Donald Churchill and Pauline Yates

[cornershop15]

I am pleased to say that I've found enough articles of this distinguished couple to dedicate a thread to them. Not very many captures at the moment, but hopefully that will change. They were mainstays of British Television for about 30 years, with Donald also receiving much acclaim as a writer. His acting credits seem to indicate that I didn't see him as often as I thought and I'm afraid that includes his final role in the hit ITV series El C.I.D.. I was devastated when I learned he died of a heart attack while filming the show, really upset for Pauline and their family. This happened a week before his 61st birthday.



Strangely enough, the thing I remember Donald Churchill from most, Alice Trying, one of his own plays I think, still hasn't been credited at IMDb yet - something I must put right. My main memory of the story is that it was (essentially) a 'two-hander', which I believe is the theatrical term for a play that mostly focuses on two characters (Harold Pinter's The Lover, for example) - yes? In this case, Judy Parfitt was Donald's co-star and for some reason she was bed-ridden, possibly with a cold or something, certainly in the scene that's always stood out. He kept calling Judy from a telephone box and I just remember him being desperately in love with her. It's so frustrating that nothing else comes to mind but I know both actors were brilliant in this play, from around the late 1970s, and it is easily in the Top 5 of long-forgotten shows I'd like to see again.



Pauline Yates will always be best known to me as lead character Leonard Rossiter's wife in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and, rather more dimly (until the much-hoped-for DVD release comes my way), as Robert Gillespie's in Keep It in the Family. But in the last few months I've discovered that she was the star of a daytime series called Harriet's Back In Town. I'm convinced I never saw a frame (still at junior school at the time) but the title seems vaguely familiar. It would be marvellous if I could catch up with it all these years later. My original TVTimes articles and selected listings for the series are among the treasures I'll be providing for this thread.

I enclose two captures from screen appearances the couple made in the Sixties.



Firstly, Donald in his role as Dr. Sprague in the first episode of The Saint, The Talented Husband (1962):



Coincidentally (assuming I was right about Judy Parfitt's character earlier), there was another female

confined to bed - as his patient! Patricia Roc was the invalid on this occasion, in her last screen role.





And here's one of Pauline as another wife, this time Dirk Bogarde's in the classic film Darling ... (1965):



She only had a brief role as Estelle Gold. Husband Dirk leaves her for the ambitious Julie Christie!



The Armchair Theatre (and Mona Bruce!) Connection:

Both Pauline and Donald were veterans of Armchair Theatre: Donald wrote an impressive thirteen, appearing in eight; Pauline was in six, including three of her husband's plays - The Cherry on Top (1964), The Paraffin Season, the following year, and A Room in Town in 1970. Intriguingly, the first two both included the late Mona Bruce, who was in another of Donald's AT contributions years earlier, Sharp at Four (1959). And that's not all! Mona also turned up in an episode of The Mind of J.G. Reeder that he wrote called The Treasure Hunt (1969). Was she a friend of his and Pauline's then?

The Terence Alexander Connection:

I very much enjoyed a short film called The Spare Tyres, again written by Donald and with a wonderful central performance by Terence Alexander, as a man who can't get rid of the wheels he's found in his new front garden. A great film ... but it's about 25 years since I last saw it. No, Pauline didn't play the wife (for once!); in fact, I don't remember what she did, nor 'Milkman' Donald either Terence, who also died not too long ago sadly, appeared in two of Donald's Armchair Theatre plays - Man Without a Mortgage (1966) and the aforementioned A Room in Town, with Pauline - as well as his episodes for The Sex Game and Moody and Peg. Furthermore, and this I did know, Pauline and Terence were reunited again years later for The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin episode Timebomb (1979). Interesting! Was Terence a friend as well?

Trivia: Donald wrote the 'Morecambe & Wise episode' of The Sweeney - Hearts and Minds (1978)



COMING SOON: The first of the documents, featuring a nice family picture.

[cully]

You probably know this, cornershop, but they had a daughter, Jemma, who is an actress and looks very like her mother. Not an especially prolific actress, but quite memorable in the shows I've seen her in both for her looks and acting ability. The few photos of her I've seen do NOT do her justice...

[cornershop15]

I am posting this much earlier than planned, Cully, as I noticed

the strong resemblance between mother and daughter myself:



Ashamed to say that I'm not sure if I've seen any of Jemma's credits -

anything after the mid-70s is 'after my time'. I wonder what Polly does?



