0:00:22 > 0:00:23PHONE RINGS
0:00:23 > 0:00:27The Bouque-e-et residence! The lady of the house speaking.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Everybody knows a Hyacinth.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33The mother-in-law, the next door neighbour, the aunt up the road.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Everybody's got one. I think that's what made it such a success.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42In 1990, the BBC unleashed on a defenceless public a monster
0:00:42 > 0:00:46wearing a floral dress and an occasional matching hat.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I don't think Hyacinth had any self-awareness.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51People like that don't.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54They don't know what they're doing to the world.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59With writer Roy Clarke and producer/director Harold Snoad, Patricia Routledge
0:00:59 > 0:01:04made the name Hyacinth Bucket a shorthand for the worst excesses of snobbery and social climbing.
0:01:04 > 0:01:11In her assault on decorum, she was backed up by a few of acting's big guns and Keeping Up Appearances
0:01:11 > 0:01:16became a national pastime, running for 45 episodes over five years.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17You know me, Richard.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I haven't a snobbish bone in my body.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27The idea of rising up from your origins is built into all of us.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29We all want to aspire.
0:01:29 > 0:01:35What's so wonderful is that, with the other two sisters, you see exactly where she's come from.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40No, Rose, not to one of your gentlemen friends on my white slimline telephone.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The public liked seeing her standing there,
0:01:43 > 0:01:48thinking everyone's beneath her. They were just waiting for it to go wrong.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49And it always did.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51What is it, Richard?
0:01:51 > 0:01:55- There's someone at the door. - Well, show them in.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58It's your sister, Rose.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03If you have to live with it, it must be murder.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08Keeping Up Appearances was the third big hit from Roy Clarke, who had spent years telling tales
0:02:08 > 0:02:14of Yorkshire backwaters, before plunging into the shark-infested seas of suburban snobbery.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Clarke's varied experiences out in the real world
0:02:17 > 0:02:21would prove invaluable when it came to adding another trade to his CV.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23I'd done everything.
0:02:23 > 0:02:24Taxi driver.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28I worked for Montague Burton's. I worked as a teacher.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33I was in the police force for a couple of years, which was very valuable training for a writer.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38But in all of them, I was still a writer trying to get into writing.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43From writing drama for BBC Radio Leeds, Roy broke into TV in 1970
0:02:43 > 0:02:47with The Misfit starring Ronald Fraser.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Three years later, the BBC asked him to invent a comedy
0:02:49 > 0:02:52based on the adventures of three old men in Yorkshire.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56It's now the longest running sitcom in British TV history.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Clarke stayed faithful to his Yorkshire roots with Open All Hours.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07It began life as one of a series of one-off vehicles for Ronnie Barker, alongside the less memorable
0:03:07 > 0:03:14Spanner's XI, which saw Clarke working alongside producer Harold Snoad for the very first time.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I mean, look at this here, look at this.
0:03:18 > 0:03:2238 quid that cabinet cost to have made, and look at it.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Third prize in the snooker contest.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36Roy Clarke was something of an outsider, but Harold Snoad was very definitely a BBC insider.
0:03:36 > 0:03:43Among his credits were The Dick Emery Show, Dad's Army, Don't Wait Up and Ever Decreasing Circles.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- This is my private workshop.- I know.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49What would you say if you opened your safe and found me inside it?
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Don't laugh. It's a serious question.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Sorry, Martin. I'd say, "Hello, Martin. How are you?"
0:03:56 > 0:04:03- You'd say, "What do you think you're doing in my safe?"- Well, I would be curious. It's only one foot square.
0:04:03 > 0:04:10With so much experience, Harold Snoad was an obvious choice to bring Keeping Up Appearances to life.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16I could actually see there could be a lot of fun from this snobbish lady,
0:04:16 > 0:04:22especially when her attempts at being better than anybody else were brought to the ground rather rapidly
0:04:22 > 0:04:26by the antics of her downmarket relatives on the other side of town.
