Get Some In!
Get Some In! | |
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Created by |
John Esmonde Bob Larbey |
Directed by | Michael Mills |
Starring |
Tony Selby David Janson Robert Lindsay Karl Howman Gerard Ryder Brian Pettifer Lori Wells John D. Collins Jenny Cryst (Jenny Clarke) |
Composer(s) | Alan Braden |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 5 |
No. of episodes | 34 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Michael Mills |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | ITV |
Original run | 16 October 1975 – 18 May 1978 |
Get Some In! is a British sitcom about life in Royal Air Force National Service broadcast between 1975 and 1978 by Thames Television. Scripts were by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, the team behind the BBC TV sitcom The Good Life.
The programme drew its inspiration from late 1950s/early 1960s National Service situation-comedy The Army Game, and from nostalgic BBC TV sitcom Dad's Army, but the RAF setting gave it enough originality not to seem formulaic. Thirty-four (commercial) half-hour episodes were made. The title is a contraction of "Get some service in!", which was a piece of World War Two-era military slang sometimes shouted by conscripted soldiers at civilians of conscription age whom the conscripts may have believed were avoiding call-up.
The series has never been repeated in full on terrestrial TV in the UK, although the UKTV Gold cable channel has aired the episodes uncut. It screened in Australia in the early 1980s.
Principal cast and characters
- Corporal Percy Marsh GM. Corporal, later Sergeant, later Corporal, later AC1, later Corporal Marsh is a drill instructor (or devil's instrument) who becomes the bane of the recruits' lives. A man with a sadistic sense of humour, he continually makes his charges' lives miserable. Marsh always craves promotion but his own schemes usually backfire preventing him from attaining his goal. Played by Tony Selby
- Ken Richardson. A grammar school pupil, Ken is very well-mannered much to the disgust of Corporal Marsh. Due to his, by then higher standard of education, he often finds himself on the receiving end of insults from Corporal Marsh such as "poofhouse", "Nance" – short for Nancy Boy, and "grammar school twit". Played by David Janson.
- Jakey Smith, a Teddy Boy from London. Jakey soon finds himself at odds with Corporal Marsh, and dislikes the whole concept of National Service. He has little or no respect for authority but is at heart a decent individual. Played by Robert Lindsay (Series 1–4) until Lindsay got his own show Citizen Smith, and then by Karl Howman (Series 5).[1]
- Matthew Lilley. Matthew is the son of a vicar and is a very well-mannered do-gooder. Raised to be God-fearing, Matthew is very shy, but often gets flustered at Corporal Marsh's various schemes. Despite this, he tries to forgive him. Played by Gerard Ryder.
- Bruce Leckie. A Scotsman from Glasgow, Bruce has a very cynical view of life and is a pessimist. Like Jakey, he does not like being conscripted for National Service. Bruce is very shy around women but eventually falls in love with and finds happiness with Corporal Wendy (Jenny Cryst), though this happiness is short-lived as after Bruce completes his trade training they are both posted to different RAF stations. Played by Brian Pettifer.
- Alice Theresa Marsh. Corporal Marsh's long-suffering wife. She is constantly irritated by her husband's lack of advancement in the RAF. She is also a kind-hearted woman and is good to the recruits, much to the irritation of Marsh, she left him during the fourth series only to return in the end. Played by Lori Wells.
- Squadron Leader Baker. Played by John D. Collins.
- Corporal Wendy. Married in the fourth series to Bruce Leckie. Played by Jenny Cryst (Jenny Clarke).
Series
- Series 1, 16 October – 27 November 1975, Thu 8:30pm, 7 episodes
- Christmas Special, 25 December 1975, Thu 7:30pm
- Series 2, 28 June – 9 August 1976, Mon 8:00pm, 7 episodes
- Series 3, 6 January – 17 February 1977, Thu 7:05pm, 6 episodes
- Series 4, 16 June – 21 July 1977, Thu 7:00pm, 6 episodes
- Series 5, 6 April – 18 May 1978, Thu 8:00pm, 7 episodes
Theme song
The theme song composed by Alan Braden, quickly communicated to audiences that national service would not be a fulfilling experience for the recruits with the lines "Though you're in the RAF, you'll never see a plane" and "There's only one way to get out and that's to get some in. Get Some In!"
Stage Show
A stage version of Get Some In! was produced for a 1977 Summer season at the Princess Theatre, Torquay.
Settings
Series 1–2 were set at the fictional Royal Air Force station RAF Skelton. At the beginning of the third series the recruit's barracks hut is destroyed by fire and so in series 3–4 events were set at fictional RAF Midham. Series 5 was set at fictional RAF hospital Druidswater.
DVD
All five series including a 5-Disc set of the complete series of Get Some In! have been released by Network.
DVD | Release date |
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The Complete Series 1 | 19 September 2008 |
The Complete Series 2 | 28 January 2009 |
The Complete Series 3 | 6 April 2009 |
The Complete Series 4 | 20 July 2009 |
The Complete Series 5 | 5 October 2009 |
The Complete Series 1 to 5 Box Set | 2 November 2009 |
References
- ↑ "Karl Howman Interview - Brush Strokes". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
External links
- Get Some In! at the Internet Movie Database
- Get Some In! at British TV Comedy
- Get Some In! episode guide on ComedySeries.info
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