Robin's Nest

Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton as her father. It was made by Thames Television and aired on ITV.

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 can not afford to go it alone so he has to go cap-in-hand to Vicky's father, James Nicholls (Tony Britton), to ask him to be his business partner. Although Nicholls disapproves of Robin (believing him to be beneath his daughter) he knoww a sensible business deal when it is offered to him - despite his failings, Robin is a brilliant chef - and he agrees. Lots of tension and misunderstandings are 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; special 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.

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 spinoff to Three's Company—originally based on Man About the House—but was unsuccessful. In 2004 a Polish version was screened, named Dziupla Cezara.

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

DVDs releases

All six series of Robin's Nest have been released on DVD in the UK (Region 2).

Series 1 was set to be released in Australia during July 2008, but has changed until 16 August 2008. Series 2 was released in October 2008.^[1] Series 3 was set to be released on 1 October 2009, but the release date has been cancelled and is unknown whether it will be released. ^[2]

List of episodes

References

External links

• Robin's Nest at BBC Online
• Robin's Nest at the Internet Movie Database
• Robin's Nest at the British Comedy Guide