Keeping Up Appearances

Keeping Up Appearances
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Roy Clarke
Written by	Roy Clarke
Directed by	Harold Snoad
Starring	Patricia Routledge Clive Swift Josephine Tewson Geoffrey Hughes Judy Cornwell Shirley Stelfox Mary Millar David Griffin
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	44 + 2 shorts (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Harold Snoad
Production location(s)	Binley Woods, Warwickshire, England; (Hyacinth's Bungalow) Stoke Aldermoor, Coventry, West Midlands, England; (Daisy and Onslow's council house) Leamington Spa, England (Towns and various locations) Northampton, England; (Church, Church Hall and Vicarage) Swindon, Wiltshire, England; Oxford, England; Bristol, England; Great Yarmouth Norfolk, England; Copenhagen, Denmark; (location scenes)
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes 50 minutes (1994 Christmas special) 60 minutes (1993 Christmas special)
Production company(s)	BBC
Distributor	BBC Worldwide 2entertain Universal Pictures ABC (Australia, home video) Warner Home Video (US, home video) Iowa Public Television (US, television)[1]
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	576i (4:3 SDTV)
Audio format	Monaural (series 1) Stereo (series 2–5)
Original release	29 October 1990 (1990-10-29) – 25 December 1995 (1995-12-25)
Chronology
Related shows	Young Hyacinth
External links
Website

Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It aired on BBC One from 1990 to 1995. The central character is eccentric and snobbish middle class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge), who insists that her surname is pronounced “Bouquet”.^[2]

The sitcom follows Hyacinth in her attempts to prove her social superiority, and to gain standing with those she considers upper class. Her attempts are constantly hampered by her lower class extended family, whom she is desperate to hide. Much of the humour comes from the conflict between Hyacinth's vision of herself, and the reality of her underclass background. In each episode, she lands in a farcical situation as she battles to protect her social credibility.

The show comprised five series and 44 episodes, four of which are Christmas specials. Production ended when star Patricia Routledge moved on to other projects. All episodes have since been released on DVD.

Keeping Up Appearances was a great success in the UK, and also captured large audiences in the US, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands. By February 2016, it had been sold nearly 1,000 times to overseas broadcasters, making it BBC Worldwide's most exported television programme. Domestically, it placed 12th in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll of 2004. It has been syndicated on Gold and Drama in the UK; on PBS in the United States; and on 7TWO in Australia.

In September 2016, BBC One transmitted a 30-minute prequel, titled Young Hyacinth, in which Kerry Howard plays 19-year-old Hyacinth Walton, who is working as a maid in 1950s Britain.^[3]

Background

Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge) – who insists her surname is pronounced Bouquet (although her husband Richard has said, "It was always 'Bucket' until I met you!")^[4] – is an over-bearing, social-climbing snob, originally from an underclass background, whose main mission in life is to impress others with her lifestyle, perceived affluence and refinement.

She's terrified that her background will be revealed, and goes to great lengths to hide it. Hyacinth likes to spend her days visiting stately homes (convinced she will meet and strike up a friendship with the upper-class owners, especially if they are aristocratic) and hosting "executive-style" candlelight suppers (with her Royal Worcester double-glazed Avignon china and Royal Doulton china with "the hand-painted periwinkles").^[5]

She ostentatiously brags about her possessions to others, including her "white slimline telephone with automatic redial", which she always answers with "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking."^[6] (Frequently she receives misdialed calls asking for a Chinese take-away, making her very angry.) She speaks in an exaggerated RP-like accent with Northern undertones, while her relatives speak in broad Northern accents. Her neighbours speak in milder RP accents. When flustered, Hyacinth regresses to her native Northern accent for a while.

Hyacinth's attempts to impress make the lives of those around her difficult; her continual efforts to improve her social position usually involve inviting her unwitting neighbours and friends to "exclusive candlelit suppers". Although Hyacinth is not deterred by the lack of response to her attempts, nearly everyone around her lives in fear of being invited, and usually makes frantic attempts to excuse themselves.

Unfortunately, her husband Richard (Clive Swift) bears the brunt of the suffering. He initially worked for the council but, at the beginning of series 3, reluctantly accepts early retirement. Although he loves her with a long-suffering endurance, he is notably exasperated by her plans and her habit of making extravagant and unnecessary purchases.

Although she lives to impress others, Hyacinth regularly competes with the upper-middle-class neighbours (whom she considers snobbish show-offs), such as Sonia Barker-Finch, Delia Wheelwright and Lydia Hawksworth (who alone of Hyacinth's rivals seems to be an actual snob, as she disdains kiwifruit as "lower middle class".) Hyacinth sometimes says things like "I haven't a snobbish bone in my body" or "I can't abide such snobbery like that" when talking about those she considers her competition.

