Who likes 'Not On Your Nellie'?

Only saw this for the first time about a year ago. Bought the first series on DVD, and even though I didn't think that much of it the first time round, it grew on me watching it again.

Pity that the third and final series was a complete shambles, but nonetheless I am happy that I stumbled across this sitcom, and witness the great acting talents of Hylda Baker.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the actor Roger Howlett (Gilbert) in Not On Your Nellie is up to these days?

Would also be interested to hear peoples' thoughts on the above show.

I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as the high points of Nearest And Dearest, which it is an indirect spin-off of.

I have a vague recollection that as a child I regarded Hylda Baker with jaw-dropped incredulity. Christ she was awful. Not Peggy Mount awful, but still awful.

It was a toss up between this and Nearest and Dearest in my box set rotation, and went for this, watching now the first disc/series.

Not as funny as I remember (not that I was a fan of it originally), and of course, you wouldn't get away with a sitcom like this now, what with the token Pakistani (who works, according to Hylda on the Underworld Railway and there's a few "jokes" based on the colour of his skin) and an OTT homosexual couple, one of which Roger Howlett (see thread on him elsewhere), was one of the many mute stooges of Cynthia, "Oooh, she knows you know" on Hylda's stage act.
There was also a tall busty blonde barmaid (of course, Alexandra Dane in this series and Carry On etc ) who towered over 4' 9" Hylda and it was amusing to see her stand under Beryl's generous cleavage when calling time in the pub.

6/10

Definitely the worst sit com I've ever seen

Utterly dreadful in ever respect

Managed to get through about 4 episodes then wizzed the dvd in the bin

Tripe!!

Quote: lofthouse @ 31st January 2021, 12:09 PM

Definitely the worst sit com I've ever seen

You clearly haven't watched "Yus, My Dear"

No I'll take a pass

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 31st January 2021, 2:55 PM

You clearly haven't watched "Yus, My Dear"

Oh I bought that on DVD the other week. The worst sitcom I've watched by far is Mann's Best Friend with Fulton Mackay

Quote: Wheel @ 31st January 2021, 7:05 PM

Oh I bought that on DVD the other week

In case you weren't aware - Arthur Mullard apparently repeatedly raped his 13 year old daughter

So it's not just that the show is a pile of wank that I didn't buy it...

Hmm, not a patch on Nearest and Dearest, and looks like one of those that LTW "pinched" from Granada and then set about f**king it up..

Not that I've noticed, but on the IMDb it says that even a couple of episodes were a virtual copy of the original, which not only had the same name of Nellie, but also sort of replicating Walter (have you been?) and part of Hylda's stage act with a very tall camp man playing the dumb Cynthia (one of many, by the way, that included Matthew Kelly).

All the other characters, Asian LT worker, cockney window cleaner and the dumb tall man's "friend" are just cardboard stereotypes and lend nothing to the debacle - in fact, they are embarrassing imo.

The only eye raiser is that Hylda Baker was doing this much more physical character and stunts when she was 70 years old.

And nice to see Wendy Richard as the barmaid, replacing the one in this masthead photo.

I'm afraid it's one of a whole raft of comedies I wouldn't give the time of day.
Too much gurning and painfully obvious & dated gags.
And it's not just because they're old.
When you think in the same time frame Rising Damp, Fawlty Towers etc were being aired...
Much like today - the good stuff is always thin on the ground.

Another box set bites the dust - thank heavens! In this case.

God, this was a drag to watch, made worse by the final disc/series 3 when various cast members abandoned ship as it flounders in a choppy TV ratings sea of woe - finally ending with the very last (4th only) episode where Hylda was missing, owing to an accident she had in episode 3 ( where she appeared in a wheelchair), and then tried to sue LWT for damages, resulting (not entirely I suppose) in them pulling the plug on the series.

From then on, her health and mental state declined, dying in 1984, with the funeral attended by only 10 people apparently.

As for the final series, they had Jack Douglas playing a long-lost cousin who took the pub over and then when they lost Hylda in the last episode another cousin then came onto the scene, and Jack Douglas 1 has the same accident on a tandem (with me so far?), clearly the reason being to allow them to have the "original" Douglas (with his twitching character he usually portrayed, complete with flat cap, spectacles and workman's overalls, and the one-word catchphrase: "Phwaay!"); BUT nothing could save the sinking series.

This really was an abysmal sitcom, and apparently the so called "script writers" pinched ideas (one a complete episode copied!) from the better previous series of Hylda's "Nearest and Dearest" with Jimmy Jewel. Now, that series was quite good, and it's sad that Hylda should sully her career with this turkey, as she struggle with her lines.

Brennand and Bottomley penned large amounts of Nearest & Dearest IIRC, and Powell and Driver themselves were by no means above reusing their own scripts in other shows.

This show was an atrocity.

Any living people connected in any way with its creation must be hunted down and brought to justice.

The full force of the law must be brought down on anyone still harbouring any copies - be that VHS or DVD.

Only after this is done, can the world move on from one of the darkest episodes in recent human history.

Quote: lofthouse @ 25th January 2022, 7:09 PM

The full force of the law must be brought down on anyone still harbouring any copies - be that VHS or DVD.

I shall fight you till the bitter end (yours).