''Seven of One'', stylised as ''7 of 1'', is a British

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 ...

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

that aired on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

in 1973. Starring

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 (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

, ''Seven of One'' is a series of seven separate 30-minute episodes that would serve as possible pilots for

s. Originally it was to be called ''Six of One'', which Barker planned to follow up with another series called ''And Half a Dozen of the Other''. This was a BBC equivalent of a similar showcase for

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

called '' Six Dates with Barker'' created in 1971. In addition to Barker, ''Seven of One'' also featured Roy Castle,

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' ...

, Talfryn Thomas,

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...

, Glynn Edwards, Joan Sims, Keith Chegwin, Leslie Dwyer, Robin Parkinson, Sam Kelly, Christopher Biggins, Richard O'Callaghan,

Yootha Joyce Yootha Joyce Needham (20 August 1927 – 24 August 1980), known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom '' Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and its spin-off '' George ...

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...

, and Avis Bunnage in supporting roles. The series was released on BBC DVD in 2005.

Episodes

Successful pilots

Whilst most of the pilots were not developed any further, " Prisoner and Escort" was chosen to be developed into a series and became ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking 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, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

'' (1974–1977), which also led to a spin-off series called '' Going Straight'' in 1978, a feature film adaptation of ''

'' in 1979, and many years later a sequel sitcom ''

'' (2016–2017). "Open All Hours" was later developed into a sitcom of the same name, ''

Open All Hours ''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes over four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982, and 1985. The programme was developed from a television pilot broadcast ...

'' (1976, 1981–1982, 1985), and many years later a sequel sitcom named ''

Still Open All Hours ''Still Open All Hours'' is a British sitcom (2013–2019) created for the BBC by Roy Clarke, and starring David Jason and James Baxter. It is the sequel to the sitcom '' Open All Hours'' (1976–1985), which both Clarke and Jason were invol ...

'' (2013–2019). Additionally, "My Old Man" also led to a sitcom of the same name, '' My Old Man'' (1974–1975), which was made 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 ...

and shown nationally on ITV, but not including Barker and instead featuring an entirely new cast led by Clive Dunn. Ronnie Barker's favourite of the seven pilots was "I'll Fly You for a Quid", which he initially chose to do as a series, before being convinced by the BBC that it would be harder to do a full series of scripts about Evan Owen in a Welsh gambling community compared to Norman Stanley Fletcher in the prison setting of "Prisoner and Escort".

References

External links

Seven of One
at Nostalgia Central * {{Harold Snoad 1973 British television series debuts 1973 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms 1970s British comedy television series Television pilots not picked up as a series BBC television sitcoms BBC anthology television shows 1970s British anthology television series British English-language television shows