Seven of One

SEVEN OF ONE was another 'anthology' series from Ronnie Barker, along the same lines as his earlier ITV series 'Six Dates With Barker', the premise being that each episode would serve as a pilot for a prospective series. It didn't quite work out that way, but since two of the episodes later spawned the hugely successful PORRIDGE and OPEN ALL HOURS, the hit rate was pretty good nonetheless. The episodes were as follows -

PRISONER AND ESCORT - An "habitual criminal" (Barker) is on his way to prison with two guards, the relaxed, personable Barraclough and the aggressive, authoritarian Mackay. My rating - 8/10

OPEN ALL HOURS - A miserly Northern shopkeeper (Barker) divides his time between applying the hard sell to his unfortunate customers, persecuting his naive nephew Granville and chasing the buxom Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. Keith Chegwin and Yootha Joyce have minor roles! My rating - 9/10

MY OLD MAN - An embittered retired train driver (Barker) is forced to move out of his council house due to a redevelopment scheme and live with his snooty son-in-law. An amusing culture-and-generation-gap comedy with a memorable cameo by Leslie Dwyer, later revived as a short-lived (and not very good) ITV series without Barker in the lead role. My rating - 9/10

SPANNER'S ELEVEN - A loud-mouthed hot dog chef and chauffeur (Barker) tries to save his cushy job as the trainer of England's worst non-league football team. Bill Maynard and Christopher Biggins have small roles. A good one-off but not really series material. My rating - 7/10

ONE MAN'S MEAT - An overweight businessman (Barker) is forced to go on a crash diet when his wife prevents him from leaving the house by stealing his trousers. Barker wrote this episode (under the pseudonym Jack Goetz) so it's not thin on laughs, but occasionally feels like an overstretched Two Ronnies sketch. Also stars Sam Kelly, Prunella Scales and Joan Sims. My rating - 7/10

ANOTHER FINE MESS - A pair of Laurel and Hardy impressionists (Barker and Roy Castle) find themselves wrapped up in an escalating series of events, and respond to the madness by gradually turning into their comic heroes. Well-observed and frequently madly funny, but it could be hard-going if you're not a Laurel and Hardy fan (I am)! My rating - 8/10

I'LL FLY YOU FOR A QUID - Barker plays two members of a Welsh family who will gamble on absolutely anything in this comedy about the confusion that ensues when the patriarch dies and nobody can find the winning betting slip (worth nearly £850) he never cashed in. Not really series material but a very good one-off. Also stars Richard O'Callaghan and Talfryn Thomas. My rating - 8/10

A very fine series in all, now available on DVD (though the lack of extras is a wasted opportunity) and a must-buy for Barker fans.

Ronnie Barker gave the fans two of the most popular characters in British comedy: Fletcher the crafty but affable convict and Arkwright the stuttering tight-fisted shopkeeper. For the comedian to act in and write seven different episodes with seven different stories, it is a testament to Ronnie Barker's gifts as a comedian and writer that he was able to create all those characters. After viewing all the episodes, I would say that the pilot episodes of "Porridge" and "Open All Hours" are the funniest. Everything fell into place when the comedian first played those particular characters. However, I also enjoyed "Spanner's Eleven" where he was the coach of the worst football team, the laughs are pretty good and a regular series should have resulted. "One Man's Meat" is fairly good but I reckon a one off episode is enough. The homage to Laurel and Hardy was OK and Roy Castle and Ronnie Barker did a good job as the legendary comedy team. The material wasn't quite strong enough though. The other episodes I'm not too keen on. "Seven of One" is the ideal opportunity to see one of the funniest and most versatile British comedians at work. His comic timing and his acting are impeccable and natural.

'Seven Of One' is best remembered as the series that gave Ronnie Barker two of his greatest television successes: 'Porridge' and 'Open All Hours'. But don't be fooled into thinking the remaining five are in some way substandard. 'My Old Man' cast Ronnie as 'Sam Cobbett', a cantankerous pensioner struggling to fit in with the modern world ( it later became an I.T.V. series starring the wonderful Clive Dunn ), 'Another Man's Meat' featured a sublime teaming of Ronnie, Prunella Scales, Sam Kelly and Joan Sims in this slight but amusing tale of an overweight man whose attempts to diet are taken to extremes, 'Spanner's Eleven' was a Roy Clarke script about a struggling football team, 'Another Fine Mess' a sublime evocation of the Laurel & Hardy movies ( almost as good as the real thing, in fact ) and, my favourite, 'I'll Fly You For A Quid' was about a gambling-mad Welsh family. One wishes they all could have been developed into series. A must for all Ronnie Barker fans. Pity that the D.V.D. release lacks the standard title sequence on two of the five episodes, though.