''Spooners Patch'' is a British television

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 ...

, written by Ray Galton and

Johnny Speight Johnny Speight (2 June 1920 – 5 July 1998) was an English television scriptwriter of many classic British sitcoms. Speight emerged in the mid-1950s, writing for radio comics Frankie Howerd, Vic Oliver, Arthur Askey, and Cyril Fletcher. For ...

. It ran for 3 series and 19 episodes and was first broadcast from 9 July 1979 to 24 August 1982 on the ITV network, by ATV.

Plot

It is set in a police station in the fictional

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

suburb of Woodley. The title character of Spooner is the inspector in charge who is engaged in various corrupt ventures and lives above the station. The other main characters are the officers who work under him, including a detective who thinks he is from

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

and drives around in a

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Angli ...

in the same red and white colour scheme as their

Ford Torino The Ford Torino is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company, Ford for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. It was a competitor in the mid-size car, intermediate market segment and essentially a twin to the Mercury Monte ...

.Lewisohn, Mark (1998). ''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy''. BBC Books. p. 723. .

Cast list

* Ronald Fraser as Inspector Spooner *

Donald Churchill Donald Churchill (6 November 193029 October 1991) was an English actor and playwright. He appeared in many film and television productions over a 35-year period and wrote several TV scripts. Career His films included '' Barnacle Bill'' (1957), ...

as Inspector Spooner (1980–1982) *

Peter Cleall Peter Cleall (born 16 March 1944 in Finchley, Middlesex) is an actors' agent and former actor who is probably best known for playing wise-cracking Eric Duffy in the London Weekend Television comedy series '' Please Sir!'' which ran from 1968 t ...

as Detective Constable Bolsover * John Lyons as PC Killick *

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. She is best known for playing the titular Edna in the ''Play for Today'', ''Edna, the Inebriate Woman'' (1971), for which she won the British Ac ...

as Mrs Cantaford *

Norman Rossington Norman Rossington (24 December 1928 – 21 May 1999) was an English actor best remembered for his roles in ''The Army Game'', the ''Carry On'' films and the Beatles' film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Early life Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, ...

as PC Goatman * Dermot Kelly as Kelly *

Lynn Farleigh Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh (born 3 May 1942) is an English actress of stage and screen. Early life Farleigh was born in Bath, Somerset on 3 May 1942 to Joseph Sydney Farleigh and his wife Marjorie Norah (née Clark). She attended the Redla ...

as Mrs Webster * John Clegg as vicar *Donald Morley as mayor * Ronnie Brody as man in police station *

Roy Barraclough Roy Senior Barraclough (12 July 1935 – 1 June 2017) was an English comic actor. He was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy, the devious, mournful landlord of the Rovers Return in the long-running British TV soap ''Coronation Street'', an ...

as landlord * Amanda Barrie as Spooner's girlfriend *

Ballard Berkeley Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He is best remembered for playing Major Gowen in the British television sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''. Life a ...

as bank manager * Barrie Rutter as the psychiatrist *

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambeth, so ...

as Jimmy the con * Reginald Marsh as Senior Police Officer *

James Villiers James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Independent'' as "one of the country's most distinctive character actors, with ripe articulation and a flair for displaying supe ...

as film producer * Jonathan Cecil as Captain Jim *

Wendy Richard Wendy Richard (born Wendy Emerton; 20 July 1943 – 26 February 2009) was an English actress, best known for her television roles as Miss Shirley Brahms on the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1985, and Pauline Fowler on the ...

as girl * Stuart Saunders as golf club secretary *Bob Bryan as Mr. Webster *Mary Conlon as Bulsover’s girlfriend *Chris Cunningham as Dutch dailor * Jack Douglas as man in car *Frank Coda as Jimmy’s friend * Jeffrey Segal as bank manager *

Lee Whitlock Lee Whitlock (17 April 1968 – 17 February 2023) was a British television and film actor. His roles in film and TV included '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1982), '' Two of Us'' (1987), ''Casualty'' (1991), ''Grange Hill'' (1993), '' Sweeney Todd: T ...

as boy * John Barron as the golf club president *Willy Bowman as Dutch dailor *Sarah Carthy as Killick’s girlfriend *

Anthony Sharp Dennis Anthony John Sharp (16 June 1915 – 23 July 1984) was an English actor, writer and director. Stage career Anthony Sharp was a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art ( LAMDA) and made his stage debut in February 1938 ...

as the doctor *Ruby Buchanan as old lady *

John Louis Mansi John Louis Mansi (born John Patrick Adams; 8 November 1926 – 6 August 2010) was a British television and film actor whose career spanned the years from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Born in London to an Italian father and an Irish moth ...

as waiter *

Ava Cadell Ava Cadell (born Ildiko Eva Csath; June 15, 1956) is a former actress, writer, producer and currently a therapist and speaker on issues of sexuality. Career Ava Cadell received a doctorate in human behavior from Newport University (California ...

as Greta, au pair girl * Mavis Pugh as woman *Terry Gurry as Dutch sailor * Bill Treacher as car owner * Debbie Linden as film girl *

Bella Emberg Bella Emberg (born Sybil Dyke; 16 September 1937 – 12 January 2018) was an English actress whose television career spanned 60 years. Early life and career Emberg was born on 16 September 1937 in Brighton, Sussex, and grew up wanting to be an ...

as the mayor’s wife * Richard Fraser as TV reporter *Richard Sheekey as Dutch sailor *Stan Van as 2nd waiter *Billy Gray as postman *Richard Speight as clapper boy

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spooner's Patch 1979 British television series debuts 1982 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms 1970s British workplace comedy television series 1980s British sitcoms 1980s British workplace comedy television series British English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) Television shows produced by Central Independent Television Television series created by Ray Galton