Add to FavouritesAbout this Broadcast
10/06/1977
Season 1, Episode 1
Robert Robinson presides over another duel of words and wits as Frank Muir, Gayle Hunnicutt and Russell Davies take on Patrick Campbell, Prunella Scales and Paul Eddington. First broadcast in 1977
subtitles
Game Show/Quiz/Contest
Show/Game Show
Cast & Crew
Robert Robinson
(Presenter)
Patrick Campbell
(Panellist)
Gayle Hunnicutt
(Panellist)
Russell Davies
(Panellist)
Frank Muir
(Panellist)
Prunella Scales
(Panellist)
Paul Eddington
(Panellist)
Alan Bell
(Director)
Johnny Downes
(Producer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Robert Robinson
(Presenter)
Patrick Campbell
(Panellist)
Gayle Hunnicutt
(Panellist)
Russell Davies
(Panellist)
Frank Muir
(Panellist)
Prunella Scales
(Panellist)
Born:
June 22, 1932
in
Sutton Abinger, Surrey
Best Known For:
Playing Sybil in Fawlty Towers.
Early-life:
Born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth on June 22, 1932, in Sutton Arbinger, Surrey. Her mother, Catherine Scales, was an actress, and her father John was a cotton salesman. When the Second World War broke out, her parents rented a farmhouse with no gas or electricity in Suffolk to escape the bombing. As a child, Prunella was shy, but discovered her passion for acting in her teens. She began training at the Old Vic Theatre School at 17, before going on to study at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
Career:
Following stints in repertory theatre, Scales joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and also appeared in the films Laxdale Hall and Hobson's Choice. In 1963, she starred with Richard Briers in the sitcom Marriage Lines, but didn't become a household name until 1975, when she was cast as the fearsome Sybil in Fawlty Towers. Since then, she has worked regularly in theatre, film and TV. In 1992, she was nominated for a Bafta for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the Alan Bennett drama A Question of Attribution, and was awarded the OBE in the same year. Other projects include Howards End (alongside son Samuel), The Shell Seekers, An Ideal Husband and Horrid Henry: The Movie.
Quote:
'I remember an American producer coming up to me and saying: 'You're a wonderful actress. Now what are we going to do about your face?''
Trivia:
Scales married actor Timothy West in 1963. They have two sons - Samuel and Joseph. She and West embarked on a narrowboating holiday to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary - their jaunt was filmed and turned into a documentary series for More4. During the making of the programme, it was revealed she has a mild form of Alzheimer's.
Paul Eddington
(Panellist)
Born:
June 18, 1927
in
London
Best Known For:
Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and The Good Life.
Early-life:
Born in London on June 18, 1927, Paul began his acting career with the Entertainments National Service Association during the Second World War. He went on to work for a repertory theatre company in Sheffield.
Career:
Made his TV debut in 1956 in The Adventures of Robin Hood. A variety of stage, film and TV roles followed in the 1960s and 1970s. His big break came in his late forties when he landed the role of Jerry Leadbetter in The Good Life, and in the 1980s he cemented his position as a household name playing politician Jim Hacker in the acclaimed sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. While making Yes, Prime Minister, Eddington was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer that eventually claimed his life. He continued to work and went on to appear in The Camomile Lawn in 1992. He died on November 4, 1995 at the age of 68.
Quote:
'A journalist once asked me what I would like my epitaph to be and I said I think I would like it to be 'He did very little harm'.'
Trivia:
He was awarded a CBE in 1987.
Alan Bell
(Director)
Johnny Downes
(Producer)
