''Yanks Go Home'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

about U.S. Army Air Forcemen stationed in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was produced and directed by Eric Prytherch for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

and broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

between 1976 and 1977. The series ran for 2 series and 13 episodes in total before its cancellation.

Plot

The series focused on a group of U.S. Army Air Force

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

stationed in a small northern town in

, England during the

and their sometimes tense relationship with the local men, most often over the attentions of the young women in the town. The early interactions and friction between British civilians and the U.S. military during WWII, best summed up by the wartime slogan of American servicemen "over paid, over sexed, and over here", was intentionally played up for humorous effect in the series.

Characters

*Phoebe Sankey (

Meg Johnson Meg Johnson is an American poet and lecturer. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including '' Midwestern Gothic'', '' Slipstream Magazine'', '' Word Riot'', ''Hobart'', and many others. Her first collection of poems, ''Ina ...

) *Sgt. Gus Polaski (

Bruce Boa Andrew Bruce Boa (10 July 1930 – 17 April 2004) was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token American in British films and television, usually playing military types. Boa's most recognizable film role is in ''The Empire Strikes B ...

) *Cpl. Vince Rossi (

Stuart Damon Stuart Damon (born Stuart Michael Zonis; February 5, 1937 June 29, 2021) was an American actor and singer. He was best known for his 30-year portrayal of Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he won a ...

) *Doreen Sankey (

Catherine Neilson Catherine Neilson (born 3 October 1957) is a British stage, television and film actress, who was active from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Career On stage, Neilson starred as Christie in ''Traps'' by Caryl Churchill, at the Royal Court Theatre ...

) *Harry Duckworth ( David Ross) *Bert Pickup (

Harry Markham Harry Markham was an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s. He played at representative level for England, and at club level for Hull FC, as a . International honours Harry Markham won a cap for England ...

) *Cpl. Pasquale (

Freddie Earlle Freddie Earlle (24 May 1924–7 July 2017) was a Glaswegian actor, known for his comedic appearances on television. His memorable roles are being a regular in series 6 of '' It's a Square World'', playing Francois Tournignon in the 1972 BBC adap ...

) *Col. Ralph Kruger (

Alan MacNaughtan Alan MacNaughtan (4 March 1920 – 29 August 2002) was a Scottish actor, born in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow Academy, trained at RADA, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienc ...

) *Col. Irving (

Lionel Murton William Lionel Murton (2 June 1915 – 26 September 2006) was an English character actor. Born in Wandsworth, London, he was resident at Little Orchard, Weston Road, Upton Grey, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, before his death at age 91. He was ...

) *Pfc. Burford Puckett (

Richard Oldfield Richard Oldfield (born 1950) is an American film and television actor who has worked mostly in Britain. Born in the US, Oldfield moved to Britain in the 1960s. His stage debut was in the musical ''Hair'' at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's We ...

) *Leonard Chambers (

Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of ''The Wi ...

) *Pvt. Floyd Tutt (

Jay Benedict Jay Benedict (April 11, 1951 – April 4, 2020) was an American actor who spent most of his life and career in the United Kingdom. He was frequently cast as American characters in British films and television programmes. He was best known for hi ...

) *Randell Todd (

Peter Sallis Peter John Sallis (1 February 1921 – 2 June 2017) was an English actor. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning '' Wallace & Gromit'' films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from its 1 ...

)

Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Reception

Upon the premiere of the first episode, originally aired on 22 November 1976, the show's title "Yanks Go Home" raised some mild controversy, as the United States had celebrated its bicentennial months before. The show received considerable publicity from the network and appeared on the cover of ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine. From 1955 until 1991, it was the only source of seven-day listings for ITV and, from 1982, Channel 4 (as well as S4C in Wales in an enclosed local supplement titled '' Sbec''). The magaz ...

''. The show failed to meet the network's expectations however, mostly due to the concept already having been touched upon in ''Dad's Army'' (such as in the episode '' My British Buddy'', 3 years and 15 days broadcast before the first episode) but also because of the lack of a regular writing staff. Nearly each episode was written by a different writer, which created noticeable inconsistencies as the series progressed. The studio-based setting and

canned laughter A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...

also lessened the feel in comparison with ''Dad's Army''. The show was cancelled a year later, the final episode airing on 19 September 1977, and was never brought back for a third. One of the breakout stars of the show was Freddie Earlle (who was in ''Dad's Army'', ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' and ''Hi-de-Hi!'') whose character Corporal Pasquale was favourably compared to

Sgt. Bilko ''Sgt. Bilko'' is a 1996 American military comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn and written by Andy Breckman. It is an adaptation of the 1950s television series ''The Phil Silvers Show'', often informally called ''Sgt. Bilko'', or simply ''Bi ...

. The series also featured

of ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ...

'', who also wrote one episode.

DVD releases

The Complete Series was released on 5 March 2012 by Network DVD.

References

External links

*
''Yanks Go Home''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{better source needed, reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. , date=October 2023 1976 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms World War II television comedy series Military comedy television series British aviation television series Television shows produced by Granada Television British English-language television shows