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{{Infobox television
| image                = The Melting Pot (TV series).jpg
| image_alt            =
| caption              =
| genre                = [[Comedy television]]
| creator              = [[Spike Milligan]]
| based_on            = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} -->
| inspired_by          = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} -->
| developer            =
| writer              = [[Spike Milligan]]<br />[[Neil Shand]]
| screenplay          =
| story                =
| director            =
| creative_director    =
| presenter            = <!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list -->
| starring            = [[Spike Milligan]]<!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list -->
| narrated            =
| theme_music_composer =
| open_theme          =
| end_theme            =
| composer            =
| country              =
| language            =
| num_seasons          = <!-- Or num_series. Increment when new seasons/series begin. See template documentation for more info. -->
| num_episodes        = <!-- Value is incremented when new episodes air. See template documentation for more info. -->
| list_episodes        =
| executive_producer  =
| producer            =
| news_editor          = <!-- Content editor or editors of a current affairs/political show such as Newsnight. -->
| location            = <!-- Nation the series was primarily filmed in, if different from the nation of origin. -->
| cinematography      =
| animator            =
| editor              = <!-- Film editors -->
| camera              = <!-- Either Single-camera or Multi-camera -->
| runtime              = <!-- Reliable source required -->
| company              = <!-- Production companies only -->
| distributor          =
| budget              =
| network              =
| picture_format      =
| audio_format        =
| first_aired          = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} or |released= {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}}, but not both -->
| last_aired          = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| preceded_by          =
| followed_by          =
| related              = <!-- To be used only for remakes, spin-offs, and adaptations -->
}}
'''''The Melting Pot''''' is a British television situation comedy starring [[Spike Milligan]]. It was written by Milligan and his regular collaborator [[Neil Shand]]. The pilot episode was broadcast only once on [[BBC One|BBC1]] in June 1976, with a full series recorded the following August but never broadcast.<ref name="Tgraph2021">{{cite news|last=Sweet|first=Matthew|author-link=Matthew Sweet (writer)|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/08/14/tvs-crown-jewels-racist-nightmares-can-1970s-sitcom-saved/|title=From TV's crown jewels to racist nightmares: can the 1970s sitcom be saved?|work=The Telegraph|date=14 August 2021|access-date=14 August 2021}}</ref>
'''''The Melting Pot''''' is a British television situation comedy starring [[Spike Milligan]]. It was written by Milligan and his regular collaborator [[Neil Shand]]. The pilot episode was broadcast only once on [[BBC One|BBC1]] in June 1976, with a full series recorded the following August but never broadcast.<ref name="Tgraph2021">{{cite news|last=Sweet|first=Matthew|author-link=Matthew Sweet (writer)|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/08/14/tvs-crown-jewels-racist-nightmares-can-1970s-sitcom-saved/|title=From TV's crown jewels to racist nightmares: can the 1970s sitcom be saved?|work=The Telegraph|date=14 August 2021|access-date=14 August 2021}}</ref>


Milligan played Mr. Van Gogh  (in [[Racial brownface|brownface]]) alongside John Bird as Mr. Rembrandt, father and son illegal Asian immigrants who are first seen being rowed ashore in England, having been told that the beach is in fact Piccadilly Circus.<ref name="md">Mark Duguid [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1108234/index.html "Race and the Sitcom"], BFI screenonline.  Retrieved 12st November 2018.</ref> They hitch a ride to London in a lorry advertising Italian-made Yorkshire puddings, and find themselves at a boarding house in the fictional Piles Road, London WC2, run by Irish coalman Paddy O'Brien (Frank Carson) and his voluptuous daughter Nefertiti. The rest of the tenants include a black Yorkshireman, a Chinese cockney and a Scottish Arab. The "Melting Pot" of the title refers to the district of London where they have arrived.
Milligan played Mr. Van Gogh  (in [[Racial brownface|brownface]]) alongside John Bird as Mr. Rembrandt, father and son illegal Asian immigrants who are first seen being rowed ashore in England, having been told that the beach is in fact Piccadilly Circus.<ref name="md">Mark Duguid [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1108234/index.html "Race and the Sitcom"], BFI screenonline.  Retrieved 12st November 2018.</ref> They hitch a ride to London in a lorry advertising Italian-made Yorkshire puddings, and find themselves at a boarding house in the fictional Piles Road, London WC2, run by Irish coalman Paddy O'Brien (Frank Carson) and his voluptuous daughter Nefertiti. The rest of the tenants include a black Yorkshireman, a Chinese cockney and a Scottish Arab. The "Melting Pot" of the title refers to the district of London where they have arrived.


