In 1973, London was still Swingin' London. The glamour and charm of the 1960s had not yet started to ebb away; there was still an illusion in the air that the class system had broken down - or at least was bending under the strain of coping with the snappy and zappy socially mobile young people of that era.
And television comedy came round to reflect the era. Along with the inspired creative madness of The Goodies was the more mundane television-verite of Man About the House, a very traditional English sitcom based on the-then daring premise of two single girls sharing a flat with a randy young man.
The script is full of traditional sitcom misunderstandings, but changed to suit the 'new' Swingin' London. Changed just enough - it couldn't really reflect the reality of life in London in those times; the two girls stay seemingly virginal throughout, with hardly a suggestion of sexual freedom. Their lodger, Robin Tripp, lusts after his flatmates and tries to pull other birds, but never quite succeeds.
And it's full of political incorrectness. Jokes about sexual misunderstanding - the landlord only agrees to let Robin share with the two girls because he thinks Robin is gay. Poofter jokes abound, it's totally totally reprehensible - very, very declasse indeed.
And it's also very charming, nostalgic and also intensely addictive, as really good 'bad' television can be. My wife and I, who lived in London at the time, sat down the other night to watch just one episode. Three hours and six of the seven episodes later, we staggered to bed.
There are truly great English comedy series', such as Not Only But Also, Hancock, Yes Minister and quite a few others. Man About the House belongs in the second-tier of comedies. But it has stood the test of time really well. I'm pleased to be able to revisit my swingin' London.....
It's good to see product from Thames Television coming onto DVD. This was an excellent independent television production house - fingers crossed for a DVD release of one of its finest efforts, the 1980s version of Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate starring Judy Dench and husband Michael Michael Williams.
For an early 1970s television series, the image quality is in fact very good. Admittedly the colours are a bit pastelly rather than vibrant Technicolor, but it certainly never looked this good back in its free-to-air screening days.
It seems remarkably free of video degradation - and the original ad-break banners are preserved, as cues for zipping out to the kitchen for a quick cup of tea. English Breakfast, of course...
