SMALL SCREEN THEME TIME (Part 3 of 12)
Welcome to the latest episode in this twelve-part overview of TV signature tunes across the past 60 years.
It's a massive subject, so I've homed in on three main types of programming: Drama, Sport and Comedy - and this week, we're back in the land of television drama. Last time around, we took an extensive look at police procedural and detective shows: this time, we take a look at shows set in the past and consider historical dramas and westerns. Whilst most of the examples used come from programming originated and broadcast here in the UK, it goes without saying that as far as westerns are concerned, they're all American productions. The focus is very much on the title music of the various shows and with appropriate You Tube clips supporting my notes and commentary, there is opportunity a-plenty for the memories to come flooding back. Or at the very least, to marvel at whether or not these tracks have stood the test of time. There's a lot to get through, so I've broken this episode down into two sections - the 1950s to 1970s (this week) and the 1980s to the present day (next week).
To bring yourself up to date, you can catch the first two episodes right here:
So whether you want to hitch up the wagons or head out for a spot of outlaw archery, you're tuned to the right channel.
DRAMA: HISTORICAL AND WESTERNS - 1950s and 1960s
These two genre types have much in common: they're both set in days gone by and although mostly fictional, have some grain of truth or reality buried within them. Historical veracity may not always be the uppermost thing on a director's mind, so particularly with the very early shows, we must allow both a degree of license and awareness of cultural mores as they existed when the shows were first broadcast. Certainly, many westerns would not find it quite so easy to be made today, even if it was a genre that had retained its popularity. Treatment of Native Americans - whether deliberate or unconscious - was often less than noble and old stereotyping generally rife.
As for historical dramas, many of them were based on novels, themselves written in somewhat less enlightened times, although it's fair to say that the more recent examples of the genre do tend to have writers and adapters who are fully aware of potential issues. That aside, there have been a good number of superb productions and some memorable signature themes. Let's also bear in mind that (certainly) in the UK, early TV dramas were often shot "as live" so there was little opportunity to correct mistakes or improve scenes - as those who have watched early episode of (say) Doctor Who can testify. Let's go back to the early days of the BBC and the post-Coronation world of the mid 1950s: what dramatic presentations were there to entertain and educate us?
The answer, sadly, is that other than some contemporary drama - which we'll look at in a future episode (Quatermass, for example), the BBC output tended to be worthy adaptations of classic novels by such as Charles Dickens. Few have survived in the archives - and thus signature tune access is nigh on impossible. As we've seen in previous episodes, it was the coming of ITV which brought a sense of refreshment to the airwaves. ITV was a network of independent regional stations that started coming on air in 1955, although it was several years before all parts of the UK had this second television service. The ITV companies had contracted a number of independent film-makers to produce new shows for them - and historical drama seemed to be very much the in-thing. The first and most fondly remembered was probably The Adventures Of Robin Hood, first broadcast in 1955 and running to an eventual 143 episodes through to 1959. The show starred Richard Greene as the outlaw hero and its thanks to the constant repeats of the show throughout the 1960s that the theme music has become so well known. Written by Dick James - who would later go on to form his own record label and sign such as Elton john to it - it's one of those tunes that is instantly recognisable (and in the 1970s, subject to parody by such as Monty Python).
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The Adventures Of Robin Hood
(ITV 1955-1959) |
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The Buccaneers
(ITV - 1956-1957) |
A year later, a sea-based adventure drama appeared - this was The Buccaneers and in its 39 episodes across 1956 and 1957, it was known for providing early TV appearances for fine actors such as Robert Shaw. Although aimed at a younger market, it was a popular show and its theme music clearly owes a debt to Robin Hood. As ITV stations continued to open, further historical dramas appeared such as Sir Lancelot (1956/1957), Ivanhoe (1958/1959 and starring Roger Moors in his first TV role) and The Count Of Monte Christo (1956/1957). A final burst of "classic" historical drama came in 1958 with The Adventures Of William Tell: it ran for 39 episodes and once again had a memorable - if derivative - signature tune composed by Albert Elms and Sydney Kay.
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The Adventures Of William Tell.
Complete with apple and
crossbow bolt.
