The Dustbinmen
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''The Dustbinmen'' is a British
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
sitcom A sitcom, a 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 troupe may use ne ...
made by Granada Television for
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, which starred
Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the ...
,
Trevor Bannister Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
, Graham Haberfield and
Tim Wylton Tim Wylton (born Timothy Higginson; 27 February 1940) is a British actor best known for his television roles as Stanley Dawkins in '' My Hero'', and Lol Ferris in '' As Time Goes By''. Career As a stage actor he appeared in Zeffirelli's noted 19 ...
. The show was a spin-off from a one-off 90-minute
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''There's a Hole in Your Dustbin, Delilah'' (1968) written by
Jack Rosenthal Jack Morris Rosenthal (8 September 1931 – 29 May 2004) was an English playwright. He wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations. ...
and directed by
Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...
. This led to the sitcom which ran for three series between 1969 and 1970. Rosenthal wrote all of the episodes of the first series and, according to the insert in the Network DVD release, all the episodes of the second series too. However, the title credits for Episode 6 of Season 2 name the writers as Tom Brennand and Roy Bottomley.


Main characters

Cheese and Egg, Heavy Breathing, Winston Platt and Eric are the crew of dustcart 'Thunderbird 3' of the Corporation Cleansing Department—the name obviously an ironic reference to the spacecraft in '' Thunderbirds''. Also known as 'Number 3 Gang', throughout the day they collect dustbins and treat each other, or anyone else, with rudeness and disdain. Cheese and Egg, whose real name is C. E. Petty, is a fervent
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and the natural-born leader of the gang; with his knowledge, the gang can escape sticky situations if they are lucky. Heavy Breathing, "the one with the good looks", is obliged to spend much of his time pleasuring housewives—something he finds quite annoying when he would prefer to be resting. Winston Platt, a die-hard fan of Manchester City, views player Colin Bell as a god.
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
Eric, the more sensitive ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...
''-fan, spends most of the time talking about television and saving to buy a colour TV for his mother.


Other characters

The Cleansing Department's inspector is always known as Bloody Delilah regardless of who he is. He keeps the nickname because, according to Cheese and Egg in episode 2.1, "They're all bloody Delilahs". Another character, who appeared in all 20 episodes, was Smellie Ibbotson."John Barrett (III)" at imdb.com
/ref> He starts as the scavenger on the tips but is later promoted to be Bloody Delilah's lapdog, reporting on who was skiving and what they are up to. Not everyone likes Smellie, not just because he was smelly, but also because he is difficult to understand (as he has no teeth).


Episodes


Series 1 (1969)

*Beside the Seaside (23 September 1969) *Banned from the Football? (30 September 1969) *The 500,000th Bin (7 October 1969) *Fog (14 October 1969) *The Annual Election (21 October 1969) *One Woman Resists Heavy Breathing (28 October 1969)


Series 2 (1970)

*Cheese and Egg in Charge (24 Mar 1970) *Winston's Debt (31 March 1970) *Thunderbird 3 in a NHS Ward (7 April 1970) *Miss Potter and the English Lessons (14 April 1970) *Eric in Love (21 April 1970) *Cheese and Egg Becomes Holy (28 April 1970) *Delilah's Stag Party (5 May 1970)


Series 3 (1970)

*Up For Auction (20 Jul 70) *Eric Llewellyn For Mayor (27 Jul 70) *Sir Henry's Funeral (3 Aug 70) *Deputy Inspector Ibbotson (10 Aug 70) *A Military Exercise (17 Aug 70) *Stolen Wages (24 Aug 70) *Contraband (31 Aug 70)


