No, Honestly

This is one of those TV gems you doubt will ever appear on video as it is so obscure, especially to the American audience. Thankfully, it is now available in the US and it is a pleasure to see this wonderful TV series again after 26 years.

Husband and wife John Alderton and Pauline Collins play husband and wife Charles (CD) and Clara Danby who have been married some ten years. CD and Clara tell (a studio audience) of their early days together (which are shown in flashback) when he was a struggling actor, and she was (and still is) a rather ditzy debutante, the product of even ditzier parents. With nothing much in common but love for one another, the hilarity results from their very differences.

Alderton and Collins had appeared together earlier in Upstairs Downstairs, and she of course was Oscar-nominated much later for Shirley Valentine. This TV series has been overlooked for too long, and is an absolute delight. The chemistry between CD and Clara is remarkable, because of the chemistry between Alderton and Collins.

The theme tune was a huge hit in Britain for composer and performer Lynsey De Paul. The show has aged well (apart from the fashions) and looks and sounds great thanks to Acorn Media which has provided us with this belated video edition. The picture and sound quality is stunning, and hats off to Acorn for not tampering with the show as it was originally presented. The London Weekend Television seventies logo is still there, much to the delight of us Brits in America. There is no self promotion on the part of Acorn, a company with which I am NOT associated.

Treat yourself to No, Honestly. You will not be disappointed. No, honestly.

My wife and I watched this faithfully in the late 1970's when it was shown on PBS and we were just married. We laughed throughout the entire 13 episodes. And we watched almost as faithfully when they were run again, because the show was so hilarious.

I can still vividly remember a number of the episodes, and like another reviewer, one that stays etched is the one where CD and his 'parents' are invited to Clara's for dinner, only he is basically an orphan but is ashamed to admit it, so he asks his current stage 'parents' to stand in. At the same time, Clara's family's cook and server are gone for the night and they have to hire temporary help. And then the stage parents don't show up. It is a laugh out loud show from beginning right up to the surprising end with mistaken identities played for all its worth.

The others I remember are their first meeting at a cocktail party where Clara was trying to read War and Peace, I believe, so she wouldn't have to meet people, and CD persisted to their shared enrichment.

And the one where CD tried to update Clara's wardrobe with a hilarious ending. And their honeymoon, where Clara was insistent that they appear as an 'old married couple'. (and the one where she faithfully ironed his shoelaces before he went on an interview)

John Alderton was good, but Pauline constantly stole the show with her appealing good humor, her smile regardless of what was happening, and her acceptance of most things at face value. You couldn't help but laugh at her, with her, and feel sorry for her at the same time, and just marvel in her continuing innocence and trusting nature.

Much of the humor is British and it may take repeated playbacks to catch the rapid-fire deliveries, but for fans of Pauline, and those who like silly innocent humor, it's worth every penny. No, honestly!

Ditto for all of the comments that have been made before about this delightful series. But these three tapes are about the first seven episodes. Get these first, because in January, 2001, Acorn Media will release the final seven episodes! Get your orders in early!

I vaguely remembered this show from the early 70's when I saw it on sale at a bargain price expecting mild amusement, however I'm very happy to say that it is a superbly scripted and acted show and is very funny. Pauline Collins plays the delightfully dippy Clara to John Alderton's CD (Charlie) who is much more sensible, and the two of them play superbly off of each other in the various situations that they get themselves into. I seem to vaguely remember that John Alderton didn't want to do another series, which is why they resurrected the same format as Yes Honestly with Liza Goddard and a new male lead the following year. It's a shame there wasn't more of these as I've seen much worse programmes have many series. Well worth a look, I got my copy from Network DVD's online.

Since Colin Wilson's review says much of what I had planned to say, I thought I might expand on some of the details. The reference to Burns and Allen is very apt but with a difference. Burns' timing to Gracie's inanities is slow, letting the audience have their laugh at her line before laughing at his reaction. With this Alderton and Collins, the delivery is rapid-fire; and indeed there are times when I had to ask my wife, "Did you catch that last remark?" because some of the zingers went by too quickly. And of course, those based on British idioms need footnotes for us Colonials.

As with Hyacinth Bucket's family relations, Clara's loopiness is obviously inherited from her parents, who will insist on misinterpreting everything they are told. Into this menage, Royal the super-Jeeves butler fits in perfectly.

The concept of chronological plots in these seven episodes is a good one from their first chance meeting to their (well, it was only 1974!) off-camera wedding night. And, by the way, their reason for not wanting to be known as newlyweds is explained--and fairly logically too, for Clara!--at the start of the episode.

The funniest two of the seven are those based on mistaken identity, that hoary device that goes back to Terence. The 3rd episode has C.D. arrive at his future in-laws just in time to be mistaken for the plumber with predictable results. The 5th episode is more elaborate, when an orphaned C.D. asks two fellow actors to appear as his parents at a dinner given at Clara's, just when her family has to hire temporary help to serve it. Once we accept the silliness of his not wanting to be known as parentless and the premise that no one in these scripts ever really tries to explain a thing in a normal manner, the results are not predictable at all; and this single episode alone is, I think, worth the price of the set.

Now if Acorn Media will only reissue these two wonderful comedians in the "Wodehouse Playhouse" series of "Mulliner" stories, life would be that much more perfect.