0:04:26 > 0:04:32Seeing the potential of a Hyacinth is one thing. Realising it through casting is quite another.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38This was vital to the success of the show and Harold Snoad knew that it would take an actor of star quality
0:04:38 > 0:04:45to make a character of such incredible snobbery and pretension both believable and likeable.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51It's my sister, Violet - the one with her own Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a sauna.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53I've told you about Violet.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55BOTH: Ye-e-es!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I wanted the character of Hyacinth,
0:04:57 > 0:05:02who is the first person you'd obviously think about, to be a sort of stately galleon.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08I didn't want somebody lightweight, either in, well, to be honest, size, or vocal tones.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Borrow a floral bikini?
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Oh, dear, you know perfectly well I have no such garment in my wardrobe.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Look, look...
0:05:17 > 0:05:23'People assume I wrote Keeping Up Appearances for Patricia Routledge.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28'But placing Patricia Routledge in Keeping Up Appearances'
0:05:28 > 0:05:33was entirely down to Harold Snoad who produced it and pulled off that perfect bit of casting.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Up, one-two. Down-one, two.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41It's an exercise, you know, for the hips. Very good. Oh!
0:05:45 > 0:05:51Long before becoming a weekly and appalling guest in 12 million homes, Patricia Routledge was already
0:05:51 > 0:05:54one of the country's most celebrated actors.
0:05:54 > 0:06:01As part of the satire boom in the early 1960s, she appeared regularly in That Was The Week That Was.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05# Take a handout, you naughty boys
0:06:05 > 0:06:08# You're not the type that one employs
0:06:08 > 0:06:12# If you had coal you'd only keep it in your bath
0:06:12 > 0:06:16# They should stamp out you naughty boys. #
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But the theatre was Patricia Routledge's first love,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and she enjoyed stage success on both sides of the Atlantic.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Patricia Routledge...
0:06:25 > 0:06:28APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Hold it, babe. In Darling Of The Day...
0:06:31 > 0:06:38On Broadway in 1968, she was presented with a prestigious Tony Award by the great Groucho Marx.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41And from you!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Whoopee! LAUGHTER
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Patricia Routledge's appearances on television included guesting
0:06:47 > 0:06:54as a fake medium in Steptoe And Son, and Miss Ruddock in the very first of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57But before Keeping Up Appearances fell into her floral lap,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02she was best known as Kitty in Victoria Wood - As Seen on TV.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05"Dear Kitty..." It says Arabella.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08"My boyfriend and I used to make love twice a night,
0:07:08 > 0:07:13"but now it has dropped off." I'm not surprised.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20"Is he getting tired of me?" Well, I'm getting tired of you, and I've never even met you.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24It took just one reading of the first Keeping Up Appearances script
0:07:24 > 0:07:29to convince Patricia Routledge that she and Hyacinth Bucket were made for each other.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33That character leapt from the page,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and I said...later on to my agent,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41"If Roy Clarke wasn't writing this for me,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44"he ought to have been."
0:07:44 > 0:07:49A lot of the success of the series was down to the characterisation
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and the relationships between those characters.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55And Roy Clarke is brilliant at creating characters.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00I must say that the character of Hyacinth Bucket is...
0:08:00 > 0:08:02an absolute world-beater.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It's up there with the extraordinary characters
0:08:06 > 0:08:10that somebody like Moliere creates,
0:08:10 > 0:08:16because the obsession is driven to the absolute, ultimate degree.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21I wanted your superiors to find out which cow my milk comes from.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27I will not have my bottles coming from just any old animal.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31We passed a very photogenic herd recently on the Earl of Crawford's estate.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Would you please ensure that my two pints daily come from them.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'Her pretensions were about everything.'
0:08:39 > 0:08:43She had ideas above her station, and that's always funny.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The Bouque-e-et residence! The lady of the house speaking.
0:08:46 > 0:08:54In the search for the right name for Hyacinth, I always knew I wanted to play on Bucket and Bouquet
0:08:54 > 0:08:59because that seemed to me such a symbol of what she was on about anyway, what she was.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02My name is Bouquet.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04B-U-C-K-E-T.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09No, it's not Bucket. It's Bouquet.
0:09:09 > 0:09:17I've seen it done and heard it done by persons called Bottom, who insisted that it was "Bo-tome".
0:09:17 > 0:09:21It was very kind of you to invite us, Mrs Bucket.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24- It's Bouquet, Vicar.- Oh, I'm sorry.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27It's of French origin.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32I believe my husband's family, in the distant past,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34were Hugenicks or something.
