''Come Back Mrs. Noah'' is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Mollie Sugden Isabel Mary Sugden (21 July 19221 July 2009), known professionally as Mollie Sugden was an English actress and comedian. She was best known for being an original cast member in the British sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' (1972–1985) as senior ...

that aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

from 17 July to 14 August 1978, with a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

broadcast on 13 December 1977. It was written by

Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including '' Are You Being Served?'' and '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. Early ...

and David Croft, who had also written ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft (TV producer), David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and television directo ...

'' which also starred Mollie Sugden. ''Come Back Mrs. Noah'' was not a success, with some regarding it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made.

Plot

In 2050, British housewife Gertrude Noah wins a cookery competition, and is awarded a tour of ''Britannia Seven'', the UK's new Space Exploration Vehicle. The craft is accidentally sent blasting off into space with a crew consisting only of Mrs Noah,

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Carstairs,

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...

physicist Fanshaw,

lightbulb Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James Bay * Electric Light ( ...

-changer Garstang, and

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Clive Cuncliffe. The series then centres on efforts to bring them back to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. The programme ''Far and Wide'' (a parody of '' Nationwide'') features frequent updates read by

Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye (7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor. He was best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye wa ...

. These reports present a reality in which

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

is the most successful nation on Earth, providing aid to countries like Germany and the United States.

Cast

Main

as Mrs Gertrude Noah *

Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (16 February 1946 – 2 February 2024) was an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in ''Dad's Army'', a BBC sitcom set during World War II, of which he was the last survivi ...

as Clive Cunliffe *

Donald Hewlett Donald Marland Hewlett (30 August 1920 – 4 June 2011) was an English actor who was best known for his sitcom roles as Colonel Charles Reynolds in ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' and Lord Meldrum in '' You Rang, M'Lord?'', both written by Jimmy Perry ...

as Carstairs * Michael Knowles as Fanshaw *

as TV Presenter * Tim Barrett as Garfield Hawk * Joe Black as Garstang *

Ann Michelle Ann Michelle (born 11 August 1952) is a British actress. Biography Michelle was born on 11 August 1952 in Chigwell, Essex, and was educated at Knewnham Primary School and West Hatch Technical High School. Her father Joseph was a fish trade ...

as Scarth Dare *

Jennifer Lonsdale Jennifer Lonsdale (born 17 July 1953 in Gosport, Hampshire) is a retired British television actress and public official. She appeared as a series regular in '' The Cedar Tree'' and '' That's My Boy''. Lonsdale played a customer in the series ''A ...

as Technician

Guests

* Raymond Bowers as Professor Holzburger * Robert Gillespie as Mission Control *

Harold Bennett Harold Frank Bennett (17 November 1898 – 11 September 1981) was an English actor, active in stage, television and film best remembered for being in sitcoms written and produced by David Croft, having played 'Young Mr. Grace' in the 1970s Bri ...

as Priest * Christopher Mitchell as Butler *

Norman Mitchell Norman Mitchell Driver (27 August 1918 – 19 March 2001), known professionally as Norman Mitchell, was an English television, stage and film actor. Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, his father was a mining engineer and his mother ...

as Mr Noah *

Diana King Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They are best known for their hit 1995 single " Shy Guy" and their remake of " I Say a Little Prayer ...

as Mrs Carstairs *

Vicki Michelle Vicki Michelle (born Michelle Vicki Nathan; 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series '' ...

as Maid *

Jean Gilpin Jean Gilpin (born ) is an English actress. Early life Gilpin was born in London. Her father worked for the United Nations and she thus lived in various locations while growing up, such as China, Cuba, France, Switzerland, Thailand, the Congo, ...

as 2nd Technician *Jennifer Guy as Ivy Basset * Kenneth MacDonald as Space Hen

Development

The series was originally intended as a vehicle for

, to take her out of the usual setting she was often cast in. Co-writer David Croft was worried that others would soon start work on similar projects, so he rushed the idea past the

as soon as he could. Speaking to writer and historian

Graham McCann Graham McCann is a British author and historian who has written extensively on film and television stars and British comedy series. He is a former lecturer and fellow at the University of Cambridge where he taught social and political theory. McCan ...

years later, Croft recalled: "It speaks volumes about the flexibility of the

at that time but we rushed it along without any opposition at all. One of my concerns, when I spoke to ead of Comedy Jimmy Gilbert, was that everyone would soon be trying to do something similar in this area, because 'space' was suddenly all the rage, so I was greatly bothered about the danger of duplication. So I told him that Jeremy and I had an idea that we really liked, and that we wanted to do a

, but that the idea was so 'hot' that I'd prefer not to tell him what it was about. And Jimmy, to his eternal credit, didn't ask for a script, he didn't question it at all, he just told me to go ahead and do it."

Production

David Croft signed up

as Mrs Noah, in her first sitcom starring role. Sugden had previously starred as

Mrs Slocombe ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and director. Michael Knowles and John Chapman ...

in the Croft and Lloyd sitcom ''

.'' Also in the series was

, who was known for his role as

Private Pike Private Frank Pike is a fictional Home Guard private and junior bank clerk, first portrayed by actor Ian Lavender in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He was appointed as the platoon's information officer by Captain Mainwaring in " The ...

in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''.

and Michael Knowles played physicists Carstairs and Fanshaw; the two were already known to viewers as Colonel Reynolds and Captain Ashwood in the sitcom ''

It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' is a British television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the final months of the Second World War. It was written by ...

.''

Episodes

Other countries

''Come Back Mrs. Noah'' was also shown in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, starting on 30 June 1979. It was also aired in Australia and on several

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

stations in the United States including

WPBT WPBT (channel 2) is a PBS member television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It serves as the flagship station of South Florida PBS, which also owns Boynton Beach–licensed fellow PBS member WXEL-TV (channel 42, serving the West Pal ...

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and

WNED-TV WNED-TV (channel 17), branded BTPM PBS, is a PBS member television station in Buffalo, New York, United States. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (doing business as Buffalo Toronto Public Media) alongside NPR m ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

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.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003

Footnotes

External links

*
BBC Comedy Guide page
- (Archived @

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Come Back Mrs. Noah 1970s British sitcoms 1970s British science fiction television series 1977 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms Television series created by David Croft (TV producer) British English-language television shows Television series set in 2050 Television series created by Jeremy Lloyd