''No – That's Me Over Here!'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

that aired for three series from 1967 to 1970. It was created by

Barry Cryer Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory B ...

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two ...

and

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadw ...

, and it featured

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promin ...

's first acting starring role, alongside

Rosemary Leach Rosemary Anne Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress. She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for '' 84, Charing Cross Road'' and was nominated for the BAFTA Award f ...

Henry McGee ''For the American businessman and academic, see Henry W. McGee.'' Henry James Marris-McGee (14 May 1929 – 28 January 2006) was a British actor, best known as straight man to Benny Hill for many years. McGee was also often the announcer ...

(who was at the time also playing the straight man in ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parod ...

''),

Ivor Dean Ivor Donald Dean (21 December 1917 – 10 August 1974) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography With his lugubrious demeanour he was often cast as world-weary police officers or butlers, and indeed it is for the role of Chief I ...

and Jill Mai Meredith. It was originally produced by

Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commerci ...

for the ITV network, with its production being continued by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

for the third and final series.

Plot

Ronnie Corbett played Ronnie, a man short in stature but big in ideas, and a quintessential

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

commuter who works in an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company with his snooty neighbour Cyril (played by McGee). Ronnie and Cyril not only work in the same department, but they also go to work every morning in the same train in the same compartment, which means that their business lives are rather linked to each other. Ronnie is aspiring and ambitious, always coming up with plans to improve his profile at work and win favour with his (and Cyril's) boss Mr. Robinson (played by Dean), and not stopping at anything to make sure his plans progress. The comedy hence arises from Ronnie's big plans and how they meet with Cyril's and others' secret opposition, and their constant attempts to back-stab Ronnie – Cyril being a quintessential practitioner of '

office politics Workplace politics is the process and behavior that in human interactions involves power and authority. It is also a tool to assess the operational capacity and to balance diverse views of interested parties. It is also known as office politics and ...

'. The other main character in the series is Mr. Robinson's

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

(played by Meredith).

Episodes

Series 1 (1967)

* 1.1. Series 1, Episode 1 (14 November 1967) * 1.2. Series 1, Episode 2 (21 November 1967) * 1.3. Series 1, Episode 3 (28 November 1967) * 1.4. Series 1, Episode 4 (5 December 1967) * 1.5. Series 1, Episode 5 (12 December 1967) * 1.6. Series 1, Episode 6 (19 December 1967)

Series 2 (1968)

* 2.1. Series 2, Episode 1 (15 May 1968) * 2.2. Series 2, Episode 2 (22 May 1968) * 2.3. Series 2, Episode 3 (29 May 1968) * 2.4. Series 2, Episode 4 (5 June 1968) * 2.5. Series 2, Episode 5 (12 June 1968) * 2.6. Series 2, Episode 6 (19 June 1968)

Series 3 (1970)

* 3.1. Old Age (12 September 1970) * 3.2. Registration (19 September 1970) * 3.3. Mother (26 September 1970) * 3.4. Social (3 October 1970) * 3.5. Drink (10 October 1970) * 3.6. Neighbours (17 October 1970) * 3.7. The Girl (24 October 1970) * 3.8. Fancy Dress (31 October 1970) * 3.9. Brothers In Law (7 November 1970) * 3.10. Money (14 November 1970) * 3.11. Religion (21 November 1970) * 3.12. Politics (28 November 1970) * 3.13. Wedding (5 December 1970)

Production details

The first two series were produced by

. During his tenure as presenter and producer at Rediffusion,

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

brought the writing team and cast together, all of them having been involved with him shortly before in ''

The Frost Report ''The Frost Report'' is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March 19 ...

''. He used the same process in ''

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse ''The Ronnie Barker Playhouse'' was a series of six comedy half hours showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion in 1968. The series was written by Brian Cooke, Hugh Leonard, Johnnie Mortimer and Alun ...

'', which was the first sitcom anthology series to star the other Ronnie,

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

. When Frost moved from Rediffusion to

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

in 1968, the future

Pythons The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized. Distribution ...

and

two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

followed him and continued to work for him there, as well as becoming involved in other LWT productions. Hence, in 1970, Frost had LWT revive ''No – That's Me Over Here!'' for another series, over which he once again presided, this time in

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

(it had been produced in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

in its Rediffusion incarnation).

Archive status and availability

The entirety of the first two series (made by Rediffusion) are missing from the archives, although one 1967 episode appears to exist in private hands. However, the final series (made by LWT in colour) exists in its entirety. All 13 episodes of the third series were released by Network in the UK ( Region 2 DVD) on 13 July 2015.

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, ''BBC Online Comedy Guide''/''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'' *British TV Online Resources

External links

– That's Me Over Here!'' at the British TV Online Resources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:No That's Me Over Here! 1967 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms 1970s British sitcoms English-language television shows ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows