Come Back Mrs. Noah

Although not quite the worst comedy programme in the entire history of English television, 'Come Back, Mrs Noah' is well down to the bottom of the barrel: rather surprising, this is, when you look at its credits. (The credits are the ONLY part of this series worth looking at.) The show was scripted by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, the comedy geniuses behind 'Are You Being Served?' and 'Grace and Favour'. The lead role of Mrs Noah is played by Mollie Sugden, who was so memorable (and funny) as Mrs Slocombe in those two classic sitcoms. But 'A.Y.B.S.?' and its sequel are prime examples of ensemble shows: here, Sugden proves she can't carry the comedy all by herself. (She had a similar problem in another Britcom, 'That's My Boy', in which her Oop North accent left her miscast as a homesick Londoner.)

'Come Back, Mrs Noah' has precisely the same premise as the grossly overrated 'Gilligan's Island': a motley group of characters are stranded in a remote place and can't get home. Imagine if 'Gilligan's Island' was set in outer space and Mrs Howell was the central character in every episode ... and you'll see why 'Come Back, Mrs Noah' is so dead awful.

Mrs Noah (Sugden, playing a role almost exactly like Mrs Slocombe) is one of several characters who are trapped in a space station orbiting Earth. This series runs up against the same problem that plagued 'Gilligan': in order to come up with new plotlines, the writers must introduce guest characters as visitors to the series' isolated setting (Mrs Noah's space station, Gilligan's island), and then the writers must figure out how to get the visiting characters out again at the end of the episode without rescuing the regulars. Who cares?

'Come Back, Mrs Noah' is stupefyingly unfunny. The 'best' thing about this show is its theme song, which (interestingly) is played at the END of each episode, not the beginning. Unfortunately, this theme song is just catchy enough that it lodges in my head every time I hear it, and it won't go away for several weeks. Whenever I want to watch any show that comes on immediately AFTER a repeat of 'Mrs Noah', I always make certain to skip the first minute of the show I want to watch, so that I won't risk hearing the theme song of this terrible show.

This one only last for one season (6 episodes) while Mollie Sugden was in hiatus from the long-running ARE YOU BEING SERVED? series. A rather notorious series, it was written and produced by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, who also did SERVED. It stars Mollie Sugden (Mrs. Slocombe) as a British housewife accidentally blasted into space in Earth's orbit while touring the latest British space station.

With her are a journalist (Ian Lavender), two of the crew (Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett) and a custodian (Joe Black). A sort of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND meets LOST IN SPACE, the series uses lots of topical jokes (a reference to the Thatcher Memorial in Moscow is quite funny) and lots of sight gags.

Done on the cheap, the series is very limited in its set design, but that almost works in its favor. The sight of Sugden flying around in a weightless environment or packed into an orange decontamination suit (How do we get rid of the contamination?) is quite funny.

Set in the year 2050, Sugden still looks and dresses like her famous Mrs. Slocombe character (minus the dyed hair) and she is firmly based in her working-class mum persona, despite the technological marvels of the age.

The series was a flop and Sugden returned to SERVED and stayed in the Grace Brothers store until the series finished in 1985. Also in the cast is Jennifer Lonsdale who would co-star in Sugden's THAT'S MY BOY series.

Knowles and Hewlett had also appeared on SERVED as had Diana King, Raymond Bowers, and Gorden Kaye, who all make guest appearances.

The giant techno chicken is hilarious.

This show might have only had six episodes but I found them to be hilarious. It's not often you find a comedy show set in space. Most shows in space are action adventure. What really made this a good show to watch was Mollie Sugden who portrayed Mrs. Slocombe in Are You Being Served?, as well as the constant innuendos that are played for laughs which I was able to get. This show could have lasted at least 2 or 3 seasons rather then just six episodes. Poor Mrs. Noah, how will you come back now? In the hearts and minds of those who will treasure this interstellar comedy show.

'Come back Mrs Noah' is completely forgotten. I remembered this with the recent death of the comedy actress Molly Sugden. For years the only bit I could remember was the credit sequence with the cast dancing on a planets ring in gaudy colored space suits. Not all David Lloyd's comedies were a success but this was the worst. Memorable for being the worst too. An oddity to be remembered for that. Apart from the poor scripts the worst part of this series is the wasted talent. Gordon Kaye, Sugden and Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett, and Ian Lavender from classic British comedies are in this and none seem to talk about this series. Ironically the cast play a crew trapped in some remote place unable to escape from there. That's how they probably feel about this. this series is in that category of worth seeing to see a car crash of great talent being wasted. See it once too believe that it was ever made. I give it 6 only for the acting talent in this.

I really can't say whether this was the worst BBC comedy of all time or not. I only vaguely remember the plot details and I can't bear to watch a re-run.

What I do clearly remember is the zeal with which the BBC promoted it in the run up to its premiere. This was going to be good (despite the clumsy title) - just look at its pedigree, cast etc.

Well it wasn't. I vaguely recall the typical wobbly low-budget sets; I certainly remember Molly Sugden declining to use fart-power under zero gravity (almost funny, if it wasn't embarrassing).

Despite being a dedicated fan of AYBS?, Dad's Army and IAHHM, i just couldn't take it. I cringed with embarrassment for Molly Sugden and Ina Lavender, trapped in that script! In the end I switched off before the end of the episode; something I never do to a comedy, it just made me feel uncomfortable.