Always hindering Hyacinth's best efforts to impress – and providing an unwelcome reminder of her less-than-refined roots – are her underclass sisters Daisy (Judy Cornwell) and Rose (Shirley Stelfox in series 1; Mary Millar thereafter), and Daisy's proudly "bone-idle" husband Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes). They, along with Hyacinth's senile father, frequently turn up inconveniently (usually in their clapped–out Ford Cortina Mk IV – which always makes a characteristic backfire when it arrives), with Hyacinth going to great lengths to avoid them (saying: "Richard, you know I love my family, but that's no reason why I should have to acknowledge them in broad daylight!"). Rose is very sexually promiscuous and aggressive, adding to Hyacinth's embarrassment.

Hyacinth's senile father frequently has flashbacks to the Second World War, and often exhibits bizarre behaviour, sometimes involving embarrassing situations with women (Onslow describes him as "barmy"). Two relatives of whom Hyacinth is not ashamed are her wealthy sister Violet (Anna Dawson) and her unseen son Sheridan. Violet frequently telephones Hyacinth for advice, allowing her to loudly announce to anyone in earshot, "It's my sister Violet – the one with a Mercedes, swimming pool/sauna and room for a pony". However, Violet's social acceptability is damaged by the eccentric behaviour of her transvestite, equestrian-loving turf accountant husband Bruce, whom she violently attacks because of his behaviour.

Hyacinth also tries to impress people with the intellectual prowess of her beloved son Sheridan (who actually only takes courses in needlework at a polytechnic). Hyacinth boasts about the "psychic" closeness of their relationship and how often he writes and phones her, although he never writes and usually phone calls only to ask for money (much to the despair of Richard).^[7] Hyacinth is blissfully oblivious of the seemingly obvious hints that Sheridan, who lives with a man named Tarquin (who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas, and has won prizes for embroidery), is homosexual.^[8] It is at one point implied that Sheridan has come out to his father.

Hyacinth's neighbour Elizabeth Warden (Josephine Tewson) is frequently invited round to the Buckets' for coffee. Though she is ordinarily calm, Liz's nerves go to pieces in Hyacinth's house, causing her to smash Hyacinth's china and spill coffee and biscuits on Hyacinth's Burmese rug.^[9] She is married with a daughter away at University, but her husband works abroad and, like Sheridan, neither character ever appears.

Elizabeth is occasionally able to "one-up" Hyacinth herself by reminding her neighbour that her daughter is at University, whilst Sheridan is studying at a lesser Polytechnic. Liz's brother Emmet (David Griffin) moves in with her at the beginning of series 2 after a messy divorce. Hyacinth, upon learning that Emmet is a musician, frequently and abruptly sings out-of-key at him in an attempt to get a part in one of his productions, making him terrified of leaving the house, lest she see him ("She'll sing at me!"). Emmet's problems are further complicated by Hyacinth's mistaken belief that his frightened reactions indicate that he is infatuated with her which, in fact, could not be further from the truth.

Hyacinth frequently confronts the postman with complaints, such as having to receive mail bearing second class stamps, harassing him to the point that he will go to extreme lengths not to face her; and she often forces workmen and other visitors to her home to remove their shoes before entering. Michael, the vicar of the local church (Jeremy Gittins) is also loath to face the overbearing Hyacinth, to whom he refers (to others) as "the Bucket woman". The vicar and his wife sometimes exact comic revenge on Hyacinth for her snobbishness; on one occasion, when she was one of a group of volunteer helpers at the church, the vicar's wife saw to it that Hyacinth's hand went up prematurely and assigned her the job of cleaning the church toilets.

Cast

The cast in 1991. Standing from left to right, Jeremy Gittins, David Griffin, Judy Cornwell, Geoffrey Hughes, and Mary Millar.
Seated from left to right, Clive Swift, Patricia Routledge and Josephine Tewson.

