To the Manor Born
To the Manor Born is a BBC television sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special one-off episode was produced in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the final episode in 1981 was written by script associate Christopher Bond. The title is a play on the phrase "to the manner born", from Shakespeare's Hamlet
In To the Manor Born, Penelope Keith, plays upper-class Audrey fforbes-Hamilton. Upon the death of her husband, Audrey is forced to sell her vast country estate, Grantleigh Manor. However, she then moves into the estate's small, modest lodge house and manages to keep her butler and her much loved Rolls-Royce 20/25 car. The manor is bought by Richard DeVere, a nouveau riche millionaire supermarket owner originally from Czechoslovakia. DeVere and fforbes-Hamilton have a love-hate relationship.
The programme proved popular and it received high audience figures for many of its episodes, especially the series 1 final episode, the most watched British television programme of the 1970s.
Production
Development
Peter Spence first thought of the idea behind To the Manor Born in the early 1970s when he was working for BBC Radio as a gag writer. One of the programmes that Spence wrote for featured a Cockney comedian, who had recently bought a manor house in an English country village. When holding a housewarming party, the comedian invited the previous occupant, a widow who could not afford to keep the house up and had moved to a smaller house in the village. The comedian's account of the lady, and the conversation he had with her, Spence later described as a "perfect description" of Audrey.A few years later, following the success of The Good Life, Spence was asked by BBC Radio to come up with an idea for a programme to feature Keith. Thinking of Keith's character in The Good Life, Spence had the idea of inverting the character of Margo Leadbetter and, from the account from the comedian, came up with Audrey fforbes-Hamilton. Instead of a Cockney comedian as the new owner of the manor, Spence decided on an American who sees the manor while in England looking for his roots. The American later discovers he is descended from the fforbes-Hamiltons. This was made into a radio pilot in 1976 with Bernard Braden as the American, but was never broadcast because of the interest to make it into a TV series.
When writing the TV series, Christopher Bond was brought in as the script associate and helped to adapt the series from radio to television. The American character was changed, and the idea of a character who appeared to be an English gentleman, but turns out not to be, was thought of. It was then decided that this character needed someone who could reveal his real background, and his mother was created, although it was not until Spence had nearly finished the first series that she was written in from the beginning. The characters of Brabinger and Marjory followed soon after. The first episode aired on 30 September 1979, a year after Keith had played Margo Leadbetter for the last time in The Good Life.
Filming
To the Manor Born was filmed on location in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset, and in Studio TC1 at the BBC's Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush, London. The manor, Cricket House, was at the time of the original series owned by the father-in-law of Peter Spence, the show's creator and writer. Some interior scenes were also filmed inside Cricket House. The Old Lodge, which on screen was at the end of the manor's drive, is in fact about one mile away and called West Lodge. A false gatepost was installed to help the illusion that the two are close together. The 2007 special was, like the original series, filmed on location in Cricket St Thomas. This filming took place for about a week starting on 28 October 2007. The studio footage was filmed in front of a live audience at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire on 25 November 2007.All the episodes were directed by Gareth Gwenlan, who also produced the original series. The 2007 special was co-produced by Gwenlan and Justin Davies.
During the filming, many cars were used; but the BBC continued to use the same vintage Rolls-Royce through the entire series, including the opening titles for the show. The Rolls-Royce has also been used in other BBC programmes such as Dad's Army.
Cast
The cast is led by Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton and Peter Bowles as Richard de Vere. The other main cast members in the original series are Angela Thorne, Daphne Heard, John Rudling, Michael Bilton and Gerald Sim. Rudling was absent in the 1979 Christmas special and for much of the second series due to his ill health; his character was temporarily replaced as butler by Ned. Rudling died in 1983. Angela Thorne had worked with Keith before when she had played Lady "George" Truscott in a 1977 episode of The Good Life.Peter Bowles had been asked some years earlier to play Jerry Leadbetter, the husband of Keith's Margo, in The Good Life. Owing to prior commitments, Bowles turned down the role, but had he played Jerry, it is unlikely he would have been offered the part of Richard; as Bowles later said, "There's no way I could have played Penelope Keith's screen husband in two separate sitcoms." However, in 1987 Bowles replaced Geoffrey Palmer as Keith's onscreen husband in the ITV sitcom Executive Stress.
The series also features many recurring characters, who are either estate workers or members of Audrey's social circle. Celia Imrie, who makes two appearances as the receptionist in the Surgery and then a cashier Polly, later became known for her work with Victoria Wood, including the sitcom Dinnerladies, as well as roles in Kingdom and After You've Gone.
