His Lordship Entertains

2022-04-10T21:11:35Z

84.92.40.23:

{{short description|British TV comedy series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| caption =
| image =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| starring = [[Ronnie Barker]] [[Josephine Tewson]] [[David Jason]] [[Mary Baxter]] [[Moira Foot]] [[Frank Gatliff]]
| country = United Kingdom
| network = [[BBC Two|BBC2]]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1972|06|05|df=yes}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1972|07|17|df=yes}}
| num_episodes = 7 (6 missing)
| producer = [[Harold Snoad]]
| director = [[Harold Snoad]]
}}

'''''His Lordship Entertains''''' was [[Ronnie Barker]]'s second vehicle for his Lord Rustless character, first seen three years earlier in ''[[Hark at Barker]]'' on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]. This time though, Rustless appeared in a series for [[BBC Two|BBC2]]. ''Hark at Barker'' had also included [[sketch comedy|sketch]] inserts, whereas ''His Lordship Entertains'' was a sitcom.

Set again in the aristocratic Chrome Hall, which had now become a hotel. It once more starred [[David Jason]] as the 100-year-old Dithers and [[Josephine Tewson]] as Mildred Bates, two actors who would continue to have a working relationships with Barker. In fact all of the regular cast reprised their roles from ''Hark at Barker''.

Barker wrote all the scripts under the pseudonym Jonathan Cobbald. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/h/hislordshipenter_66600370.shtml]. He liked to refer to the show as "[[Fawlty Towers]] mark one" as it appeared on television three years before that other hotel bound sitcom.

Four episodes of the sitcom have been performed on stage by the [[University of Nottingham]]'s New Theatre.

== Archive status ==
For many years it was thought that the series had been entirely [[Lost television broadcast|lost]]. However, the first episode of ''His Lordship Entertains'', 'The Food Inspector', was recovered in 2009.<ref name="Recovery">{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/events/missing_believed_wiped_programme_one |title=Missing Believed Wiped: Programme One |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |accessdate=7 January 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In addition the scripts were published in Ronnie Barker's anthology ''All I Ever Wrote''.<ref name="Scripts">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068078/literature |title=Literature for "His Lordship Entertains" |publisher=[[IMDb]]|accessdate=7 January 2010}}</ref>

==Cast==

* [[Ronnie Barker]] - Lord Rustless
* [[Josephine Tewson]] - Mildred Bates
* [[David Jason]] - Dithers
* [[Mary Baxter]] - Cook
* [[Moira Foot]] - Effie
* [[Frank Gatliff]] - Badger
* [[Mary Merrall]] - Mrs Ringer
* [[Bart Allison]] - Mr Blunt
* [[Gladys Henson]] - Mrs Ringer's Friend
* [[Diana King (actress)|Diana King]] - Harriet
* [[Anthony Sharp]] - Sir Geoffrey Quick
* [[Michael Knowles (actor)|Michael Knowles]] - Mr Smith
* [[Walter Sparrow]] - Mr Flint
* [[Patrick Troughton]] - The Sheik
* [[Colin Bean]] - Guest
* [[Pamela Cundell]] - Mrs Featherstone

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/h/hislordshipenter_66600370.shtml ''His Lordship Entertains''] at the [[bbc.co.uk]] Guide to Comedy
* [http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=0671bc6b-0ebf-4775-bd73-7a2a5d3e6f50 ''His Lordship Entertains''] at Lost Shows
*{{IMDb title|id=0068078|title=His Lordship Entertains}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:His Lordship Entertains}}
[[Category:1972 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1972 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1970s British children's television series]]
[[Category:BBC television sitcoms]]
[[Category:Lost BBC episodes]]
[[Category:English-language television shows]]

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His Lordship Entertains