A Lecture by Frank Vigon: 'Don’t tell him Pike' - the history of BBC situation comedy
A welcome return to the wonderful Frank Vigon
The British have always been good at keeping a stiff upper lip. This is perhaps the secret to British humour, to gently laugh and prick the bubble of conformist pomposity. In times of historic adversity, the British have always been able to laugh at themselves, as much as at the enemy.
The situation comedy best explores this enviable facet of the British character which gives life to partnerships and relationships that we recognise in ourselves and each other. The unlikely ‘marriages’ of Steptoe and Son hoping to find wealth and culture, and Morecambe and Wise in their saga of plays ‘wot I wrote’ and smoking pipes in bed, have provided the backdrop to our social evolution.
If an army marches on its stomach, then a society thrives on its sense of humour. Why does Sybil stay with Basil, or June stay with Terry, and what on earth possessed Elsie Garnett to spend her life with the misogynistic racist Alf?
And yet with these dark shadows, we continue to laugh as a relief valve that saves us from the very things that threaten to overwhelm us, bureaucracy, prejudice and class consciousness. That’s because we’re British and we know that sometimes you couldn’t make these things up.
In the worst hotel in the world, the most old fashioned department store and as the Nazis threaten our way of life, humour remains the greatest antidote.
There is something rather reassuring about the suburban snobbery of Margo and the received pronunciation of Mrs Bucket…..pronounced Bouquet.
Well you have to laugh……………don’t you?
