Lucky Feller (1975–1976) User Reviews (4)

When Jason Was Lucky!

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 12 March 2008]

Its hard to remember a time when David Jason was not a major television star, but that time was the early-to-mid '70's. Having notched up supporting roles in 'Hark At Barker', the 'Doctor' series, and 'Porridge', many reckoned he was a star waiting to happen. All he needed was the right vehicle.

'The Top Secret Life Of Edgar Briggs' in 1974 was a very funny show which cast our man as an incompetent secret agent. It was not networked by I.T.V., and got dropped after only one season.

Two years later, producer Humphrey Barclay hired Terence Frisby, author of the play/film 'There's A Girl In My Soup' to pen a new series for Jason. The result was 'Lucky Feller'.

Jason was cast as 'Bernard Mepstead', nicknamed 'Shorty' for obvious reasons, an accident-prone loser ( not unlike 'Granville' in 'Open All Hours' ), who runs a small-time plumbing and all-purpose repair business with his brother, the noticeably better looking Randolph, in south-east London. Both live at home with their mother. Shorty is hopeless at chatting up girls, unlike Randolph, who rather like 'Jack' in 'On The Buses', has a reputation as a lady killer.

In the first episode, Shorty meets the lovely Kathleen Peake on a train, and is smitten by her. There is a hilarious scene where he struggles to eat a tough-as-old-boots sandwich in her presence. Subsequently, Kath meets his family, and becomes besotted with Randolph. The rest of the series focuses on Shorty's attempts to woo her, while she chases his brother.

There was a fair amount of visual comedy on display. The opening titles featured Shorty at the wheel of a three-wheeled car which endlessly circles a roundabout ( the theme tune was done in the style of '20's jazz ). One memorable episode took place in a launderette. The washing machines went wrong, flooding the premises with soap suds.

Glynn Edwards played Kath's crude Dad. Meeting Shorty for the first time, he asked him: "Are you a virgin?". Pat Heywood was good as 'Mrs.Mepstead', who thought Shorty was an idiot and treated him accordingly. Cheryl Hall, later to play 'Shirley' in 'Citizen Smith', played the lovely 'Kath'. Prunella Scales guested in two episodes.

Towards the end of the run, Kath suspected that she was pregnant, and when Randolph refused to marry her, agreed to wed Shorty. However, on discovering she was not in that condition after all, jilted him at the altar. The final shot in the last episode was of Mr.Peake's fist making contact with Shorty's jaw.

Most critics were distinctly unimpressed by 'Feller'. Margaret Forwood of 'The Sun' wrote: "Its so full of pathos I can hardly bear to watch it.". This was unfair. The pathos was mixed with comedy in roughly equal proportions.

As had been the case with 'Edgar Briggs', I.T.V. did not network the show. I myself saw it on 6.30 on Friday evenings, a slot normally reserved for U.S. imports and programmes of local interest. It too failed to find an audience.

Jason's next I.T.V. show would be the networked 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath', which got to No.1 in the ratings. One wonders whether 'Lucky Feller' and 'Edgar Briggs' would not have done as much had they been accorded similar treatment.

A decade later, with Jason a big star thanks to not only 'Breath' but 'Only Fools & Horses', I.T.V. were interested in repeating 'Lucky Feller', but Jason, smarting from the show's failure, refused to permit it to be revived. It finally surfaced on D.V.D. in September 2014. While not a classic, it remains an enjoyable, amusing show, and a good vehicle for Jason's talents.

''I'm a lucky, lucky feller!''

[Rabical-91 · 8/10 · 15 December 2020]

David Jason's first vehicle ( broadcast by London Weekend Television ) 'The Top Secret Life Of Edgar Briggs' failed to make much of an impression on the viewing public. However, the show's producer Humphrey Barclay believed yet Jason had potential to carry his own show. 'There's A Girl In My Soup' author Terence Frisby constructed this show 'Lucky Feller' especially for him.

A pilot was filmed in 1975 but was shelved. However in 1976, it finally made it to the screen as a thirteen part series. Spineless mummy's boy Bernard Mempstead ( otherwise known as Shorty ), still lives at home with his brassy mother Mrs. Mempstead and his philandering brother Randolph ( nicknamed Randy for reasons none too obscure ). One day, Shorty meets on a train an attractive young lady by the name of Kathleen Peake ( future 'Citizen Smith' actress Cheryl Hall ) and is immediately and hopelessly infatuated with her. However, she is fatally attracted to his brother Randy, who seems to charm every girl he meets.

