Ripping Yarns Season 2 Episode 3-Roger Of The Raj

Roger Of The Raj, Original air date - 24 October 1979.
Plot: On the eve of the Great War Roger Bartlesham's aristocratic parents are firm believers in the Empire though Roger, encouraged by socialist Latin teacher Mr Hopper,dreams of equality and opening a tea shop with his sweet-heart Miranda. After a sojourn in India where various officers shoot themselves to atone for breaches in etiquette Roger gets caught up in Hopper's attempt to bring the Russian revolution to England but is rescued from the chaos by Miranda in time for them to pursue their dream.
Ripping Yarns is a British television comedy series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was first broadcast on BBC 2 between 1976 and 1979.
No copyright infringement intended. All copyright remains under BBC-2. I do not own this show at all.

[@patagualianmostly7437]

I just love Joan Sanderson..... She was brilliant at EVERY character she played...mostly that upper class snob... she perfected it. God rest you Joan... And thank you.

[@stevebaker6149]

She was brilliant in everything she did!

[@bossdog1480]

She played the hard of hearing woman in one of fellow Python John Cleese's 'Fawlty Towers'.

[@terri-leajohnston9181]

Very clever writing, typical British satire on their own class system. Enjoying these episodes all over again as a middle aged person, seeing the humour from a different perspective to the young adult I was when first encountered this series ( post Monty Python) - I am amazed Ripping Yarns were not picked up by major networks, Michael Palin is so versatile and in my humble opinion just so damn funny ! A BRILLIANT comedian. To use Ian Meldrum‘s famous phrase.... “ do yourself a favour “ watch these the series’s again, you’re going to laugh your head off.

[@bossdog1480]

Onya Terri. 😁😁

[@granthurlburt4062]

too subtle. I find most of these much funnier the second time through as I pay attn to every word and see just how much is being taken off. mUch of the style reminds of the playwright's son who becomes a coal miner in MP sketch with Idle, Graham, & Terry Jones

[@vaseofflowers4619]

Everything about Ripping Yarns is superb. They have a TV in the dining room at work and 'Tomkinson's Schooldays' was on the TV while I was eating my dinner. I laughed myself sore before returning to the factory floor. It'd been decades since I'd seen it and it reminded me how good the series really is.

[@colinellesmere]

Brilliant. Historically underrated. Michael Palin is a extremely good actor.

[@lordeden2732]

The best toast I ever had was at a Breakfast in the Kitchen of Chatsworth House on many occasions cooked by Bowering the cook . Wonderfuly crisp and the correct shade of beige.

[@FRANKTHRING1]

God I miss Joan Sanderson, she was superb at playing a certain kind of englishwoman who seem all to have vanished. She reminds me of the story of Lady Salisbury, wife of the famous Victorian Prime Minister. It was said she was built like a battleship under full sail. She and her husband had an unruly home-educated brood of children. Of them and her husband Lady Salisbury once said: "Well, he may be very good at running the British Empire, but he should never be left alone with ten children !"

[@stermindelves4251]

I was about 15/16 years old when this series was first aired. Absolutely funny beyond compare but was not talked about ever as much as M Python. True British comedy at its absolute best.

[@asiseverything3404]

15/16 is almost 1

[@MassiveLib]

One aspect of being British l love, our ability to take the piss out of ourselves. Sadly no longer available...

[@EleanorPeterson]

Don't you believe it, mate! I stride through KZbin Comment sections like a squishy colossus, stamping on our ancient nation's fingers and trampling on its toes, its flag, and its traditions, outraging its monarch like Flashheart getting stuck into Bob, Nursie and Queenie (Gawd bless yer, ma'am). Mockery and offence is meat and drink to me. I'm English, so why wouldn't it be. It's a jolly poor day when I don't have at least six Comments deleted. This one has already been removed twice because I used an uncomplimentary word once used by Julian Clary in referring to Her Maj (this is a third draft). Oh, but some prissy patriotic herbert or puritan algorithm will decide that my presence dishonours our war-dead (starting with Boudicca) who didn't give their lives so that dodgy slappers such as I might tear up the Magna Carta for emergency bog paper to wipe the smile off my rosy cheeks. My first name is Eleanor. I was named after Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of England in 1154. Yes, really. I maintain that a nation that can't laugh at itself is doomed. (Goodbye, Donny T.) Britain's been around a very long time, and I still hear plenty of chuckles. The screams of outrage are there to be ignored.

