The Generation Gap

The Generation Gap

It's only when you start going through it that you come to recognise the huge amount of material that Sid James did for film and television comedy. The 'Carry On' films and 'Hancock's Half Hour' are the stuff I'm most familiar with, of course, but in recent years we've added things like 'George And The Dragon' and 'Bless This House' to our collection.

But, with so much to get through, we've rarely found the time to mention his name on 'Round The Archives', so when Paul suggested that he'd like to do an article on 'Bless This House', we were very happy to take up his offer.

Running from 1971 to 1976 (the year of Sid's death) the show also gave rise to a film which, as 70s sitcom adaptions go, is pretty good as well.

'The Generation Gap' (written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver) is our introduction to the Abbott family, who apparently gain the second 't' in their name somewhere between the opening and closing credits!

Sid is concerned about their children, Mike and Sally, but for somewhat inconsistent reasons, as his wife Jean drily comments.

Mike is firstly criticised for spending an hour the the bath - which by my standards is simply a quick dip. More of more concern to Sid is that Mike never goes to the pub, doesn't like football and has never had a punch-up. And now that he's 18, surely he should have brought a bird home, by now?

Sid wants to have a chat with Mike and brightens considerably when he hears that his son is intending to go out with a 'Jean' (as Sid hears it) Fletcher. They met whilst throwing stones at the American Embassy, like you do.

Conversely, Sid is worried about Sally wearing a padded bra to attract boys. Sally makes a point or two by shoving some tomato ketchep squeezers up her top, in a scene that clearly has Diana Coupland struggling not to laugh and involves a brillliant reaction from Sid.

Sid's anxiety escalates when a packet of pills belonging to Sally are discovered in the kitchen and 'Jean' turns out to be Gene, a male ballet dancer. Sid's corn flakes go everywhere with the shock.

There's some business where Angela (known as 'Hot Pants') from Sid's office is invited over to make Mike see that there are other life choices he could make, though this doesn't quite pan out the way Sid is hoping for, after Jean has had a word.

In the end, Sally's pills turn out to be simple aspirin for her headache and Mike & Gene plan to take two nurses out. As Paul says in the article, given the time this was written, Sid might be concerned for his kids, but his attitude is by no means awful by modern standards.

It's easy to watch a definitely raises a smile or two. We've only seen the first couple of seasons, but you get a lot for your money with the DVD set (which even include the film!) and the characters and actors are people you enjoy spending time with.

And coming up, you learn that Anthony Jackson from 'Rentaghost' lives next door with Patsy Rowlands from 'Kinvig'. So for listeners of  'Round The Archives' it's a fictional universe with all sorts of possibilities if you use your imagination...

(By Andrew Trowbridge)