The pilot episode, produced by Roger Race, was broadcast on BBC1 at 9:25 pm on 11 June 1976, and was followed by a recording of a full series of six episodes the following August.<ref name="Tgraph2021" /> Roger Race was replaced as director by Ian McNaughton, who had previously worked on Milligan's ''[[Q (TV series)|Q]]5'' and ''[[Q (Spike Milligan series)|Q]]6'' series. However, the series was never transmitted. Milligan speculated that the programmes were perhaps insufficiently funny, or that cast changes made following the pilot episode had been an unwise decision. However, the popular consensus seems to be that the BBC disliked the racially insensitive nature of the series as a whole.<ref name="md" /> A book of the scripts of the series was published in 1983 by Robson Books, with illustrations by the cartoonist [[Bill Tidy]], and Milligan later reused some of the situations and characters in his 1987 comic novel ''[[The Looney]]''. The pilot episode remains in the BBC's archives in the form of a  low-band [[U-matic]] video recording,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tvbrain.info/tv-archive?showname=The+Melting+Pot&type=lostshow|title=The Melting Pot|website=Lost Shows|publisher=Kaleidoscope|access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> while the seven-episode series was preserved on the original broadcast standard video tape.
The pilot episode, produced by Roger Race, was broadcast on BBC1 at 9:25 pm on 11 June 1976, and was followed by a recording of a full series of six episodes the following August.<ref name="Tgraph2021" /> Roger Race was replaced as director by Ian McNaughton, who had previously worked on Milligan's ''[[Q (TV series)|Q]]5'' and ''[[Q (Spike Milligan series)|Q]]6'' series. However, the series was never transmitted. Milligan speculated that the programmes were perhaps insufficiently funny, or that cast changes made following the pilot episode had been an unwise decision. However, the popular consensus seems to be that the BBC disliked the racially insensitive nature of the series as a whole.<ref name="md" /> A book of the scripts of the series was published in 1983 by Robson Books, with illustrations by the cartoonist [[Bill Tidy]], and Milligan later reused some of the situations and characters in his 1987 comic novel ''[[The Looney: An Irish Fantasy|The Looney]]''. The pilot episode remains in the BBC's archives in the form of a  low-band [[U-matic]] video recording,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tvbrain.info/tv-archive?showname=The+Melting+Pot&type=lostshow|title=The Melting Pot|website=Lost Shows|publisher=Kaleidoscope|access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> while the seven-episode series was preserved on the original broadcast standard video tape.


==Cast==
==Cast==
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*[[Robert Dorning]] as Colonel Grope: an ex-[[Indian Army (British India)|Indian Army]], alcoholic racialist
*[[Robert Dorning]] as Colonel Grope: an ex-[[Indian Army (British India)|Indian Army]], alcoholic racialist
*[[Bill Kerr]] as Bluey Notts: an Australian [[bookie]]'s clerk, a crude racialist
*[[Bill Kerr]] as Bluey Notts: an Australian [[bookie]]'s clerk, a crude racialist
== See also ==
*[[List of television series canceled after one episode]]
*[[List of sitcoms notable for negative reception]]


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 18:08, 15 February 2023

The Melting Pot
The Melting Pot (TV series).jpg
GenreComedy television
Created bySpike Milligan
Written bySpike Milligan
Neil Shand
StarringSpike Milligan

The Melting Pot is a British television situation comedy starring Spike Milligan. It was written by Milligan and his regular collaborator Neil Shand. The pilot episode was broadcast only once on BBC1 in June 1976, with a full series recorded the following August but never broadcast.[1]

Milligan played Mr. Van Gogh (in brownface) alongside John Bird as Mr. Rembrandt, father and son illegal Asian immigrants who are first seen being rowed ashore in England, having been told that the beach is in fact Piccadilly Circus.[2] They hitch a ride to London in a lorry advertising Italian-made Yorkshire puddings, and find themselves at a boarding house in the fictional Piles Road, London WC2, run by Irish coalman Paddy O'Brien (Frank Carson) and his voluptuous daughter Nefertiti. The rest of the tenants include a black Yorkshireman, a Chinese cockney and a Scottish Arab. The "Melting Pot" of the title refers to the district of London where they have arrived.

The pilot episode, produced by Roger Race, was broadcast on BBC1 at 9:25 pm on 11 June 1976, and was followed by a recording of a full series of six episodes the following August.[1] Roger Race was replaced as director by Ian McNaughton, who had previously worked on Milligan's Q5 and Q6 series. However, the series was never transmitted. Milligan speculated that the programmes were perhaps insufficiently funny, or that cast changes made following the pilot episode had been an unwise decision. However, the popular consensus seems to be that the BBC disliked the racially insensitive nature of the series as a whole.[2] A book of the scripts of the series was published in 1983 by Robson Books, with illustrations by the cartoonist Bill Tidy, and Milligan later reused some of the situations and characters in his 1987 comic novel The Looney. The pilot episode remains in the BBC's archives in the form of a low-band U-matic video recording,[3] while the seven-episode series was preserved on the original broadcast standard video tape.

Cast

  • Spike Milligan as Mr Van Gogh: an illegal Pakistani immigrant
  • John Bird as Mr Rembrandt: Van Gogh's son, also an illegal immigrant
  • Frank Carson as Paddy O'Brien: an Irish Republican landlord and coalman
  • Alexandra Dane as Nefertiti Skupinski: O'Brien's voluptuous, South African-bred daughter
  • Wayne Brown as Luigi O'Reilly: a black Yorkshireman
  • Harry Fowler as Eric Lee Fung: a Chinese cockney spiv
  • John Bluthal as Richard Armitage: an Orthodox London Jew
  • Anthony Brothers as Sheik Yamani: an Orthodox Arab who speaks with a Scots accent as he's been learning banking at the Bank of Scotland, Peckham
  • Robert Dorning as Colonel Grope: an ex-Indian Army, alcoholic racialist
  • Bill Kerr as Bluey Notts: an Australian bookie's clerk, a crude racialist

References

  1. ^ a b Sweet, Matthew (14 August 2021). "From TV's crown jewels to racist nightmares: can the 1970s sitcom be saved?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b Mark Duguid "Race and the Sitcom", BFI screenonline. Retrieved 12st November 2018.
  3. ^ "The Melting Pot". Lost Shows. Kaleidoscope. Retrieved 18 April 2018.

External links

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