[@sunnyjim1355]

@@EleanorPeterson Interesting. But please, indulge me: at what point does good old British self-mockery cross the line into being flat out subversive? I ask because I'm absolutely sure that you've never even considered such.

[@PennyBluebottle]

Wanted to pass the port from left to right. The collapse of the old order and worse still go into....TRADE!!! lol

[@frankfeatherstone8976]

Such an encapsulated gem of British humour! Featuring the brilliant character acting of Michael Palin, the series can be enjoyed many times over.

[@themadplotter]

Frank Featherstone did you work for the radio times in the late 70s?

[@frankfeatherstone8976]

@@themadplotter No I am Austerlian & those are my own original true sentiments.

[@interman7715]

Michael Palin and Terry Jones absolute legends.

[@Seansaighdeoir]

Quintessential British comedy RIP Terry Jones.

[@windyhead7960]

@MichaelKingsfordGray Why stand erect in front of an authentic name?

[@grahamariss2111]

I recall when these were shown first time around, they were certainly received well, so I cannot understand why they never reached the same place in the nations heart as Fawlty Towers or Black Adder, certainly aged better than Fawlty Towers.

[@katesatriani]

They're very good but DON'T denigrate the brilliance that is Fawlty Towers - it has aged brilliantly!

[@Biggus63]

I think the Ripping Yarns series is a bit uneven. Murder at Moorstones Manor, Tompkinson's schooldays and Roger of the Raj are standouts in my book, but some of the others fall a bit flat for me.

[@oneinathousand2156]

R. Powell I had to dip out of Golden Gordon cause it’s so heavily ingrained in soccer/football which I just could not get.

[@conscienceaginBlackadder]

Does Blackadder merit a place in heart if you have any conscience towards kids? It merited prosecuting alongside Savile, for its inctement of and victim-blaming siding with bullying. autisticgroupsfairnesswatch.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/frying-tonight-20070073/

[@grahamariss2111]

@@conscienceaginBlackadder You appear to be confusing Blackaddsr BBC comedy program wof the 80s and 90s with something else, not sure how you propose to prosecute a TV program.

[@surfinmuso37]

"We got our position slightly wrong...we're not against the centralized authority as such...." "I am!"(from behind) "No you're not!" So Python.

[@englishguy215]

Best episode of all. The mother was brilliant, I remember many years ago meeting a woman exactly like her, terrible old bat.

[@grahamturner97]

Wonderful actress, she payed the Assistant Head in Please Sir - and an awkward character in Fawlty Towers.

[@splinterbyrd]

@@grahamturner97 Joan Sanderson (1912-1992.) Her entire screen career was playing a crotchety old trout. Her theatre credits are more distinguished.

[@granthurlburt4062]

YES.I The wonderful deaf old bat, Mrs. Richards!. @@grahamturner97

[@thomaselliott573]

The ability of Palin and Jones to satirise the obvious mental weaknesses we have is without peer. It was a wonderful era when people could laugh at our faults. To take those faults under consideration as reality now shows how far we have degressed. Comedy at its best demonstrates a love of our weaknesses.

[@jackmallory7996]

No such word as 'degressed.' You mean 'regressed.'

[@callithowiseeit5806]

"The obvious mental weaknesses we have"? Speak for yourself, it's time England grew a pair and stopped this self-loathing lily-livered simpering

[@thomaselliott573]

@@callithowiseeit5806 there is always a tool head not to worry about.

[@thomaselliott573]

@@jackmallory7996 naaah. It refers to a mixture of grease and something

[@ilokivi]

@@thomaselliott573 And amazingly nobody needs a damned good thrashing.

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

The "passing the port" scene cannot be bettered. One of my favourite sequences in comedy - ever.