(ITV - 1958)
|
The 1960s proved to be an altogether different sort of decade. The ITV historicals started to look a bit passe, a bit too like the serials from Saturday Morning Pictures and whilst they continued to receive repeat showings, the new decade demanded a new approach. Drama began to adopt a more contemporary and gritty feel to its programming, although there were still some interesting historical shows coming through. The BBC seemed more galvanised in the early 60s - even creating a drama that would enable its heroes to experience all sorts of historical events: this was Doctor Who - but as it involves time travel, we'll explore it in a later episose when we come to look at science fiction and fantasy.
There was one final pass at a series based on a classic book that we do need to consider; it was a French series, only ran to 13 episodes and was shown both in the USA and here in the UK: the BBC were the UK broadcaster and as the vocal soundtrack was almost completely overdubbed anyway, it was simple to swap the French version for an English one. The show? The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe - and a show that despite its short run, was destined to be repeated many, many times to come and thus allowing its theme music to be absorbed into the UK consciousness.
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| Robinson Crusoe (BBC - 1965) |
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Dr Finlay's Casebook
(BBC - 1962 - 1971) |
A BBC drama that ran throughout the 1960s harked back to the 1920s and 1930s and rural GP practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae. Based on the novels by A. J Cronin, this was the highly successful Dr Finlay's Casebook which starred Bill Simpson as the eponymous doctor. The BBC TV series ran to 191 episodes, coming to an end in 1971 - and during its run, a number of them were re-recorded by the original actors for radio broadcast too. The theme music - by Trevor Duncan - was a catchy tune that evoked a era gone by.
It was during this decade that the BBC started to gain its reputation as the producer of big costume drama - and they didn't come much bigger than the 1967 adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of novels concerning a well-to-do nineteenth century family: The Forsyte Saga. The series ran to 26 episodes and, despite being one of the last big dramas no to be filmed in colour, it clearly had money spent on it and also gave TV screen time to an array of classic actors such as Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Susan Hampshire and Kenneth More.The theme music was by Eric Coates.
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| The Forsyte Saga (BBC - 1967) |
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The Flashing Blade
ORTF (1967) |
Mention was made earlier of the French TV re-telling of Robinson Crusoe and one of the more odd (and often pleasing) features of children's TV drama in the 1960s was the import of a number of short European series. Most had new signature themes and credits applied in an effort to anglicise them, but from this blog's viewpoint, there were some interesting historical dramas that cropped up. The Flashing Blade was one such, a French programme from 1967, originally made as four 75 minute-long episodes which were re-edited into twelve near half-hour episodes by the BBC. The show was set in the early seventeenth century during the War Of The Mantuan Succession between France and Spain: the story-line involved the exploits of a French spy attempting to save a French garrison who under siege from the Spanish. It was filmed in colour and had an English theme tune by "The Musketeers".
Much of the remaining historical drama output in the 1960s tended to be short adaptations (such as the BBC's 1966 version of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield) or one-off dramas in various strands such as Armchair Theatre. The coming of colour television increasingly from 1967 made a real difference and several major programmes were commissioned and went into production.
The 1970s - just a round the corner - proved to be a popular decade for looking back, but before we get there - we need to turn our attention across the seas to the other strand in this section - The Western.
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| TV Westerns - How many theme tunes do you know? |
The Western was quite probably the most popular genre drama on television in the 1950s and 1960s. Mostly set in what was quaintly called "The Wild West", they told tales of the pioneering spirit of days gone by. Several hundred shows were produced - some memorable, many forgettable - and in listening to their signature tunes, a few common tropes emerge. Cinematic sound, open spaces, horns and strings, stirring tunes - and (it must be said) many that sounded almost interchangeable.
Here in the UK, Westerns were even more of an escapist exercise than they were at home in the USA: it's fortunate for our purposes that only a relatively small number of the shows made it to air over here, thus making the signature song selection a lot easier. Let's go back to the black and white days of the late 1950s.
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Maverick (ABC 1957-1962)
James Garner turns into Roger Moore |
The western genre was big in the cinema - be it through weekly serials or feature-length productions, but as TV set ownership began to increase after the launch of ITV, small-screen shows became very popular. An early and progressive series was Maverick starring James Garner as the eponymous anti-hero, a cardsharp who travelled the old west, playing poker and getting involved in all manner of adventures: elements of humour peppered the show. Launched by ABC in 1957, it ran through to 1962 and- for its final couple of seasons, Garner was replaced by Roger Moore before he transmogrified into The Saint.