0:09:34 > 0:09:41Like every other cast member, her husband Richard was there as a foil for Hyacinth,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46a character expressly designed to show off her personality to the worst advantage.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52I wish you wouldn't raise your arms like that, Richard, not when you're overheated.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58- It's warm work, Hyacinth. - If you have to perspire, I wish you'd go into the back garden,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02so you don't disturb people who respect us socially.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06The character of Richard was almost non-existent.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Richard said, "You're wanted on the phone, dear,"
0:10:09 > 0:10:11and, "Yes, dear," and "No, dear."
0:10:11 > 0:10:13And that was about it.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Do you know who passed by today?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18My goodness, is that a dead leaf?
0:10:18 > 0:10:21If I put together Roy Clarke's track record
0:10:21 > 0:10:26and Miss Routledge's track record and Harold Snoad's track record,
0:10:26 > 0:10:31I thought, "I can't say no to this because it could be a job for life."
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Frivolity?
0:10:33 > 0:10:3730 years married, I can't remember a single frivle.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44Like his leading lady, Clive Swift had a theatrical background,
0:10:44 > 0:10:49and was also prominent in the TV satire of the '60s, appearing in Dig This Rhubarb.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51# When I was single, my pockets did jingle
0:10:51 > 0:10:54# I wish I was single again
0:10:54 > 0:10:56# Again and again and again
0:10:56 > 0:10:59# Again and again and again
0:10:59 > 0:11:01# When I was single, my pockets did jingle
0:11:01 > 0:11:04# I wish I was single again. #
0:11:04 > 0:11:08After appearing in an episode of Roy Clarke's The Misfit,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Clive Swift was regularly seen in costume dramas throughout the '70s and '80s,
0:11:12 > 0:11:17and first worked with Harold Snoad on The Further Adventures Of Lucky Jim in 1982.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21But one of his most acclaimed and telling performances
0:11:21 > 0:11:25was as Bishop Proudie in The Barchester Chronicles.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27So this is our palace.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30This is our palace.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32The place is falling to pieces.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37- Is it?- Of course it is.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41And no doubt, the interior is even worse.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43I shall speak to Mr Slope.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Clive Swift believes it was his bumbling bishop that brought him
0:11:48 > 0:11:53to Harold Snoad's mind when casting the hen-pecked Richard Bucket,
0:11:53 > 0:11:54sorry - Bouquet.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59The pairing of Swift and Routledge was a marriage made in heaven... and hell.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Be firm, Richard.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Don't be pushed around.
0:12:06 > 0:12:13Clive Swift brought to life the truth that everybody who was watching the series suspected -
0:12:13 > 0:12:16what an awful thing she must be to live with.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19To make that part believable,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23that a husband would stay with that woman,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27not be totally browbeaten, manage to keep his own character
0:12:27 > 0:12:31and make that believable - I thought that was really good acting.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36He made him into a slightly lazy person that she did everything for him and that was fine.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38She kept a good table.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40His shirts were ironed.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44He was always well turned out. That's what a lot of men like.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49They get used to it, so they put up with anything.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53As we all know, the secret of marriage is give and take,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56kindness, understanding,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58tolerance.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03At one point, I thought this marriage was so awkward
0:13:03 > 0:13:06that perhaps they had single beds.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09I don't like this level of intimacy, dear.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14I don't think it's natural at our age.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20Would you please remove yourself from my person.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Other than that, there is never any,
0:13:24 > 0:13:29in inverted commas, sexual contact between them at all.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Yet there must have been a brief moment when intimacy was on the agenda for Mr and Mrs Bucket.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39How else to explain their invisible son, Sheridan?
0:13:39 > 0:13:40Sheridan!
0:13:40 > 0:13:44How sensitive of you to call, dear.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48- What a close psychic link we have, you and I.- What does he want?
0:13:48 > 0:13:52I don't know that he wants anything. He's just ringing his mother.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55You need how much, Sheridan?