[@michaelcoolidge5325]

I watch that sequence almost every day. Top comedic bit of all time

[@RP-jx3wk]

Right Morrison - I think you know what to do

[@michaelcoolidge5325]

Sir Anthony yes, of course sir

[@michaelcoolidge5325]

Off you go

[@dabble778]

Deadpan John le Mesurier is amazingly funny in that scene :-)

[@stickpictures]

Above all: BRILLIANT use of Rite of Spring as soundtrack. Such an underappreciated series, at least on the west side of the Atlantic.

[@markcomerford4659]

Not only that, it came out at just about the time the events of this story are set (1913, if I recall correctly).

[@brianarbenz7206]

"I think it's a great shame... not being able to free people. It must have been a wonderful thing to just sort of free a chap. Some poor miserable wretch in chains, and along you come and say, 'You're free.' "

[@sash1623]

Knob

[@Hartley_Hare]

@@sash1623No thanks. I've just eaten.

[@sunnyjim1355]

The national debt incurred by Britain to abolish the Atlantic slave trade, and to compensate British owners of slaves for the emancipation of their slaves (a debt, because it was money borrowed to cover those costs) was only finally paid off (by the British tax-payer, of course) was in 2015. So, every British person, from the mid 1800's until 2015, indeed paid their part to say 'You're free.' And that's a fact.

[@Hartley_Hare]

@@sunnyjim1355 I'm not sure that earns us morality points.

[@orwellboy1958]

@@Hartley_Hare you are of course correct however our "morality points" are significantly greater than most of the nations at the time, on the slavery front.

[@Chesterton7]

This is such a brilliant hilarious series.

[@Sheffield6688]

And Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” all throughout. 😊

[@Sitarya]

Mind you, he was VERY kind to them...

[@EleanorPeterson]

Oh, I say! Steady on, old boy... ;-)

[@geowynleda4641]

They must have had an absolute ball making this, especially Joan Sanderson.

[@joegawne1601]

Wow not seen this before. The 'pass the port' sketch is up there with the two ronnies 'fork handles' sketch, absolutely brilliant.

[@sunnyjim1355]

It's far, far better than that. 🙄

[@Osentalka]

Le Mez's final speech is fantastic.

[@shelbynamels973]

Equally noteworthy as Sanderson is Richard Vernon. He had a lengthy career, including appearances in Bond movies. The role I will always remember him in is as BOE chairman Sir Dennis Glazebrook in "Yes, Prime Minister" ("Milton Friedman, Milton Keynes, why are they all called Milton?"). My recommendation is to check him out as spy master "C" in the best TV spy series you've never heard of, "The Sandbaggers", starring Roy Marsden.

[@dagwould]

Agreed, vernon, is a great character actor, the charactor being the over-ranked buffoon who always lands on his feet 🙂

[@thomridgeway1438]

Don't forget his wonderful Slartybartfast in The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy both radio and TV .

[@ednigma6526]

I certainly agree re Richard Vernon. Glazebrook is a highlight even among the stellar cast and performances of the "... Minister" series. And I'm very familiar with his performance as a rather resigned Slartibartfast. And as for "The Sandbaggers", it's one of my favourites of that genre and I don't understand why it's not more often referenced - very good series.

[@ianhouston4424]

See also his part in the TV programme from the 1960’s ‘The Man in Room 17’. A very understated sort of spy/police programme.

[@pithicus52]

In my opinion The Sandbaggers was one of the best TV series ever made. But then I do enjoy the old Cold War spy stuff.

[@michael_mouse]

... that was one of the best 'Ripping Yarns' I've seen... excellent British humor at it's best!

[@stephenmenadue268]

Thank you Ashim K. for having such good taste in comedy.

[@interman7715]

"We'll be into spank you later you firm buttocked young amazons ,you " bloody priceless 😂.

[@epiendless1128]

That line had me scratching my head when I first heard it in 1979. I understand it now, though. :-)

[@interman7715]

Epi Endless Yeah same here.

[@mctavish199]

Jolly good! Spank away! It's getting harder to find both Amazons and firm buttocks these days.

[@normanrenner4648]

I think of that statement often..

