into the past, on a quest to rescue long lost prehistoric creatures.
Jack Hardy is the sole survivor of a mysterious submarine disaster in World War II. Now, in 1981, the ill-fated submarine Scorpion has resurfaced, miraculously intact. Naval Intelligence need Hardy's expertise to retrace the course and mission that led to her original disappearance. But what's waiting for them under the grey waters of the Baltic Sea turns out to be much worse than the Russian submarines they're expecting. Wherever Scorpion has been all this time, it's brought some very bad luck back with it...
Sketches and clips from his greatest television comedy performances
Three old friends reminisce about their old haunts. Hearing that a coffee bar they frequented in their youth is reopening with a rock 'n' roll theme, Dave, Charlie and Ronno decide to pay a visit. Third film in The Quest Trilogy.
Three old friends are reunited after one was involved in an accident. They reminisce about their motorbike trip to the Isle of Man to ride the TT course. Second movie in The Quest Trilogy.
When Marlene vanishes and Boycie is secretive about her disappearance, people assume he has killed her, but she only went to have a boob job. The Trotters need money to stave off being evicted but are saved when it transpires that Uncle Albert invested his savings wisely and leaves them almost a quarter of a million pounds. Del tells Rodney that his real father was not Reg Trotter but a flash local crook called Freddie 'the Frog' Robdal. Cassandra goes into labour, this time successfully and her baby girl is named Joan after Del and Rodney's mother and with whose spirit the brothers go to commune.
Going to France to scatter the late Uncle Albert's ashes near the village where he spent part of the war, Del decides to kill two birds with one stone and organize a booze cruise. At the village they learn that Albert was a real ladies' man, which could be why most of the menfolk resemble him. Back in Peckham they discover a young man who seems to have stowed away in their van and can only answer "Gary" to everything asked of him. In fact he is called Rashid and he was loading the van when he got trapped behind the booze. He was carried to England against his wishes and Del and company get charged with kidnapping him.
Three elderly men, Dave, Ronno and Charlie, meet at Charlie's retirement party and reminisce about their teenage "quest" in the 1950s to get laid. This had involved travelling on their motorbikes up to the Lake District "where all the girls shag like rabbits" - but things hadn't turned out quite as they had planned. First movie in The Quest Trilogy.
How did John Sullivan first dream up Del Boy and Rodney Trotter ? Actors David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst team up with the writer to reveal how the enduring sitcom was created. Featuring celebrity fans, the stories behind the storylines and memorable scenes from the comedy.
Due to bad investment and the Central American stock market crash the Trotters lose all their money. Whilst Rodney and Cassandra spice up their love life by dressing up, Del decides to restore the family wealth by going on the quiz show 'Gold Rush', hosted by Jonathan Ross. He does very well but has to phone Rodney for the answer to the jackpot question, and Rodney gives the wrong answer. Back home Del gets a call from the show to say that Rodney's answer was actually correct so that Del has won the prize money after all. Unfortunately Del thinks it's pub regular Mickey playing a trick on him and tells Ross to give the "winnings" to charity...
Feature-length drama about the mystery of Sandringham Company, which disappeared in action at Gallipoli in 1915. Commanded by Captain Frank Beck, their estate manager, the men advanced into battle, were enveloped in a strange mist and never seen again.
Retired MI6 agent Steven March is called back into action by his former employers. His task is to assassinate Chicago politician Dan Paterson, an ambitious and ruthless Russian who March has encountered before. March's task is made more difficult when Paterson's daughter is kidnapped, apparently by Chinese gangsters.
On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas is all set to deliver his huge consignment of presents to the children of the world when he makes a terrible discovery - his reindeer are missing!
Raquel is nervous when she prepares to introduce her parents to Del Boy, following a long rift with them. As usual, Del is determined to make sure they have a meeting to remember. Meanwhile, Rodney appears to be struggling to come to terms following Cassandra's miscarriage. In the midst of all this, Del and Rodney may have finally struck gold when they unexpectedly find themselves in possession of a valuable watch that has been lost for centuries...
After reading a book entitled 'Modern Men', Del elects to have a vasectomy but backs out when he finds that the doctor concerned is still angry about the faulty paint he sold him. With Cassandra pregnant Rodney is seeking a better-paid job and answers a newspaper advertisement, only to discover that it is as Del's assistant. Cassandra is rushed to hospital but she miscarries and, whilst comforting Rodney, Del bursts into tears.
