The Gnomes of Dulwich

The Gnomes of Dulwich is a United Kingdom television sitcom originally shown in six episodes from 12 May 1969 to 16 June 1969.[1][2] Written by Jimmy Perry, the show starred Terry Scott, Hugh Lloyd, John Clive, Leon Thau, Anne de Vigier and Lynn Dalby as garden gnomes living at 25 Telegraph Road, Dulwich, London, England.

The Gnomes of Dulwich
One of the few surviving pictures of The Gnomes of Dulwich.
GenreSitcom
Written byJimmy Perry
StarringHugh Lloyd
Terry Scott
John Clive
Leon Thau
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducersSydney Lotterby
Graham Muir
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC
Original release12 May (1969-05-12) –
16 June 1969 (1969-06-16)

The title is a reference to the term "Gnomes of Zürich".

Jimmy Perry was very interested in gnomes and original only intended it to be a short sketch for the Morecambe and Wise Show but it was his wife who convinced him that there was a whole series in it.

Unlike Jimmy Perry’s other series such as Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum, he did not write it with his writing partner David Croft. Although the series was quite well received it was not successful enough to warrant a second series.[3]

The series saw Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott work together in a similar way in which they are seen in the series Hugh and I, which was directed by Jimmy Perry’s usual writing partner David Croft. Both actors were dubious to start with but eventually came round to the idea. This was the last time the two of them appeared together on television.

Like other series that Jimmy Perry wrote, Perry had a small cameo appearance in the last episode.

In 2009 Perry said of the series “Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd were two gnomes who would sit by a pond and commented on life, race, religion - everything. It became a little cult.”[4]

Due to the BBC having no archives until 1978 all known tapes were wiped and only a few stills and some audio fragments have survived.

Colin Bean who played a variety of different roles in the series recalled his time in his autobiography saying ‘Jimmy and Gilda were in my scene also as ornaments on a bric-a-brac stall at a garden party at the rear of 10 Downing Street ...Jimmy was a plaster bust of Napoleon and I was a matching bust, on a named base, of Beethoven ...My few lines played on Beethoven’s deafness (Da da da dah!) after Napoleon had made some cutting remarks, the joke being that at the end of the garden party the only items left on the bric-a-brac stall were the two garden gnomes.’[5] Frank Williams was in the same scene and recalled his experiences in his autobiography saying ‘Hugh and Terry played garden gnomes. I was in an episode in which the gnomes had been purchased at a Labour Party Bazaar by Mary Wilson, wife of the Prime Minister. They stood at ground level contemplating the legs of the various guests at a garden party. Clad in Carnaby Street trousers (it was quite difficult to find anything that fitted me in that haunt of trendy young people) I wandered around as a society photographer. As the audience only heard my voice and saw my disembodied legs they were never quite sure who I was, but I decided that this was my one chance to play royalty and that I was Lord Snowdon.’[6]

Main cast

Episodes
Series Episode No. Episode Title[7] Original Broadcast Date
1 1 Episode 1 12 May 1969
2 Episode 2 19 May 1969
3 Episode 3 26 May 1969
4 Episode 4 2 June 1969
5 Episode 5 9 June 1969
6 Episode 6 16 June 1969

References
  1. The Gnomes Of Dulwich, The British Comedy Guide, UK.
  2. The Gnomes of Dulwich, Television Heaven, UK.
  3. Carpenter, Paul (2016). "Jimmy Perry OBE". Permission to Speak, Sir!.
  4. Cope, Rob (2009). Hi de Hi! Companion. DAAS. pp. 106–107.
  5. Bean, Colin (1998). Who Do You Think You Are Kidding! Colin Bean’s Story. London: Minerva Press Atlanta London Sydney. pp. 181–182.
  6. Williams, Frank (2002). Vicar to Dad’s Army: The Frank Williams Story. Norwich: Canterbury Press. p. 111. ISBN 1-85311-494-4.
  7. "The Gnomes of Dulwich". lostshows.com. Retrieved 28 January 2013.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.