The Vital Spark

The Val Doonican Music Show

1977

Jeeves and Wooster

1990

Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, a young gentleman with a "distinctive blend of airy nonchalance and refined gormlessness", and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his improbably well-informed and talented valet. Wooster is a bachelor, a minor aristocrat and member of the idle rich. He and his friends, who are mainly members of The Drones Club, are extricated from all manner of societal misadventures by the indispensable valet, Jeeves. The stories are set in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1930s.

First of the Summer Wine

1988

Sitcom prequel to Last of the Summer Wine set in a small Yorkshire village in 1939 as Britain becomes poised for war.

Marriage Lines

1961

George and Kate Starling are a young couple navigating the humourous challenges of early married life, including financial struggles, job issues, and starting a family

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse

1968

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse is a British anthology of six half-hour comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion from 3 April to 8 May 1968. Of the six, two are lost.

The Adventures of Don Quick

1970

The Adventures of Don Quick is a science fiction comedy television series broadcast from October–December 1970, on ITV. Starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Lacey, six 50 minute episodes were made, shown in a 60 minute time slot. Based on the characters of Don Quixote, astronaut Captain Don Quick and Sergeant Sam Czopanser (i.e. "Sancho Panza") are members of the Intergalactic Maintenance Squad. On each planet they visit, Quick attempts to right imaginary wrongs, often upsetting the inhabitants of whatever society he's in. As of 2008, only the first episode exists, the other five are now missing. A technologically impressive 30 foot model spaceship was built in the studio for the series. However the first three episodes in a primetime slot failed to draw the required ratings so the last three were in a much later slot before the show was cancelled.

Mapp & Lucia

1985

Mapp & Lucia is a British television comedy, based on E. F. Benson's novels, beginning with the eponymous 1931 entry for series 1, with Lucia's Progress and Trouble for Lucia for series 2. Mrs Emmeline Lucas (nicknamed Lucia) has just moved to the small English town of Tilling where she comes into conflict with the social ambitions of Miss Elizabeth Mapp. Until now, Miss Mapp has led (and controlled) the social life of Tilling, but that was before they met Lucia.

Dr. Finlay's Casebook

1962

Dr Finlay's Casebook is a BBC television series that was broadcast from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's novella Country Doctor, the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s.

The Durrells

2016

In 1935, financially strapped widow Louisa Durrell, whose life has fallen apart, decides to move from England, with her four children (three sons, one daughter), to the island of Corfu, Greece. Once there, the family moves into a dilapidated old house that has no electricity and that is crumbling apart. But life on Corfu is cheap, it's an earthly paradise, and the Durrells proceed to forge their new existence, with all its challenges, adventures, and forming relationships.