Unfortunately, neither Donald's Love Story or Pauline's Home and Away

are listed at IMDb. Even more unfortunate that we're unlikely to see either



EDIT - Yes, you guessed it. From Wearysloth's site:



Jemma in Midsummer Murders - Birds of Prey (2003)

[stuart.scot]

Donald played Virginia McKenna's brother in Carve Her Name With Pride

[billy farmer]

Great pictures cornershop, one of my favourite Donald Churchill performances was as Dr Watson in the 1983 TV Movie The Hound Of The Baskervilles which also featured Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes and many other well known Actors & Actresses in the cast, Donald Churchill also appeared in The Granada Sherlock Holmes Series starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes, Donald played Scott Eccles in the Episode Wisteria Lodge (1988) being a big Sherlock Holmes fan i have both these performances on DVD, i saw many props from The Granada Series when i visited Baker Street in 2002, i also have Gideon's Way on DVD starring John Gregson, Donald appeared in the Episode Subway To Revenge (1965) playing the character James Lane.

[cornershop15]

Thanks, Billy (and Stuart earlier). I really should get those Sherlock Holmes shows. They're among the few TV episodes I've liked since the beginning of the Eighties and of course featured many guest stars. That's really a bonus as Jeremy Brett was amazing as that famous character. I don't think I've seen Donald's contributions, including his attempt at Dr Watson, which was not liked by one or two other members here. But I like him anyway! I only discovered the Jeremy Brett version on Granada Plus.



As for Gideon's Way, I was SO CLOSE to buying the DVD last year, for the (admittedly) bargain price of around £20. Unfortunately, it was being repackaged at the same time I ordered it, from Amazon, and I've been waiting for them to sell it again (for around the same price) for the last year.

[batman]

The two Ian Richardson 'Holmes DVDs are available at a very low price via Amazon marketplace. Donald Churchill is only in THOTB ....









.... in TSOF 'Waton' is played by David Healy ....







.... neither of them are particularly good in the role and the films have taken many liberties with the original stories. They are entertaining enough but nowhere near as good as the Brett versions,

[cornershop15]

Julia Jones had just adapted Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend for the BBC when she wrote this:







Julia also wrote one of my all-time favourite episodes from ANY series: Devon Violets for Take Three Girls



Thank you Julia

[cornershop15]

Another great TVTimes discovery (to me anyway), from the 14th October 1972 issue:





This was included in a preview of ITV's new Afternoon schedule. Other forthcoming

attractions were Emmerdale Farm, Crown Court and the ill-fated General Hospital.

All started that week in October 1972, when Mouldy Old Dough was the big seller.



I've been curious about Harriet's Back in Town for some months but am pessimistic

about it's becoming commercially available. Why is it all the Women's shows from that

period which get ignored? Margaret Lockwood in Justice, Phyllis Calvert as Kate and

Marked Personal, with Stephanie Beacham, are other examples. Come on, Network!

I'd love to see Pauline in this neglected series. William Russell was 85 ten days ago.

[cornershop15]

Much to my relief, The Second Interview still exists in the archives:







DVD company Network released a few of the episodes from this era

recently, including A Bit of a Lift, which Donald wrote and starred in,

(exciting news for us fans!). Hopefully Pauline's play will appear later

[cully]

[CENTER]Another great TVTimes discovery (to me anyway), from the 14th October 1972 issue:

This was included in a preview of ITV's new Afternoon schedule. Other forthcoming

attractions were Emmerdale Farm, Crown Court and the ill-fated General Hospital.

All started that week in October 1972, when Mouldy Old Dough was the big seller.

I've been curious about Harriet's Back in Town for some months but am pessimistic

about it's becoming commercially available. Why is it all the Women's shows from that

period which get ignored? Margaret Lockwood in Justice, Phyllis Calvert as Kate and

Marked Personal, with Stephanie Beacham, are other examples. Come on, Network!



I'd love to see Pauline in this neglected series. William Russell was 85 ten days ago.

There's a mistake in the name of the lovely actress on the right. It's Valerie van Ost not Valerie Ost.

[cornershop15]

Just over a year since my last contribution to this thread [hangs head in shame] ...

TVTimes cover introducing 'Bulldog Breed', 16th September 1962

Not to be confused with the Norman Wisdom film,
all of this forgotten sitcom's episodes are missing.




One for the 'Scene-Stealing Animals (on TV)' thread ...

From Mark Lewisohn's Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy:

A single-series sitcom with Donald Churchill in the part of Tom Bowler, a perennial optimist who refuses to take life seriously - despite the persuasions of those who risk life and limb getting close to him, like his parents Henry and Lillian, best friend Billy and remarkably persistent girlfriend Sandra. Tom simply goes through life wreaking havoc upon everyone and everything around him.

