Bottle Boys

Bottle Boys is a British sitcom which ran for two series on ITV in 1984 and 1985.[1] Starring Robin Askwith as football-mad milkman Dave Deacon, the series mined comedy of the broadest sort from randy Dave's amorous adventures, in a style similar to the Confessions films which had also featured Askwith.

Bottle Boys
Created byVince Powell
StarringRobin Askwith
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series2
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkLondon Weekend Television
Original release1 September 1984 (1984-09-01) –
24 August 1985 (1985-08-24)

However, as well as the sexual innuendo of his earlier big-screen adventures, Askwith was equally likely to find himself embroiled in more off-the-wall exploits, and found himself at various points in the series dressing up as a cow, inadvertently engaged to Sharon the secretary, and meeting then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (played by an actor).

The part of Dave Deacon was originally written for Jim Davidson, who was by this time moving into sitcom with Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, also on ITV. Future BBC controller John Birt, during his tenure at London Weekend Television, suggested that Askwith take the part.

Critical reception

The series has acquired something of a reputation as one of the worst British sitcoms ever produced. Mark Lewisohn, writing in the Radio Times Guide to Comedy observes that "ITV sitcoms had often plumbed the depths, but this was the limit", and also notes that Bottle Boys was reputedly despised by comedy executives at ITV. He described Bottle Boys as his "worst ever" British sitcom.

Writer Vince Powell was no stranger to working on shows that attracted a bad press, however, having created two of the most controversial comedy shows of the 1970s: Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language.

The programme also made number 97 in Channel Four's 100 Greatest TV Moments from Hell list show, a retrospective of television's low points of the last fifty years.

Cast

Episodes

Series One (1 Sep – 6 Oct 1984):

  • Fools Rush In
  • God Save Our Dairy
  • Danger Women at Work
  • All in a Day's Work
  • One Good Turn
  • Here Comes the Groom

Series Two (13 July – 24 Aug 1985)

  • Things That Go Bump in the Night
  • I Gotta Horse
  • Out of the Frying Pan
  • If the Cap Fits
  • High Noon
  • I Love Paris
  • The Milk Cup Runneth Over

References
  1. "BBC – Comedy Guide – Bottle Boys". Archived from the original on 17 April 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
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