Seventies’ Comedy Classics

More fondly-remembered TV characters and programmes form the content of this update, with representations/remediations of images featuring landlord Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter) and one of his tenants, Miss Jones (Frances de la Tour), from the sitcom ‘Rising Damp’, Rossiter in his other iconic comic role of the mid-to-late 1970s as Reginald Perrin in ‘The Fall and Rise of…’ and the cast of ‘The Good Life’, featuring the Goods, Barbara and Tom (Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers), and the Leadbetters, Margo and Jerry (Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington), all of which have gone down in the annals of British television history.

The sequence of links here is, obviously, Rossiter – Rossiter and another character, Tom Good who, like Reggie Perrin, opted-out of the stifling 9 – 5 rat race.  Interestingly, Leonard Rossiter also has a link to the subject of an earlier drawing in the Seventies project, as he played the role of Mr Shadrack in the original 1960s cinematic representation of ‘Billy Liar’, although of course the project’s Billy is from the 1970s television adaptation.

During their time in the mid-1970s, prior to the advent of video recorders – or at least these being the norm in many homes – and, now, ‘catch-up’ streaming services and multiple ‘nostalgia’ channels broadcasting such shows in heavy rotation, these programmes were a once-a-week and ‘only opportunity’ treat, an event the whole family would gather before for an amusing half hour and it’s interesting to recall that aspect of society and culture, a significant part of one’s growing-up.

‘Rising Damp’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

‘(The Fall and Rise of) Reginald Perrin’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/30 x 42cm

‘The Good Life’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

Post-Yuletide Update

One of the benefits of the holiday-from-the-day-job season, at least in academic circles, is a two-week break that, among other things, allows more quality time, some of it even during daylight hours, to get some painting and/or drawing done, and this year I’ve used such opportunity to continue with the Seventies project.

The first drawing to be processed follows on from the previous one of ‘The Protectors’ in that it features a pair of representations of the picture sleeves of the 7″ vinyl record of Tony Christie‘s ‘Avenues and Alleyways’, which song provided the memorable theme tune to that particular television series. This still life is in fact something of a concoction, with images of the respective record covers sourced from the internet, drawn from prints of the images and then transformed into objects with reference to an arrangement of two physical 7″ single records in picture covers, the random choice of which, in terms of the music contained within, are individually and collectively about as far from the Christie song and production as it’s possible to imagine, even if all three are enduring classics of their kind!

‘Tony Christie “Avenues and Alleyways” 7-inch Picture Sleeves’

 coloured pencil and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/

42 x 30cm

still life composition for ‘Avenues and Alleyways’, featuring the 7″ picture sleeves of Cabaret Voltaire’s ‘Nag Nag Nag’ and the Gang of Four’s ‘Damaged Good’ EP

After ‘The Protectors’, one remembers the capers of Roger Moore and Tony Curtis as Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde, ‘The Persuaders!’ and the private detective team of ‘Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)’ as played by Mike Pratt (on the right of the image represented in the drawing) and Kenneth Cope in white-suited ‘ghost’ mode, both of which series obviously kept me interested and entertained enough to remain in the memory bank.

‘The Persuaders!’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

‘Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

‘Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)’ was remade in the 1990s starring north east Surrealist duo Vic Reeves (Jim Moir) and Bob Mortimer and this geographical and regional accent fact inspires thoughts of the Newcastle-set ‘Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?’, which was a 1970s sequel to the original Sixties British television sitcom ‘The Likely Lads’, both starring James Bolam and Rodney Bewes, and also spawned a feature film that I recall with more clarity than others and again featured a memorable theme song including the lyric “It’s the only thing to look forward to, the past”, of particular resonance in the context of the Seventies project! The Likely Lads certainly seems to have remained an enduring favourite, a significant part of British popular culture and represents a vivid marker of its times.

‘Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

‘Billy Liar’ is a fictional character who’s long held a place in my affections, via Keith Waterhouse’s novel (and its ‘…on the Moon’ sequel) and the 1960s film starring Tom Courtney in the title role, who I always ‘imagine’ since, but I have a dimmer recollection of my first exposure being in fact a Seventies’ sitcom production, thus the drawing below features the actor Jeff Rawle in the eponymous role, represented as one of Billy’s heroic imaginary alter-egos, the President of Ambrosia or somesuch.

‘Billy Liar’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/30 x 42cm

Finally, another sitcom dreamer, ‘Citizen Smith’, as played by Robert Lindsay, one of whom’s revolutionary rallying cries, “Power to the People”, seems so grimly ironic  in the light of the recent UK General Election resulting in the grotesque travesty of ‘the People’s PM’ representing ‘the People’s Government’, having been returned by a significant enough proportion of an ignorant and deluded electorate – I could rant on at inordinate length of my disgust and fear at the turn of political events in the UK but will end for now and remain focused on the creative, for it’s all we have left.

‘Citizen Smith’

graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/30 x 42cm