The Wackers Episode 1

Comedy

[@badgastein2]

This caused outrage when it was first shown on ITV, Public opinion soon forced the cancellation of this show - it’s never been repeated on UK television to the best of my knowledge but it is a good mirror of 70’s attitudes and for that I’m glad it’s been preserved.

[@rebeccahooper7968]

here here

[@galinagavrick9066]

That's why I never heard of this show it was taken off TV before we even got to watch it Thanks for shatring this

[@footofjuniper8212]

"Are you havin' a laugh? IS HE HAVIN' A LAUGH?!?"

[@kevinbaskin9489]

I don't get it...I actually understand what Gervais is on about. In this case, totally justified.

[@bnardbnard6299]

This is the best I love it I live in the Bahamas and this is a breath of fresh air 🇧🇸

[@JIMMYBUSHIDO]

I say Nigel, let's write a sit com about those funny working class Liverpudlian chappies, , A few " Lavvie " jokes , a couple of steriotypical " scousers ", a "Posh one " and a thievin dad. Should be a winner. 🤪

[@jrgboy]

It was written by Vince Powell who came from the north, he wrote many sitcoms inc Love thy Neighbour & Bless This House..

[@lynneceegee8726]

jrgboy love thy neighbour was equally trashy.

[@JIMMYBUSHIDO]

@@jrgboy both a load of crap 🥴

[@Andrew-pt1ey]

Without canned laughter there'd be no laughter at all. Very weak fair

[@sheilagravely5621]

Wally Batty!!!!!! I love you Wally. RIP dear.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Matt63491]

I'd never even heard of this before, so thanks for posting it.

[@andrewpage3221]

Same here Matt I can't remember it came across it today

[@illaveyoubutler2]

Basically, it was ITV’s attempt to cash in on the controversy created by Till Death Us Do Part

[@andrewjames3908]

@@illaveyoubutler2 how? i dont see any relation to till death us do part?

[@illaveyoubutler2]

@andrewjames I recall it’s premiere.....it was set up to be ITV’s answer to Till Death Us Do Part.....working class family, complained about bad language, even had the same watershed slot on Wednesday night 9.30

[@philhopkins2528]

Got to give Brendon O,Carroll credit...he obviously took this failed idea and made Miss Browns boys...still shite...but he became famous for it

[@DavidBensonActor]

Lovely - never saw it at the time. Full of great Northern actors - Bill Dean, Joe Gladwin, Ken Jones. Sheila Fay grates though - she is clearly doing a Hilda Ogden impression.

[@chrissie1066]

David Benson Is that the mother? Overacting. Probably used to working on the stage. TV acting needs watering down...a. Bit like granddads tea!

[@lynneceegee8726]

David Benson yes, overacting and a really crap accent too.

[@manwithapan9481]

I'm from Liverpool. I don't remember this. Funny how little this country has progressed in 50 years, in fact I think it's regressed in a lot of ways.

[@bridgetgibson5998]

It might of been a local programme like cross roads was in Birmingham did Liverpool come under Granada years ago

[@bridgetgibson5998]

Regional program they called it and I'm not sure if Yorkshire still do calender that's a program of theirs we never seen that in Manchester

[@michaelfinn7871]

I’m from Liverpool as well but this is crap though. Chegwin was from Bootle i think.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

@@bridgetgibson5998 Of course it wasn’t a local programme. Do you think it would say “*THAMES* Colour Production” on the end and have their ident on the front of it if it was about a city in the Granada region if it was a regional programme? The reason this isn’t remembered is because it was so crap it was dropped before the final episode as people didn’t watch it. It was never repeated so it didn’t get the chance to pick up new audiences on a second showing.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

@@bridgetgibson5998 Crossroads wasn’t a local programme, it was a national programme as it was shown nationally. “Local programme” means only being shown in the region of the company that made it.

[@profmartin1967]

The daughter was played by Alison Stedman who now plays Gavin's mum in Gavin and Stacey. And a young Keith Chegwin pre Swap Shop

[@jrgboy]

BTW Alison was born in Liverpool..

[@cathyfitzpatrick9384]

Sadly Keith passed away gone to soon

[@carolineg1872]

Alison Stedman is known for more than that. Abigail's Party anyone?

[@sophiew1967]

Yes ,she went to the same girl's school in Childwall as me ,probably 10-15 yrs before me.

[@sophiew1967]

Drinkies Sue !👍I absolutely loved her in the Mike Leigh amazing play ' Nuts In May' ..she's an incredible actress and far too good for this crap .

[@Bongwater33]

Alison Steadman wow! Ive only seen her playing grandmas!

