| Bootsie and Snudge | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | "Bootsie and Snudge in Civvy Life" "Foreign Affairs" |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Marty Feldman Barry Took |
| Starring | Alfie Bass Bill Fraser Clive Dunn (series 1-3) Robert Dorning (series 1-3) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 112 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Granada Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original airing | First run: 23 September 1960 - 20 February 1964, Second run: 16 October - 20 November 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Army Game |
Bootsie and Snudge was a British television situation comedy series written, in the early days, by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, later writers were John Antrobus, Jack Rosenthal, ventriloquist Ray Alan and Harry Driver. The show featured Clive Dunn, more famous as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as well as Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser. Series 1-3, 5 centred around a gentlemen's club called the Imperial Club, whilst the fourth series broadcast as "Foreign Affairs" centred around a British Embassy in Bosnik. 112 half-hour episodes were made, being broadcast from 1960 to 1964 and in 1974.
The traditional gentlemen's club in Britain has long been used for comedic purposes in films, usually because of the eccentric characters with whom it can be populated, and the arcane rules. The rule of absolute silence in the reading room, notwithstanding several old men snoring under copies of The Times, is a common feature of such comedy. Memorable moments include Kenneth Connor, in the film Carry On Regardless, being forced to mime "Your flies are open" to one of the members.
In the Imperial Club Bootsie and Snudge resumed their roles of snivelling skiver and bullying sergeant, with contributions from the ancient and always-bumbling dogsbody, Johnson (Clive Dunn), all under the tyrannical eye of the "Hon. Sec.", the club secretary played by Robert Dorning. The Hon. Sec.'s way of dealing with arguments was to drown out the opposition with repetitions of "Tup! Tup!", rising in volume until the other party stopped trying. Thus Bootsie's name for the character was "Ol' Tuptup".
In the early 1960s, the show was adapted into a successful strip cartoon in the British comic TV Comic.
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In 1964, a fourth series was broadcast as Foreign Affairs, and shows Bootsie (played by Bass) getting a job as a Security Officer at the British Embassy in Bosnik where he is joined by Claude Snudge (played by Fraser). Snudge not only thinks of himself as ambassador material, but also as usual feels justified in bullying Bootsie around.
The 1974 series sees the men reunited in a reversal of roles ten years later. Bootsie, now unemployed and living alone, has just won £1,000,000.27 on the football pools under the pseudonym 'Yilseb', devised to preserve his anonymity. Snudge is now a travelling representative of the football pools company who brings the lucky winner his cheque. As Bootsie has been using the name 'Yilseb' (Bisley spelled backwards), Snudge has no idea that the winner he is about to visit is his old friend, Bootsie. On discovering the truth, Snudge immediately gives up his job with the football pools company and appoints himself as Bootsie's pompous but subservient financial adviser.
Of the 112 episodes of Bootsie and Snudge that were made most still exist. However, the final episode of the first series, three episodes from the third series remain missing as of September 2011. These are series 1 episode 40 'Back Pay', series 3 episodes No 2 'The Rescue', No 5 'Soul Mates' and No 7 'I'm in a Dancing Mood', aka 'Carnet De Balham'. Six of the eight episodes of Foreign Affairs no longer exist; only the first two episodes exist in the archive as of 2011.
An episode of Bootsie & Snudge was released on "The Army Game Vol. 2" DVD in 2006 and again on "The Army Game Collection" in 2008.
The 39 remaining episodes of "Bootsie & Snudge - Series 1" have been released on DVD from Network. "Bootsie & Snudge - The Complete Series 2" still containing all 29 episodes is due for release in 2012, with Bootsie & Snudge - Series 3 to follow.
| DVD | Year(s) | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 1960- 1961 |
12 October 2009 |
| Series 2 | 1961- 1962 |
TBA 2012 |
| Series 3 | 1962- 1963 |
TBA 2013 |
| Series 4 | 1964 | TBA 2013 |
| Series 5 | 1974 | TBA 2014 |
| Series 1 to 5 Box Set | 1960- 1974 |
TBA 2014 |