[@CHarveyFan1]

Classic stuff with Stravinsky's music too. It doesn't get better than this.

[@jackmonaghan8477]

Never would I see the day where Sergeant Wilson gives a speech about the values of socialism. Also, Mr Hopper would later go on to be given grief by the antics of Mr Bean and Bertie Wooster. Also, nice use of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'.

[@dgetzin]

Life imitates art, “The patans are attacking? I ought to go and be kind to them!” 23:12 I think this scene made a distinct impression on how Borris Johnson interacted with Protestors on his lawn. Old BJ was 15 at the time this series finale was on TV, and almost certainly watched it. This has only gotten funnier with time, though it is sad that I get a sense that the cultural coding of the jokes is slipping away from the awareness of people ever more younger than I, myself an “old” stateside Yankee.

[@sunnyjim1355]

Pathans* 🤦‍♂

[@georgemorley1029]

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Nice! And bloody funny.

[@WilHenDavis]

Many thanks for sharing these! Thanks for bringing a touch of sanity to a very screwed up world! :)

[@paddybpaddyb9940]

Wil Davis; March 2022 calling here, ha ha you thought the world was screwed-up then? Just you wait.

[@TheTsar1918]

Holy Hell, it's Col. Hall, guest of Basil Fawlty. Now I know where he got his twitch from....the second shot only grazed his skull.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Yerrrrrsss. Damn fine soldier... But a bit of a lousy shot, what? ;-)

[@Kris.G]

and Mrs Richards, the deaf customer

[@rodlaidlaw-b3f]

born in Perth,WA

[@scottmccallum6876]

Different episode but my favorite scene in Ripping Yarns the television show as seen on first broadcast was where the story ends with the superior numbered enemy just giving up. Pure class as well as classical rigourously tested. Dim 956

[@sugarnads]

Granny with a Lewis gun 😂😂😂😂😂👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

[@philipkenneth24]

“Mrs Richards! Where did you get that machine gun? It has no place in a Torquay hotel!”

[@Kris.G]

@@philipkenneth24 "WHAT?!?"

[@kenmccready2870]

Comic genius ...just brilliant !!!

[@peteroates2908]

Doesn't age with time in fact I laughed as much this time as when first seeing the series 😮 xx..

[@johnprentice277]

The dialogue is priceless. So funny.

[@bigbearfuzzums7027]

Frightfully good toast!

[@johnlavery6116]

Joan Sanderson ..Great comedy actress.

[@philipgalley6735]

Recall her in an episode of "Fawlty Towers" , episode " Communication Problems"

[@colinwilkes8957]

Philip one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen,class writing and timing!

[@alistairsavoury1074]

Comedy genius, and so prophetic in our current situation.

[@blahblahblahblah2837]

To everyone who keeps complaining about the laugh track, feel free to time-travel back to 1979 and tell the producers directly. I dont think it's within the producers power to edit it out now nor to instantaneously remove it from this KZbin upload

[@rosemarymurlis-hellings8138]

Shame. The laugh track is unnecessary and irritating.

[@TheTsar1918]

"My God, they're armed."

[@2140shadow]

And brilliant use of Stravinsky's rites of spring to show revolutionary ideas.

[@sunnyjim1355]

Stravinsky's Rites of Spring was absolutely nothing to do with "revolutionary ideas", but yes, I admit it was well used in this COMEDY.

[@greasylimpet5357]

I don't know what's come over him; he's been off his kedgeree for weeks!

[@darkcustomxxx7252]

Jellico was telling me of a chap who was kind to them, they would'nt leave him alone, slept outside his door every night.....mind you, he was VERY kind to them....

[@alanbstard4]

this is as good now as ever. Brilliant

[@esezjay4359]

Fantastic British comedy written by two of the best just a shame it had to have canned laughter

[@SutherlandCharlie]

7:30 for the "pass the port" scene.

[@NiravShah1982]

Absolutely brilliant.

[@davidrichardstanhope]

Richard Vernon - the perfect Lord Emsworth.

