Man about the House Series One

DVD Reissue 2009

British Comedy

Fremantle Media Enterprises

R4 DVD

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

I had forgotten just how good this sitcom was until this rerelease. The show dates back to 1973 when the subject, a young man sharing a flat with two girls, was regarded as rather naughty. In spite of this it turned out to be a winner for Thames TV and even turned up in the U.S. as a rather ordinary remake Three’s Company. In the three years that it ran, it spun off two further TV shows (George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest) and a feature film.

Robin Tripp was a young man who came to London to learn to be a chef, which was an asset as the girls couldn’t cook. Their landlord was George Roper, ageing, grumpy, and constantly trying to avoid the advances of his sex-starved and childless wife Mildred. These characters bounced off each other right through the series.

The show’s success was due to two factors. First, Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke’s scripts were really well written. The characters were diverse and so offered a range of attitudes to explore. The girls were happy, modern girls of their time, but not sexually promiscuous in spite of this period being known as the Swinging Seventies. A certain sexual tension was there but never overpowered the comedy.

The second factor was the good acting. The characters dropped straight into their parts right from the first episode.- likeable girl-next-door Chrissy (Paula Wilcox), dumb but lovable blonde Jo (Sally Thomsett), the somewhat unsure-of-himself Robin ( Richard O’Sullivan), and the Ropers (Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce). None of them were objectionable in any way and the shows just let the plot develop the humour. Other minor characters moved in and out of the episodes throughout the series but generally the major characters carried the show. Many episodes were based around the problems of mixed sexes sharing a flat in accommodation-starved London.

This DVD covers the eight episodes of Series One. For its age it was a well-produced show with the glorious colours and styles of the period showing up well. The transfer to DVD is superb. If you want to revisit those older, happier times, here is nearly three hours of one of the best British comedies.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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