Comedy Playhouse
The first and most celebrated of all pilot and comedy trial seasons, Comedy Playhouse was originally devised to find new programmes for Ray Galton and Alan Simpson following the end of Hancock's Half Hour.
Famous comedies that started life in the Comedy Playhouse strand include Steptoe And Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas And Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?, Last Of The Summer Wine and Happy Ever After.
Clicquot Et Fils (1961)
Premiere Comedy Playhouse episode, starring Eric Sykes as a French undertaker in 1926, who conjures up a dark plan to increase business.
Lunch In The Park (1961)
After ten years lunching on the same park bench, office workers Geoffrey and Ethel are in for a shock.
The Private Lives Of Edward Whiteley (1961)
Period sitcom playlet about serial bigamist Edward Whiteley.
Steptoe And Son (1962)
Albert Steptoe and his son Harold run a rag and bone business. Harold wants to move on in the world and leave home but his plans are always thwarted.
The Reunion (1962)
A group of old friends find that their reunion has unfortunate consequences for all concerned.
The Telephone Call (1962)
If you are worried about the world situation pick up your telephone and do something about it? Lionel Baxter does... and regrets it.
The Status Symbol (1962)
Cyril Bradley tries to persuade his customer, Wilfred Swann, to park his Rolls Royce outside his garage in order to attract customers.
Visiting Day (1962)
There's always one patient in hospital who looks forward to their operation more than a visit from relatives.
Sealed With A Loving Kiss (1962)
When two people agree to meet after a long romance by letter, they find themselves caught in the web of lies they have spun for each other.
The Channel Swimmer (1962)
Clive is about to swim the Channel but is unaware that his manager is planning to make money out of him.
Our Man In Moscow (1963)
Sitcom pilot by Galton & Simpson, starring Robert Morley and Frank Thornton as the British Ambassador to Russia and his secretary.
And Here, All The Way From... (1963)
Comedy Playhouse pilot from Galton and Simpson, starring Eric Barker as a man brought from Borneo to his brother's This Is Your Life appearance.
Impasse (1963)
Famous Galton & Simpson Comedy Playhouse episode starring Bernard Cribbins and Leslie Phillips as drivers refusing to give way on a single-track road.
Have You Read This Notice? (1963)
Frankie Howerd-starring comedy by Galton & Simpson about a man plagued by his conscience as he passes through airport customs with an expensive watch.
A Clerical Error (1963)
Comedy Playhouse one-off starring John Le Mesurier as a conman who impersonates a clergyman upon release from prison.
The Handyman (1963)
Comedy pilot starring Alfred Marks as a highly-skilled worker stuck in a temporary job as handyman at an exclusive health clinic.
On The Knocker (1963)
Harry Driver & Jack Rosenthal pilot in the Comedy Playhouse series, starring Ronald Fraser as a door-to-door salesman with a unique approach to sales.
Underworld Knights (1963)
Comedy Playhouse pilot written by Trevor Peacock, starring Ron Moody as crime writer Vogler.
Fools Rush In (1963)
Major Humphrey Carlton has retired from the Army and finds that arranging his own domestic affairs is more meddlesome than he ever expected.
Shamrot (1963)
Sitcom pilot by Johnny Speight starring Dermot Kelly as angry Londoner Dermot. Despite having never visited Ireland, he adores it and loathes Britain.
The Bachelor Girls (1963)
Sitcom pilot about two young ladies sharing a flat in a fashionable area.
The Plan (1963)
Pilot starring Peter Cushing as Albert Fawkes, a man so sick of the significance of his surname he sets out to blow up Parliament with ex-IRA help.
A Picture Of Innocence (1963)
Comedy about Prestonian Arthur Berry, a man whose love for fine art is shared only by the insurance man, but neither his friends nor family.
Nicked At The Bottle (1963)
Comedy pilot written by Marty Feldman, starring George Cole as London's most crooked lawyer, Mossy Marcus, advising a client from a family of thieves.
The Chars (1963)
Sitcom pilot about a couple of cleaning ladies working at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, starring Doris and Elsie Waters.
Comrades In Arms (1963)
Comedy pilot starring Graham Stark and Fenella Fielding. A window-cleaner gets more than he bargained for when he accidentally witnesses an affair.
The Walrus And The Carpenter (1963)
Gascoigne Quilt & Luther Flannery meet in a graveyard. The two old men have little in common but Luther's sense of adventure leads them into scrapes.
Meet The Wife (1963)
Domestic sitcom following working-class northern couple Freddie and Thora Blacklock, a plumber and proud housewife.
The Mate Market (1964)
Sitcom pilot starring Lance Percival as a Mayfair socialite who runs a marriage bureau.