[@heftyalan1152]

In every episode there are classic scenes whether it is fighting the school bear or my father didn't want to talk to me so he spoke French. Personally I liked the we're not against decentralisation and then the I ams from the bushes. Hilarious.

[@dgetzin]

Hefty Alan “it’s the Judean Peoples’ front!” - several years early.

[@FRANKTHRING1]

One almost sees the genesis of "The Missionary" in the final scenes.

[@geoffreycarson2311]

BRILIANT THAT OLD LADY 👍👍👍👍👍👍👊LOL g

[@ArkadyRenko1]

Thank you for posting this 💎

[@robbinmeissner435]

Yes the passing the port from the wrong side is so offencive never mind that hideous grading scraping on the plate with the flatware.

[@sunnyjim1355]

It's well known that 'well off' people have terrible eating habits... they are taught etiquette, not manners. That's what that scene was emphasising.

[@rosemarymurlis-hellings8138]

Flatware? We have cutlery.

[@shelbynamels973]

And last but not least, Roger Brierley, the socialist tutor, a mainstay of British TV, also enjoyable as Hugh Laurie's foil Sir Roderick Glossop in "Jeeves and Wooster".

[@granthurlburt4062]

Thank you! Another ageless classic that bears repeated watching, for the great sets, the careful atten to detail of all the actors. I laugh more at the pope-eyed Madeleine Basset every time, and enjoy the parody of the British fascist Spode).

[@shelbynamels973]

And of course, John LeMesurier as an officer at the regimental dinner, better known as Sgt. Wilson of 'Dad's Army'.

[@interman7715]

Thank you for posting.

[@beautifulsmall]

Reminds me of avenue 5, Netflix 2020, good comedy is timeless

[@steveclancy6474]

Remember these but always think mid to late 80's somehow. 79 I was just 11.

[@footofjuniper8212]

"But people of the same sex don't get married." "My fathers did."

[@greasylimpet5357]

Should married people be frank and earnest? Not in my book! 😂

[@macsnafu]

@@greasylimpet5357 Exactly. They should be Frank and Ernestine.

[@greasylimpet5357]

@@macsnafu could also be Frances and Ernie. Don't worry, I won't try to think of all the possibilities!

[@meaderanizer228]

What a wonderful Series 🥰

[@marcussurleyadventures1928]

Brilliant

[@gladyslustgirdle3004]

"It's the Pattans!" "Who, Dennis and Edna?"

[@donaldbrake5775]

"pathans"

[@3506Dodge]

It's wonderful how British TV producers continued recording directly onto film into the 1990s.

[@inkyguy]

Unfortunately, these were produced before the televised version of “Brideshead Revisited.” That would have been perfect material for this.

[@jabirujoe5206]

Love getting ripped to Ripping Yarns.

[@thehassinator69]

'you know what to do'

[@bradweir6993]

Off you go .

[@zeerust2000]

Slartibardfast and the Wise Old Bird!

[@klisher]

need to listen to my series 2 hitchikers guide CDs again soon. thanks for reminding me

[@CultureJudge]

The marriage proposal scene. Love scene acting cliches wonderfully exposed by replacing the romantic dialogue with jargon about trade.

[@grindupBaker]

They are foregoing the pampered Aristocracy to build a life as shopkeepers like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. You know, the Common Working Man (and woman) life. The Aristocracy consider this "slumming" behaviour beyond the pale.

[@hereticpariah6_66]

Thanks, Ashim!! I'd heard about these, but never seen them. Funny as _(bleep),_ too bad only 9 were made! Thanks again, "A."

[@cliffordadams8353]

It’s so outrageously true that it’s hilarious Can’t believe an Englishman finds the arse of crockery English so outrageously pompous and arrogant Thanks Michael

[@sunnyjim1355]

It's not "outrageously true", it's just a stereotypical way that a Trotskyist would view such things... but all that obviously went right over your head. Woooooosh! 🤣

[@MrDino1953]

One of the stunt actors was named Stuart Fell. How ironic.

[@FigaroHey]

I see Emmett from next door on Keeping Up Appearances.

[@VadoVoodoo]

Lol "Throw off the shackles of our wealth" You don't get many of them for a dollar.