0:13:55 > 0:14:00It's a super idea that you never, never see him, and of course you never should.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Sheridan, you're not moving in with some designing female.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Oh, it's not a girls' flat. It's a boys' flat.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12And you're making your own curtains? How inventive, dear.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Then of course that he should turn out gay is perhaps not surprising.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21And again, designed of course to show Hyacinth being Hyacinth,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26that behind all the bluster and the snobbery is a total innocence.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Oh, you and Tarquin aren't interested in girls.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34What a comfort that is to a mother's heart, dear.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40I thought Patricia played it wonderfully, in that she was so totally unaware of...
0:14:40 > 0:14:44A different actress might have played it more knowingly. Who knows?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49Hyacinth, do you ever wonder why Sheridan shows no interest in girls?
0:14:49 > 0:14:54D'you think I should take a few of my favourite ornaments?
0:14:54 > 0:14:59The character of Sheridan exemplifies a pet theory of mine,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03that you can get away with murder if you don't actually show it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07But the cast found that Roy was even more elusive than Sheridan.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11The show's creator didn't like to attend rehearsals or recordings
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and in five series visited the set just once.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19Harold said you're all allowed to ask him one question.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24And I said, "Am I married?" And he said, "Oh, I don't know."
0:15:24 > 0:15:30"Oh, well, am I a single mother?" "Oh, I don't know. Yes, you can have a husband if you like."
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I said, "Well, is he away or or is he there?"
0:15:33 > 0:15:39"Well, he could be working in the oilfields, it doesn't matter. It's all right, I don't mind."
0:15:39 > 0:15:44I said, "Oh, right." I went away thinking, I'm still none the wiser.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46They're a very close couple.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Of course they are close.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51She has him on a lead.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Well, at least their marriage survives.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58My husband works abroad, you're divorced - who are we to criticise?
0:15:58 > 0:16:04Roy Clarke's remoteness from the day to day production of Keeping Up Appearances
0:16:04 > 0:16:09eventually led to serious creative differences between himself and Harold Snoad.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14I'm a writer and I'm nothing but a writer.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19When I submit a script,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24I've got no interest in producing it or directing it. I leave it to people.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29It's a great pity that Roy Clarke and I didn't see eye to eye
0:16:29 > 0:16:32in making Keeping Up Appearances.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I watched on occasions and found scenes I hadn't written.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43That's of course death to a writer - you can't have it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46That was the problem.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52Roy Clarke would never actually accept the fact that anything was wrong with his scripts.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57so when I found bits that didn't work, I had no alternative but to
0:16:57 > 0:17:01rewrite large chunks myself, with the blessing of the BBC.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03They were very happy.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06They just left it to me to get on with it.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08You will have to get out and push.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14- What?- You will have to get out and push.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Me?
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Well, there is no one else about!
0:17:18 > 0:17:23- But I've never pushed anything in my life.- There's a first time for everything!
0:17:23 > 0:17:27The BBC brought in a script editor to act as peacemaker.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30It's a mark of Keeping Up Appearances' success
0:17:30 > 0:17:37that the Corporation worked so hard to overcome the writer and producer being at loggerheads.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40You'll pay for this, Richard Bucket!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Bouquet!
0:17:44 > 0:17:50More than creative differences, there were differences in temperament between myself and Howard.
0:17:50 > 0:17:56I have warm feelings about Keeping Up Appearances despite any of the troubles that we had,
0:17:56 > 0:18:01which are par for the course in many a production anyway.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06And, um... at times, we weren't the best of mates over that,
0:18:06 > 0:18:11but the final analysis is that in the end, it did work extremely well.
0:18:11 > 0:18:18- Is there anything...?- Just give me time to recover my composure, then come and take tea with me at 3.25.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Josephine Tewson, Hyacinth's next door neighbour Elizabeth,
0:18:22 > 0:18:28was one of Harold Snoad's comedy favourites. She first worked with him on The Dick Emery Show.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Oh, he played me a dirty trick, he did.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Sir Thomas? What ever did he do, dear?.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38He deliberately gave me the wrong that date for a concert at the Albert Hall.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40I turned up there at eight o'clock,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45and by five past, I was in the ring, fighting for my life with Rocky Marciano.