The series was created and produced by former Coronation Street producer Derek Granger; one further link with the Street was that Bulldog Breed gave young actress Amanda Barrie - to become famous as Alma Sedgewick/Baldwin - her first major TV role.

Henry and Lillian Broadbent were played by Peter Butterworth and Betty Huntley-Wright, with Geoffrey Whitehead (regularly seen on DVD) as Billy. The other cast regular was a young Geoffrey Palmer as Mr. Meadows. Donald was reunited on screen with 'father' Peter in a sadly lost Wednesday Play called The Fabulous Frump (1969), and again ten years later in the film The First Great Train Robbery - the only one of their joint credits to survive.

Bulldog Breed was one of ITV's new shows for Autumn 1962. Others mentioned in the preview include the equally tragic Somerset Maugham Hour (nothing left of that either), Harpers West One (mostly lost), and Winning Widows, another sitcom, starring Peggy Mount and Avice Landone. This has just one of its 13 episodes left in the archives. Sad, sad, sad

I'll transcribe what the TVTimes had to say in its preview for Donald's show next time. As for Pauline, I saw her a few days ago, looking very beautiful, in Ghost Squad, the brilliant ITC series in which her husband also guest starred. This realisation should (SHOULD) inspire me to work on some screencaps in the not too distant future and keep this relatively unsuccessful thread going. Aren't there any fans of this once ubiquitous couple?

[wellendcanons]

Donald Churchill wrote a play called The Decorator. I saw it a few years ago at Buxton Opera House. It starred one of my least favourite actors regrettably, Leslie Grantham. He kept messing up his lines. It was embarrassing! Sabina Franklyn and Sarah Manners who were in support were both excellent. So at least something was salvaged. It didn't do Donald's play justice though. Donald's episode of The Saint called The Talented Husband is one of my favourite black & white episodes of the series, despite it's unlikely theme. It's similar to the equally unlikely Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) episode That's How Murder Snowballs. It's very obvious in both that it's a man in drag. Nevertheless, both are excellent in my view.

My favourite performance of Pauline Yates is in the Julie Walters film She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas. 8 women from different walks of life travel to the English lakes to test their outdoor skills, like rock climbing. All good team building stuff. It's a very humourous film and my favourite work of Julie Walters too. As well as Harriet's Back In Town, Pauline has also appeared with Valerie Van Ost in an episode of Strange Report titled, Report 4977: SWINDLE: 'Square Root Of Evil'. Pauline delivers a wonderfully beliveable performance in that episode.

As for daughter Jemma Churchill, the only other thing I recall seeing her in, apart from her episode of Midsomer Murders, is an episode of Murder In Mind called Swan Song. A very good actress just the same.

wec

[cornershop15]

As well as Harriet's Back In Town, Pauline has also appeared with Valerie Van Ost in an episode of Strange Report titled, Report 4977: SWINDLE: 'Square Root Of Evil'. Pauline delivers a wonderfully beliveable performance in that episode.

Strange-ly enough, I watched this less than 24 hours later as it was the next in line (production order). Pauline looked even better than she did in Ghost Squad, which I suppose isn't surprising as it was shot on film - and in colour. I'm more enthusiastic about screencapping this series than the inferior quality of the black-and-white, video taped show.

TVTimes preview for 'Bulldog Breed', broadcast 19th September 1962

The first episode was called The New Digs and also starred William Mervyn and Clare Kelly.

MAJOR new offering from Granada's Manchester studios is the new comedy series Bulldog Breed (Wednesday). Originated and produced by Derek Granger, the former producer of Granada's Coronation Street, it is scripted by two of the top television writers, Jack Rosenthal and Harry Driver.

Bulldog Breed is a half-hour series which takes a candid look at life through the eyes of an amiable young man called Tom Bowler, with a penchant for producing panic. Tom, played by Donald Churchill, lives in a semi-detached - "just within the smog belt of a provincial town."

From here, he ranges forth daily, ostensibly to work, but usually to provoke chaos and alarm among practically everyone who comes into even remote contact with him. When Tom Bowler takes a hand, great industries fall into confusion. Pillars of the community find themselves in compromising situations.

"Not that Tom is malicious or vicious," said Donald Churchill. "He just refuses to take life too seriously - the right attitude to take, in my opinion."

Comedy actress Amanda Barrie plays Tom's girlfriend Sandra. "She's a bit dizzy - something like me," said Amanda. "Like everyone else, she gets carried along by Tom's enthusiasm and then finds herself caught up in the most horrifying situations."

Inextricably entwined along with her in these situations is Tom's other friend, Billy, played by Geoffrey Whitehead. And helping to stir the plot more thickly are Peter Butterworth and Betty Huntley-Wright, as Billy's despairing parents.


