Culture, Taste and Contestation in British Television Comedy, 1961 – 1969 A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2018 Michael G. Potter School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Contents Figures 3 Abbreviations 6 Abstract 7 Declaration and Copyright Statement 8 Acknowledgements and Dedication 9 Introduction 10 Chapter 1: Morecambe and Wise: projecting and performing ‘ordinariness’ and challenging the ‘swinging Sixties’ 30 1.1: Morecambe and Wise and the projection of ‘ordinariness’ 37 1.2: Morecambe and Wise performing ‘ordinariness’ 49 1.3: Performing in the ‘Sixties’ 68 Conclusion 85 Chapter 2: Johnny Speight and the left-wing politics of race and immigration in 1960s Britain 88 2.1: Speight’s sitcoms and the problem of cultural integration 102 2.2: Speight’s sitcoms and the liberal ‘Establishment’ 121 2.3: The conservative response to Speight’s sitcoms 134 Conclusion 149 Chapter 3: ‘Look at us, we’re dregs’: Steptoe and Son’s challenge to affluence and modernity during the early 1960s 151 3.1: Steptoe and Son: Victorian poverty amidst modern affluence 162 3.2: Harold Steptoe: cultural capital and its lack 190 Conclusion 210 Chapter 4: That Was The Week That Was: deference, decline and distinction, 1962 – 1963 213 4.1: Deference 223 4.2: Decline 237 4.3: Distinction 246 Conclusion 265 Conclusion 267 Bibliography 274 Appendices 298 Word Count: 88,615 2 Figures Fig. Description Page 1 ‘Keep going you fool’ (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 44 1969). 2 Eric and Ernie at home (‘Think of Morecambe’, TV Times, 10 46 February 1966, p. 9). 3 Ernie's discussion of science interrupted by Eric and his bag (Two 53 of a Kind, 07 July 1962). 4 Hills, Green, Eric and Ernie performing Julius Caesar (Two of a 56 Kind, 21 July 1962). 5 Figure 5 - Eric and Edmund Hockridge both performing as the Red 58 Shadow in Desert Song (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 07 October 1968). 6 Morecambe thinks he will be playing the leading role (The 61 Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 7 Morecambe star struck by Cushing (The Morecambe and Wise 62 Show, 27 July 1969). 8 Morecambe in the wrong costume, parodying Cushing (The 63 Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 9 Morecambe laughs uncontrollably at the sight of Wise in costume 65 and his attempts at acting (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 10 ‘What a magnificent suit of armour’ (The Morecambe and Wise 65 Show, 27 July 1969). 11 Morecambe mistakes Guinevere for the Doctor (The Morecambe 66 and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 12 Wise consoles Cushing who claims his career is in ruins (The 67 Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 13 Front Covers of the TV Times and Radio Times promoting the 69 return of Morecambe and Wise’s television series during the 1960s (Clockwise from top left: ‘Cover’, TV Times, 27 March 1964, p. 1. ‘Cover’, TV Times, 20 January 1966, p. 1. ‘Cover’, Radio Times, 29 August 1968, p. 1. ‘Cover’, Radio Times, 24 July 1969, p. 1). 14 The Beatles with Morecambe and Wise (Dave Lanning, ‘The 70 Beatles get Wise (and Morecambe)’, TV Times, 10 April 1964, p. 7). 15 The Beatles on Two of a Kind (‘The Nation’s Favourite Beatles 72 Number One for ITV’, http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/72956-itv/, accessed 14 February 2018). 16 Ernie ‘with it’ (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 25 December 73 1969). 17 Performing on stage in front of tabs and a backdrop on Two of a 77 Kind (Left to Right. Two of a Kind, 11 August 1962. Two of a Kind, 01 September 1962). 18 Performing with the tabs on The Morecambe and Wise Show (The 77 3 Morecambe and Wise Show, 25 December 1969). 19 Eric as G. H. Elliot (the ‘Chocolate Coloured Coon’) (Two of a Kind, 79 14 July 1962). 20 Morecambe performing his famed Jimmy Durante impression 80 (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 21 Curtain call interrupted by Janet Webb (The Morecambe and 81 Wise Show, 27 July 1969). 22 Eric in drag as Marlene Dietrich (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 81 24 August 1969). 23 Danny La Rue before and after make-up (The Morecambe and 81 Wise Show, 07 September 1969). 24 Revisiting the old act (The Morecambe and Wise Show, 07 83 September 1969). 25 ‘Oggie’ the ventriloquist dummy (The Morecambe and Wise 84 Show, 25 December 1969). 26 The characters of TDUDP (Left to Right) Alf, (Warren Mitchell), 99 Else (Dandy Nichols), Rita (Una Stubbs) and Mike (Anthony Booth) (‘Alf Garnett will be played by Fast Show’s Simon Day’, Mail Online, 29 March 2016, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3513539/Alf-Garnett- played-Fast-s-Simon-Day-Till-Death-returns-TV-screens-ll-just- sexist-racist-misogynist-ever.html, accessed 22 May 2018). 