In order to be near Randy, Kath agrees to go out with Shorty, leading to a series of romantic disasters, though Shorty is generally too dumb to notice! Towards the end of the run, Kath thinks she is pregnant and in desperation agrees to wed Shorty, however when it turns out to be a false alarm, she jilts him at the altar.

'Lucky Feller', like 'Edgar Briggs', failed to find an audience, which is a shame as it was an entertaining vehicle for Jason. A second series was planned however Terence Frisby felt he had exhausted any further comedic possibilities and alas it didn't happen. Pat Heywood ( who replaced Elizabeth Spriggs from the pilot ) was funny as the mum, especially when she tried to convince Kath to marry both Shorty and Randy ( ''You would get both wage packets and you would be taking both of them off my hands!'' ). Nicky Henson played Randy in the pilot but was replaced in the series by Peter Armitage. A wise move. Peter was a better actor, as well as being better looking.

Also making the occasional appearances were Glynn Edwards and Maggie Jones as Kath's common parents. Josephine Tewson and Prunella Scales also made some memorable appearances in a couple of episodes.

Whilst not a wonderful show, 'Lucky Feller' can now be seen as an interesting forerunner to Jason's later 'Only Fools & Horses', only here it is Jason playing the Rodney-esque character. A year after 'Lucky Feller' ended, Jason landed a more successful vehicle on ATV with 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath'.

Underrated but not forgotten

[johngammon56 · 15 February 2007]

This was a shamefully underrated ITV comedy of 1976, written by Terence "There's a girl in my soup" Frisby and produced by Humphrey Barclay. Also set in south-east London, the basic set-up can be seen as a dry run for Only Fools and Horses, except with David Jason playing the "Rodders" part. There are two brothers: a sex god (Randolph Mepstead, played by Peter Armitage) and a shy nerd (Shorty Mepstead, played by Jason). The nerd is in love with a girl (Cheryl Hall); the girl is sexually infatuated with the sex god. Put like that it sounds a fairly standard romcom, but the quality of the writing was high and the comedy of social misunderstandings was highly inventive.

It was attacked by critics and only lasted one series, axed by the production company London Weekend Television. Years later it was reported in the press that LWT, presumably hoping to make some money out of the popularity of Del Boy Trotter, had approached David Jason to ask if it could be reshown. Alas, Jason turned them down. He apparently still felt aggrieved that LWT had not got behind such a superior project. But this is the kind of show that is ripe for revaluation.

What were they thinking?

[whynotgoglobal · 2/10 · 25 August 2017]

In many ways this is a typical 70s sitcom, and I don't mean that as a compliment. I watched its original run and the current revival on UK Gold is bringing back the awkwardness and bemusement I felt then. The stock characters and stock jokes aren't funny but they're no worse than what you'll find in On The Buses and a lot less offensive than what we endured in Love Thy Neighbour. The fact that the central family consists of a mother in her mid-40s and two sons who are clearly in their late-30s makes no sense, but I'll let that pass too. What marks this down as a major turkey is

(1) The insistence on drowning every situation in sentimentality.

(2) The series of unfeasibly stupid coincidences that lead David Jason's character to believe the object of his affection feels the same way about him, despite all evidence to the contrary.

(3) The shockingly unpleasant and manipulative way Jason's girlfriend behaves towards him.

Yes, I know it's a sitcom, not a morality play, but it's a sitcom that gets down on its knees and begs us to care about its characters. It's hard to do that when our hero is an irredeemably weak and stupid stooge, the woman he loves manipulates his feelings with the sole aim of getting into bed with his brother and then manipulates them further to con him into marriage, and the mother he adores plays along with it. When the last episode ended with Jason's beaming smile about to be wiped away by a punch from his girlfriend's father while he stands expectantly at the altar, I remember wondering what I was supposed to be feeling at that point. What were the writer and the cast trying to elicit from the audience? It wasn't funny, it wasn't clever, it wasn't satisfying and it wasn't fair. It was just a horribly misjudged mess, a waste of the cast's talent and a waste of the audience's time. On the plus side, I learned an important lesson watching this show. Just because someone is paid to write a sitcom, that doesn't mean they understand how to create believable characters, funny situations or good jokes. Message to UK Gold - don't ever show this again.