''Dear Ladies'' is a British

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

which aired on the

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 ...

in 21 episodes between 1983 and 1984. It featured the comic characters

Hinge and Bracket Hinge and Bracket was a British comedy and musical act consisting of two characters, Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket, devised and played by female impersonators George Logan and Patrick Fyffe. Hinge and Bracket were portrayed as a pai ...

, played by George Logan and

Patrick Fyffe Patrick Fyffe (23 January 1942 – 11 May 2002) was an English female impersonator, best known for playing the character of Dame Hilda Bracket, alongside George Logan as Dr Evadne Hinge as the duo "Hinge and Bracket". Early life Fyffe was bo ...

. The comedy is set in and around the house the ladies shared in the fictional village of

Stackton Tressel Hinge and Bracket was a British comedy and musical act consisting of two characters, Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket, devised and played by female impersonators George Logan and Patrick Fyffe. Hinge and Bracket were portrayed as a pair ...

in Suffolk and gives viewers "A glimpse behind the scenes of village life in Stackton Tressel."

Premise

Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket are a pair of elderly spinsters who live in the fictional English village of Stackton Tressel. They share a large house named ''Utopia Ltd'', owned by Dame Hilda, the east wing of which is occupied by Evadne. Each episode is based around their musical activities at home and in the village community.

Production

Hinge and Bracket were conceived by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe as a pair of old ladies who had spent their lives performing classical music. Their comic

female impersonation Female impersonation is a type of theatrical performance where a man dresses in women's clothing for the sole purpose of entertaining an audience. While the term female impersonator is sometimes used interchangeably with drag queen, they are not ...

act had grown in popularity in the 1970s, and after appearing on BBC Radio, a Hinge and Bracket situation comedy was developed. The scripts were written by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe, who played the starring roles, in collaboration with the writer and broadcaster

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Bri ...

. Brandreth described Hinge and Bracket as "a drag act with a difference. They offered character and comedy instead of glamour and sex appeal." Exterior scenes were

filmed on location Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

in the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

towns of

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...

Great Budworth Great Budworth is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north of Northwich off the A559 road, east of Comberbach, northwest of Higher Marston and southeast of Budworth Heath. Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the Arley Hall esta ...

and

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture ...

. Incidental music is by

John Golland John Golland (14 September 1942 in Ashton-under-Lyne – 14 April 1993 in Dukinfield) was an English composer. He is most famous for his works for brass band, such as ''Sounds'', ''Atmospheres'', ''Peace'', ''Rêves d'Enfant'', his two euphonium c ...

. A special episode was broadcast after the 1984 series, the "Dear Ladies Masterclass", in which Hinge and Bracket are invited to deliver a music

masterclass Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...

at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. The episode features students of the college, who perform under the tutelage of the two Ladies.

Cast

''Dear Ladies'' cast members included: * George Logan — Dr Evadne Hinge *

— Dame Hilda Bracket *Richard Aylen — Courtney Pines *Geoffrey Banks — Rev. Donald Smollit *Frances Cox — Miss Grace Pullet (Librarian) *Terry Gilligan — various roles *Hope Johnstone — Party Organiser *Madeleine Newbury — Joan Shanks *

Paula Tilbrook Paula Tilbrook (16 January 1930 – 1 December 2019) was an English actress who played Betty Eagleton in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' from 1994 to 2015. Career Born in Salford, Lancashire, Tilbrook begun her career performing on stage acr ...

— Party Organiser *

Rosalie Williams Rosalie Williams (12 June 1919 – 11 December 2009) was an English actress best known for her appearance as Mrs. Hudson in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' television series produced by Granada Television from 1984 until 1994 alongside J ...

— Dodie Bantock

Episode list

References

Citations

Sources

* David Pringle. ''Imaginary People: A Who's who of Fictional Characters from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day''. Scolar Press, 1996. *

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0085004 BBC television comedy 1983 British television series debuts 1984 British television series endings 1980s British comedy television series British English-language television shows Hinge and Bracket Television shows set in Suffolk Television shows filmed in England Drag (entertainment) television shows BBC television sitcoms