[@TheGramophoneGirl]

All those valuable lost tv shows and video tapes of the 1960's and 70's, yet this survives :/

[@sheilagravely5621]

Amazing that, eh?

[@johannrublein9483]

I agree. I do my best to aquire copies of any surviving sitcoms from the era but even so, often times they'll be short several episodes. Tele is such trash these days. It makes my heart ache to see what's been left to historys deep abyss

[@dementednun1175]

She is being sarcastic cause its crap lol

[@ginaplatts214]

Rest in peace Keith chegwin , Sad news today. 11/12/2017 xx

[@daveghaxton]

Way hay!!

[@johnnyjabsco1999]

It actually is Keith Chegwin! I thought it was just a lad who looked like him. Alison Steadman was fit back then.

[@plerpplerp5599]

This comedy only ran for one series because it was so unpopular.

[@garyinspain]

apparently i didnt manage even that as they pulled it before the end of the series

[@Classictv90s]

It's Wally Batty from Last of The Summer Wine at 3:54.

[@deidraboswell8451]

And, Walter from Nearest and Dearest❤️

[@deidraboswell8451]

I'm sorry...STAN...not Walter!😂

[@patlamb5452]

He was also in the sweeney with the best line - John Thaw is looking at a young lady in a short dress - and "Wally" goes 'I could go to jail for what your thinking!!' - which JT agrees with

[@dobythedog]

And he was probably in his fifties!

[@joanfordham1305]

At the time I thought this was rubbish......I grossly overestimated it.

[@sierra6588]

Did you mean underestimated?

[@a697ag]

@@sierra6588 she meant it was far worse then she remembered ... she's right

[@JAY1892]

😂

[@eds-egg]

It was like the precursor of "Bread".

[@garyinspain]

which was also crap

[@steviewonder2049]

we really were easier to please back then

[@nationstolemyrobots]

Let's have a London production company pay a Mancunian to write a sitcom about Liverpool. What could possibly go wrong?

[@TheCornubian]

😂😂

[@Derwent03]

There's a reason why this has never been repeated on t.v...

[@andrewfreeman9437]

Well that was depressing.

[@hankscorpio8928]

After watching the first three and a half minutes of this in 1975, John Lydon called an old friend and said “Sidney- do you still happen to have that bass guitar, old chap? I’ve got an idea.”

[@BillyJango]

What are you on about? Sid wasn't even in the original Pistols. Glen Matlock was the bass player.

[@galinagavrick9066]

Furst time i watchd this nrver heard of this show but it funny had a laugh so watching next episode Thankyou for shareing

[@teenybabs]

The comment about the G/Dad and G/Daughter was a well iffy.

[@gaynorpatterson2915]

The mother reminds me of Hilda Ogden 😂

[@djbryanladd]

Wow, this was brutal to get through..

[@garyinspain]

i couldnt manage it myself. but well done to you if you did

[@doctorcrankyflaps1724]

Some of the unfunniest bullshit ever screened on British TV.

[@mildredchester]

Never heard of this, it came up in my recommended. Love all British TV shows. "Single retired American widow here interested in online discussions of same."

[@mars188]

same here

[@TheRealMike1976]

This was a poorly received sitcom set in Liverpool ( where I'm from) from the mid 70s. It didn't do to well due to its negative depiction of the working class and poor humour.

[@davidcartmell2141]

watch extras, or dare i say it, Love Thy Neighbour (same era).

[@samfanhellyeah]

Wtf is up with the grandad checking out his grandaughter.

[@burnellbrowne4303]

trump checks out invanka all the time?

[@dannygroom3327]

@@burnellbrowne4303 . There you go...

[@philipowen3370]

Ken Jones was a Brilliant comedy actor, he's my wifes cousin.

[@anitahargreaves9526]

Wasn't he married to the mother in real life?

[@PlasticGirl65]

​@@anitahargreaves9526Yes he was.

[@kennethdrewary1094]

The mother is ahead of her time, women now go out with rollers in their hair, lol

[@karatefella]

People saying this was a bad show. But Bread was absolute shit.

[@WHELDON74]

Dreadful. People shouting out a dire script.

[@jonsixtythree]

Agreed. Truly awful and it actually reminds me of Liverpool in the 70’s, also truly awful.

[@Shagnasty1956]

@@jonsixtythree Nothings changed really

[@Evertonfan1995-le9tr]

I can't afford to get drunk no more 😂🤣

[@stingray4real]

Ken Jones played Rex in a sitcom The Squirrels.