The 2007 Christmas special features four of the original cast members: Penelope Keith, Peter Bowles, Angela Thorne, and Gerald Sim as the Rector. New characters include Alexander Armstrong as Adam fforbes-Hamilton, Audrey's nephew-by-marriage and godson; Alan David as Emmeridge, Audrey and Richard's outspoken butler; and Michael Cochrane as Archie Pennington-Booth, a neighbouring landowner. While the Rector makes only a brief appearance, the other three original characters are main characters throughout and are credited in the opening credits.
| Actor | Character |
| Penelope Keith | Audrey fforbes-Hamilton |
| Peter Bowles | Bedřich "Richard DeVere" Polouvicek |
| Angela Thorne | Marjory Frobisher |
| Daphne Heard | Maria Polouvicka |
| John Rudling | Brabinger |
| Michael Bilton | Old Ned |
| Gerald Sim | The Rector |
| Daphne Oxenford | Mrs Patterson |
| Actor | Character |
| Penelope Keith | Audrey DeVere |
| Peter Bowles | Bedřich "Richard DeVere" Polouvicek |
| Angela Thorne | Marjory Frobisher |
| Gerald Sim | The Rector |
| Alexander Armstrong | Adam fforbes-Hamilton |
| Alan David | Emmeridge |
| Michael Cochrane | Archie Pennington-Booth |
Plot
Original series
To the Manor Born is set in the fictional village of Grantleigh in Somerset, near the fictional town of Marlbury. The series begins with the funeral of Marton fforbes-Hamilton, the Lord of the Manor of Grantleigh. Audrey, his widow, is far from distraught, as she now has control of the Grantleigh Manor Estate, which her family, the fforbes-Hamiltons, have controlled for 400 years. Her joy is short-lived though, as her solicitor, Arnold Plunkett, informs her that Marton was bankrupt and that the manor will have to be sold to pay off the debts. Audrey tries to buy back the manor at auction, but is outbid at £876,000. The new Lord of the Manor is Richard DeVere, a recently widowed self-made millionaire who started his career on an East End fruit barrow and founded the Cavendish Foods supermarket chain, though Audrey calls him a costermonger and sees him simply as a grocer. DeVere brings his domineering mother, Maria Poulouvicka. She reveals to Audrey, who does not like foreigners, that she and her son came to Britain in 1939 from Czechoslovakia, and that Richard, whose real name is Bedřich Polouvicek, is half-Polish and half-Czech. Mrs. Polouvicka tries hard to fit into British country life, but her accent often leads to many mispronunciations and she frequently comes out with sayings from her "old Czechoslovakia". From early on in the series, she encourages her son to court Audrey.Audrey moves into the "Old Lodge", at the end of the drive, where she can see most of what goes on at the manor. Living with her is her elderly and loyal butler, Brabinger, who has worked for the fforbes-Hamiltons his whole life, and her beagle Bertie. Audrey's supportive best friend, and a frequent visitor, is the well-meaning Marjory Frobisher, who quickly develops a crush on DeVere. Marjory, who was at school with Audrey, is still a schoolgirl at heart and a committed countryside campaigner. Marjory has no organisational ability, which leads to her being nicknamed "Muddlesome Marj" by some. Despite Marjory's encouragement, Audrey refuses to get a job, saying her only job could be running the Grantleigh Estate and doing other public service, which includes her being a magistrate. This means that money is a constant problem and Audrey has to learn to live within her means and new circumstances. During the second series, Brabinger is away ill; and Ned, whose tied cottage is being renovated by Richard, takes over as Audrey's butler. Ned, a gardener and "outside man", has worked on the estate all his life and finds working indoors difficult to get used to and he tends to lack the refined characteristics that a trained butler such as Brabinger possessed. Other estate staff include the estate foreman Mr. Miller, the new estate manager Mr. Spalding and the cook Mrs. Beecham. Another character, Polly, originally works at the local "Cavendish Foods" supermarket and then at the doctors' surgery, while Linda Cartwright works in the stables and as a domestic. The postman, Mr. Purvis, appears in two episodes.
Other characters include the local rector, who is not unhappy when Audrey loses the manor, hoping that it will prevent the dominating Audrey from having a say in the running of the church and local causes. The rector favours Richard, who is frequently generous when it comes to donations to church funds. The village shop is run by Mrs. Patterson, the local gossip who also favours Richard and does not get on with Audrey. The typically English Brigadier Lemington, of the Somerset Rifles and a former Desert Rat, is another local landowner and friend of Audrey's and the Master of Foxhounds and, like Audrey and Marjory, has an interest in nature conservation and cricket. Arnold Plunkett and his wife Dorothy are friends of Audrey, while Arnold is also the family solicitor. Grantleigh's local estate agent is J.J. Anderson, of Anderson and Fish, who appears at manor parties.
During the course of the three series, Audrey and Richard grow closer. Hostile to each other at the start, they grew to understand and respect each other, as both try to adapt to each other's ways. The last two 1981 episodes show Richard having problems at his company Cavendish Foods. With his board of directors refusing to let Richard buy a refrigeration plant in Argentina, he seriously considers selling the manor to raise the money to buy the plant himself. Trying to help Richard, Audrey asks her uncle, a well-respected and connected member of the financial community, to lend Richard a hand. Thanks to him, things begin to go Richard's way. Unfortunately, Audrey's uncle dies before the deals are signed. Richard decides to sell the manor to pay for the refrigerated plant. By a twist of fate, Audrey inherits her uncle's fortune and buys the manor back. Now back home and on her own turf, Audrey asks Richard to marry her. Taken aback, Richard says yes and they are married in the final episode, broadcast on 29 November 1981.