Beggar My Neighbour (TV series)

Beggar My Neighbour was a British sitcom starring Reg Varney, Peter Jones, June Whitfield, Pat Coombs and (later) Desmond Walter-Ellis. Made in black-and-white, it was broadcast from 1966 to 1968 and was written by Ken Hoare and Mike Sharland.

Cast

• Peter Jones – Gerald Garvey (pilot and series 1)
• Desmond Walter-Ellis – Gerald Garvey (from series 2)
• June Whitfield – Rose Garvey
• Reg Varney – Harry Butt
• Pat Coombs – Lana Butt
• Rosemary Faith – Deidre Garvey (from series 2)

Plot

Rose Garvey, and her husband Gerald, live next door to her sister Lana Butt, and her husband Harry, in Larkworthy Road in Muswell Hill in North London. Gerald is an underpaid junior executive, while Harry is a well-paid fitter. The slightly snobbish Gerald makes sure that he and Rose keep up a pretence of doing well even though they are not. Meanwhile, the Butt's relative wealth encourages Lana put on airs and graces, but Harry remains down to earth.

Episodes

Only seven episodes of the original run of 23 have survived: episode two from the first series and all six episodes from series two.^[1]

Pilot (1966)

• Beggar My Neighbour (24 May 1966) (part of Comedy Playhouse)

Series one (1967)

1. Have Car, Won't Travel (20 March 1967)
2. Episode two (27 March 1967)
3. Episode three (3 April 1967)
4. Episode four (10 April 1967)
5. Episode five (17 April 1967)
6. Episode six (24 April 1967)
7. Episode seven (1 May 1967)

Series two (1967)

1. Let Them Eat Cake (2 July 1967)
2. A Host of Friends (9 July 1967)
3. No Bed of Rose's (16 July 1967)
4. Laying Down the Law (23 July 1967)
5. My Fair Harry Butt (30 July 1967)
6. For Better, for Worse (6 August 1967)

Special (1967)

• Short Special as part of Christmas Night with the Stars

Series three (1968)

1. Old Before My Time (30 January 1968)
2. Ask Me No Questions (6 February 1968)
3. Is There Anybody There? (13 February 1968)
4. Whiter Shade Of Yellow (20 February 1968)
5. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (27 February 1968)
6. Grey Flannel Love Suit (5 March 1968)
7. What About the Workers? (12 March 1968)
8. Whose Baby Are You? (19 March 1968)
9. Drink To Me Only (26 March 1968)

Surviving episodes

References

• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
• British Sitcom Guide for Beggar My Neighbour

External links

• Beggar My Neighbour on IMDb