[@muk8804]

Proper Hilda Ogden impression!!! More Salford than Scouse ...guessing it wasn't networked then 😂

[@th8257]

Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden, was from Liverpool wasn't she

[@stickytapenrust6869]

It was networked.

[@martinkelly6709]

​@@th8257So was Sheila Fay who's playing the mum in this.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

When this show was first broadcast it generated lost of negative press- described as "crude" "disgusting" and lowering standards on TV. The public ween't impressed either, the letters section of the papers printed loads of complaints! ITV cancelled it as a result of the backlash. 1975 seems like a whole different wold away now!

[@robs639]

About as funny as finding diarrhoea in the kettle. Makes Bread seem like Noel Coward!

[@wallyjumblatt]

LOL. Excellent. Yes, it's terrible, embarrassing, awful.

[@allanmiller6897]

Agreed. Many sit coms of that era where as funny as having piles and the only bog roll available is sheets of izatol medicated tracing paper.

[@thedativecase9733]

Diarrhoea in the kettle ! That is anew one on me. Definitely one to file away for future use.

[@BillyJango]

Like every 70's comedy show. They are funny to watch but you aren't laughing at what they are saying you are laughing at how shit they are. If you really want to cringe watch stand up from the 70's, The Comedians for instance. People call them legends but they were actually fat old men trying to be funny but wouldn't know comedy if it poked them in the eye then kicked em in the bollocks.

[@albaproductions9602]

A very young Alison Steadman.

[@jrgboy]

Yes,Alison was born in Liverpool.

[@annoldham3018]

Joe Gladwin. Playing Joe Gladwin. As usual! Hey were gwwwweat though! 😂

[@kevinmanns7170]

He might aswell have been Australian...No concession to a ''Scouse' accent whatsoever.

[@tolfan4438]

I'm an American and it's the first I've ever heard of this show quite like it

[@reedywomble97]

This really got slated when it was first broadcast

[@jonboy481]

im not surprised... its crap....

[@philipcurnow7990]

It's not Rising Damp is it, or even the Liver Birds. A sort of prototype Bread.

[@mr.x9566]

Bread : Pre-Oven.

[@MrThecarebear]

@@mr.x9566 Par-baked!

[@mr.x9566]

@@MrThecarebear Ha ha ha, brilliant, spot-on!

[@carolineg1872]

Rising Dough?

[@wazzereightyseven]

Yes!!!! Kind of like underproved baps...but also, I'm almost getting the vibe of a kitchen sink drama ...like something Morrissey would write a song about ...

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"

[@garyinspain]

good. slightly better than this crap methinks

[@fredflintstoner596]

@@garyinspain HE BITE POLLY TOO !

[@ACNC1]

06:34 the seventies..... they were all at it.

[@metalbearuk]

Ken Jones was great at doing fed up/panic.

[@richardsharpe2966]

You know this is a show I can't remember at all

[@geraintjones6625]

Ken Jones and Sheila Fay were married in real life.

[@kimmarievan-ever6599]

Didnt know that

[@elainethomson1712]

Lol we were never allowed to watch this So funny

[@johnjoseph3382]

Takes me back

[@samtyler100]

the mother in this played Billy's mum in One Summer with David Morrissey(1983)

[@pwareham61]

samtyler100 Bloody hell yes, thought I recognized her dulcet tones, she was a horrible cow In that too.

[@apodis4900]

I forgot about that, it was great. I'll have to try and find it.

[@rudymarleyaskit4573]

I loved that back yon..

[@JAY-lo3sx]

Did she also play one of the mothers in the Liver birds ?

[@mariansaldo1]

Uhm, grandad leering at his grandfather? Referencing sex? Well that's a right bit of bile isn't it?

[@TheGodsrighthandman]

That's "Horrible" Ives from Porridge . . . . Reasonable bit of continuity there.

[@TheGodsrighthandman]

@John Henshaw It is. Even if you couldn't see the face there's no mistaking the Voice . . .

[@peterdavidbrennan2580]

We'd laugh at any old shite in them days...

[@cotswoldcuckoo775]

It was cancelled..there WERE limits back then.

[@dlamiss]

@@cotswoldcuckoo775 the last episode was broadcast in 2013 evidently

[@MrThecarebear]

compared to the reality shite which infects todays TV?

[@lynneceegee8726]

Peterdavid Brennan And now people are force fed such reality tv trash as Geordie shore, TOWIE , Big Brother, Celebrities in the jungle, for gods sake how things have been dumbed down over the last few decades. No wonder the general public voted for Brexit..

