Mulberry (TV series)

Mulberry
Created by John Esmonde
Bob Larbey
Starring Karl Howman
Geraldine McEwan
Tony Selby
Lill Roughley
Mary Healey
John Bennett
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC1
Original run 24 February 1992 – 25 May 1993

Mulberry was a fantasy situation comedy airing on BBC1 in the early 1990s.

The creative team behind the programme included writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey.

Mulberry ran for two series: the first series of six episodes ran from 24 February to 30 March 1992 and the second series of seven episodes ran from 8 April to 25 May 1993. A third series was planned, but was cancelled before production began. As a result, Mulberry never arrived at its logical conclusion.

Plot

The programme starred Karl Howman as the mysterious Mulberry, a man who appears at the household of a cantankerous spinster, Miss Farnaby, and applies for a position as her manservant. Miss Farnaby's other staff, Bert and Alice Finch, are immediately suspicious, as the position for which Mulberry applies had not yet been advertised.

Their suspicions are well placed. Mulberry is not all he seems; in fact, he is an apprentice Grim Reaper who has been dispatched to the house to escort Miss Farnaby to the next world. Surprisingly for a Grim Reaper, Mulberry has a sentimental, even comical side, with a love of life and laughter that moves him to dedicate himself to ensuring that the sullen Miss Farnaby's last days on Earth are happy, using his role as servant to put his plans into motion.

Mulberry's sensitivity and interest in Miss Farnaby's well-being do not sit well with Mulberry's father, a fully fledged Grim Reaper with no interest in human emotions. He appears in most episodes as a mysterious figure (billed as "The Stranger") in a black hat and dark clothes, urging Mulberry to get on with the job. In one episode, we learn the source of Mulberry's love of life: his mother is actually Springtime.

The device of Mulberry's father being Death and mother being Springtime is loosely borrowed from Greek mythology. Hades, lord of the underworld married a young maiden goddess named Persephone. Demeter was her mother and was heartbroken at the fate of Persephone having to live forever in hell. As the goddess of fertility and agriculture, her grief caused winter to come. As a compromise it was arranged for Persephone to only spend half the year with her husband. Thus we have winter and summer annually. Since springtime comes when Persephone returns to the surface she has become a symbol of youth, rebirth and spring. However, in Greek mythology, Hades and Persephone never have any children. With the programme's cancellation viewers never find out which parent eventually wins Mulberry's heart and mind.

Locations

Exterior shots were filmed at a 17th-century manor-house, High Hall, near Wimborne in Dorset.

Witchampton, Dorset. used for local village, exterior shots.

Shell Garage next to the Little Chef is where Mulberry and Miss Farnaby stops for fuel, 176 Ringwood Road Saint Leonards Ringwood, Hampshire BH24 2NR on the A31 east bound, it's now a BP garage the Little Chef has been rebuild and is now a combined Travelodge & Little Chef, Throop Mill, Throop Road on the outskirts of Bournemouth is the weir on the river Stour where Miss Farnaby stops and remensis with Mulberry. S1E4 Holiday Trip.

Westbourne Shopping Arcade, Bournemouth. S1E5 Dinner Party.

Wimborne Town Football Club, is used in the football scene, S2E4 Art Class.

Agglestone rock Swanage, Dorset. used in S1E6 Death Trap & S2E1 Closer Together.

Wareham Dorset. B3075 bridge crossing the river Frome is where Alice gets off the bus, South Street near the junction of St Johns Hill is where Alice stops at the shops on the way to the signal box, Sandford Lane, Wareham. is where Miss Farnaby and Mulberry sit outside the pub, and Wareham station is the location of the signal box, S2E6 Alice's High Spirits.

Cast

Regulars

Guests

Crew

External links