{"id":68286,"date":"2023-10-13T15:22:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T15:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotcelebon.com\/?p=68286"},"modified":"2023-10-13T15:22:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T15:22:45","slug":"its-been-branded-sexist-but-the-women-always-came-out-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotcelebon.com\/celebrities\/its-been-branded-sexist-but-the-women-always-came-out-on-top\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been branded sexist\u2026 but the women always came out on top"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On August 15, 1973, I\u2019m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am)<\/em> by Gary Glitter topped the Hit Parade, England and Stoke City goalkeeper Gordon Banks announced his retirement following a road traffic accident, a pint of bitter in the local would set you back 14p\u2026 and the first episode of ITV sitcom Man About The House was aired.<\/p>\n

It proved hugely popular from the off \u2013 even if the premise was faintly shocking.<\/p>\n

A young man sharing a flat with two young ladies?<\/p>\n

Good heavens! Whatever next?<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong> Coronation Street Elaine star hits back at Stephen Reid criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems incredible now to think that quite a few people in the 1970s still thought that way \u2013 I mean, nothing is off limits today,\u201d says actress Paula Wilcox, who played Chrissy Plummer, one of the \u201cyoung ladies\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut 50 years ago, it was very different. Man About The House reflected the flat-sharing that was beginning to happen in many young people\u2019s lives back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis phenomenon was what so many sitcoms of the era were based on, though. What was used as the background setting or the situation? Comedy writers would take something that was changing in society and write a sitcom about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often hailed as the show that introduced sex to British TV, the Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer-penned show was a ratings winner with all ages.<\/p>\n

Young people could relate to fashionable Chrissy and her equally trendy flatmates Jo and Robin (played respectively by former child actors Sally Thomsett and Richard O\u2019Sullivan).<\/p>\n

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While older viewers loved sharp-tongued, sex-starved landlady Mildred Roper (played by Yootha Joyce) and her hen-pecked husband George (Brian Murphy).<\/p>\n

\u201cSex was the problem we had,\u201d Cooke recalled. \u201cBecause the powers that be at Thames said: \u2018This is about sex, isn\u2019t it?\u2019 and we said: \u2018No, no, it\u2019s about flat-sharing.\u2019 They said the man must be sleeping with at least one of the women and we said, \u2018No, he might want to but he never does\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

To the modern viewer, however, elements of Man About The House, while funny,\u00a0could easily be construed as sexist\u00a0and homophobic.<\/p>\n

Not that its star necessarily agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel it stands up very well,\u201d argues Paula. \u201cI think so, anyway. I\u2019m proud of it. There isn\u2019t really anything in the show that is offensive \u2013 not in my opinion, anyway. It\u2019s all very tongue in cheek and was also very much of its time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s what we have to remember. It was the mid-70s and reflected what life was like then. Man About The House<\/em> was funny, entertaining and instead of tackling big, serious issues, it focused on the daft little things and misunderstandings that happened between the characters. With regards to the issue of sexism, well, the women in the show were much sharper and funnier than the rather weak male characters. It was always Robin and George Roper who came off worse. Chrissy, Mildred and also Jo gave as good as they got, didn\u2019t pull any punches, had the best lines and the last laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever, for instance, Chrissy felt Robin had overstepped the mark or was trying it on, she\u2019d outwit him with great class. The women certainly weren\u2019t victims who felt threatened by the men \u2013 even though the men were, by today\u2019s standards, sexist at times. Anything but, in fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

PaulA believes Man About The House reflected its time, and should be seen as such, not viewed through the modern prism that finds everything offensive.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s always good to see strong female characters on TV,\u201d she says rather diplomatically. \u201cMan About The House was very much of its time and reflected what life was like then. It couldn\u2019t be made today because there\u2019s nothing in the least bit shocking about people of both sexes sharing a flat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all tend to look back at the time when we were young and think how great it was. Was life better then? I don\u2019t know. It was certainly a lot less complicated. There was no social media, of course, and we weren\u2019t constantly bombarded with bad news and didn\u2019t instantly know what awful things were happening in the world. Life was simpler and so I think people were maybe more content.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Manchester-born actress, now 73, certainly has happy memories from the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great fun filming in front of a live audience who were genuinely excited to be there and who gave us a real buzz when the cameras started rolling,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut my fondest memories are actually of the times away from filming \u2013 spending time with Sally and Richard. We made Man About The House at the Thames TV studio at Teddington Lock. We\u2019d have lovely lunches at the pubs by the river, enjoy a drink together after work\u2026 that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A still bubbly Sally, 73, above, appears with Paula in a new documentary marking 50 years since the show aired. Richard, 79, retired from showbusiness in 1996 and has been a resident at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for entertainers in Twickenham, since suffering a stroke in 2003. Yet talking today, it sounds like a great camaraderie grew up between the three fictional flatmates in the show Paula likens to a 1970s\u2019 version of Friends<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe became very close. We\u2019ve kept in touch. We send Christmas cards and speak occasionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Man About The House<\/em> put Paula on the map as a TV actress, although she had appeared in another popular sitcom, namely The Lovers<\/em> written by Jack Rosenthal and co-starring Richard Beckinsale.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Lovers<\/em> was my first job,\u201d she recalls. \u201cAgain, it reflected what society was like at the time. My character Beryl was an old-fashioned kind of girl who wanted a ring on\u00a0her finger before she became intimate with Geoffrey, Richard\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile Geoffrey was desperate to join the permissive society of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and indulge in free love.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it was Man About The House, which ran for three years with six series and even a film spin-off, that she knows she will be remembered for.<\/p>\n

When it ended in 1976, the show spawned George and Mildred<\/em> \u2013 a sitcom about the Ropers, and Robin\u2019s Nest<\/em>, which saw Richard O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s Robin opening his own bistro.<\/p>\n

Paula also landed her own show \u2013 Miss Jones and Son<\/em> \u2013 about a single mother making a life with her young son. It ran for two series during 1977 and 1978.<\/p>\n

She has barely stopped working since, starring as Pauline Johnson in the Sky One comedy drama Mount Pleasant<\/em> for seven years.<\/p>\n

Most recently, she has appeared as semi-regular character Elaine Jones in Coronation Street<\/em> and returns to the soap from time to time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat suits me perfectly,\u201d she says. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t suit me to be a regular character. I wouldn\u2019t have time to do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

By \u201canything else\u201d, Paula means spending time in the US with her husband, Nelson \u201cSkip\u201d Riddle, an American businessman and the eldest son of the composer, bandleader and arranger Nelson\u00a0Riddle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing on the cards work-wise at the moment but that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m looking to retire,\u201d she smiles. \u201cI still love what I do. It\u2019s\u00a0such fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today she is still recognised for playing Chrissy even though the show was first broadcast 50 years ago. And not just by the viewers who watched it in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show has been repeated over the years on various channels and I also get approached by younger people who watched in the 1980s and 90s. I get taxi drivers telling me they used to be in love with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say, \u2018What do you mean, used to be?\u2019 It\u2019s lovely, though, and very flattering after all this time. Man About The House\u201d was a lovely show and obviously very dear to people\u2019s hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n