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| Wagon Train (NBC - 1957-1865) |
Another influential show - so influential, in fact, that it later inspired Gene Rodenberry to use it as a basis for Star Trek (!) was Wagon Train, a series launched by NBC also in 1957. It was based on the 1950 movie Wagon Master and depicts the trials and tribulations of a wagon train as it heads from Missourri to California. The format allowed different locations and stories each week during its 284 episodes across 8 seasons - and it was this journey with a tight-knit band of people that the aforementioned Gene Rodenberry took and transported out into the far future aboard the starship Enterprise.
Two other shows which started in the 1950s also had some things in common with each other: both only ran for a single season; both were aimed at a younger market; both were very popular here in the UK. They were Champion The Wonder Horse (1955/6) and Casey Jones (1957/8) - oh - an they also had highly distinctive theme tune which I;m sure that readers of a Certain Age will recall very well indeed.
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| Casey Jones (1957/58) |
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Champion The Wonder Horse (1955/6)
(Known as The Adventures Of Champion in
its home territory) |
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Gunsmoke (1955-1975)
The longest running prime-time
drama of the 20th Century in the USA
635 Episodes |
There were three Western shows that dominated TV screens in the UK throughout the 1960s: one actually started in 1955 and ran right through to the mid-70s, one started in 1959 and the other launched in 1962. The shows - Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Virginian respectively - each had strong cast ensembles and that, together with strong story lines and regular *refreshment* with guest stars and new characters all helped to ensure their longevity. Gunsmoke - under several name variations - ran for a massive 635 episodes and starred James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon of Dodge City. It holds the record for the longest-running prime-time TV drama in US television history.
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| Bonanza (1959-1973) |
Bonanza wasn't far behind in the longevity stakes, it's fourteen year run from 1959 taking in 430 episodes. Of all the shows screened in the UK, there's an argument that says that this was the most memorable - a striking signature theme, several strong and memorable characters and an unforgettable opening sequence featuring a map of Virginia City bursting into flames.
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James Drury as The Virginian
(We never discovered his real name) |
Finally, we have The Virginian, a show mentioned briefly in episode one of this current blog series. It starred James Drury as the eponymous foreman at Shiloh ranch and many episodes ran to 90 minutes - a rarity in those days for prime time television. Supporting Drury was Doug McClure as Trampas and at various times, well-known actors such as Lee J Cobb, Charles Bronson, Harrison Ford and Stewart Grainger also had prominent roles. In its final year - 1973 - the series was re-titled Men From Shiloh and had a new theme tune composed by Ennio Morricone of spaghetti western fame.
DRAMA: HISTORICAL & WESTERNS - 1970s
Into a new decade, the 1970s, a decade of oil crises, three-day weeks and much change on the television front. It was a decade that saw the last flowering of the western, a genre that gradually faded as the 1980s approached, the final coup-de grace being delivered by the cinematic success of Star Wars. Science Fiction and fantasy quickly became the new drama-de-jour on TV and we'll explore that in more detail signature-tune wise in a later episode. As for historical drama, the 1970s and 1980s proved to be a *golden age* of productions with both the BBC and ITV in an unofficial drama-race to produce the best and most sumptuous looking shows.
It was the BBC who were first out of the blocks with two historical dramas based on key periods within the British monarchy: in January 1970 there were the half-dozen TV plays that told the story of The Six Wives Of Henry VIII - and these were followed up a year later by Elizabeth R. The Six Wives devoted an episode to each wife and starred Keith Michel as the king, cleverly being aged and becoming more cantankerous and difficult as the series progressed. It was also notable for much of the incidental music, a good stab at what music might have sounded like in the early 1500s - as played on historically correct instruments. Elizabeth R starred Glenda Jackson in a wonderful performance as Elizabeth I: it too saw six episodes, each running to 85 minutes. As the series continued the Tudor dynasty from Henry VIII, several historical characters - and their actors - were to be seen again playing key roles in the early years of the Queen's reign. As for the signature tunes, both aimed at a simple evocation of their respective eras.
