Robin's Nest

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Robin's Nest was a British television sitcom. It ran from January 1977 to March 1981 on ITV. Like it's two predecessors, the show was made for the ITV network by Thames Television

The show was a continuation of the hit series Man About the House and starred Richard O'Sullivan in the leading role as Robin Tripp who is living with his girlfriend Vicky Nicholls (played by Tessa Wyatt).

Richard O'Sullivan

1 Format
2 Other Characters
3 DVDs and Reruns
4 External links

[edit] Format

In the first episode Robin and Vicki, who share a flat over a Chinese take-away, discover that their landlords, unable to pay the rent, have disappeared and that the building is in danger of re-possession. It is the practical Vicky who comes up with the perfect solution: Robin should take over the take-away and convert it into a bistro (The "Robin's Nest" of the title). Robin could not afford to go it alone so he had to go cap-in-hand to Vicky's father, James Nicholls (Tony Britton), to ask him to be his business partner. Although Nicholls hated Robin (believing him to be beneath his daughter) he knew a sensible business deal when it was offered to him - despite his failings, Robin was a brilliant chef - and he agreed. Lots of tension and misunderstandings were to arise from their mis-matched relationship.

Creators Cooke and Mortimer had to get special permission from the IBA (the then governing body of Independent TV in Britain) to be able to portray an unmarried couple living together; especial concern arose at scenes in which Robin and Vicky were seen in an obvious state of undress in bed. In 1978, Robin and Vicky were married and later had a set of twins.

[edit] Other Characters

Other characters included:

the one-armed Irish kitchen hand Albert Riddle (David Kelly), who always broke more crockery than he cleaned, and who once asked Robin's culinary advice; unable to cook egg on toast, he asked Robin "How do you stop the egg dribbling into the bottom of the toaster, Mr Tripp?".
Vicky's mother (divorced from her father), would occasionally appear, played first by Honor Blackman, later by Barbara Murray.
Gertrude, Albert's girlfriend, played by ex-Crossroads actress Peggy Aitchaison. The late Peggy often said that it was a shame that Albert and Gertrude never married "There was so much comic potential there."

The show was remade in the United States as Three's a Crowd, a sequel to Three's Company—originally based on Man About the House—but was unsuccessful.

Star of the show Richard O'Sullivan wrote the theme music for the programme, which was performed by Brian Bennett.

[edit] DVDs and Reruns

Robins Nest was rerun frequently on ITV during the 1980's but during the early 1990's they stopped showing it. It was shown on Granada Plus and is currently shown on Paramount Comedy 1.

Unlike Man About The House and George and Mildred, Robin's Nest is yet to be released on DVD.