The Hen House (1964)
Sitcom pilot starring Beryl Reid, Barbara Windsor and Dermot Kelly, about the amorous but strict elderly owner of Khartoum House Girls' Hostel.
The Siege Of Sydney's Street (1964)
Roy Kinnear stars as Sydney Lord, a man with a highly attuned social conscience, determined to fight bureaucratic dictatorship wherever it may be.
The Mascot (1964)
Comedy Playhouse pilot. The new chairman of Northtown FC intends to change the club's image. Club mascot Arnold Birtwistle does not intend to let him.
Good Luck Sir, You've Got A Lucky Face (1964)
Marty Feldman-penned pilot, starring Graham Stark and Derek Francis as a sly match-seller who meets his match in an extortionate landlord.
Barnaby Spoot And The Exploding Whoopee Cushion (1965)
Comedy Playhouse special from Feldman and Took, in which joke inventor Barnaby Spoot plots ultimate revenge upon a joke shop that always rejects him.
Mother Came Too (1965)
Sitcom pilot starring Peggy Mount as the formidable and overbearing mother of Graham Stark.
Here I Come Whoever I Am (1965)
Bittersweet comedy pilot starring Bernard Cribbins as a shy and lonely 32-year old looking for love.
Happy Family (1965)
Sitcom pilot starring Ted Ray as the sole male in a family home full of women. Written by Sid Green and Dick Hills.
Memoirs Of A Chaise Longue (1965)
Spoof of feature film The Yellow Rolls Royce. Barry Took and Marty Feldman tell three stories from the long life of a chaise longue.
Murray And Me (1965)
Murray believes he can train his mind for practical purposes and he endeavours to teach his skills to young Tommy, a young boy he is looking after.
Till Death Us Do Part (1965)
Opinionated Alf Garnett reels off a string of misinformed, bigoted, reactionary opinions each week, to the chagrin of his family.
The Time And Motion Man (1965)
Kingsley Binns is a man who can't switch off from his job and that involves him trying to make everybody he meets more efficient.
Sam The Samaritan (1965)
1910 - when three long term friends and fellow stokers are let ashore, a bet over downing a pot of ale causes the friendship to be broken.
The Vital Spark (1965)
Captain Para Handy steers his famous puffer, the Vital Spark, up and down the Clyde, together with his motley crew.
Betsy Mae (1965)
Sitcom pilot about a childrens' novelist who holds distinctly stern, non-PC views about the young.
Beggar My Neighbour (1966)
Comedy of familial relations. Gerald is a poor snob, whilst his next door neighbours - his wife's sister and her husband - are well-off working class.
Judgement Day For Elijah Jones (1966)
Marty Feldman-penned sitcom pilot starring Clive Dunn and Bernard Cribbins as a pair of sandwich-board men convinced the apocalypse is nigh.
Room At The Bottom (1966)
First sitcom from Bob Larbey and John Esmonde, set in the maintenance room basement of a large company's head office tower block.
The End Of The Tunnel (1966)
Comedy Playhouse pilot by Richard Waring. George Cole stars as affluent City businessman Charles, who's left suddenly single when his wife walks out.
Seven Year Hitch (1966)
Sitcom pilot from the writer of The Larkins, starring Harry H Secombe and Joan Sims as the pompous owner of a poor dance school and his wife.
The Whitehall Worrier (1966)
The corridors of power have never been the safest of places, but for one minister there are an unusual amount of booby traps.
The Reluctant Romeo (1966)
Sitcom starring Leslie Crowther as the engaged and unwillingly irresistible-to-women advertising executive Tom Jones.
All Gas And Gaiters (1966)
The fictional St. Ogg's Cathedral is the setting for a good natured look at life among the clergy.
Hughie (1967)
Sitcom pilot starring Hugh Lloyd as a man who's grown so accustomed to prison life that, after a 10 year stretch, he's desperate to get back inside.
Not In Front Of The Children (1967)
The domestic bliss of "oldly-weds" Jennifer and Henry Corner and their three young children.
Spanner In The Works (1967)
Comedy Playhouse pilot starring Norman Rossington and Jimmy Jewel as the boss of a small engineering company and the workers' union shop-steward.
Heirs On A Shoestring (1967)
Comedy pilot starring Jimmy Edwards and Clive Dunn as nephew and elderly uncle. James believes he stands to inherit a lot, but then a new heir arrives.
Uncle Fred Flits By (1967)
PG Wodehouse adaptation starring Wilfred Hyde White as the eponymous Uncle Fred, the Earl of Ickenham.
Loitering With Intent (1967)
Comedy Playhouse pilot starring David Tomlinson as socially conscious 'green' cause lover Charles Pinfold, whose values are put sorely to the test.
To Lucifer - A Son (1967)
Sitcom pilot starring John Le Mesurier as Lucifer, long weary of the underworld, and Jimmy Tarbuck as Nick, his ambitious son.
