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.

I think the redeeming factor for Hyacinth is that she isn’t self-aware enough to realise she’s being rude when she insults other people. She largely seems to think it’s for their own good, or she’s just being honest. She doesn’t set out to hurt people.

And other people respond in kind, so she becomes a pitiable character. That’s quite relatable - we all make mistakes socially. Hyacinth just makes more of them, and at her own spectacular level.

I have a Polish friend who assures me in Poland they go mad for Mrs Bucket. They love it.

I thought she was better in Hettie Wainthropp

Well I think that was rather the point, don't you? The comedy of its time was always merged with a good helping of pathos.

My late mum's favourite show - she giggled nonstop! Really seemed to 'get' Mrs Bucket and her exhausted husband

Oh I loved Margo!

I adore Richard.

Margo was what Hyacinth was aiming for, and probably thought she'd got it too.

However, Margo was the complete ensemble - refined, opinionated, had self-awareness by the shovel-load, knew exactly what she was doing & saying, knew & observed the true rules of society (as opposed to making her own), recongnised her weaknesses (the "Windbreak War" episode shows us the other side of Margo), and was more than happy to NOT try and save people from themselves - she liked people in the pigeon holes she'd put them in, and would have a fit at the idea of bringing them up to her level. She was happy with her own "type" on that front.

Patricia Routledge is a genius who doesn't get the credit she's due. Her comedic abilities are up there among the best. I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole about her not so long ago and her singing needs to be seen, a very funny very talented lady.

Have you seen her playing "Kitty" in Victoria Wood's As Seen On TV?

Yes! As I say, I fell right into a rabbit hole. She's amazing. Her Talking Heads is well worth a watch.

It is, I love the one where she is providing services to her chiropodist, and the only person who hadn't a clue what she was doing was her.

"There's a name for people who do what I do....but I skirt round it".

She also did a pre-Talking Heads monologue named "A Woman Of No Importance". It's heartbreaking.

If memory serves me right didn’t Patricia Routledge decide to stop playing the part of Hyacinth? She was right to do that as it would have got a bit repetitive if it had gone on for a few more series.

Yes. She wanted to do Hetty Wainthrope instead. Seemingly all the other cast were willing to carry on, but her not being in it called time on further series.

This said, I agree with you that it could have run out of steam eventually. Much as I love all three series of Gimme Gimme Gimme, the third series was notably lacking when compared to the first two.

KUA is very popular in Finland too.

Did anyone watch her in Hetty Wainthropp? I quite liked that too, reminds me a bit of Vera now I think about it

Have you seen Wetty Hainthropp?

I watched it growing up and loved it but like many, watching it now as an adult I see how desperately sad it is. How mean everyone was and how much she kept trying to be a good person, occasionally it slipped and she showed the real emotions underneath. I obviously didn’t notice that when I was younger

Yes I enjoyed Hetty Wainthroppe, but Keeping up appearances was such a tough act to follow it never really took off in the way she probably hoped.

I loved the matching Royal sailor dresses

oh goodness yes

There is a fairly enjoyable program on Channel 5 about KUA. She can't actually ride, so the horse episode she was sat on a mechanical horse. Along with Dinner ladies I never tire of watching it.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/comedy-classics-keeping-up-appearances/

I thought it was much better, I found KUA too sad to be funny.

She also did a pre-Talking Heads monologue named "A Woman Of No Importance". It's heartbreaking

It's on iPlayer

I can't watch it again. It made me cringe so much that I thought I may turn inside out, and yet was so desperately sad too. She also did a short play with Prunella Scales, where they were secretaries sharing an office.

These two also did the radio play "Ladies of Letters", although I have never listened to them, having been put off by the TV adaptation feat. Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid, which started well but became ever so silly very quickly.