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Keith Michel as Henry VII
(BBC - 1970) |
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Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth R
(BBC - 1971) |
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| The Onedin Line (BBC - 1971 - 1980) |
The year of 1971 also saw the launch of a new BBC drama series, one that would run for almost ten years and one that had a highly distinctive theme tune. This was The Onedin Line, a drama based in Victorian Liverpool and telling the tale of Captain James Onedin and the shipping company that he and his family ran. It featured Peter Gilmore as the captain and Anne Stallybrass as his sister Elizabeth and, it cannot be forgotten, another star was the sailiong ship itself, The Charlotte Rhodes which starred throughout the series until it was destroyed by fire in 1979. The theme tune - an extract from the "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia" from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Katchaturian - was so popular that it was released as a single and it enjoyed a degree of chart success.
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Upstairs Downstairs (LWT - 1971-1975)
The principle cast during a
World War I storyline
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Meanwhile, over on ITV, London Weekend Television had been planning a popular new drama series that was to be set in the capital during the Edwardian era. It aimed to feature life below and above stairs in a well-to-do household on Eaton Square and as Upstairs, Downstairs, became a widely watched and widely regarded series. It ran to 65 episodes over five years and also led to a spin-off show (Thomas And Sarah) - and a sequel forty years later, this time produced by the BBC. It was a show that also gained much popularity in the USA on the PBS stations - and this was to become a trend for many future UK produced historical dramas. The theme tune - composed by Alexander Faris - is one of those that instantly tells you which show it is within the first few sweeping bars.
The notable - and blindingly obvious - feature of theme music for historical shows is that the nature of the era can be evoked quickly and easily by the style and feel of the tune. There's also a certain sense of geography too with regional and national musical genres being adapted to fit the signature tune requirement. Two good examples of this relate to dramas set in World War II - one at home in the UK and the other, in a German Prisoner Of War Camp. The domestic drama was Granada TV's A Family At War, launched in 1970 and running for 52 episodes through to 1972. It borrowed an appropriately British piece of classical music by Vaughan Williams that suggested (perhaps) better days and hope that things would turn out alright in the future. The series provided key roles for some excellent actors - Barbara Flynn, Patrick Troughton, John Nettles and Coral Atkins being just a few.
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A Family At War
(Granada TV -1970-1972) |
The other show - which is of course Colditz - tells altogether a different type of wartime story, the incarceration of a group of mainly British officers in an "escape-proof" POW camp high on a rock in the castle of the series' title. Produced by the BBC, it ran for two seasons between 1972 and 1974 and it too had a high-calibre cast - Bernard Hepton, David McCullum, Jack Hedley, Robert Wagner and Anthony Valentine - but as it depicted a grim and possibly hopeless cause, the theme music was suitable stirring and threatening, although there was a certain cinematic feel to it too, a felling that perhaps, it might turn out "okay in the end".
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Colditz
(BBC - 1972-1974) |
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| I Claudius (BBC - 1976) |
Two 1970s dramas showed very different approaches to their identifying music, one being aimed at an adult audience an the other focused more on the younger viewer. The first was a series based on a novel by Robert Graves, a true landmark in TV drama - I Claudius. Covering the intrigue, politicking and ruthlessness of the Roman dynasty, it made a television name out of classical actor Derek Jacobi as the (initially) stuttering and naive Claudius - and he was supported in the 12 episodes by Sian Philips, Brian Blessed, George Baker and John Hurt. The music - by Wilfred Joseph - provided a low-key and genuinely creepy feeling that underpinned the dramatic storyline. The show has been lauded as one of the best BBC dramas ever made and watching it today, it stands up really well despite the fact that it was made on a small and very tight budget.
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Arthur Of The Britons
(HTV - 1972-1973) |
The second series - aimed at the younger viewer - was produced by ITV contractor, HTV: this was Arthur Of The Britons, an updated (and largely successful) attempt at bringing a contemporary and gritty feel to the legendary King Arthur. Set in the post-Roman world of Dark Ages Britain, Arthur is cast not as a strong and noble king, but a tough Celtic leader, one who wouldn't look out of place in a goth band and one who tries to forge alliances with all types of invaders. It ran for two seasons between 1972 and 1973 and whilst not historically accurate in terms of character, it certainly made up for it in production and story-telling. Oliver Tobias starred as Arthur and other leading actors included Brian Blessed (again) and Rupert Davis.
The theme music - by Elmer Bernstein - drew influence from TV westerns, but still worked very well indeed.
