Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt

• Bill Maynard – Selwyn Froggitt
• Megs Jenkins – Mrs Froggitt (Series 1–3)
• Robert Keegan – Maurice Froggitt (Series 1–3)
• Rosemary Martin – Vera Parkinson (Series 1)
• Lynda Baron – Vera Parkinson (Series 2–3)
• Richard Davies – Clive (Series 1–3)
• Bill Dean – Jack (Series 1–3)
• Harold Goodwin – Harry (Series 1–3)
• Ray Mort – Ray (Series 1–3)
• Bernard Gallagher – Mervin Price (Series 4)

Bill Maynard had the initial idea for the show, wanting to create a sitcom based around the members of the working men's club in his home village Sapcote, Leicestershire. Maynard would later say "every character came from that club".[1] Maynard modelled his lead character on a larger-than-life patron named Peter Wright.[2][3] Wright would often exclaim "Magic!" and order "A pint of cooking and a bag of nuts", both of which became catchphrases of Maynard's character.[4] Wright had arms so muscular he couldn't fold them properly so he often kept them on high on his chest, another attribute Maynard borrowed.[1] Maynard attempted to get the show commissioned by Duncan Wood, the BBC's Head of Comedy, for some time. Wood commissioned a pilot after he'd moved to Yorkshire Television to be Head of Light Entertainment.[5] Roy Clarke titled it Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt, and the pilot episode written by Clarke was transmitted on 30 September 1974. This initial episode rendered Selwyn's surname as 'Froggit'.

When the pilot was picked up for a series, Alan Plater took Clarke's place as writer. Plater was best known for writing television drama including Shoulder to Shoulder (1974), The Stars Look Down (1975) and Trinity Tales (1975); Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt was his only foray into sitcom writing. This has been noted as indicative of Plater's maverick and profilic approach to television writing.[6]

The original Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt regular cast. Left to right from top row: Maurice (Robert Keegan), Selwyn (Bill Maynard), Mrs Froggitt (Megs Jenkins), Ray (Ray Mort), Clive (Richard Davies), Jack (Bill Dean) and Harry (Harold Goodwin).

Set in the fictional Yorkshire town Scarsdale, the first three series centred on the bungling exploits of Selwyn Froggitt, a burly, balding, good-natured council labourer usually clad in a donkey jacket. Bill Maynard described Froggitt as "this naïve boy who never grew up".[4] He has pretensions to intellectual competence (he carries The Times though is hardly ever seen reading it, preferring to tell people that "There was an article about it in The Times") and an urge to improve his life and that of everyone around him. Maynard took inspiration for his performance from Bottom, a comic character from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[7] Froggitt lives with his mother (Megs Jenkins) and his brother Maurice (Robert Keegan). Maurice's girlfriend, Vera Parkinson, was played by Rosemary Martin in the first series. In the second and third series (during which Maurice and Vera marry), Vera was played by Lynda Baron. A running gag is Froggitt's mother saying "Don't open that cupboard, things fall out!" whenever he opens the cupboard in the Froggitt front room upon which objects would fall onto the floor.

Froggitt is on the committee of his local working men's club, serving as concert secretary in charge of booking "turns". Froggitt's colleagues on the committee are the dour Scouser Jack (Bill Dean), Harry (Harold Goodwin) and excitable, stereotypical Welshman Clive (Richard Davies). All decisions taken by the club committee are taken on a "Show of hands..." and "Carried unanimously". In keeping with the A Midsummer Night's Dream charactersiations, Maynard saw the committee as the mechanicals.[7] Froggitt is incompetent at everything he turns his hand to, being equally inept at his day job (digging holes and filling them in), do-it-yourself at home, and booking acts for the club. Nevertheless, he is honest and hard-working, unlike the other committee members, who usually sit back in comfort while Froggitt does the manual labour. They generally tolerate him because he is prepared to volunteer for unwanted tasks. Barman at the club is Raymond (Ray Mort), often seen answering the telephone with a number of highly fictitious and fanciful addresses.

The show's humour included a fair measure of slapstick alongside Plater's typical northern humour. It was mainly shot at Yorkshire Television Studios on Kirkstall Road, Leeds, whilst outdoor location filming for the series took place in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire and Elvington, North Yorkshire. The series was a ratings success, reaching peak viewing figures of 29 million.[2]

Between the second and third series, Bill Maynard suffered a slipped disc and used a wheelchair. He recovered sufficiently in time for the commencement of filming of the third series on 5 September 1977.[8] Alan Plater would later say that Maynard had "a constitutional resistance to learning the script".[6]

In the fourth (and final) series, the format of the show changed radically. This version of the series was entitled Selwyn; all of the regular cast from the first three series (bar Maynard) left the show, to focus on and pursue other TV work. The Froggitt character became entertainments manager at a seedy holiday camp on the east coast. Plater was no longer involved with the series, but with disappointing audience reactions a planned fifth series was cancelled.

All four series of Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt have been released on DVD. A four-disc set of the complete series of both complete series titles has also been released.

• Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! (series 1–3) on IMDb
• Selwyn (series 4) on IMDb
• Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt at British Comedy Guide