Del has applied for a council grant but been turned down. After giving Rodney a bracelet for his birthday inscribed 'Rooney', Del drives Rodney to a fancy dress party where they are dressed as Batman and Robin. However the Reliant Robin breaks down and, as the brothers are running through the fog in costume, they scare off a gang of muggers about to rob a female councilor. At the party they are the only guests in costume because the birthday boy has actually died and the party is now a wake. But there is good news next day when Del catches one of the muggers as he is about to rob an old lady and knocks him unconscious. He gets a medal AND his council grant as a reward for helping the female councilor. Good news for Rodney too as Cassandra announces that she is pregnant.
Animated retelling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fable, directed by Martin Gates and featuring the voices of Helen Mirren, David Jason and Rik Mayall. Far away, in her vast ice palace, the Snow Queen plots to rule the world by deflecting all the sun's warmth away from Earth so that it freezes over. But her mirror breaks, and on her mission to find all the missing pieces, she kidnaps Tom, who has part of the mirror in his body. Can his sister Ellie save Tom, and stop the evil Queen from acheiving global dominance?
Albert the Fifth Musketeer is a French animated series based on the story of the Three Musketeers. It is a France Animation and Cinar, Franco-Canadian co-production, for Ravensburger and Children's BBC in association with France 3 and Canal+.
Based on a true story. In 1940, Britain's gold reserves were transferred for safety to Liverpool because of the threat of a German invasion. The top-secret operation was known only to a handful of security men and senior bank officials... and a group of Liverpool dockers who handle the move. Billy Mac, the dockers' leader, hatches an ingenious plan to steal some of the gold bars from under the noses of the guards.
After a visit to the dentist Del unwisely makes a date with the comely receptionist Beverley, but, on Rodney's advice, cancels it. After Del has got drunk and been responsible for causing a riot, he finds Beverley at his flat and fears that she has come for revenge, though she has only come to buy Damien's old high chair. In exchange she gives Del an answer-phone,and, come Christmas Day, he will live to regret this.
Strapped for cash as ever, Del is clearing Grandad's allotment, which has become a health hazard and where he finds some bottles of yellow liquid, which he dumps. He also finds a tap, hidden by rocks, but claims that there is an actual spring, yielding 'Peckham Spring Water'. Using a bottle of mineral water for the lab test he gets the water accepted and sold to a supermarket chain. Unfortunately he is unaware that it has been contaminated by the same yellow liquid he chucked in the reservoir and, as he turns out the light, the water starts to glow green.
A Touch of Frost is a detective drama series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R.D. Wingfield. Writing credit for the three episodes in the first 1992 series went to Richard Harris, with screenplays credited to Wingfield. It stars David Jason as Detective Inspector William Edward "Jack" Frost, an experienced and dedicated detective who frequently clashes with his superiors. In his cases, Frost is assisted by a variety of different detective sergeants, with each bringing a different slant to the particular case. Comic relief is provided by Frost's interactions with the bureaucratically minded Superintendent Norman Mullett, played by Bruce Alexander. A number of young actors had their major debut as supporting cast in the show, including Matt Bardock, Ben Daniels, Neil Stuke, Nathaniel Parker, Mark Letheren, Colin Buchanan, Jason Maza, Damian Lewis and Marc Warren.
An idyllic picture of 1950's rural England as seen through the lives of the Larkins, a farm family living in Kent. The show revolves around Pa Larkin, a man of a kind and mischievous nature with a penchant for getting into scrapes and talking his way out of them with equal equanimity; and his daughters, as they deal with growing up and discovering the joys and sorrows of young love.
Victor and Hugo, Bunglers in Crime is an animated series made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and screened on CITV from 6 September 1991 to 29 December 1992 and is a spin off from Count Duckula. The series centres on the exploits of two bumbling French criminals - the eponymous brothers of the title. Despite referencing the French author Victor Hugo in their names, neither brother was particularly intelligent. The plot of each episode dealt with Victor and Hugo and their English-based business "Naughtiness International" being hired by crime figures to steal something. Victor would come up with a "meticulous plan" to achieve this goal, which was routinely botched by Hugo. The episodes would traditionally end with the brothers imprisoned.
Amongst Barbarians is set far away from Margaret Thatcher's Britain in Penang, Malaysia, a former British colony, where two young Englishmen have been arrested for drug trafficking. As they both face the death penalty, their relatives travel to Penang to come to their rescue. However, they soon find out that there is nothing they can do to save the boys' lives. In the course of their futile attempts at influencing the authorities, their racism becomes more than apparent. The question which is never made explicit is of course who the real barbarians are. Wall's play is based on a true story and featured David Jason's first straight acting role on TV.
When Rodney and Cassandra have another major falling out, Rodney plans to make Cassandra jealous by going on a date with someone else. Upon hearing this, Del Boy is determined to stop Rodney making a huge mistake before Cassandra finds out.
