| frankie howerd |  |
| up pompeii | "this is virgin on the ridiculous" |
| frankie howerd | |
| up pompeii | "this is virgin on the ridiculous" |
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The seeds for Pompeii were reportedly sown while BBC Light Entertainment Head Michael Mills was on holiday with Tom Sloan - in Italy. They were wandering around the ancient ruins of Pompeii - Michael saying "I expect to see Frankie Howerd come round the corner" - perhaps thinking back to his run in Forum a few years earlier. With the germ of an idea based in part on Forum but with more bawdy humour thrown in, a suitable writer was sought. Talbot Rothwell, of Carry on script writing fame, was duly given the job to magic up scripts. A pilot episode was made and widely accepted within the BBC. One person that helped green light the series was writer Barry Took - who liked the initial script - and as a advisor to the BBC was influential. Recording was made on 4 July 1969 and broadcast in September 1969. On a technical note BBC-1 had not yet started to broadcast in colour (this came in November 1969) so the pilot was shown in black and white - but the BBC had the foresight to record the pilot in colour - subsequent repeats went out in colour. |
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 Lance Percival in the film |
The pilot was very well received and led to two series of the hiot show - both broadcast in the same year 1970. It also led to a major feature film... Michael Hordern took the role of Ludicrus Sextus and Ammonia was played by Barbara Murray. The roles of Nausius and Erotica were taken by Royce Mills and Madeline Smith. Script was supplied by Sid Colin and was largely based on the successful TV series. Unliker the TV series there is a sprinkiling of nudity and the film is somewhat ruder - much more innuendo than was allowed on the BBC. Although spin-off series often do not do as well as their TV counterarts Up Pompeii managed to hold its own (here we go with the puns...). Frankie kept his "to camera" style and and the film led to two other ideas on the theme - Up the Chastity Belt (1971) set in medieavel England. This in turn led to the third in the "series" Up the Front (1972) in the period of World War I. |
 Rita Webb from the film |
 Jeanne Mockford as Senna |
With repeats it seems as if the TV show ran and ran - but only 13 epsiodes (14 if you include the pilot) were made.It remains one of Frankie's best loved projects.. |
 Kerry Gardner as Nausius |
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Series Two: |
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