Bless This House

Infobox Television
show_name = Bless This House


caption = "Bless This House" DVD cover
genre = Sitcom
camera =
runtime = 30 minutes
creator =
starring = Sidney James
Diana Coupland
Robin Stewart
Sally Geeson
country = United Kingdom
network = ITV
first_aired = 2 February 1971
last_aired = 22 April 1976
num_episodes = 65
imdb_id = 0068285

"Bless This House" is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1971 to 1976. Starring Sid James and Diana Coupland, it was written by Vince Powell, Harry Driver, Carla Lane, Myra Taylor, Dave Freeman and Bernie Sharp. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television. In 2004, "Bless This House" came 67th in "Britain's Best Sitcom".

Production

The show was produced by William G. Stewart of "Fifteen to One" gameshow fame, and featured theme music written by Geoff Love. A comic strip version was also produced, written by Angus Allan and printed in TV comic "Look-in". The first seven episodes were made in black-and-white due to industrial action.

Cast

*Sidney James - Sid Abbott
*Diana Coupland - Jean Abbott
*Robin Stewart - Mike Abbott
*Sally Geeson - Sally Abbott
*Anthony Jackson - Trevor Lewis
*Patsy Rowlands - Betty Lewis

Plot

"Bless This House" centres around life in Birch Avenue, Putney, where travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott [The spelling of their surname varies. For example, the opening credits of early Series One episodes spell it "Abbot" while in the closing credits it is spelt "Abbott".] and his wife Jean live with their teenage children, Mike, who is fresh from art college and more preoccupied with protests than finding a job, and Sally, a trendy schoolgirl. The children are 19 and 16 years old at the start of the series. Sid and Jean constantly battle to comprehend the permissive ways of the new generation and are usually out of touch. Their neighbours and best friends are Trevor and his wife Betty.

Episodes

eries One (1971)

#"The Generation Gap" (2 February 1971)
#"Mum's the Word" (9 February 1971)
#"Father's Day" (16 February 1971)
#"Be It Ever So Humble" (23 February 1971)
#"Another Fine Mess" (2 March 1971)
#"For Whom The Bells Toll" (9 March 1971)
#"A Woman's Place" (16 March 1971)
#"The Day of Rest" (23 March 1971)
#"Make Love, Not War" (30 March 1971)
#"Charity Begins At Home" (6 April 1971)
#"lf The Dog Collar Fits ... Wear It!" (13 April 1971)
#"The Morning After The Night Before" (20 April 1971)

eries Two (1972)

#"Two Heads Are Better Than One" (21 February 1972)
#"Love Me, Love My Tree" (28 February 1972)
#"It's All In The Mind" (6 March 1972)
#"Another Lost Weekend" (13 March 1972)
#"Parents Should Be Seen And Not Heard" (20 March 1972)
#"Strangers In The Night" (27 March 1972)
#"Get Me To The Match On Time" (10 April 1972)
#"Wives and Lovers" (17 April 1972)
#"Never Again On Sunday" (24 April 1972)
#"People In Glass Houses" (1 May 1972)
#"A Rolls By Any Other Name" (8 May 1972)
#"A Touch of the Unknown" (15 May 1972)

eries Three (1973)

#"It Comes To Us All In The End" (22 January 1973)
#"Tea For Two and Four For Tea" (5 February 1973)
#"To Tell or Not To Tell" (12 February 1973)
#"Blood Is Thicker Than Water" (19 February 1973)
#"One Good Turn Deserves A Bother" (26 February 1973)
#"The Loneliness of the Short Distance Walker" (5 March 1973)
#"Watch the Birdie" (12 March 1973)
#"Will The Real Sid Abbott Please Stand Up" (30 April 1973)
#"Atishoo! Atishoo! We All Fall Down" (7 May 1973)
#"Entente Not So Cordiale" (14 May 1973)
#"I'm Not jealous, I'll Kill Him" (21 May 1973)
#"A Girl's Worst Friend Is Her Father" (28 May 1973)

eries Four (1974)

#"Money Is The Root Of ..." (20 February 1974)
#"And They Will Come Home" (27 February 1974)
#"Who's Minding the Baby?" (20 March 1974)
#"A Beef In His Bonnet" (27 March 1974)
#"The Bells Are Ringing" (3 April 1974)
#"The First 25 Years Are The Worst" (10 April 1974)

eries Five (1974)

#"They Don't Write Songs Like That Anymore" (14 October 1974)
#"The Gipsy's Warning" (21 October 1974)
#"The Biggest Woodworm In The World" (28 October 1974)
#"Home Tweet Home" (4 November 1974)
#"You're Never Too Old To Be Young" (11 November 1974)
#"The Policeman, The Paint And The Pirates" (18 November 1974)
#"Happy Birthday Sid" (25 November 1974)
#"Freedom Is" (2 December 1974)
#"Mr. Chairman ..." (9 December 1974)
#"And Afterwards At ..." (16 December 1974)

eries Six (1976)

#"The Frozen Limit" (29 January 1976)
#"Beautiful Dreamer" (5 February 1976)
#"Fish With Everything" (12 February 1976)
#"The Naked Paperhanger" (19 February 1976)
#"Remember Me?" (26 February 1976)
#"Something of Value" (4 March 1976)
#"Men of Consequence" (11 March 1976)
#"Skin Deep" (18 March 1976)
#"Friends And Neighbours" (25 March 1976)
#"Well, Well, Well" (1 April 1976)
#"The Phantom Pools Winner" (8 April 1976)
#"A Matter of Principle" (15 April 1976)
#"Some Enchanted Evening" (22 April 1976)

Finale

"Bless This House" came to an abrupt end in 1976, when, just 4 days after broadcast of the final episode of the sixth series, Sid James collapsed on stage at the Sunderland Empire, on the opening night of "The Mating Season", after failing to respond to a cue, from a heart attack. He later died on the way to the hospital.

Film

A film version of the TV series was made in 1972. While it still starred Sid James and Diana Coupland as the Abbotts, Robin Askwith, who had previously appeared in the TV series, played Mike instead of his usual portrayer Robin Stewart. In addition, it featured "new" neighbours played by Terry Scott and June Whitfield. The part of Trevor was also recast with Peter Butterworth replacing Jackson. All the original actors returned for the series three. Additionally, Mike gets married at the end of the film; this had no impact on the television version.

ee also

*List of films based on British sitcoms

DVD releases

All six series of "Bless This House" are available on DVD from Network (UK, Region 2). The box set of all six series also features the 1972 spin-off film of the same name.In Australia Series 1 & 2 were released in two part sets in 2004 and then suffered delays due to Contract re-negotiations. Series 3 was Released on 16 July 2008, and Series 4 to follow on 05 November 2008 .

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.sitcom.co.uk/bless_house/ "Bless This House" at the British Sitcom Guide]
* [http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/bless/ "Bless This House" at British TV Comedy]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/blessthishouse_7770800.shtml Comedy Guide - "Bless This House"] at bbc.co.uk