Keeping Up Appearances: Christmas Special 1991: The Father Christmas Suit
01:45 am - 02:15 am, Tuesday, December 23 on BBC Four HD (106)
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About this Broadcast
Christmas Special 1991: The Father Christmas Suit
Season 2, Episode 11
Hyacinth makes Richard dress as Father Christmas to hand out presents to the old folk at the church hall. Unfortunately, he visits Emmet on the way and they get drunk, leaving Elizabeth to don the costume and take his place - without Mrs Bucket noticing the switch. Festive special from 1991, starring Patricia Routledge, Clive Swift and Geoffrey Hughes
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audio-description
Movie/Drama
Sitcom
Cast & Crew
Patricia Routledge
(Actor)
.. Hyacinth
Clive Swift
(Actor)
.. Richard
Josephine Tewson
(Actor)
.. Elizabeth
David Griffin
(Actor)
.. Emmet
Geoffrey Hughes
(Actor)
.. Onslow
Judy Cornwell
(Actor)
.. Daisy
Mary Millar
(Actor)
.. Rose
Jeremy Gittins
(Actor)
.. Vicar
Mark Brackenbury
(Actor)
.. Mr Thorgunby
Robert Packham
(Actor)
.. Postman
Tony Kemp
(Actor)
.. Mr Sudbury
Alice
(Actor)
.. Dog
Harold Snoad
(Director)
Roy Clarke
(Writer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Patricia Routledge
(Actor)
.. Hyacinth
Born:
February 17, 1929
in
Tranmere
Best Known For:
Her extensive stage career and playing Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.
Early-life:
Katherine Patricia Routledge was born in Tranmere on February 17, 1929 to Catherine and Isaac. During the Second World War, her family lived weeks at a time in the basement of her father's haberdashery shop. Patricia went on to study English Language and Literature at the University of Liverpool. After becoming involved with the university's dramatic society, she was encouraged to pursue an acting career. After graduating, she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and launched her acting career at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Career:
Routledge's extensive stage credits include roles in a number of Royal Shakespeare Company productions, How's the World Treating You in London and on Broadway, The Pirates of Penzance in New York's Central Park, and Facade at Carnegie Recital Hall. She won a Tony Award in 1968 for Darling of the Day and an Olivier Award in 1988 for Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Other theatre credits include Noises Off, Talking Heads, The Importance of Being Earnest, and An Ideal Husband. Even well into her ninth decade, she continues to perform on the stage. She is better known to TV audiences as Hyacinth Bucket in the hugely popular comedy series Keeping Up Appearances. She went on to play the title role in the mystery drama Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
Quote:
"When I approach the pearly gates, I'd like to hear a champagne cork popping, an orchestra tuning up, and the sound of my mother laughing."
Trivia:
Routledge is a classically trained singer and she has appeared in a number of operas. She was awarded an OBE in 1993 and a CBE in 2004.
Clive Swift
(Actor)
.. Richard
Born:
February 09, 1936
in
Liverpool
Best Known For:
Playing the embattled Richard Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.
Early-life:
Clive Walter Swift was born in Liverpool on February 9, 1936 to Lily and Abram. His is the younger brother of actor David Swift (Drop the Dead Donkey's Henry Davenport). Clive was encouraged to take up acting after performing in a school play. He went on to study English literature at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He made his professional stage debut in 1959 in Take the Fool Away. This led to 10 years at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Career:
Swift made his TV debut opposite Warren Mitchell in a 1963 episode of Love Story. His first film was Catch Us If You Can (1965). He would later star in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). For the next 20 years, he worked solidly as a character actor on stage, TV and radio. His TV credits include The Liver Birds, South Riding, The Brothers, Hazell, The Nesbitts Are Coming, The Gentle Touch, and The Pickwick Papers. His life changed in 1990 when he was cast as Richard Bucket in the hugely popular BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. The role made him a household name and it ran for 44 editions. He returned to the world of sitcoms in 2009 when he began starring opposite Roger Lloyd Pack in The Old Guys.
Quote:
On meeting people in the street: "They expect me to be as nice and placid as Richard and I'm really not like that!"
Trivia:
He once toured with a one-man song and music show, Richard Bucket Overflows.
Josephine Tewson
(Actor)
.. Elizabeth
David Griffin
(Actor)
.. Emmet
Geoffrey Hughes
(Actor)
.. Onslow
Judy Cornwell
(Actor)
.. Daisy
Mary Millar
(Actor)
.. Rose
Jeremy Gittins
(Actor)
.. Vicar
Mark Brackenbury
(Actor)
.. Mr Thorgunby
Robert Packham
(Actor)
.. Postman
Tony Kemp
(Actor)
.. Mr Sudbury
Alice
(Actor)
.. Dog
Harold Snoad
(Director)
Roy Clarke
(Writer)
