User Reviews

'The Wackers' was Vince Powell's first sitcom as sole creator, his previous shows having been conceived in partnership with Harry Driver. It was set in Liverpool, and starred the excellent Ken Jones ( whom you may remember as 'Ives' in 'Porridge' ) as 'Billy Clarkson', who returns to his family having spent two years in prison ( to conceal their shame, they have told neighbours he was at sea ). Jones' real-life wife Sheila Fay was Billy's wife 'Mary'. Two of the three children were played by performers who went on to greater things - Alison Steadman ( cast as 'Bernadette' ) and Keith Chegwin ( as the youngest son 'Raymond' ). The third offspring was 'Tony' ( David Casey ). This was a house divided alright - half were Catholic and half Protestant, while another half supported Everton and another Liverpool F.C. So there was plenty of scope for conflict in the show. On top of that the eldest son and daughter were sexually liberated ( Bernadette thought she was pregnant one week ). Because he'd been away so long, Billy had a tough time accepting his 'kids' had grown up.

In his autobiography 'From Rags To Gags', Powell rightly called the show a forerunner to 'Bread'. There was even an equivalent 'Grandad' figure in the shape of Joe Gladwin's incontinent 'Joe Farrell'. As well as 'Bread', it was also the forerunner to Clement and LaFrenais' 'Going Straight' ( 'Fletcher' also had a son called 'Raymond', played by Nicholas Lyndhurst ).

Though a Mancunian, the writer had lived in Liverpool for four years and knew something of that unique brand of humour. The theme tune was 'In My Liverpool Home' sung by The Spinners ( with a touch of Cilla Black's 'Liverpool Lullaby' thrown in for good measure ). Despite occupying a 9.30 slot on Wedsnesday nights, 'The Wackers' was heavily criticised for its heavy reliance on bad language ( though in reality it was no worse than what was to be found in 'Till Death Us Do Part' ). As it reached the end of its run, I.T.V. announced it would not be coming back. Few were sorry to see it go. It still exists in the archives.

For quite a long time after the death of his writing partner Harry Driver, Vince Powell struggled to create a hit show on his own. His first attempt came in 1975 and concerned the everyday goings on of a Liverpudlian family, the head of which is former lag Billy Clarkson ( Ken Jones, formerly known as 'Orrible Ives from 'Porridge' ). Billy was married to Mary ( played by Jones' real life wife Sheila Fay, who played Mrs. Hennesey in 'The Liver Birds' ). Their three children were Tony ( David Casey ), Bernadette ( Alison Steedman ) and Raymond ( Keith Chegwin ). Joe Gladwin played their incontinent grandfather Joe Farrell.

That's all there really was to it, 'The Wackers' was nothing more than a messy mish-mash of toilet humour and family conflict. I'm normally not averse to that kind of comedy as many of you may know but here the ingredients just refused to gel. One moment in the show hinted at incest with a particularly disgusting scene in the first episode where Joe Farrell leered suggestively at his granddaughter Bernadette! Dubious to say the least even for a Vince Powell creation!

The public turned off in their droves and as a result of its failure, the final episode of the run was never broadcast. Vince Powell's next show was 'My Son Reuben', which starred Bernard Spear as a Jewish mummy's boy. It fared no better than this show to be honest. Powell would not find his first solo hit until 1977 with LWT's 'Mind Your Language'.

Best of all in the cast was Alison Steedman who went onto far greater things as an actress.