0:18:47 > 0:18:54He cast her as the housekeeper alongside Ronnie Barker and David Jason in His Lordship Entertains.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59Then she moved upstairs playing Lady Cynthia in Elementary, My Dear Watson
0:18:59 > 0:19:01with John Cleese and Willie Rushton.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06Did I ever tell you the story of my first marriage? I was a young girl of 17.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Well, 21.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14After Harold cast Josephine again in No Appointment Necessary,
0:19:14 > 0:19:19he felt there'd be great comedy chemistry if he moved her in next door to Hyacinth.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20PHONE RINGS
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Patricia Routledge has an excellent sense of farce
0:19:26 > 0:19:30which, when I put that together with Jo Tewson,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35who also is very farcially-inclined, the two of them were absolute magic.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37When Hyacinth is not watching,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40I can handle Royal Doulton as well as the next person.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45It is perfectly simple - you just take hold of it firmly but gently,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47you raise it carefully...
0:19:47 > 0:19:50'Roy Clarke had written Hyacinth off stage'
0:19:50 > 0:19:53calling Elizabeth and me rattling the cup and putting it down.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I thought that is a bit tame after some of the things we've done.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00So I said to Pat, "How good are you at catching things, Pat?"
0:20:00 > 0:20:03She said, "Oh, yes, yes!"
0:20:03 > 0:20:06So, why can't I do it when Hyacinth is here?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Elizabeth.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16While Roy Clarke created Elizabeth just to be intimidated by Hyacinth,
0:20:16 > 0:20:22her sisters Rose and Daisy and brother-in-law Onslow were designed to embarrass Hyacinth
0:20:22 > 0:20:26by reminding her of exactly where she came from.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30We were the slobs and Hyacinth, the snob.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35I'll be with you in a minute!
0:20:35 > 0:20:41Daisy, again another wonderful creation by Judy Cornwell,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45of a child bride with her hopes of romance.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48You are so attractive to women.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55I am work shy, bone idle and out of condition!
0:20:55 > 0:21:00- What makes you think I'm attractive to women? - I married you, didn't I?
0:21:00 > 0:21:07I found this wonderful grey cardigan which was awful. It was out of shape,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11it was something you could sleep in or wrap round a dog.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I said, "That's the one. That's the one I love."
0:21:15 > 0:21:17That's her cardigan - her favourite one.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23You won't find this in your romantic novels, but if you wear see-through nightie, don't wear a vest!
0:21:23 > 0:21:29I think one of my favourite characters in the show was Onslow.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Geoffrey Hughes was marvellous as that Onslow.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35His relationship with his wife became very, very popular.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41He was designed to embarrass Hyacinth and couldn't have been more effective at it.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Morning, Onslow.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Don't say good morning to him when I've just been savaged by his dog.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Less noise, you daft bitch.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51And that goes for you as well, dog.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53ONSLOW LAUGHS
0:21:54 > 0:22:00In series two, Roy Clarke introduced David Griffin as the faint-hearted Emmet, Elizabeth's brother.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02She's been singing at me, Liz.
0:22:02 > 0:22:09He was someone for Hyacinth both to look up to and fondly imagine herself the social equal of.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14- We are invited to a candlelight supper tonight. - Well, that was inevitable.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18He loved his music and he loved his job as a music teacher.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22He was also running the local amateur operatics society.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27If there was one thing that Hyacinth was aiming at,
0:22:27 > 0:22:32it was being the leading light of the amateur operatics society.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34SHE HUMS
0:22:34 > 0:22:37SHE SINGS OPERA
0:22:41 > 0:22:43He gave a wonderful extra lift to the series,
0:22:43 > 0:22:48so that she had somebody she had to woo to get what she wanted.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50She couldn't browbeat him into it.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54I was caught hiding behind a screen or behind the bushes.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59She'd never actually say I was trying to avoid her. It was because I was so shy.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- Was that Emmet?- He must have forgotten something in the house.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05No, dear.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08I am afraid it's me.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16I rather think I send his senses reeling.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17Dear Emmet.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22With Keeping Up Appearances steamrollering on its merry way,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Roy Clarke and Harold Snoad combined on another BBC sitcom
0:23:26 > 0:23:31starring Tony Britton, Susan Hampshire and Caroline Quentin.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35But Don't Tell Father just didn't have that special something.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38- Where's Garth?- Behind the sofa.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41- What's he doing?- Meditating.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Trying to remember his song.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49That never totally took off.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51But it was fun to do.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56It's still not clear why some things happen and others don't.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01If it doesn't hit that spot, you've not got a winner.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Oh, no doily!
