Queenie's Castle
| Queenie's Castle | |
|---|---|
 Main cast | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Written by |
Keith Waterhouse Willis Hall |
| Starring |
Diana Dors Freddie Fletcher Brian Marshall Barrie Rutter Tony Caunter Lynne Perrie Bryan Mosley |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Yorkshire Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release |
5 November 1970 – 5 September 1972 |
Queenie's Castle is a British sitcom set in early 1970s Leeds, West Yorkshire that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. The series featured popular British actress Diana Dors.
Plot
Starring Diana Dors as the eponymous Queenie Shepherd, the programme revolved around the lives and, often illegal, activities of the residents of a tower block in early 1970s Leeds, West Yorkshire. Queenie's husband Lionel never appears, leaving the neighbours and viewers alike to assume he is in prison.[1] Various excuses are made, such as "He's working on the motorway in Carlisle", but these change throughout the series.
The family's archenemy, Mrs Petty, lives on a ground floor flat and runs a cake shop in a row of shops at the bottom of the flats. Mrs Petty's main friend is Mrs Blakely who also dislikes the Shepherds. Although Mrs Petty is seen to live in a ground floor flat — and this is made perfectly obvious throughout the series — on more than one occasion she claims to live next door to the Shepherds, who quite clearly live several floors up.
Production
Produced by Yorkshire Television, the scripts were written by Keith Waterhouse (author of Billy Liar) and Willis Hall.[2] The last four episodes of series one were recorded in black and white due to the ITV colour strike.
Although the location was unspecified on screen, parts of the series were filmed in Quarry Hill, Leeds - the council flats where it was filmed have since been demolished.[1] They were notable as the first council flats of their kind, built in art deco style in the 1930s. For a photograph of the flats see the Leodis database and their demolition shortly after the series
Cast
- Diana Dors - Queenie Shepherd
- Freddie Fletcher - Raymond Herbert Shepherd
- Brian Marshall- Bernard Anthony "Bunny" Shepherd
- Barrie Rutter - Douglas Fairbanks Shepherd
- Tony Caunter - Jack Henry Shepherd
- Lynne Perrie - Mrs. Edith Petty
- Bryan Mosley - Jeremy, the landlord
- Kathy Staff - Mrs. Blakely
Episodes
Series 1
- We Humbly Beseech (5 Nov 70)
- The Great Debate (12 Nov 70)
- They Also Served (19 Nov 70)
- Just Good Friends (26 Nov 70)
- Trial By Fury (3 Dec 70)
- Unaccustomed As I Am (10 Dec 70)
Series 2
- Sweetness And Light (3 Jun 71)
- The Ladykillers (10 Jun 71)
- The Breadwinner (17 Jun 71)
- Industrial Relations (24 Jun 71)
- On The Wagon (1 Jul 71)
- Castles In The Air (8 Jul 71)
Series 3
- The Prowler (1 Aug 72)
- New Broom (8 Aug 72)
- The One That Got Away (15 Aug 72)
- England Expects (22 Aug 72)
- Mr Faintheart (29 Aug 72)
- The Patter Of Tiny Feet (5 Sep 72)
DVD releases
All three series of Queenie's Castle were released (separately) by Simply Media in May 2009. Network DVD has released a three-disc box set of the complete series in August 2009.
| DVD | Year(s) | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series 1 | 1970 | 18 May 2009 |
| The Complete Series 2 | 1971 | 18 May 2009 |
| The Complete Series 3 | 1972 | 18 May 2009 |
| The Complete Series 1 to 3 Box Set | 1970- 1972 | 10 Aug 2009 |
References
- 1 2 Michael Brooke. "BFI screenonline: Queenie's Castle (1970-72)". Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ↑ Wroe, Nicholas (14 April 2001). "The Guardian profile: Keith Waterhouse". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-07-07.