The Nag's Head regulars head to the seaside town of Margate for an eventful day trip.
Sophie is snatched from her orphanage early one morning by the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), whom she witnesses engaged in mysterious activities. She is soon put at ease, as she learns that BFG's job is to collect, catalog and deliver pleasant dreams to children. She joins him that night, but a mean giants follow them, planning to eat the children of the world.
A Bit of a Do is a British comedy drama series based on the books by David Nobbs. The show starred David Jason and was aired on ITV in 1989. It was made for the ITV network by Yorkshire Television. The show was set in a fictional Yorkshire town. Each episode took place at a different social function and followed the changing lives of two families, the working-class Simcocks and the middle-class Rodenhursts, together with their respective friends, Rodney and Betty Sillitoe, and Neville Badger. The series begins with the wedding of Ted and Rita Simcock's son Paul to Laurence and Liz Rodenhurst's daughter Jenny; an event at which Ted and Liz begin an affair. The subsequent fallout from this affair forms the basis for most of the first series.
Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire duck, coming into the world as an accident. Unlike his family and ancestors, he has no bloodlust, as when he was reincarnated, blood was omitted and replaced with ketchup.
Uncle Albert's birthday looms on the horizon, and Del Boy books The Nag's Head for private drinks and a party. Trigger surprises everyone by inviting a date he met through an agency. This arouses Del's curiosity and soon he too has a date from the match-making company. Rodney takes the initiative by going for the 'James Dean' look, though this ends in disaster due to an encounter with some punks. Things look rosy for Del though. His date with Raquel Turner (unemployed actress) goes swimmingly... until it turns out she is works as a strippergram twice a week. Despite a small run in with the police, love conquers all in the end.
Trotters Independent Trading is causing mayhem with their faulty RAJAH computers. Rodders gets a new job at a funeral directors, while Albert and Del hit the health market with their miracle cure body massagers. At the wedding of Trigger's niece, the Trotters hear the tale of Freddy the Frog, a bank robber and close friend of the boys' mother. He left everything in his will to their mum, including missing gold bullion. While Del hunts for treasure, Rodney puzzles over Freddy and his mother's 'friendship' - and a son who would by now be his own age.
In late-'80s Britain, Porterhouse College Cambridge is an anachronism, its students uniformly male and (in the vast number of cases) privately educated. When the incumbent Master dies (from a stroke brought on by overeating) the government revenges itself on Porterhouse by appointing as his successor an old graduate, the politician Sir Godber Evans. One of the tiny minority of state-school students the college has had forced on it over the years, Evans returns to his alma mater determined to drag this bastion of privilege into the twentieth century. The elderly academic staff cease their bickering and close ranks against him, but the new Master finds his most implacable and unscrupulous opponent in Skullion, the college porter.
Rodney meets Vicky, a seemingly impoverished artist who it transpires is the daughter of the Duke of Maylebury. Having obtained a pair of tickets to the sold-out production of Carmen, Rodders seems to have deeply impressed Vicky. She is less taken by the presence of Del and his peroxide blonde dolly bird. Especially when they open the crisps. Vicky then invites Rodney to a party at the Duke's country home, and it seems romance may be on the cards. Then Del Boy turns up, hits the vino-plonko and ruins everything for his little brother.
Boycie and Abdul pitch a diamond scam to Del Boy, who immediately turns them down. That is until they offer him a £15,000 cut of the estimated £150,000 sale of the stone on the UK market. Del finds himself designated as the courier between Holland and Britain. No sooner has Del enlisted a reluctant Rodders, he hears his old foil Chief Inspector Slater is eyeing Boycie and Abdul as drug dealers. Del decides to hide undetected in the back of Denzil's van. Denzil then getting in and driving them to Hull (pursued by Rodney) was not part of the plan. Thinking quickly, they hire a boat, and let Uncle Albert guide them to Amsterdam. Overcoming counterfeit cash, Albert's amnesia, it's only the arrival of Slater that scuppers them. Despite this, it's Del who has the last laugh.
The Wind in the Willows is a TV series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1987, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows and following the 1983 film The Wind in the Willows. It was made by animation company Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and shown on the ITV network. An hour-long feature, A Tale Of Two Toads, was broadcast in 1988, and a fifth season of 13 episodes was shown in 1989 under the title Oh! Mr Toad in some countries, whilst retaining the title The Wind in the Willows in others.
