During the '60's, Sid James had three successful sitcoms under his belt - 'Citizen James', 'George & The Dragon' and 'Two In Clover' - all of which arrived within a few years of one another. In 1971, he clocked up his fourth sitcom, 'Bless This House', in which he played Sid Abbott, a happily married family man who is completely out of step with the real world.
Aside from the 'Carry On' movies, it is perhaps 'Bless This House' that Sid is best remembered for, and quite right too. Like 'On The Buses' and 'Love Thy Neighbour', it never reached any great heights but it kept viewers laughing in droves. It was initially created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver but other writers such as Adele Rose, Dave Freeman and Carla Lane inherited the scriptwriting duties once it was established. Being a family show, there was no bad language bandied about, it was more suggestive than downright crude. Ronnie Baxter produced and directed at first. William G. Stewart ( later to host '15 to 1' ) took over from Baxter following his death.
Sid Abbott is an everyman character - a good man with good intentions who cannot seem to accept the fact that his children - gormless hippie Mike ( Robin Stewart ) and dippy schoolgirl Sally ( Sally Geeson ) - are growing up, and growing up fast at that. In the first episode, Sally has fun winding up her father by sticking tomato shaped sauce dispensers up her top to make it look as though her breasts have grown overnight. Noticing this, Sid almost has a heart attack. Sid's wife Jean ( Diana Coupland ) however is far more laid back than her husband.
Sid's friend and neighbour is Trevor Lewis ( Anthony Jackson ), a jack-the-lad type who lives under the thumb of his nagging wife Betty ( the late Patsy Rowlands ). Betty later became pregnant and gave birth to their son Dominic.
'Bless This House' boasted very funny scripts which were done justice by a superb cast, particularly Diana Coupland and Anthony Jackson, though as one would expect it is Sid who shines throughout. His trademark dirty laugh still creases people up ( myself included ) to this day. Naturally, there was a big-screen version in 1972 ( written by Dave Freeman and produced and directed by Peter Rodgers and Gerald Thomas ) which saw Robin Stewart replaced by 'Confessions' star Robin Askwith. The film adaption was okay but distanced itself from the series in that it came across more as a 'Carry On' film rather than a spin-off.
The show ran for six series and would have continued had it not been for Sid James' sudden and tragic death in 1976. However thanks to DVD releases and repeats on ITV-3, 'Bless This House' is still loved today as much as it was when it first was shown.
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