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Kingswood Country
Opening Title Card
Format	Comedy
Starring	Ross Higgins Judi Farr Peter Fisher Lex Marinos Maggie Dence Laurel McGowan Sheila Kennelly
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	89
Broadcast
Original channel	Seven Network
Original run	January 30, 1980 – September 1, 1984

The Best of Kingswood Country DVD cover (Volume 1)

Kingswood Country was an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering bigot. It was produced by RS Productions.

[edit] Premise

While some condemned its racist and sexist humour, this was often simply a plot device to show the bigotry of the main character, Edward Melba "Ted" Bullpitt (Ross Higgins), a white Australian, conservative, bigoted, Holden Kingswood-loving putty factory worker and WWII veteran who recalls his difficult childhood in ever more exaggerated ways.

He lives for three things: his beloved chair in front of the TV, his unsuccessful racing greyhounds and his worshipped Holden Kingswood car (late in the show's run Ted traded-in the Kingswood, which had gone out of production around the time the series began, for Holden's replacement mid-range family car, the Commodore). His long-suffering wife, the vague and dithering Thelma (Judi Farr), was cast as a traditional housewife trapped by Ted's conservative family views, but she often got her own back on Ted.

Humour was generated by the conflict of Ted's traditional views and his children's progressive nature. For example, his son Craig (Peter Fisher) is portrayed as a sexually rampant medical student and is referred to as an "Al Grassby Groupie", a reference to a progressive politician of the time. His daughter, Greta (Laurel McGowan), is portrayed as a feminist and is married to Bruno (Lex Marinos), the son of Italian immigrants, to which Ted strongly objects (often referring to him as a "bloody wog"). Other politically-incorrect humor includes Ted's references to Neville, the concrete Aboriginal garden statue.

At other times, humour was based on the more traditional comedic methods of poorly thought-out schemes of Ted's (usually get-rich-quick); class differences (between the suburban Bullpitts and Ted's upwardly-mobile sister-in-law Merle) and simple misunderstandings leading to a chain of humorous events.

Reruns currently air on cable and satellite channel FOX Classics.

[edit] Current Airings

Beginning on June 5th, The Comedy Channel will be airing Kingswood Country as a part of Aussie Gold on Friday nights.

[edit] Analysis

The series reflected the changing culture of Australia through Ted's inability to accept this change from traditional culture to multiculturalism, from basic to advanced education levels and from conservative to more liberal politics.

Several elements of the show, and indeed the overall premise and the character types of the show, were similar to British sitcom Til Death Us Do Part. Coincidentally, just as the wife character in Til Death Us Do Part left the series before its end, so too did Thelma in Kingswood Country when Judi Farr decided to leave the series. Her absence was explained in the story by having Thelma going on an extended cruise, with Bruno's mother Rosa (Sheila Kennelly) moving in to look after Ted. Thelma much later sent word she would not be returning to Ted.

Guest stars in the series included Graham Kennedy, Robert Hughes, Noeline Brown, Ray Meagher and Bruce Spence. The show won the Most Popular Comedy Award in 1981 and 1982 at the Logies.

[edit] Catchphrases

The series has spawned some catchphrases such as:

• "Don't 'Dad' me boy/girl, I'm your father!"
• "Pickle me grandmother!"
• [when surprised from behind] "Give a man a heart attack!"
• "Strike me Catholic!"
• [when someone asks to drink his beer] "Money on the fridge!"
• "Somebody/someone should blow [current object of annoyance] up!"
• "The Kingswood! You're not taking the Kingswood!..." [insert far-fetched excuse] e.g. "I've just ducoed the tyres" or "I've just glad-wrapped the aerial!" or "I've just polished the number-plate!"
• "When I was a boy... " [insert long-winded, far-fetched story] Always responded to with "Yeah, yeah sure Ted/Dad."
• "Hate, hate, vomit!"
• [when asked how his day went] "Bloody shambles, of course!"
• [the universal insult for a miserable, miserly old man] "Grumblebum!"
• This is Ted Bullpit...No! Bull-PIT...yeah, everyone says that
• "Where's the bloody Kingswood!?"
• Attila the Nun
• Mick Midgets (also known as spotty little Damiens)
• Bloody woman!
• Blow 'em all up!

[edit] DVD

A 'Best Of' DVD was released in 2003 featuring 13 out of the 89 episodes as well as the original skit on The Naked Vicar Show that spawned the series. A second 'Best Of' featuring an additional 13 episodes was also released in 2006. Then in September 2008 a third best of set was released.^[1].

[edit] Bullpitt!

A spin-off to the series was the short-lived, much panned Bullpitt! in 1997. Of the original show's cast only Ross Higgins had a regular role; Elaine Lee also co-starred. A Best Of Set was released in September 2008.

[edit] References

1. ^ Kingswood Country - The Best Of Kingswood Country: Vol. 2 (3 Disc Box Set) @ EzyDVD

[edit] External links

• Kingswood Country at the Internet Movie Database
• Kingswood Country at the National Film and Sound Archive