Character	Actor	Series
		1	2	3	4	5
Main
Hyacinth Bucket	Patricia Routledge
Richard Bucket	Clive Swift
Elizabeth 'Liz' Warden	Josephine Tewson
Daisy	Judy Cornwell
Onslow	Geoffrey Hughes
Rose	Shirley Stelfox
	Mary Millar
Emmet Hawksworth	David Griffin
Michael (the vicar)	Jeremy Gittins
Recurring
Daddy / Father	George Webb
the vicar's wife	Marion Barron
Michael (the postman)	Leo Dolan
	David Janson
Milkman	Robert Rawles
Violet	Anna Dawson
Major Wilton Smythe	Peter Cellier
Mrs Nugent	Charmian May
Bruce	John Evitts

Episodes

Keeping Up Appearances aired for five series, four Christmas specials, and one short Children in Need special, from 29 October 1990 to 25 December 1995. The series officially ended after the episode "The Pageant", because Patricia Routledge wanted to focus on other TV and theatre work, including Hetty Wainthropp Investigates which began airing in 1996. Clive Swift, who portrayed Richard, stated in a BBC interview that Routledge "didn't want to be remembered as simply 'Mrs. Bucket'".^[10]

Production

Locations

The council terrace in Stoke Aldermoor occupied by Daisy and Onslow

Exterior shots around Hyacinth's house were taped in Binley Woods, Warwickshire, a village east of Coventry.^[11]

Exterior shots around Daisy and Onslow's council terrace were taped in Stoke Aldermoor in Coventry.^[12] Other exterior street and town shots were taped in Leamington Spa, and in various towns throughout Warwickshire, along with many scenes from the large town of Northampton, mainly the church hall. Some scenes were also shot in Swindon, Oxford, and Bristol. One scene was shot in Oslo, Norway. One episode was filmed in Great Yarmouth, mainly in the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach Theme Park.

The opening sequence shows Hyacinth writing an invitation to one of her trademark candlelight suppers; this invitation lists Hyacinth's address as "Waney Edge, Blossom Avenue, Fuddleton". In the same sequence, the invitation is eventually sent to an address in Eddleton. Neither town actually exists. However, there are several references to the characters being in the West Midlands throughout the series, as when Hyacinth said that she could become the "Barbara Cartland of the West Midlands Social Circuit Scene" in the episode "The Hostess". In another episode, police officers wearing West Midlands Police jumpers escort Richard home and several West Midlands Travel buses are also seen throughout the series.

Merchandise

Theatre adaptation

In 2010, the television show was adapted into a play entitled Keeping Up Appearances that toured theatres in the UK.^[21] The cast included Rachel Bell as Hyacinth, Kim Hartman as Elizabeth, Gareth Hale as Onslow, Steven Pinder as Emmet, Debbie Arnold as Rose, David Janson (who had previously appeared in the TV show as the postman) as Mr Edward Milson, a new character created for the stage show,^[22] Christine Moore as Daisy and Sarah Whitlock as Mrs Debden.^[23]

Main character Richard Bucket, Hyacinth's husband, does not appear in the production, but is frequently referred to: Hyacinth addresses to him off-stage and talks to him on the phone. The main plot of the show revolves around Emmet directing a play at the local village hall, but when Hyacinth is cast in the play's leading role disaster is in the making.

This adaptation, directed by playwright Johnny Culver, made its American premiere in New York City in March 2015, at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Theater Fellowship/Jones Auditorium. Culver directed an additional production of this adaptation with performances on 5 August 2017 and 6 August 2017 at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Forest Hills, Queens.

Prequel

In 2015, it was announced that a prequel to the series entitled Young Hyacinth would be made, following a 19-year-old Hyacinth Bucket during the early postwar years and set some forty years before the events of Keeping Up Appearances.^[24] The cast were announced on 11 April 2016.^[25] Hyacinth was played by Kerry Howard; Rose by Katie Redford; Daisy by Katherine Pearce; Violet by Tamla Kari and Daddy by Mark Addy. It was broadcast on BBC One on 2 September 2016.^[26]

The prequel sees Hyacinth working as a maid and attempting to manage her family so they appear well above their means. In the special, Hyacinth is in a relationship with a Mr. William Hitchcock, whom Hyacinth forces to dress up and wear a hat when they walk. The special ends with her drunken Daddy falling into the canal, which Hyacinth's employers see, causing her great embarrassment. However, she blames Daddy's behaviour on "an old war injury".^[27][28]

Approximately 4.14 million viewers watched the show within seven days of its broadcast, making it the 22nd most watched BBC One show for the week ending 4 September. A total of 4.39 million viewers watched the show within 28 days of its initial broadcast.^[29]

References

External links

Look up room for a pony in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Keeping Up Appearances

• Keeping Up Appearances at BBC Online
• Keeping Up Appearances at BBC Programmes
• Keeping Up Appearances at British Comedy Guide
• Keeping Up Appearances on IMDb
• Keeping Up Appearances at the BFI's Screenonline
• Keeping Up Appearances at TV.com