Vince Powell and Harry Driver's 'Nearest & Dearest' is rather similar to Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's 'Steptoe & Son' in that it features two family members and business partners ( in this case a brother and sister who run a pickle factory ) who cannot abide each other. It certainly never compared in terms of quality to Galton and Simpson's show, it was popular enough to run to seven series.
The first episode starts off with Nellie and Eli Pledge being reunited after their father Joshua dies and leaves them in his will the family pickle factory ( 'Pledge's Purer Pickles' ). Their reunion is not a happy one. On the day of the funeral, Nellie is mortified when her brother Eli throws an extra scoop of earth onto their father's coffin. Eli justifies his actions by claiming that it is tradition to do that at a funeral, to which Nellie responds: ''That was no need for you to shout 'one for the pot!'''.
Regular visitors to the Pledge household are second cousin Lily ( Madge Hindle ) and her octogenarian husband Walter ( Edward Malin ) who never speaks and spends most of his time shuffling to and from the toilet, hence Nellie's ''Have you been?'' catchphrase.
It was an unexceptional, unassuming Northern offering, only just made watchable by both Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel. The canned laughter did irritate however. Rumour has it that, like Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell from 'Steptoe & Son', both Baker and Jewel did not get along in real life. The main attempts of humour came from Nellie's use of malapropisms ( such as ''What are you incinerating?'' ). Madge Hindle specialised in playing dowdy middle aged women. Edward Malin did get some laughs as Walter despite never saying a word. Joe Gladwin often appeared as Stan Hardman who in terms of hygiene gave Albert Steptoe a run for his money. In 1972 there was the inevitable film spin-off which met with a mixed reception from the public.
After Granada Television cancelled the show in 1973, Jimmy Jewel moved over to Thames Television for 'Spring & Autumn' while Hylda Baker went to London Weekend Television to take on the leading role in 'Not On Your Nellie'.
The first episode starts off with Nellie and Eli Pledge being reunited after their father Joshua dies and leaves them in his will the family pickle factory ( 'Pledge's Purer Pickles' ). Their reunion is not a happy one. On the day of the funeral, Nellie is mortified when her brother Eli throws an extra scoop of earth onto their father's coffin. Eli justifies his actions by claiming that it is tradition to do that at a funeral, to which Nellie responds: ''That was no need for you to shout 'one for the pot!'''.
Regular visitors to the Pledge household are second cousin Lily ( Madge Hindle ) and her octogenarian husband Walter ( Edward Malin ) who never speaks and spends most of his time shuffling to and from the toilet, hence Nellie's ''Have you been?'' catchphrase.
It was an unexceptional, unassuming Northern offering, only just made watchable by both Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel. The canned laughter did irritate however. Rumour has it that, like Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell from 'Steptoe & Son', both Baker and Jewel did not get along in real life. The main attempts of humour came from Nellie's use of malapropisms ( such as ''What are you incinerating?'' ). Madge Hindle specialised in playing dowdy middle aged women. Edward Malin did get some laughs as Walter despite never saying a word. Joe Gladwin often appeared as Stan Hardman who in terms of hygiene gave Albert Steptoe a run for his money. In 1972 there was the inevitable film spin-off which met with a mixed reception from the public.
After Granada Television cancelled the show in 1973, Jimmy Jewel moved over to Thames Television for 'Spring & Autumn' while Hylda Baker went to London Weekend Television to take on the leading role in 'Not On Your Nellie'.