Cast


Links with other programmes

The Dustbinmen has links with other programmes, many of which were also made by Granada Television. ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...
'' was mentioned a few times by Eric; Graham Haberfield, aka Winston once played Jerry Booth in the show.
Julie Goodyear Julie Goodyear MBE (''née'' Kemp; born 29 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Bet Lynch in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Bet for nine episodes in 1966, before becoming ...
appeared in two episodes as a housewife; she later played Bet Lynch.
Barbara Knox Barbara Knox, MBE (''née'' Brothwood, formerly Mullaney; born 30 September 1933) is an English actress, best known for her long-running portrayal of Rita Tanner in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Rita Littlewoo ...
(at that time Mullaney) who later played Rita Littlewood/Fairclough/Sullivan/Tanner played a housewife who read tea leaves.
Jill Summers Jill Summers (born Honor Margaret Rozelle Santoi Fuller; 10 December 1910 – 11 January 1997) was an English music hall performer, actor and comedian. Her career in entertainment lasted eighty years and in 1982 she achieved stardom as Phyll ...
(
Phyllis Pearce ''Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera created by writer Tony Warren. It was first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 1982, by order of first appearance. Caroline Clegg Ca ...
) played a cleaner in one episode.
Peter Dudley Peter Dudley (21 June 1935 – 20 October 1983) was an English character actor best known for his role as Bert Tilsley in the ITV television series ''Coronation Street''; a role he played continuously from 1979 until his death in 1 ...
(
Bert Tilsley This is a list of characters that first appeared in '' Coronation Street'' in 1979. Bert Tilsley Herbert Harrison "Bert" Tilsley (though referred to as “Albert Tilsley” in the episode of 21 September 1981) was played by Peter Dudley. He ...
) appeared as a man in a hospital corridor in one episode and
Bryan Mosley Bryan Mosley (25 August 1931 – 9 February 1999) was a British actor, best known for his role as grocer Alf Roberts in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Mosley was born in Leeds, an only child, to Agnes Basquil ...
(
Alf Roberts Alfred Sidney "Alf" Roberts, OBE is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Bryan Mosley. He ran a grocery shop at No. 15 and was involved in local politics, including two spells as mayor of ...
) once appeared as a doctor. Furthermore, the opening and closing titles contain a recurring motif of a flower in a discarded beercan; " Newton and Ridley" (the Rovers Return brewers) is printed on this beercan. Jack Rosenthal left the show to concentrate on developing another Granada sitcom, '' The Lovers'', which co-starred
Paula Wilcox Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. With a career spanning over 50 years, she is best known for her role as Chrissy in the popular ITV sitcom ''Man About The House'' from 1973 to 1976. She has also had roles in TV shows ...
. She appeared in two episodes of ''The Dustbinmen'' as Naomi, Winston's girlfriend. There are links with ''
Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of '' Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes f ...
'' too. Brian Wilde, who played the final Bloody Delilah, played Walter Foggy Dewhurst in the programme.
John Comer John Comer (1 March 1924 – 11 February 1984) was a British comic actor. He was best known for his roles in ''Coronation Street'' as Mr Birtles, then as a taxi driver, and later as Wilf Jones, in ''Emmerdale Farm'' as Ernie Shuttleworth, Les ...
who played Sid in the programme, once played a policeman in ''The Dustbinmen'' and Trevor Bannister has a recurring role as the golf club captain Toby Mulberry Smith. Also, Trevor Bannistor would later appear (1972-1979) in ''
Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...
''. In 1988 Brian Wilde starred with Trevor Bannister in the BBC1 show ''
Wyatt's Watchdogs {{Infobox television , image = Wyatt's watchdogs opening title still.jpg , caption = Opening title , runtime = 30 minutes per episode , creator = Miles Tredinnick (Writer) Alan J. W. Bell (Director, Producer) , starring = Brian ...
,'' a short-lived sitcom about bickering neighbours trying to run a
Neighbourhood Watch Neighbourhood Watch in the United Kingdom is the largest voluntary crime prevention movement covering England and Wales with upwards of 2.3 million household members. The charity brings neighbors together to create strong, friendly and active comm ...
scheme.


Preservation and DVD release

*The original play was shot on black and white film, apparently 16mm. *Except for the animated titles, series 1 was shot entirely on black and white 405-line
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
. *All subsequent episodes, including a short Christmas sketch, were made on colour videotape with exterior scenes shot on 16mm. *Only the first episode of series 2 has survived in its colour version; the rest of the 6 episodes of series 2 are preserved on black and white 16mm telerecordings with optical sound. These were obviously made for overseas sales, since the opening Granada Television logo is replaced with the logo screen and copyright for Granada Television International. *Except for two episodes believed
wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...
, Series 3 and the Christmas sketch survive on colour videotape stock of widely varying quality. In 2005 the sole surviving material was released on Region 2
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by Network DVD.


Trivia

The show used " pseudo-profanity". Like the later show ''
Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
'', its characters would be expected to swear frequently, but at the time most swear words were forbidden in scripts, especially sitcoms. The characters frequently used the word "piggin'" and the phrase "bog off", as an all purpose substitute for swearing, just as characters in ''Porridge'' used the word "naff". There was almost more controversy over this than over actual swearing, with accusations of cowardice on the one hand, and complaints about the "made up" swear words on the other. In the closing credits of the television series, the Granada Television "G-arrow" logo appears in black on a light coloured background (later blue on yellow) before rapidly expanding, switching to its usual "negative" colours and returning to normal size. This would appear to be the only instance of the Granada logo being toyed with in this way, since Granada reportedly disapproved of anything that might appear to trivialise its corporate image. Instances where an ITV franchise logo would be incorporated into an opening or closing sequence would later be used by
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
in their programme 3-2-1, and also
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
's ''
Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...
'', however.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dustbinmen, The 1969 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms 1960s British workplace comedy television series 1970s British sitcoms 1970s British workplace comedy television series English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Granada Television