Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns | |
---|---|
BBC 2 | |
Release | 7 January 1976 24 October 1979 | –
Ripping Yarns is a
Pilot episode
In 1975, the
Episodes
The nine episodes and their original airdates are:
First series
- "Tomkinson's Schooldays" – pilot – 7 January 1976
- "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite" – 27 September 1977
- "Escape from Stalag Luft 112B" – 4 October 1977
- "Murder at Moorstones Manor" – 11 October 1977
- "Across the Andes by Frog" – 18 October 1977
- "The Curse of the Claw" – 25 October 1977
Second series
- "Whinfrey's Last Case" – 10 October 1979
- "Golden Gordon" – 17 October 1979
- "Roger of the Raj" – 24 October 1979
Production details
Tomkinson's Schooldays was shot on videotape in front of a studio audience, with filmed exterior scenes. The remaining episodes were all shot on film, and were originally shown with laugh tracks (recorded by showing each completed film to an audience), but with a couple of exceptions these have been omitted from reruns.[3]
In 2014, the series was repeated on BBC4, commencing with Tomkinson's Schooldays on 3 April.
The theme tune for the series was Fanfare from the ‘Facade Suite No. 2', by Sir William Walton, played by the City of Birmingham Orchestra, conducted by Louis Frémaux.
Directors
Cast
Each episode featured several guest character actors including Ian Ogilvy, Kenneth Colley, Isabel Dean, Liz Smith, Roy Kinnear, Frank Middlemass, Iain Cuthbertson, John Le Mesurier, Jan Francis, Denholm Elliott, Gwen Taylor, Harold Innocent, Richard Vernon, Gwen Watford, Barbara New, Gerald Sim, Gilly Flower, Joan Sanderson, Roger Sloman and David Griffin.[1] John Cleese makes a cameo appearance in the episode "Golden Gordon".
Reception
The series was nominated for a
Books
The scripts were published in book form, with sepia-tinted stills, as Ripping Yarns (1978;
Across the Andes by Frog originally appeared in Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls, co-authored by Palin and Jones.
Home media
The series was released on three
The fully restored series was released in October 2004 as The Complete Ripping Yarns. This two-disc Region 2 DVD set included commentaries on all nine episodes by Palin and Jones and a deleted scene (without soundtrack) from Murder at Moorstones Manor. All of the episodes, except Tomkinson's Schooldays and Murder at Moorstones Manor, have optional laugh-free soundtracks.
The DVD set also includes the only surviving (and rather poor quality) recording of Palin and Jones's comic BBC play Secrets from 1973, as well as a documentary by Michael Palin entitled Comic Roots in which he goes back to visit his home town. Not linked in the menu are scans of the first drafts of the scripts for six episodes (Tomkinson's Schooldays, The Testing of Eric Olthwaite, Murder at Moorstone Manor, Across the Andes by Frog, The Curse of the Claw and Whinfrey's Last Case), type-written with Palin's handwritten comments and changes in the margin. There is an informative booklet enclosed. This set was also released in Region 1 with all of the above included, apart from Secrets. A further box set, fully remastered, including the directors commentary, was released in 2004.
The DVD was re-released in March 2012. To publicise the event, Network hosted a "Hopathon" to recreate the "Tomkinson's School Days" episode. The intention was to break a
References
- ^ ISBN 0-413-46250-1.
- ISBN 978-0-297-84436-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ^ a b c d "Zeta Minor DVD Review - Ripping Yarns". www.zetaminor.com. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ Harvey, Gary. "BBC 4 Rediscovers Ripping Yarns". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards (1978)". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards (1980)". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "Ready, Steady …. Hop! | It's all Michael Palin's fault". Michaelpalinsfault.wordpress.com. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
External links
- Ripping Yarns at BBC Online
- Episode guide
- Ripping Yarns at IMDb