The summary in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy, which I transcribed in my previous post, implied they were Tom's parents. I thought there was something wrong as the same book's cast details credited Geoffrey Whitehead's character as Billy Broadbent. It makes sense that Henry and Lillian Broadbent were his parents but what about Tom's? Maybe he was an orphan and they were like a mother and father to him? Coincidentally, Amanda Barrie's real name is Shirley Anne Broadbent.

That reference to 'smog' intrigues me as this was the same year hundreds of people died from its effects (even worse ten years earlier). It's reminded me of a photograph in a book I have called London in the Sixties, showing two women in London with handkerchiefs covering their faces. These days we have burqas.

The other thing that struck me about that piece was the still old-fashioned writing. When did people stop saying "ranges forth daily", for example? I am certain that within the next decade, by which time I started to read, much of the language used in 'Your Autumn Plus-Viewing' was rarely seen or heard. I'll try and upload the whole two-page article at http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/br...mories-tv.html soon but need to do this properly as it needs to be spliced together.

[cornershop15]

TVTimes listings for 'Harriet's Back in Town'

This was for Episode 8, shown 8th November 1972:


First posted at what turned out to be a thread for the elusive show:

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/br...early-70s.html
(started by supamum, identified by Euryale)

And Episode 84, broadcast 8th August 1973:

In between Hine and Harriet's Back in Town in Anglia's afternoon schedule was Two Old Dears, starring Joan Hickson and Wynne Clarke. This was a repeat of what was probably a sitcom but all I've been able to find is that Edie's Lovely Room, the only episode listed at LostShows, is "missing". As is almost all of Little Big Time

I should have mentioned this earlier but there is at least Good News regarding another of Pauline's forgotten shows. The first series of Eighties sitcom Keep It in the Family is now available on DVD. It's currently £8.93 at Amazon. An excellent price, but I would much rather buy the (hoped for) box set. You never know if these old series are going to progress beyond Volume 1, as we've discovered with The Brothers. Unanimously positive Customer Reviews so far, which is nice to see

Keep it in the Family - The Complete First Series DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Robert Gillespie, Pauline Yates, Stacey Dorning, Mark Stuart: DVD

[didi-5]

With DVD purchases you're damned if you do, damned if you don't!

If you wait for the 'complete series' rather than purchasing 'series 1' there might not BE a 'complete' release. So you end up buying both ... if you're like me.

Fascinating thread cornershop.

[cornershop15]

Many thanks, didi. It's become difficult for me to create threads for actors these days. I've been planning to do the same for two other couples for quite a while: David Bauer and Stella Tanner, and Delena Kidd and Gary Raymond. If I can make a good start, as I think I did with the opening post here, then everything will be fine. But the dreaded 'writer's block' needs to be conquered first

Regarding DVDs, comedies tend to fare a lot better than dramas when it comes to individual volumes being sold. The Brothers and The Fugitive still haven't got past the first series in Britain, yet most, if not all, of the sitcoms are released complete eventually. I have mixed feelings about that as I prefer Drama to Comedy. But I am happy that the second season of Keep It In the Family is scheduled to be released next month.

I've yet to do any screencaps from her Strange Report episode but this is a great publicity still:

As secretary Karen Rose in the episode SWINDLE: The Square Root of Evil (filmed in November 1968).

[cornershop15]

TVTimes articles, 30th August - 6th September 1980

Both Donald and Pauline appeared in sitcoms that week, each returning for the new Autumn season on ITV:





The complete* series of Spooner's Patch is available from Network - currently £30.62 - but not
Amazon, who at least have Series 1 & 2 of Keep It in the Family (£8.93 and £7.99 respectively).

*From Network's webpage (and probably the back cover of the DVD):
Three episodes of Spooner’s Patch no longer exist in the archives, and one is irreparably damaged. Writer Ray Galton kept
personal copies for himself and those episodes are included here, allowing the series to be presented complete and uncut.

[billy farmer]

A TV Times feature about Pauline Yates from the August 6th - 12th 1966 issue of TV Times.



A TV Times listing from August 8th 1966, the episode
referred to in the TV Times feature above.

[cornershop15]

You only just beat me to it with that one, Billy. I've been researching Dickie Valentine's shows from that period (The Beat Girls were his resident dancers) and noticed the same picture a few days ago. It's great, isn't it. On the left is an equally good one of Jennie Linden, which I noticed you posted earlier*. Well done.

*http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ac...ml#post2021997 (post #35)

I hope both these excellent actresses are well and in good spirits.