One spring, Mole decides that he can ignore the spring cleaning for a little longer, and begins a series of adventures with his new friend Rat. They go for a picnic on the riverbank, on a caravan expedition with Toad, until Toad switches allegiance to his new car and his reckless driving makes Mole and Rat search out Badger for help in curbing Toad's profligate habits. But Toad gets away from them and gets a 20-year sentence from the magistrate for theft, reckless driving, and Gross Impertinence. While Toad works his wiles on the jailer's daughter and escapes jail dressed as a washer woman, Badger tries to guard Toad Hall from the machinations of the Weasels and is badly beaten. And it requires a plan of attack and all four comrades to regain Toad Hall.
Reg Trotter, absentee father to Del and Rodney, unexpectedly arrives to celebrate Christmas with his boys. Reg explains that he has been living in Newcastle, and after a visit from the infirmary, was diagnosed with hereditary blood disorder. Scared for their well-being, he decided to tell his two sons. However, several tests later, Reg is given the all clear but it seems Del Boy and Rodders have different blood types. It would seem the wayward father has some explaining to do. Reg explains that he frequently argued with their mother before they split. She had several dalliances with other men, and Del is the mystery child. Fortunately a visit to the family quack gives him news to put the smile back on his face.
Derek Trotter has the Yuletide Blues, and drinks away his loneliness in Spanish night at The Nag's Head. There he meets Heather, who seems to be one friend short of company. Del Boy, ever the gentleman, entertains her and sees her home safely. At her flat he discovers that she has a young son, to a husband who seems to have joined a very long queue at the Job Centre 18 months ago and not come back. In no time at all their romance blossoms, and all is running so smoothly Del decides to propose. However, when he takes her for a candle-lit curry, she refuses his offer of marriage. Her husband has returned, employed as a department store Santa, and she wants to give it another go... leaving Del Boy without an angel for Christmas.
Rodney has ran out of yuletide cheer, as the annual routing of the Trotter festivities are wearing thin. Burnt turkey, charred Christmas pudding, the same old things on television, and nothing but a book lent to him by Mickey Pierce: 'Body Language: The Lost Art.' When Grandad puts on his glad rags and heads to the OAPs' party at the community centre, the Trotter boys head to The Monte Carlo Club. Rodney puts his new-found knowledge of the unspoken language of love to use, but Del Boy has other ideas. As the brothers argue over who's technique is best, the objects of their affections are whisked away from under their noses.
The misadventures of two wheeler dealer brothers Del Boy and Rodney Trotter of “Trotters Independent Traders PLC” who scrape their living by selling dodgy goods believing that next year they will be millionaires.
Danger Mouse, the world's greatest secret agent, and his side-kick Penfold work to foil the evil schemes of Baron Greenback.
Arthur Harris is a happily married man who returns from his job to discover that his wife, Fiona, is leaving him. Devastated he gets really drunk and tries to commit suicide. After a few setbacks and while he is trying to electrocute himself with a lamp, the door bell rings. An odd man in a leather coat asks if there are any odd jobs that he can perform. Arthur hires the man to kill him. The next day his wife returns, but the man he hired is still trying to kill him...
This children's fantasy tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who discovers a complex underwater world where young children are held prisoner by an evil shark and an eel.
British sitcom in which happy-go-lucky character Peter Barnes comically and haphazardly tries to deal with the daily frustrations his life throws at him.
Lucky Feller is a 1976 ITV sitcom written by Terence Frisby and produced by Humphrey Barclay. It featured David Jason and ran for just one series of 13 episodes. It is reported that London Weekend Television later tried to revive it in the 1990s but Jason did not agree to this as he felt at the time he was being over-exposed. About two brothers in South-East London, the basic set-up can be seen as a dry run for Only Fools and Horses, except with David Jason playing the nerdy "Rodders" part, Shorty Mepstead. The other brother, Randolph Mepstead, was played by Peter Armitage. In the sitcom, Jason was in love with a girl, who was sexually infatuated with - and indeed pregnant by - Randolph Mepstead. Despite her feelings for Randolph, she was engaged to Shorty and had to bed him before the end of the series to make sure that he would think he was the father. But despite her best attempts, and Jason's feelings for her, the consummation never quite happened. Guest stars included such names as Pat Heywood, Prunella Scales and Mike Grady as well as international stars such as Bert Kwouk and Saeed Jaffrey. The show was directed by both Gerry Mill and Mike Vardy and was mainly filmed in and around South London. The show was offered a second series, however writer Terence Frisby didn't feel he had enough ideas for the series to continue and therefore the show was axed after the final episode.
Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker as a miserly shop keeper and David Jason as his put-upon nephew who works as his errand boy. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which premiered in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985 respectively. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Barker's comedy anthology series, Seven of One. Open All Hours ranked eighth in the 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll.
