To really like Hyacinth Bucket :)

[twoblackdogs]

She was always clean, well dressed and with not a hair out of place
Her house was always spotless
She never hesitated with what was proper and what was not
She always meant well
She knew all rules and had manners
She loved her son very much
She never doubted herself, not for a moment
She never said no to all church and community things
She was always very cheerful

And this all was extremely insufferable :) because she wanted everybody to live like that, very properly
But if we think a bit... Was it really too bad? No? Or it's better to live like Daisy and Onslow?

Please don't take this too seriously, let's have some fun.

BTW I love Mills and Boon love stories like Daisy does.

You cannot have fun in aibu
It is the law
Why not move it into chat where it should be

When I rewatch it now I actually find it absolutely tragic.. I find it desperately sad. The neighbours are vile to her, particularly Emmett, what a horrible man. The women at the church are always trying to avoid her and laughing at her. Her son seems to use her for money. Her family are hard work. Her father has some sort of dementia or mental illness. She tries so hard. She's not mean or nasty. I feel so sorry for her.

yanbu

Yes, she meant no harm, she genuinely tried to improve everything and everybody. She really wanted to help by all means possible, to make everything better, and she never noticed people laughing at her.

Yes, I think she's lovely.

You might like the podcast "Keeping up appearances - the luxury podcast" with William Hanson and Jonathan Vernon-Smith! They rewatch the episodes and talk about them. I haven't even seen the TV show but love the podcast, I found out about it through the "Help! I sexted my boss" podcast as William hosts that one also. Both hilarious!

Thank you very much, I'll try to find it. Hanson already sounds promising!

And given the other members of her family, she’s worked damn hard to create a better life for herself. Is that so wrong really? She came from Daisy & Onslow and Rose levels and got herself a good, loyal husband, a lovely house, loves her son to a fault, and is just trying to fit into a lifestyle she’s always aspired to. Aren’t we all just trying to create a better life for ourselves and our children? She overcompensates for the background she’s trying to escape, and rather than just accepting an invitation to one of her candlelit suppers, everyone goes out of their way to make it clear she doesn’t fit in. It’s quite sad really.
And I really respect how impervious she is to the constant slights. I wish my skin was that thick.

There's a touching moment when Richard and the vicar discuss that underneath it all she is a genuinely kind woman. You're quite right, she wanted better for Daisy and Rose. And for Violet despite the swimming pool, sauna and room for a pony :)

I was going to ask whether you were William or Jonathan 😂 An excellent podcast for an excellent show.

I have a lot of love for Hyacinth, although I don’t think I’m quite her type…

I don't know how I have missed that podcast! As I said, Hanson already sounds promising.
I read somewhere that the late HMTQ also loved this show. Not sure if that's the truth though.

As for Hyacinth, I wonder if her skin really was so thick? Maybe she just resolutely ignored all unpleasant things? And then there was that episode where Richard really yelled at her, and she almost cried and was really very upset...

And I was always very interested in Onslow - what happened to him? He still reads books like "Nuclear physics" and financial pages - how he slipped to unemployment, a life before the telly and eating crisps while wiping sticky fingers on the dog? There must be a story somewhere.

Imagine Hyacinth on mumsnet though. AIBU to call the Chinese ambassador about the wrong number calls I get for the Chinese take away?

Style & Beauty: “Am I suitably dressed to answer my white slim-line telephone with last number redial?”

Property: “Where does one acquire a luxury security system for executives in dusky pink?”

I'm going to get flamed for this.. probably.

But.

Back when KUA was on, Hyacinth lived in a lovely home on a lovely street where she knew her neighbours and it was lovely.

Onslow... He lived in a dirty home on a dirty street with old cars and broken gates and vicious barking dog.

Now look at society.
Doesn't it feel like there many more Onslows than Hyacinths these days? That pride in houses and gardens has just gone in a lot of areas.

If people were honest, wouldn't the world be a much nicer place if everyone was a little less Onslow and a little more Hyacinth?

Actually, you're right, it is sad, but everyone in it is awful, including Hyacinth herself. Though I suppose she's got a kind of grandeur in her social fight away from her Low Origins and to try to reinvent her lower-middle-class present as upper-middle (upper-class? I don't think I've seen an episode since about 1992.) She puts a huge amount of work into her pretence.

I had to look up the broadcast dates, and was taken aback that it was broadcast in the 1990s -- I think of it as being mid-80s or earlier.

Hyacinth is a brilliantly recognisable character, even if I find her (and every one else in the show) repellent.

Emmett was a horrible man so sneery

Yes and to be fair to her whenever Daddy has one of his funny turns Hyacinth always rushes to help.

Help I Sexted my Boss is the funniest podcast - proper laugh out loud stuff.

And she was regularly sexually assaulted by The Major but carried on without a fuss.

I love Hyacinth too. And Margo from The Good Life, I’d happily be either of them.

I love “Keeping up Appearances”, it’s my comfort telly on the player.

William Hanson is quite repellent enough to be an actual character in Keeping Up Appearances.

Though also weirdly compelling. He's like one of those prematurely aged ten year olds who show up in a giant blazer and bowtie discussing Socrates on 1980s documentaries about gifted children.

I remember the vicar asking Richard how he coped with her and he said "She's actually quite kind." She was.

Oh, I think MN is deeply lower-middle in outlook. Hyacinth would fit right into those threads about what you call your midday and evening meals, settee/vs/couch vs sofa, what you say when someone says something you don't hear, the current 'clinking glasses as social faux pas/always wear tights to a funeral' thread.

Not to mention the ones excoriating the nouveau riche (white Jeeps, conspicuous brands, Quooker taps, bad manners) at the expense of 'old money' (the Duke who dresses like a tramp covered in dog hair and is so unassuming strangers assume he's his own gardener until some passing Hyacinth addresses him as 'Your Grace').

She’s a queen!

It is Bouquet, dear.

LOL, I do like old comedies and I do enjoy this one indeed.
Also George and Mildred. He does need a bit more salt and pepper in his life though, bless him!

Oh, I have never watched the episode where Richard shouts....
I did not think him capable of it. I need to watch that.