[@Kwippy]

" A forged degree from Bangkok University" 🤣🤣🤣 There is a Bangkok University, although it didn't exist at the time of the Raj.

[@srothbardt]

Absolutely ripping. And quite amusing. Pippers….

[@pvsmanian1]

great.

[@steveowen7475]

GENIUS

[@ThePereubu1710]

The laugh track really ruins it :( Still, brilliant writing and performances all round.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Yep. I think the BBC hoped to sell the series abroad and mucked around experimenting. Happily the man responsible died in a freak arsenic enema and knife-in-the-back mishap and many episodes were left as the writers intended, i.e. grown-up humour delivered in silence for those with the wit to appreciate it and laugh if and when they were sufficiently amused.

[@Sitarya]

On second thought, let's not go to Britain, it is a silly place.

[@fezmancomments]

Sitarya A nice reference to The Holy Grail; kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYKmcqWelLdsmrs

[@newsbender]

Badly needs a remaster this. I'd buy it on blu ray.

[@agenttheater5]

"People of the same sex don't get married." "Fathers did." I mean she said 'parents' earlier, she didn't specify any gender.

[@tombombadil9123]

18:24 Wallenstein was a Bohemian nobleman - not from Sweden. faught for the Catholic Habsburgs not for the Protestant Swedes. and finally he was dismissed in 1630 and recalled only 1632 so he couldn't possibly have sacked Magdeburg or any other place in 1631 😉

[@alasdairwatson712]

@Tom Bombadil. All perfectly true, but he was the product of an English public school education, where the only history that mattered was English history and, since we only dabbled in the Thirty Years War briefly, one did not need to know it well. It was all about foreigners and not people who mattered, after all.

[@geoffreycarson2311]

????????😂😂😂😂😂WRONG CLIP 😨g

[@tombombadil9123]

@@geoffreycarson2311 what you mean?

[@chevalierdupapillon]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one to notice. I also agree with Alasdairwatson's explanation of why nobody bothered to look any of these very obvious things up. The actual butcher of Magdeburg (though he seems not to have intended to destroy the entire city) was Count Tilly, a Walloon Belgian who commanded first the Bavarian and then, in the 1630-32 interval you mention, also the Imperial army.

[@annettewalter2273]

So funny. Nothing like it these days, sadly.

[@jackson76724]

Mrs Richards

[@danieleskridge3180]

My mother had killed more grouse than any other woman in history.

[@srothbardt]

This reminds me of Brit movie “Charge of Light Brigade “ with “Monty Python”

[@grahamturner97]

Richard Vernon aka Slartibartfast.

[@johnrohde5510]

Pedantic point: Magdeburg was sacked by Tilly,a Walloon, not Wallenstein and neither of them were Swedish. Sweden was on the other side.

[@alasdairwatson712]

@ John Rhode. Everything you say is true, including the fact that it is a pedantic point, but you must remember that he would have been taught history at an English public school and as such would only have been really taught about English history ( and even then from an English point of view. Thanks to this education I thought St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, was the one people meant when they referred to St. Augustine, when they actually meant the theologian from Hippo, who coined the word “trinitarian”) and Foreign history was just a sideshow to ours and, as such, it was not necessary to know it well.

[@triodehexode]

Alasdair Watson How refreshing, an informative debate so rare in these times.

[@spmoran4703]

This was written before Downton Abbey

[@tombombadil9123]

18:24 Wallenstein wasn't Swedish. he was Czech

[@EleanorPeterson]

Egad! The blackguard! The bounder! I'll have him horsewhipped immediately!

[@StephenGrew]

Different values, different values!

[@davidgurarie6712]

Hilarious

[@tightlines21]

In the scene when Michael Palin is talking with Miranda, I’m not sure it’s him in the mirror reflection

[@agenttheater5]

26:56 Pity, I wanted to hear what he believed they were for and against.

[@lukehanley5392]

Andrew doesn’t sweat. He Royally perspires.

[@rosemarymurlis-hellings8138]

Horses sweat. Men perspire. Ladies glow. 😊