To The Manor Re-Born

[Andrew Curnow]

From the BBC:

Manor reborn for one-off special

Classic British comedy To The Manor Born is to return to the BBC for a one-off Christmas special.
Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles will reunite as the aristocratic Audrey fforbes-Hamilton and the dashing, self-made businessman Richard DeVere.

Viewers last saw Audrey and Richard in 1981, when the couple finally married following a turbulent relationship.

Keith said: "It's enormous fun to be filming for the Christmas special and a great joy to be returning to BBC One."

The cast are currently filming on location in Somerset.

Humble lifestyle

The hour-long special will see a major event threaten to disturb life at the estate in Grantleigh as Audrey and Richard prepare to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.

With the help of her schoolfriend Marjory (Angela Thorne), a fearless Audrey goes into battle to defend a community, safeguard 400 years of history and save her marriage.

Three hugely successful series of To The Manor Born were screened on BBC One between 1979 and 1981.

It followed the recently widowed Audrey, who, having been forced to sell the Manor to cover the debts incurred by her late husband, is forced to adapt to a more humble lifestyle and new social status.

Her fall from grace is made all the more painful by her distaste for nouveau riche millionaire supermarket owner Richard DeVere, the new owner of the Manor.

Their love-hate relationship was eventually resolved when they married in the 1981 finale.

I always quite enjoyed the original series, but I'm not sure it has enough of an identity to really work as a one-off revival. And it won't be the same without Brabinger and Old Ned and Mrs Poo...

[Rob McCow]

I forgot to take a CD out for the car last night, so I heard Mark Lawson talking to someone about this on Radio 4. Apparently TV commisioners are very nervous about backing new sitcoms, as they are all too frequently failures. But all too often sitcoms are about the time that they were shown, whether it was the 60's, 70's or whenever, so resurrecting one means it is very difficult to be true to the original and make it relevant to modern audiences.

Also, Vicar of Dibley might come back. *shudder*

[Pip Madeley]

If they want to bring something back, bring back Red Dwarf!

[Si Hunt]

Or "So Haunt Me".

Si.

[Dirk Gently]

What about George & Mildred? It'll be like Waiting for God but with harsher arguments!

[Pip Madeley]

What about George & Mildred?

Are you going to fetch the spade for Yootha?

[Dirk Gently]

Well not with the actual actors as 'George' is currently in Last of the Summerwine but the idea.

[Pip Madeley]

Apparently TV commisioners are very nervous about backing new sitcoms, as they are all too frequently failures.

I think there's been some fantastic new sitcoms in the last few years, like Saxondale, Gavin And Stacey, The IT Crowd, Still Game... they're not all Hyperdrive.

[Dirk Gently]

Nowt wrong with Hyperdrive!

[Pip Madeley]

Least they're not making any more.

[Rob McCow]

None of the ones that Pip listed have captured the public imagination / gone mainstream in the way that To The Manor Born or even As Time Goes By has. There all too culty, wacky and late-night for that kind of success.

[Pip Madeley]

Nevertheless they're not failures.

[Rob McCow]

My Hero was a bigger success than all of those!

[Pip Madeley]

The mind boggles.

[Captain Tancredi]

There's no reason why 'To the Manor Born' couldn't recreate its appeal for a one-off special; they've been fortunate in that the three leads are still with us, while there are a few angles about modern country life which could provide good comedy material- the never-ending regulations, and rather than Richard being the outsider, you could have a situation where all the estate workers' jobs were taken by Eastern European immigrants and Audrey became the odd one out.

It does however seem that the recipe for a popular family sitcom with broad appeal remains as elusive as ever.

[Simon R]

"To The Manor Born" has passed me by completely in a way that other old sitcoms haven't. Has it ever been repeared on terrestial telly? I caught the end of the Comedy Connections about it and it looked ok but I'm not mad on Penelope Queef.

[P-Bal]

I watched the entire first series the other week and really enjoyed, despite the fact that Audrey is at heart, totally unlikeable.

I think it should be a hoot to have this back for a one off, it only for all the Penny love I have.

[Simon R]

I'd rather they brough out "Next of Kin" on DVD for my Penny Queef fix.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm wondering about other ex-cast members - are Gerald Sim (the vicar, of course!) and the bloke who played the Major still alive I wonder? Ballard Berkeley (who was Audrey's uncle in the last couple of episodes) has long since passed on I presume.

For all my reservations about whether this is a good idea or not, I'm quite looking forward to it in a 'lazy Christmas viewing' sort of way - and if it encourages them to repeat the original three series, then all the better.

[Matthew T]

To the Manor Born was repeated in full on Tuesday nights after EastEnders back in the early 90s - I used to watch it religiously! It's been shown since too, I'm sure it's been on on a Sunday afternoon recently.

[Logo Polish]

Th whole run's been repeated several other times - in the mid-80s, and at least twice since about 2000 (evenings and daytimes).

[Dave Tudor]

'To The Manor Born was hugely successful in its day, although I've never quite seen the appeal (rather like 'My Family, for instance). I remember watching those repeats a few years ago, and I didn't find it that funny. I seem to recall feeling the same about repeats of 'The Good Life' a couple of years ago, too.

Is this a full episode, with an actual plot, or will it just be them reminiscing, with lots of old clips?

[Andrew Curnow]

Did anybody else watch this then? I've been looking forward to it, but with a strong suspicion I'd come away moaning about it. As it turned out, though, I thought it was pretty well done. It didn't feel forced, it was still recognisably the same show (not an easy trick, considering that many of the supporting cast who gave it much of its charm are now gone) and it was very enjoyable indeed. And we did have a few genuine 'laugh out loud' moments here. Gerald Sim who plays the rector is looking his age, of course, but I was glad to see they included him in that one scene at least. Good fun!

[Milky Tears]

10 million watched it last night (9.8m overnight). Will we be seeing a new series next year?

[Si Hunt]

I missed it, just a casualty of Christmas Day. To be honest I mainly just wanted to see what they all looked like now, so I was satisfied once I'd caught the trailer. Keith looks like she did in all those awful 80s/90s sitcoms, Bowls has been patched up and that woman with the hat looks the same as she did in 1980.

Si.