Don't Forget to Write!

I remember this very fondly, not least because my friends thought George Cole's family in it resembled my own. It also appeared in the Financial Times' TV critic's list of the 10 best sitcoms ever made. Apparently it's pretty strongly autobiographical, with George Cole playing the 'Charles Wood' character and Francis Matthews Wood's real-life neighbour Peter Nichols.

There were some exceptionally droll setpieces in it, including a scene where George Cole goes through all the motions of shaving while trying to hold a conversation but entirely fails to get the razor onto his face. I also remember the son having a probation officer who was about 19 and would just go to his room and listen to records with him.

Cole's character spends much of the two series with writer's block and at one point bemoans the fact that he is forced to make ends meet by knocking out episodes of a sitcom based on his own family.

It was also (along with Alan Plater's "Middlemen") one of the best showings by Francis Matthews who seemed set to become a big comedy star but dropped out of view somewhat after this.

I agree the BBC should repeat this series without delay (ideal for BBC4), or better still put it out on a DVD.

The most wonderful thing about this wonderful series is that it was broadcast with no moronic audience soundtrack - neither real nor manufactured. There was no canned laughter. The real live audience was allowed to listen for itself and react accordingly. Was this the last time on British television that this happened ? I rather think so. I must confess to being very depressed that only one of the preceding comments mentions this - but on the other hand I am reassured that at least one other person remembers. I was starting to doubt my own memory. I confess that I only saw the first series - thankfully all of it, devotedly, despite working swing shifts at the time which made any TV watching very difficult. However for the same reason I was totally unaware until half an hour ago that there had ever been a second series. Maybe that did have a laughter track - who knows?

I also remember this show very fondly. George Cole's character was perpetually blocked and his best friend Francis Matthews was always very successful and prolific. George Cole and Francis Matthews were VERY good in this show, but I adored the late great Gwen Watford as his wife.

I can't remember what her catch phrase was exactly, but every time George Cole's character explained WHY he'd gone to such lengths to avoid any work and cause huge upset in the household, she's deliberately under-react. "Yes, I see" she would say, very angry and about to explode, but not till she got out of earshot. She put over the exasperation very well. Wish I could remember the exact phrase but it was priceless...

I do miss Gwen. She was very sexy in this role, despite being middle aged. All around wonderful show. PLEASE put it on DVD as soon as possible.

This I rate as the best TV sit-com ever. Since finding out about the parallel with reality, a re-run would be most interesting. The quietness, dryness and intelligence of the wit made this stand above anything else at that time. It is difficult to compare against later TV programs (time/memory) and there have been only one of two good contenders for best situation comedy; the rest, I find, range from just bearable to simply unwatchable. The most mediocre seem to be repeated ad nauseam. We Missed the 2nd series. I didn't know there as a 2nd series until now, after reading the other reviews. This makes it more important for me, to get access to the series. Surely after George Coles sad demise a rerun should be broadcast or, at least, a DVD. Someone at BBC wake-up, PLEASE

This was a TV comedy series, but it was produced by the BBC's drama department, not its comey department; hence, each episode ran 50 minutes, not half-and-hour, and there was no audience or laugh track. Charles Wood wrote it, and part of the fun lay in our wondering how much of it was based on his own life, as the hero, Gordon Maple, described as a "lesser-known English dramatist", makes most of his money by writing screenplays for films which are never made. Throughout the first series, he was toiling away at a script called "Thundering Hooves", whilst coping with his near-hysterical wife (Gwen Watford) and oddball children, not to mention his neighbour, best friend and deadliest rival, a very successful playwright indeed, allegedly based on Wood's real-life neighbour and friend Peter Nichols. The friend (Francis Matthews) is said to be the author of a play called "Soldiers In Spurts" - Nichols had recently written "Privates On Parade"; Gordon is said to be the author of plays called "Elephant" and "Dog" - Wood had written a play called "Dingo". The first series also featured a famous actor-knight clearly based on John Gielgud, who had starred in Wood's script for "The Charge Of The Light Brigade". By episode six of the first series, Wood seemed to have deliberately written himself into a corner to avoid a second series, but a second series nonetheless appeared in 1979. It was very nearly as brillaintly funny and original as the first, but the BBC have never repeated either. Why not? More people should know it.