The mid-late 70s seemed to be awash with historical drama: whether this was a reaction against the grim economic and political times or merely a trend building on audience popularity is difficult to say. Here are a few quick snapshots at some of the series that took us through to the turn of the 1980s, a decade in which much was to change. The BBC produced most of the dramas in question, although there were a small number of interesting ITV shows which deserved a wider audience and greater praise.
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| The Pallisers (BBC 1974) |
In 1974, the BBC adapted a number of the political novels of Anthony Trollope as The Pallisers, a massive 25-part series which depicted the intrigue of government in the Victorian era: Philip Latham and Susan Hampshire had prominent roles as a titled couple and the theme music was by Herbert Chappell.
Next up, two more BBC dramas - this time both launched in 1976 and both destined to have decent runs in the episode stakes. The Duchess Of Duke Street, set in the first few years of the twentieth century, starred Gemma Jones as a "low born" humble servant who dreams of becoming a cook - and ends up becoming the owner of a high class London hotel. The second - set almost contemperaneously - was When The Boat Comes In, set in the (then) poverty stricken north-east of England and starring James Bolam as Jack Ford, a returning World War 1 veteran. Four series ran through to 1981. The two shows' theme tunes both created evocative sound-pictures of the era, one an upbeat 1920s number and the other, a traditional northern folk-song.
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The Duchess Of Duke Street
(BBC 1976-1977) |
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When The Boat Comes In
(BBC 1976-1981) |
The ITV offerings included a couple of royalty-based dramas and a very promising show about a Victorian cricket-playing amateur "cracksman". ATV produced the 1975 13-episode drama Edward VII starring Timothy West in the lead role. It also included Robert Hardy, Felicity Kendal and Annette Crosbie and was extremely well received - especially in the United States. Three years later - in 1978 - Thames TV moved forward a few years and dramatised the story of Edward & Mrs Simpson, a seven-part series that took us through the abdication crisis of 1937. Edward Fox and Cynthia Garris excelled in the title roles. Both had suitably regal pieces of theme music, albeit that for Edward & Mrs Simpson was somewhat tongue-in-cheek.. Sandwiched between the two was a single thirteen part series from Yorkshire TV based on the novels of E.W.Hornung that featured Raffles "The Gentleman Cracksman". Played in the TV version by Anthony Valentine, it was a shame it only ran for the that one season in 1977: I always thought that it had plenty of "legs" for future stories.
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Edward VII
(ATV - 1975) |
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Edward & Mrs Simpson
(Thames - 1978) |
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Raffles
(Yorkshire TV- 1977) |
A final couple of BBC shows in the late 1970s took very different approaches to providing a musical accompaniment to the past. One was a long-running series based on the semi-autobigraphical novels of a Yorkshire vet - the other, a sublime series starring Bob Hoskins as a 1930s sheet music seller. These were All Creatures Great And Small and Pennies From Heaven.
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All Creatures Great And Small
(BBC 1978 - 1990) |
The All Creatures novels - by James Herriot - had already seen a couple of big-screen versions before the BBC started broadcasting their adaptation in 1978. The chronology of the books was followed quite closely, the starting point being James Herriot's arrival in a Yorkshire Dales veterinary practice in the late 1930s. Over the course of 12 years and 90 episodes, the story unfolds through to the mid-1950s and starred Christopher Timothy as Herriott, Robert Hardy as his practice partner Siegfried Farnon and Carol Drinkwater (and later, Linda Bellingham) as Herriott's wife Helen. It was hugely popular - and the theme music certainly conjured up images of a simpler - and sometimes more difficult life - in the mid-20th century Yorkshire countryside.
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Pennies From Heaven
Landmark Dennis Potter drama
(BBC - 1978) |
Pennies From Heaven was altogether a different prospect, a landmark series penned by Dennis Potter. It only ran to six episodes, but paved the way for future dramas from the playwright that used the dramatic conceit of a lead character (or characters) bursting into song at various points, but clearly and effectively miming to contemporary songs from the relevant era. For Bob Hoskins as music salesman Arthur Parker, this series was very much the moment when he became a much sought-after and admired actor. The theme music was a 1936 popular song written by Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke, the version used being recorded a year later in 1937 by Arthur Tracy.