The Old Campaigner (1967)
Sitcom following womaniser James Franklin-Jones (Terry-Thomas), an international salesman who uses his business trips to search for beautiful women.
Current Affairs (1968)
Unbroadcast Comedy Playhouse sitcom pilot about staff at an electrical power station.
State Of The Union (1968)
Sitcom pilot and first acting role for comedian Les Dawson, playing trade union secretary Les.
Wink To Me Only (1968)
Sitcom about a married couple who are each others' polar opposite, but a perfect match together and solve a series of problems in bizarre ways.
Thicker Than Water (1968)
Sitcom about a widowed fishmonger whose life is dominated by his three unmarried adult daughters, and husband-hunting next-door neighbour.
Stiff Upper Lip (1968)
Cold War comedy pilot by Barry Took, based on novelist Lawrence Durrell's tales of diplomatic mishaps at British embassies across the globe.
Wild, Wild Women (1968)
Period variation on The Rag Trade, starring Barbara Windsor as the leader of female workers at a milliner's in 1902.
Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam (1968)
Comedy about a leading Cockney busker who sets up a rival group after an argument with the other three members of his existing quartet.
B-And-B (1968)
The arrival of a pretty au pair has an explosive effect on a successful TV family's life.
Me Mammy (1968)
Sitcom starring Milo O'Shea as Bunjy Kennefick, living the bachelor life as a top London business executive, and his very traditional Irish mother.
The Gold Watch Club (1968)
A Comedy Playhouse presentation about Edward Wilkins, whose vision of retirement turns out to be rather different than the reality.
The Valley Express (1969)
Reg and Stan are local reporters in Wales who make up stories and sell them to Fleet Street. They are in for a shock when they are taken seriously.
Tooth And Claw (1969)
Comedy from Marty Feldman and Barry Took, starring Feldman and Warren Mitchell as a pair of rival Jewish multi-millionaires.
As Good Cooks Go (1969)
A travelling cook turns a run down transport cafe into a fashionable restaurant.
The Loves Of Larch Hill (1969)
Sitcom about an eccentric family who live in a quiet, conservative community - much to the annoyance of their neighbours.
The Making Of Peregrine (1969)
Dick Emery sitcom pilot written by Marty Feldman and Barry Took. Stanley Mold attempts to make a man out of drippy son Peregrin.
The Liver Birds (1969)
Sitcom exploring the lives and loves of two young, single females sharing a flat together in Liverpool.
Joint Account (1969)
A Comedy Playhouse presentation starring Keith Barron in a tale of domestic disharmony with a radical solution.
The Jugg Brothers (1970)
A Comedy Playhouse written by and starring Bob Grant and Stephen Lewis as brothers who work in a block of flats as caretakers.
An Officer And A Gentleman (1970)
A Comedy Playhouse starring James Grout as a military man finding it hard to embrace civilian life without the help of his faithful Army batman.
Who's Your Friend? (1970)
Sitcom pilot starring Bernard Cribbins as a professional male escort, also with Frank Thornton and Maggie Fitzgibbon.
Better Than A Man (1970)
Sitcom pilot starring Sheila Hancock as a self-made woman who overcomes sexism to become the managing director of the company her father works for.
That's Your Funeral (1970)
Basil Bulstrode is pompous, grouchy and stubborn - he's also an undertaker who loves his work.
Mind Your Own Business (1970)
Pilot about a family of Cockney struggling window cleaners with one white and one black son.
The Old Contemptible (1970)
Keith Waterhouse sitcom pilot about a First World War survivor attempting to instil a sense of old-fashioned values to modern world.
Don't Ring Us... We'll Ring You (1970)
A Comedy Playhouse revolving around the Northern working men's clubs and two agents who find a rich, new boy has hit town.
Meter Maids (1970)
Sitcom pilot starring Barbara Windsor, Joan Sanderson and Pat Coombs as female traffic wardens.
Under And Over (1971)
Three Irish labourers spend their lives digging away on the Waterloo tunnel.
Uncle Tulip (1971)
The first ethnic minority sitcom on British television. This pilot follows Uncle Tulip, a middle-aged Kenyan Sikh looking after his niece and nephew.
It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling... (1971)
London flatshare sitcom based around a group of girls from well-off backgrounds.
The Importance Of Being Hairy (1971)
Satirical comedy pilot set at the new, left-wing University of Wessex.
Now Take My Wife (1971)
A married couple struggle with the age-old problem of coping with the adolescent behaviour of their teenage daughter.
Idle At Work (1972)
Sitcom pilot written by Graham Chapman and Bernard McKenna, starring Ronnie Barker as George Idle.
