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Over its three-year run To the Manor Born garnered a huge following, with 24
million viewers tuning in to the final episode. Writer Peter Spence has
attributed its popularity to the way that Penelope Keith's snobbish heroine gave
voice to all the criticisms of declining standards in Britain that everyone else
was too scared to mention, but although audiences were invited to sympathise
with Audrey they were - just occasionally - laughing at her as much as with
her.
Spence, a former radio gag writer, first had the idea for the programme when
a cockney comedian, for whom he'd provided material, invited him to a party at
his recently purchased stately home. Among the guests was the former owner, an
upper-class lady who made clear her disdain for the newcomer - much to his
amusement. When the BBC was looking for a starring vehicle for Penelope Keith,
fresh from her success as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life (BBC, 1975-78),
Audrey fforbes-Hamilton was born. Forced by her late husband's debts to sell
their ancestral home, Grantleigh Manor, Audrey is appalled when it is purchased
by supermarket mogul Richard DeVere. This shock is compounded when it transpires
that DeVere isn't even 'one of us', but was born Bedrich Polouvicka in
Poland.
The class-based comedy might have soon palled, but Peter Bowles' debonair
performance convinced viewers that DeVere was not only canny enough to
occasionally gain the upper hand over Audrey, but that his charm might just win
her over in the end. Their will they/won't they romance played out against a
backdrop of quintessential Englishness - replete with rolling countryside, hunt
balls and Sunday services - and an endearing raft of supporting characters.
Angela Thorne was well cast as Audrey's jolly hockey-sticks friend, Marjory
Frobisher, while classical actress Daphne Heard adopted an improbable Polish
accent as Richard's nagging mother, 'Mrs Pooh'. On the domestic side there was
Audrey's aged butler, Brabinger, and Old Ned the gardener, while the rector (one
of a long line of clerics played by Gerald Sim) and Brigadier Lemington rounded
out the regulars. All were present when Audrey and Richard finally tied the knot
in the series' dénouement.
The fact that - for most of its viewers - To the Manor Born represented a
fairytale version of England only added to its charm, and such was its
popularity that in 2007 it was revived for a one-off Christmas
special (tx. 25/12/2007).
Richard Hewett
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1. The new vase (3:17)