I mentioned earlier on that as the 1970s progressed, the "western drama" gradually faded away. Several long-running westerns finished in that decade - Gunsmoke, The Virginian and Bonanza - but, there were still bursts of activity that saw a handful of interesting shows appear and we'll conclude this week with a look at how the landscape looked.
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High Chaparral
(NBC - 1967-1971) |
The first is - strictly speaking - a 1960s series having started in 1967: this is The High Chaparral and included here mainly because (in those days) many imported shows started their UK runs a year or so later than they had done back home. It ran for almost 100 episodes across four seasons and told the story of the eponymous ranch and the ranching family that ran it, headed up by "Big" John Cannon, played by Leif Erikson. The theme music was suitably stirring and pretty much interchangeable with any number of other westerns.
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Alias Smith & Jones
"The most wanted outlaws in the west"
Ran for three seasons and survived the
death of Pete Duel who was replaced
for the final 17 episodes.
(ABC - 1971-1973) |
Our first 1970s western series proper launched in 1971 and was an immediate hit, combining action, adventure and a little bit of humour in its set-up conceit. The show? Alias Smith & Jones starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy as two on-the-run outlaws who seek an amnesty for any past misdemeanours from the territorial governor: he agrees, but insists that it be kept secret until it is *advantageous* to him for it to be made public. Needless to say, this leads to many story-lines where the duo appear to be on the verge of being captured, only to find a way to evade such a fate until the following week. The opening credits played this "deal" each week and the phrase "..until then, only you me and the governor will know about it - it'll be our secret" became the shows' watchword.
One of the most unusual westerns of all time appeared on our screens in 1972.
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| Kun Fu (ABC - 1972 - 1975) |
This was Kung Fu, another ABC series and one that ran for four seasons and 63 episodes. It starred David Carradine as an orphan born to an American father in Tibet: he was taken into a local monastery and across several years, was trained as a marshall arts expert. In adulthood, he makes his way to the wild west, ostensibly in search of his long-lost half-brother and uses his spiritual training and kung fu skills to ensure he avoids serious trouble. It's a journey in more ways than one - and the regular use of flashbacks to his Tibetan training creates a somewhat mystical feel to the series. The theme tune combines a "western" theme mixed with eastern elements and then segues into a reprise of Carradine's training and departure for the USA.
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Barbary Coast
No chance of William Shatner beaming out
(ABC - 1975/6) |
The final western we'll look at (other than occasional oddities that pop in later decades - and hence, in later episodes of this blog) is one that brought together an expert of the art, Doug McClure (from The Virginian) with no less than William Shatner, late of Star Trek. This was Barbary Coast, a single season thirteen episode show produced by ABC and perhaps a show that underlined the end of the western as TV had known it. The premise was a little like "Mission Impossible" set in the nineteenth century: the western feel to it was mainly the era and location (San Francisco), but the plot-lines involved battles against foreign spies and criminals.
The theme tune wasn't quite sure what it was all about - humour? saloon brawls? Quite catchy though.
And so, that's where we'll leave this episode: it's a big old thing this look at Western and Historical drama theme tunes. We've covered the first half of our brief - and next week, we head into the 1980s and through to the present day. Buried in there we'll have all manner of shows, surround-sound TVs, high definition film and digital televisions.
Join me then.
Alan Dorey
25th April 2014
Great memories and information Alan. Interesting to see the musical changes that reflect the tastes and instruments change from the 50's (heavy chorus/orchestral use) to the 60's/70's with the introduction/influence of the electric guitar. The examples really help drive home the point. Thanks (Debb)
ReplyDeleteThat's very true: the early stuff does seem to be very derivative of the cinema - as time goes by, there's more divergence, I think. As you'll probably notice, this *short* episode has expanded in size somewhat, so I've now split it into two parts, making ten for the whole series now. All good fun and memories.
Deleteabsolutely. This has been good fun so far. Since some of these series I do know like All Creatures, Upstairs Downstairs and of course a good many (but not all) of the westerns. You've taken on a monstrous task and made it bite size and enjoyable. Thanks Alan!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - about All Creatures and Upstairs, Downstairs: they were pretty popular in the USA, albeit on PBS stations. There are examples of both as complete shows on You Tube. Very pleased you're finding it good fun - I have too (and that includes the shows and themes that haven't made the cut such as Rawhide - the show that made a name for Clint Eastwood). I'll keep pressing on!
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