[@gregtanner5590]

Two glimmers of humour in the whole episode and they came in the last five minutes: The whole family knowing he's been in prison because it was in 'The Echo' (nicely delivered by the cast), and the Dad chalking up day 1 on the bedroom wall at the end. (Even if he HAD gone to bed fully clothed and carrying a pencil!) The cast were actually pretty good (apart from the mum - Tom O'Connor in drag - who only seemed to have one setting) and the production values were ok. BUT everything was undermined by the quality of the script. It was rubbish. It was all further undermined by the lukewarm reactions from the studio audience. Put that up against other sitcoms of the time, Porridge, The Good Life, Rising Damp, Dads Army, and you can get a feel of how much of a misfire this was.

[@charlesdixon52]

Please stop checking out your grand daughter it's not right. Before you take a dump . first roll of call check if you have toilet paper

[@JasonLane-ci5ng]

It's the first time 😮 ever saw this show it was hated in England as woe d as it wasi l liked it. Especially the accent. God. Love. It

[@martinrichards2680]

I remember watching it. They pulled the show off before the last episode

[@lordred4116]

Glad I missed this shite!

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

Aye, utter shite.

[@nadiazidane6794]

Thanks for sharing 😉😂😂

[@MarcZERO1980]

Is this the inspiration for The Simpsons British sitcom parody 'Do Shut up'?

[@muttley9520]

Streuth, that's Keith Chuffin' Chegwin!!

[@kawasaki5187]

Muttley and look at Alison Steadman !

[@annoldham3018]

Cheggars! Before he played pop. Or went on the pop 😂

[@philipbonner6486]

​@@annoldham3018Please have respect.

[@MartysWhiteSuit]

Some great names from TV there. Not seen this for years. Thanks.

[@daydays12]

Grand dad looks a bit like Gove

[@hammadoolass]

LOVED IT !!!!

[@marklee1783]

I think they mistakingly put a C in the title instead of an N.

[@charliebubbles9501]

Oh, dear.....amazing what passed for entertainment in the 70s 🙄.

[@salvadormarley2360]

Fawlty Towers?

[@grahamd5418]

What does that make today's bag of manure for entertainment?

[@kevinmanns7170]

This didn't pass for entertainment then, it doesn't now, and NEVER will.

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

I was surprised to hear the words 'Bollocks' and ' Pissed' in a sitcom. I wonder if this rubbish was shown post-watershed?

[@cormaccollins4000]

The funniest part is the robotic subtitles at the beginning " we speak Lux and take seeded Lila meet sunburst exceedingly there".

[@scooby1235]

i thought the font for "wackers" at the ad breaks really progressive.

[@barrymccann7892]

A Scouse family where half are catholic, the other protestant?!! Okay, I guess. A Scouse family where half support Everton, the other Liverpool? Oh, go 'ed.

[@wesmatron]

+Barry McCann My sister was one blue in a sea of reds.

[@IRAUDR]

Barry McCann ignorant mixed marriages would raise some kids as Catholics and some as protestants. Sean Casey was raised that way.

[@davemullen5522]

A Scouse family where half of them aren't in prison? Not at all realistic /s

[@mildredchester]

My Mom was Catholic and my dad Lutheran. Lutherans won.

[@scooby1235]

harry cross, brookside (and groovy train video - the Farm) - bill dean, the toffee landlord

[@GARY.94]

Is it me, or does this woman in the curlers sound like Hilda Ogden out of classic coronation Street ? lol.

[@somethingbright4268]

She does haha

[@oldskoolfool141]

Generic 'northern housewife', the war against the working class was in full flow, making us look pathetic through the 70s then replacing us in the 80s (alternative comedy), it was all by design and it worked a charm

[@jamesh9033]

Wouldnt expect Thames Tv to make a show set in Liverpool, in any event this is utter tripe.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

Why not? Yorkshire TV made loads of sitcoms set in London, HTV in Wales made Robin of Sherwood (set in Nottinghamshire) and Central TV in Nottingham made Auf Wierdersehn Pet, set in Germany.

[@deb1flanagan]

I live in N.C. USA..I've never seen this show before..I've only watched a few minutes of it and not impressed. I love watching British shows and always looking for something new..Some of my favorites are Are You Being Served, Allo Allo and of course any thing related to Agatha Christie...

[@davidcartmell2141]

you're not impressed, the british public hated it.

[@mediacityavid]

With the writer of Love Thy Neighbour this show guarantees to offend without a single laugh.

[@reedywomble97]

Vince Powell did sail close to the wind and was often castigated for racism

[@stickytapenrust6869]

He also “wrote” Mind Your Language for LWT, who were more known for making these truly awful sitcoms. They shat out crap like On the Buses, Yus My Dear, Bottle Boys and Curry & Chips. Thames usually made better sitcoms, but their crap like this and Jim Davidson’s Up The Elephant & Round the Castle were very LWT in style and tastelessness.

