In 1973, Galton and Simpson wrote 'Casanova 73' for the B.B.C. This one-season sitcom starred the great Leslie Phillips as 'Henry Newhouse', an advertising executive whom, despite being happily married to 'Carol' ( Jan Holden ) has sex on the brain ( and one or two other body parts as well ). The show detailed his numerous ( unsuccessful ) attempts to get 'with it', and become part of what he thought to be 'the permissive society'. It was a very rude show for its time, and one person unamused by it was Mrs.Mary Whitehouse, who denounced it as 'filth'. Viewers ( mostly women ) were aghast at its sexism, and their complaints got it moved from its Thursday evening peak-time slot to a late-night one on Mondays, where it was quietly forgotten. But Ray and Alan had a script left over and, not wishing to waste it, turned it into a vehicle for Richard Briers ( then starring in the B.B.C.'s 'The Good Life' ), shown as the second episode of 'The Galton & Simpson Playhouse'.
He plays 'Henry Fairlane', middle-aged sales executive, who has been happily married for ten years, but is undergoing a mid-life crisis and fancies everything in the office in lipstick and a skirt. Colleague 'Roger Grisham' ( Henry McGee ) holds wife swapping parties every Friday, and invites him provided he bring along his wife 'Linda' ( Jan Waters ) as she is is his 'entrance fee'. Henry is elated, but there is a problem. Linda is a prude. So he tells her they are going to a friend's house-warming party instead. Events conspire to ensure that Henry's evening does not swing quite as planned. En route, he loses Linda, and turns up at the party alone. Roger refuses to let him in...
When 'The Sun' heard about this, it called for I.T.V. not to show it! Yes, I know that's sounds incredible, but its true! The puritanical article referred back to 'Casanova 73' almost as though it were 'Last Tango In Paris'. Anyway, the programme was screened as planned, and if membership levels of wife-swapping clubs soared as a result it went largely unreported. Apart from the suggestion that Henry's wife may have had sex with up to four men that night ( blimey! ), it is fairly tame. I was more shocked to see McGee playing what would today be termed a 'sex addict'. Not the same man who was 'Mummy' in the Sugar Puffs 'Honey Monster' adverts, surely? Linda Hayden, seen briefly as a secretary, appeared in two of Robin Askwith's 'Confessions' saucy sex romps, but is disappointingly fully clothed here throughout. Taken in the spirit in which it was intended - as a spoof of 'the permissive society' - it is quite good fun.
Funniest moment - Henry pounds on the door of Roger's flat. An elderly neighbour ( John Sharp ) tells him to be quiet. Henry explains he is trying to get in to the party. The man says he has been trying to do likewise for five years. We see why he was not accepted when his ugly wife ( PeggyAnn Clifford ) urges him to come back inside!
He plays 'Henry Fairlane', middle-aged sales executive, who has been happily married for ten years, but is undergoing a mid-life crisis and fancies everything in the office in lipstick and a skirt. Colleague 'Roger Grisham' ( Henry McGee ) holds wife swapping parties every Friday, and invites him provided he bring along his wife 'Linda' ( Jan Waters ) as she is is his 'entrance fee'. Henry is elated, but there is a problem. Linda is a prude. So he tells her they are going to a friend's house-warming party instead. Events conspire to ensure that Henry's evening does not swing quite as planned. En route, he loses Linda, and turns up at the party alone. Roger refuses to let him in...
When 'The Sun' heard about this, it called for I.T.V. not to show it! Yes, I know that's sounds incredible, but its true! The puritanical article referred back to 'Casanova 73' almost as though it were 'Last Tango In Paris'. Anyway, the programme was screened as planned, and if membership levels of wife-swapping clubs soared as a result it went largely unreported. Apart from the suggestion that Henry's wife may have had sex with up to four men that night ( blimey! ), it is fairly tame. I was more shocked to see McGee playing what would today be termed a 'sex addict'. Not the same man who was 'Mummy' in the Sugar Puffs 'Honey Monster' adverts, surely? Linda Hayden, seen briefly as a secretary, appeared in two of Robin Askwith's 'Confessions' saucy sex romps, but is disappointingly fully clothed here throughout. Taken in the spirit in which it was intended - as a spoof of 'the permissive society' - it is quite good fun.
Funniest moment - Henry pounds on the door of Roger's flat. An elderly neighbour ( John Sharp ) tells him to be quiet. Henry explains he is trying to get in to the party. The man says he has been trying to do likewise for five years. We see why he was not accepted when his ugly wife ( PeggyAnn Clifford ) urges him to come back inside!