27 Arthur (Eric Sykes) and Paki-Paddy (Spike Milligan) (‘Curry and 100 Chips – 1969’, British Classic Comedy, 01 October 2015, https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/naughty-but-funny, accessed 22 May 2018). 28 The opening titles of TDUDP (TDUDP, 06 June 1966). 125 29 Alf bursting with pride at the sight of Buckingham Palace (TDUDP, 126 20 February 1967). 30 Alf's portrait of the Queen gets splattered with ink (TDUDP, 20 140 February 1967). 31 Alf smiles and nods in agreement as he reads Whitehouse's book 145 (TDUDP, 27 February 1967). 32 Rita throws Whitehouse's book in the fire (TDUDP, 27 February 146 1967). 33 Harold riding his horse and cart back to the yard (Steptoe, 11 166 October 1965). 34 The Steptoes’ scrapyard (Steptoe, 17 January 1963). 168 35 The Steptoes’ front room (Steptoe, 17 January 1963). 168 36 Harold's stock costume (Steptoe, 03 January 1963). 172 37 Albert's stock costume (Steptoe, 03 January 1963). 172 38 Albert's best clothes (Steptoe, 17 January 1963). 172 39 Harold's dirty and unkempt clothing (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 180 40 Albert bathing in the front room (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 180 41 Albert eats his dinner in the bath but loses his pickled onions in 181 the water (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 42 Delia is horrified by her surroundings (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 182 4 43 Harold struggles to make a Manhattan cocktail (Steptoe, 10 183 January 1963). 44 Delia falls into Albert's bath water (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 183 45 Harold returned home from his rounds with a bath tub (Steptoe, 185 10 January 1963). 46 Harold admiring an article in Home and Beauty (Steptoe, 10 188 January 1963). 47 The Steptoes' bathroom (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 188 48 Woodworm has taken hold of the bathroom floor (Steptoe, 10 189 January 1963). 49 Albert bathes in the living room again (Steptoe, 10 January 1963). 189 50 Harold loads the chair for his study onto the cart (Steptoe, 07 194 June 1962). 51 Harold longingly considers ‘The Offer’ (Steptoe, 07 June 1962). 194 52 Harold's four battered books tied together with string for his pine 194 panelled library (Steptoe, 07 June 1962). 53 Harold's prized golf club (Steptoe, 07 June 1962). 195 54 Harold can't move the cart and therefore leave (Steptoe, 07 June 195 1962). 55 Harold falls onto the cart and starts to cry as he realises escape is 196 impossible (Steptoe, 07 June 1962). 56 Harold ponders what life would be like had his mother been alive 199 (Steptoe, 17 January 1963). 57 Harold admires his book collection which is organised according 202 to colour and size (Steptoe, 24 January 1963). 58 The upper-class antiques dealer comes into contact with Harold 203 and Albert who betray their lowly status with their appearance and Harold's failed attempts at Received Pronunciation (Steptoe, 11 October 1965). 59 Albert spots a promotional poster for Nudes of 1964 (Steptoe, 04 207 February 1964). 5 Abbreviations Audience research report (ARR) BBC Written Archives Centre (BBC WAC) Curry & Chips (C&C) Independent Television Authority (ITA) National Viewers and Listeners Association (NVALA) Steptoe and Son (Steptoe) Till Death Us Do Part (TDUDP) That Was The Week That Was (TW3) Transmission Date (TX) 6 Abstract The thesis makes three broad arguments about television comedies and their audiences in the 1960s. My research will highlight how comedy and responses to it engaged with debates about the perceived large scale social and cultural changes taking place during the decade. I challenge the dominant progressive narratives of the period and argue for a more differentiated and nuanced view of the 1960s. In so doing, first, I interrogate the characterisation of the period as post-Victorian and liberal and, consequently, challenge the extent of popular participation in contemporary social, cultural and economic change. Second, my thesis contends that British comedies were sites of cultural contestation where debates about taste and acceptable public discourse were conducted. Finally, I explore how social identity was constructed and challenged both in the texts and production of the comedies and in the audience response to these. Chapter One examines the comedy double-act of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise in their off-screen activities and in their television programmes Two of a Kind and The Morecambe and Wise Show. It argues that ‘ordinariness’ was persistently championed in all aspects of their self-promotion and representation. Consequently, their style of humour was premised on the deflation of all forms of cultural pretension. The chapter also highlights how the mainstream popularity of the duo challenges any straightforwardly progressive reading of Britain in the 1960s, grounded in cultural modernism.