[@marclawler6623]

In comparison, this makes Carla Lane's Bread look & sound like Shakespeare.

[@minnowpoo]

MRS bROWN!

[@quack437]

Great upload

[@scooby1235]

precursor to Bread - i suppose.

[@partridgep]

very funny. Have you got anymore episodes of the wackers?.

[@garyinspain]

youre having a laugh arent you? im certaintly not although i could only take the first 5 minutes

[@rorybrooks5657]

This reminds me of slavery. Some things seemed good at the time but should be left in the past as they are both bad ideas

[@ZacandOllie]

Strikes me, in the first few scenes, as its the forerunner for Bread. Carla Lane was a wee bit more refined, but the woman even sounds like Nellie Boswells and grandad......well.

[@davidwainwright2439]

So Carla Laine got the idea for Bread from this?

[@whitsthecraic]

25 minutes of my life I will never get back. Utter drivel.

[@lindaschanz8062]

lol

[@borrance75]

It really is!

[@jamesthompson316]

I was transfixed with morbid curiosity 😵‍💫

[@36ajames]

The acting was shocking!!

[@dobythedog]

Not that this is great comedy but it's amazing that the BBC wiped tapes of Steptoe & son and Hancock, etc, to save some space to re-record over the tapes. Absolutely unbelievable!

[@ziyaadjamil2324]

This was an ITV sitcom

[@stickytapenrust6869]

All of Steptoe survives. While ITV companies like Thames did wipe tapes, they were more cash-rich in those days compared to the BBC as they were the only commercial channel and they earned much more money than the publicly-funded BBC, so they could afford to keep tapes if they saw reason to.

[@ziyaadjamil2324]

But this was made by Thames and not the BBC is what I was saying

[@stickytapenrust6869]

@@ziyaadjamil2324 I was replying to dobythedog.

[@SuperGingerBickies]

This must be the prequel to 'Bread' - 'Mould'

[@emobloom]

applause for that joke :D

[@chrisrovai9625]

Wow, great stuff well ahead of its time, can see why it got banned, proer bawdy laughing funny. Like Bread but funnier

[@williamsterben]

Yeah, it's not brilliant, but there was a lot worse then, and now!

[@davidlawrence9091]

'Orrible Ives, keeps it together just!

[@flybobbie1449]

Don't remember seeing this back then, must have been rubbish. Most folks miss the first few episodes of any comedy until word gets around it's worth watching.

[@tericarson3468]

It's very good.

[@garyfenlon5769]

Not that bad, better than Bread.

[@pedroallor]

It’s quite creepy the grandad and his comments about the granddaughter….some awful accents grossly exaggerated especially the mother, who seemed to shout her way thru the episode…

[@thedativecase9733]

I don't remember this at all. It shows that with all the good UK telly in the old days there was a lot of below par stuff like this. As a proud northerner I've always disliked the way British TV has caricatured us like this. Not all northerners are working class, or semi-criminal doleys, believe it or not. I'm still glad that dedicated people are saving old TV (US and UK) though because quite a lot really is worth watching - even if the production seems very primitive to us now.

[@naytch2003]

Nice..Grandad is Joe Gladwin(Wally Batty from LOSW)

[@Aquaseventytree]

The mother sounds like Hilda Ogden.

[@normathomas8276]

Aquaseventytree Jean Alexander was a very quiet refined lady in real life my dad knew her she was just lovely

[@TheKonga88]

Aquaseventytree 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👵👵👵👴👴

[@trebleking1641]

Hilda Ogden was a Liverpudlian.

[@michelealexander955]

The grandad is the guy that used to run 'Jacksons Chip Shop' in Coronation Street, back in the 60's...

[@carolineg1872]

He was in a lot of stuff...Nearest and Dearest, Last of the Summer Wine.....

[@Beatlefan67]

Blimey I don't recall this at all!

[@andrewpage3221]

I think there's a few of us that have never heard of it and seen it must have been on in the 70s 80s

[@msimms-lp5qw]

While its interesting to see actors who went on to other things .and social history value. It just isnt very funny

[@Pitmirk_]

Ives in prison again, chegwin, hilda ogden impression, him from last of the summer wine... I'm confused. But alison steadman hot though..

[@ferrylad]

A true portrayal of life and characters in Liverpool, 50 years on its nice to see nothing has changed , a classic docu drama .

[@roterfuchs8201]

im just in time for my favorite programme oh crikey on itv