0:24:08 > 0:24:14Keeping Up Appearances clearly was a winner and if the BBC had its way, it might still be running today.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18But in 1995, the show stopped dead in its tracks.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20I know!
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Emmet, you can play and we'll all sing sea shanties.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Keeping Up Appearances came to an end because Patricia,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35to be perfectly frank, wanted to move on to do something else.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41I decided to part company with Hyacinth because there were other adventures to have.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45I'm an actor and I like to play other roles.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49First on the list of adventures was a trip into Miss Marpleshire,
0:24:49 > 0:24:55as Patricia Routledge swapped Hyacinth for Hetty Wainthrop, the sixty-something crime buster.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00And in between regular returns to the theatre, she appeared on TV
0:25:00 > 0:25:04in the second helping of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09She didn't want to simply end of her career by being known as Hyacinth Bucket.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12She'd made it so much her own, obviously.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16So, I take my hat off to her, in that respect.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20I know that Harold was extremely disappointed because in a way,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24to cut a thing off, in its prime almost.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28I told you, they're going away.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33But the other thing of course, is to go out on top, at one's peak.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37That was quite a send-off.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42We must never move, dear, we'd be greatly missed.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48I don't think the other cast members were thrilled silly that they weren't going to do any more
0:25:48 > 0:25:54because they all enjoyed it, they loved the parts and they obviously were glad to be part of a success.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59But without the star, what could you do, really?
0:25:59 > 0:26:04We all knew it could go on and we knew the BBC wanted it to go on.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06But we knew Pat didn't want to do any more.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12So everybody was sort of waiting to see what happened.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16I think for a while they were hanging on,
0:26:16 > 0:26:22hoping Patricia would change her mind and come back and do more.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26They didn't want to tackle anything that might get in the way of that,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30and then by the time it dawned that she was serious
0:26:30 > 0:26:35and she wasn't coming back, it had become too late, I think.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Roy Clarke still had a few more drops of Summer Wine to squeeze out
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and the show enjoyed a guest appearance from Josephine Tewson.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47- He promised me marriage. - I never said marriage!
0:26:47 > 0:26:49I may have said "garage".
0:26:50 > 0:26:54- Excuse us a minute. - He's so strong when he's aroused!
0:26:54 > 0:26:57I call him my Hercules!
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Clive Swift starred in The Aristocrats
0:27:01 > 0:27:07before going back into the Church in 2002 as Reverend Brewer in the BBC's Born And Bred.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12- You have the look of the devil. - The Lord moves in mysterious ways,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14his wonders to perform.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Before appearing regularly in Heartbeat,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21the nation's favourite slob, Geoffrey Hughes,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25changed his vest but not much else to play Twiggy in The Royle Family.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Wash'n'Go - the ad where that bird washes and pisses off.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31It's the genuine stuff, only it's got Arabic writing on it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37- 50p a bottle.- ALL: Nah. - No, thanks.- Oh, please yourself.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Go on then, Twiggy, I'll have two quid's worth.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44I tell you what - as you're my best-looking customer,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- I'll chuck in a box of panty pads. - All right.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Since finishing up in 1995,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Keeping Up Appearances has found a new audience abroad,
0:27:53 > 0:27:58becoming an unexpected worldwide hit as it flies the flowery flag.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Are you playing the right note?
0:28:00 > 0:28:03HE PLAYS THE SAME NOTE TWICE
0:28:03 > 0:28:06SHE REPEATS THE SAME NOTES
0:28:06 > 0:28:08I suppose Irving knew what he was doing.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10It's huge in America at the moment
0:28:10 > 0:28:17cos I think Americans think that Hyacinth is the typical British middle-class lady.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Then you have Israel loving it, India loving it, China loving it.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23I believe it sold in over 45 countries.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I'm very big in Botswana, you know.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I love saying that.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32# ..To battle With someone's herd of... #
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Keep it going! Faster!
0:28:34 > 0:28:36# ..Was done
0:28:36 > 0:28:40# Then if I shot the herder they'd holler bloody murder... #
0:28:44 > 0:28:46You said he'd been certificated.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51No! No! No!
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Enough! That's it!