Keep it in the Family (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Keep It in the Family is a British
comedy
television series that aired for five seasons between 1980 and 1983. It was about a likable and mischievous British cartoonist, Dudley Rush. Also featured were Dudley's wife, Muriel and their two daughters, Jacqui and Susan. Dudley's literary agent, Duncan Thomas, was also featured.
It was made by Thames Television
for the ITV
network.
Dudley and Muriel have two daughters, Jacqui (in her early twenties) and Susan (in her late teens). Jacqui and Susan want to have the vacant downstairs flat for themselves, so they can escape from the parental home and from Dudley's obsessive gaze. Dudley wants to rent out to the flat to somebody else but his daughters' pleas win the day and the two girls move into the flat. Dudley's obsessive and possessive gaze, though, is still on them and he objects to the young men who, he notices, visit his daughters.
Dudley is a talented illustrator and he earns his living from drawing his cartoon strip "Barney – the Bionic Bulldog" which he does while holding a pencil in the paw of his ventriloquist
lion
glove puppet. Dudley draws the cartoon strip under protest for his literary agent Duncan Thomas, who sells Dudley's cartoon to newspapers. Dudley would rather do anything than draw the cartoon strip and he keeps procrastinating to such an extent that he keeps missing the deadline for his illustrations, much to the frustration of the long-suffering Duncan.
As well as objecting to Duncan trying to keep him to publishing deadlines, Dudley also jealously objects to Duncan's obvious approval of Dudley's wife, Muriel and he also objects to Duncan's eager consumption
of Muriel's delicious cakes.
Dudley is also a compulsive practical joker, with his long-suffering agent, Duncan Thomas, usually being on the receiving end of such jokes.
in October 2010 and June 2011, so far.
under the title of Too Close for Comfort
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series that aired for five seasons between 1980 and 1983. It was about a likable and mischievous British cartoonist, Dudley Rush. Also featured were Dudley's wife, Muriel and their two daughters, Jacqui and Susan. Dudley's literary agent, Duncan Thomas, was also featured.
It was made by Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
for the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network.
Characters
- Dudley Rush — Robert GillespieRobert GillespieRobert Gillespie is a British actor.He was brought up in Nantes until his parents moved to Manchester, having arrived in Plymouth in 1940...
- Muriel Rush — Pauline YatesPauline YatesPauline Yates is an English actress best known for playing Elizabeth Perrin in the BBC television sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
- Jacqui Rush — Jenny Quayle (series 1 & 2) — Sabina FranklynSabina FranklynSabina Franklyn is an English actress, and the daughter of William Franklyn and Margo Johns.Franklyn attended the independent Queen's Gate School and acted on stage with repertory theatres before her television appearances....
(series 3 – 5) - Susan Rush — Stacy DorningStacy DorningStacy Dorning is an English actress, best known for appearing in the second series of The Adventures of Black Beauty . She also appeared in Just William and Keep It in the Family . She is the elder daughter of actors Robert Dorning and Honor Shepherd, and older sister of actress Kate...
- Duncan Thomas — Glyn HoustonGlyn HoustonGlyn Houston , is an actor best known for his television work. He is the brother of the late film actor Donald Houston.-Early life:...
- Wilma — Anita Graham (Series 4 & 5)
- Hugo — David Neville (Series 4 & 5)
- Stanley Barlow — John CarlinJohn CarlinJohn Carlin is a journalist and author, dealing with both sports and politics. His book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation about former South African president Nelson Mandela is the basis for the 2009 film Invictus.-Personal life:Carlin was born to a Scottish father...
(Series 5)
Plot
Dudley and Muriel Rush own and live in a multi-storey house, of which the ground floor has been converted into a flat. The ground floor flat had been rented from them and, when the tenant dies, the former tenant's family arrive to carry off all his possessions.Dudley and Muriel have two daughters, Jacqui (in her early twenties) and Susan (in her late teens). Jacqui and Susan want to have the vacant downstairs flat for themselves, so they can escape from the parental home and from Dudley's obsessive gaze. Dudley wants to rent out to the flat to somebody else but his daughters' pleas win the day and the two girls move into the flat. Dudley's obsessive and possessive gaze, though, is still on them and he objects to the young men who, he notices, visit his daughters.
Dudley is a talented illustrator and he earns his living from drawing his cartoon strip "Barney – the Bionic Bulldog" which he does while holding a pencil in the paw of his ventriloquist
Ventriloquism
Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered "dummy"...
lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
glove puppet. Dudley draws the cartoon strip under protest for his literary agent Duncan Thomas, who sells Dudley's cartoon to newspapers. Dudley would rather do anything than draw the cartoon strip and he keeps procrastinating to such an extent that he keeps missing the deadline for his illustrations, much to the frustration of the long-suffering Duncan.
As well as objecting to Duncan trying to keep him to publishing deadlines, Dudley also jealously objects to Duncan's obvious approval of Dudley's wife, Muriel and he also objects to Duncan's eager consumption
Ingestion
Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in the substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking...
of Muriel's delicious cakes.
Dudley is also a compulsive practical joker, with his long-suffering agent, Duncan Thomas, usually being on the receiving end of such jokes.
Series 1 (1980)
- Downs and Ups (7 January 1980)
- One of Those Days (14 January 1980)
- All Through the Night (21 January 1980)
- The Non-Mechanical Man (28 January 1980)
- Some Enchanted Evening (4 February 1980)
- A Friend in Need (11 February 1980)
Series 2 (1980)
- Phoney Business (1 September 1980)
- Home Is Where the Heat Is (8 September 1980)
- Games People Play (15 September 1980)
- And Not a Drop to Drink (22 September 1980)
- Smoke Without Fire (29 September 1980)
- Takeaway Sunday (6 October 1980)
- The Mouthtrap (13 October 1980)
Series 3 (1981)
- Splitting Headaches (1 September 1981)
- The Judas Goat (8 September 1981)
- A Game of No Chance (22 September 1981)
- Matter over Mind (29 September 1981)
- A Matter of Principle (6 October 1981)
- The Inferior Decorator (13 October 1981)
Series 4 (1982)
- In the Camera Club (19 October 1982)
- The Longest Night (26 October 1982)
- Job References (2 November 1982)
- A Snap Decision (9 November 1982)
- Piano Blues (16 November 1982)
- Alien Friends (23 November 1982)
Series 5 (1983)
- Too Many Cooks (7 September 1983)
- Trouble Aloft (14 September 1983)
- A Moving Affair (21 September 1983)
- Room for One on Top (5 October 1983)
- That Old Black Magic (12 October 1983)
- A Touch of the Orient (19 October 1983)
DVD release
The first two series of Keep It in the Family have been released on DVD by NetworkNetwork DVD
Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...
in October 2010 and June 2011, so far.
| DVD | Year(s) | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series 1 | 1980 | 18 October 2010 |
| The Complete Series 2 | 1980 | 27 June 2011 |
| The Complete Series 3 | 1981 | TBA |
| The Complete Series 4 | 1982 | |
| The Complete Series 5 | 1983 | |
| The Complete Series 1 to 5 Box Set | 1980- 1983 |
|
Trivia
A remake of Keep It in the Family was made in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
under the title of Too Close for Comfort
Too Close for Comfort (TV series)
Too Close for Comfort is an American television sitcom which ran on the ABC network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the British series Keep It in the Family, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S...
.
External links
- Comedy Guide - Keep It in the Family at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Keep It in the Family TV.com website