Cowardly rogue Harry Flashman's (Malcolm McDowell) schemes to gain entry to the royal circles of 19th-century Europe go nowhere until he meets a pair of devious nobles with their own agenda. At their urging, Flashman agrees to re-create himself as a bogus Prussian nobleman to woo a beautiful duchess. But the half-baked plan quickly comes unraveled, and he's soon on the run from several new enemies who are all calling for the rapscallion's head.
The Top Secret Life Of Edgar Briggs was a 30-minute British television comedy series created by Bernard McKenna & Richard Laing and produced by Humphrey Barclay for LWT. It was transmitted on the ITV network 15 September - 20 December 1974 and featured David Jason as the inept Edgar Briggs, personal assistant to the Commander of the British Secret Intelligence Service who, in spite of his cluelessness, manages to solve case after case. It has been likened to the earlier American series Get Smart.
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.
David Jason's most famous film appearance of the 1970's was opposite Graham Chapman in 'The Odd Job' but five years earlier he played the lead role in this very low budget comedy. His character is a daydreamer but he manages to get caught up in an adventure involving the hugely underated Imogen Hassall. There is even an appearance from a pre Darth Vader Dave Prowse although his character closer resembles the one he played in 'Callan'.
The delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llareggub" in which we meet a host of curious characters (and ghosts) through the 'eyes' of Blind Captain Cat.
His Lordship Entertains was Ronnie Barker's second sitcom vehicle for his Lord Rustless character, first seen three years earlier in Hark at Barker on ITV. This time though, Rustless had switched channels and was now appearing on BBC2. Hark at Barker had also included sketch inserts, whereas His Lordship Entertains was a regular sitcom. Set again in the aristocratic Chrome Hall, which had now become a hotel. It again also starred David Jason as the 100 year old Dithers and Josephine Tewson as Mildred Bates. Two actors who would go on to have a long working relationship with Barker. In fact all of the regular cast reprised their roles from Hark at Barker. Barker wrote all the scripts under the pseudonym Jonathan Cobbald. He liked to refer to the show as "Fawlty Towers mark one" as it appeared on television three years before that other hotel bound sitcom. Four episodes of the sitcom were recently performed on stage by Nottingham University's New Theatre.
Hark at Barker was a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by LWT. Each show began with a spoof news item read by Barker as a continuity announcer. He would then introduce the main part of the programme, a lecture to be given by Lord Rustless on a different topic each week from his stately home, Chrome Hall. Helped and hindered by Rustless' secretary Bates, his Butler Badger, his bad-tempered Cook, his incoherent gardener Dithers and his buxom, near-mute maid Effie, these lectures invariably degenerated into farce, and were frequently interrupted by comic sketches on film or videotape which also starred Barker in various roles. Barker reprised the role of Lord Rustless in the BBC series His Lordship Entertains, and played very similar characters in Futtock's End and the Two Ronnies specials The Picnic and By the Sea.
Do not adjust your set! is a television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The show took its name from the message which was displayed when there was a problem with transmission. It included early appearances of many actors and comedians who later became famous, such as Denise Coffey and David Jason. Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin later became members of the hugely successful Monty Python comedy troupe. Although, originally conceived as a children's programme, it quickly acquired a cult crossover following amongst many adults, including future Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performed a song in each programme and Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band also appeared. The musicians frequently appeared as extras in sketches. The programme comprised a series of sketches, often bizarre and surreal, frequently satirical with a disjointed style which was to become more famous in the more daring Monty Python's Flying Circus, which followed five months later. At least one DNAYS sketch was re-used in Monty Python. Strange animations between sketches were crafted in the final episodes by the then-unknown Terry Gilliam, who also graduated to Python – part of his "Christmas cards" animation reappeared there in the "Joy to the World" segment.
Actor David Jason examines wartime escapes that inspired films and TV dramas. He begins his journey in Germany at Colditz Castle, where William Neave tells how his father Airey fled dressed as a German soldier. He then heads to Poland to visit the setting for The Great Escape, where former Stalag Luft III internee Ken Rees describes how he helped dig the tunnel immortalised on the big screen. David also meets a Frenchwoman who sheltered an escaped Briton - and learns how a love story developed.
Angelmouse is a children's television programme which was produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was aired on CBeebies. It was also aired on CITV in 2012. It has also been broadcast on ABC Kids. It started from 27 September 1999 and ended on 20 March 2000. There are also Angelmouse books and plush toys. It was narrated by David Jason who also voiced Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, Toad in The Wind in the Willows, Hugo in Victor and Hugo, The BFG and Father Christmas in Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer.