Born Every Minute (1972)
Sitcom pilot starring James Beck and Ronald Fraser as a pair of con men working together but rivals for a girl.
The Dirtiest Soldier In The World (1972)
Pilot based on George Macdonald Fraser's book The General Dances At Dawn, about a Highlands battalion and Private McAuslan.
Weren't You Marcia Honeywell? (1972)
Comedy Playhouse pilot starring Betty Marsden and Hugh Paddick as a once-famous romantic singing duo, Marcia Honeywell and Bernard Hooper.
Are You Being Served? (1972)
Sitcom set in London department store Grace Bros., where the Ladies' Intimate Apparel and Men's Ready To Wear departments are forced to share a floor.
The Rescue (1973)
Comedy Playhouse pilot about a man who tries to commit suicide and the problems he causes his rescuer.
Elementary, My Dear Watson (1973)
Sherlock Holmes finds Edwardian solutions to problems in 1973.
The Gordon Peters Show (1973)
Sitcom starring stand-up comic Gordon Peters as a bewildered loner who's at constant odds with the world around him.
Home From Home (1973)
When Bill's wife leaves him to become a traffic warden - she makes him her most frequent victim.
Bird Alone (1974)
Sitcom pilot starring Liz Smith and Yootha Joyce, recorded for the 15th series of Comedy Playhouse on 2nd April 1974 but never broadcast.
No Strings (1974)
Carla Lane-penned sitcom about Derek and his new, quirky flatmate Leonora, and their burgeoning relationship.
Franklyn And Johnnie (1974)
Pilot starring Ronnie Barker and Geoffrey Bayldon as life-long rivals given the opportunity to bury the hatchet at the one mutual friend's funeral.
Howerd's History Of England (1974)
Period sketch show starring Frankie Howerd and Patrick Newell. A Comedy Playhouse pilot.
Happy Ever After (1974)
Now that all the children have left, Terry and June Fletcher can look forward to doing all the things they have planned - until Aunt Lucy arrives.
The Dobson Doughnut (1974)
Comedy Playhouse pilot starring Milo O'Shea as Henry Medway, newly retired and an aspiring round-the-world yachtsman.
It's Only Me - Whoever I Am (1974)
Roy Clarke sitcom pilot starring David Jason as Quentin, a young man from Rochdale struggling to becoming his own person under his mother's gaze.
The Last Man On Earth (1974)
Post-apocalyptic Galton & Simpson sitcom pilot about a man and his mother who find everyone else in the world has vanished.
Sitting Pretty (1974)
Sitcom pilot from the writers of All Gas And Gaiters. As an existing tenant, Jo Ransley (Una Stubbs) enjoys quite a protected status.
Pygmalion Smith (1974)
A Comedy Playhouse pilot, written by Roy Clarke and starring Leonard Rossiter.
A Girl's Best Friend (1974)
A 1974 sitcom pilot about a mother who shares her daughter's boyfriends. Broadcast as part of the Comedy Playhouse series.
The Reverent Wooing Of Archibald (1974)
Sitcom pilot based on the stories of PG Wodehouse. Archibald Mulliner is a feckless young chap but determined to woo Aurelia Cammerleigh.
The Rough With The Smooth (1971)
The misadventures of two bachelor flat mates working on a terrible radio serial. One's an east Londoner, the other an old Etonian.
Mr Big (1974)
Eddie finds that if he's planning a bank job or robbing the local post office it is probably not a good idea to involve the rest of his family.
Last Of The Summer Wine (1973)
Gentle sitcom following a group of pensioners living in Yorkshire. This show was Britain's longest-running TV sitcom.
Over To Bill (2014)
Sitcom pilot starring Hugh Dennis as a weatherman who gets fired and then finds getting back on TV is much harder than he expected.
Comedy Playhouse: Where It All Began (2014)
A documentary looking back at the original BBC Comedy Playhouse pilot strand, featuring contributions from some of those involved.
Mountain Goats (2014)
Studio audience sitcom about a ragtag family of Mountain Rescue volunteers.
Monks (2014)
Studio audience sitcom pilot about a group of monks who definitely do not live together in peace and harmony.
Hospital People (2016)
Mockumentary in which Tom Binns plays various characters who are working in a hospital.
Broken Biscuits (2016)
Comedy following five disparate groups of people, friends, partners and parents, observing their everyday lives as their little stories unfold.
Stop/Start (2016)
Sitcom about three marriages in various states of disrepair, written by and starring Jack Docherty.
Tim Vine Travels Through Time (2017)
Comedy in which antique dealer Tim Vine travels through time on various errands, meeting historical figures in the process.
Static (2017)
Studio audience sitcom about a man who jacks in a job in London to move back in with his parents.
Bumps (2020)
A cross-generational comedy starring Amanda Redman in a whole new spin on family dynamics.