All Gas and Gaiters radio show (1971-1972, United Kingdom)

Episode time

30 minutes

Language

English

The life in St Ogg’s Cathedral is peaceful - Bishop Cuthbert Hever enjoys the historic surroundings, his friend, Archdeacon Henry Blunt, lives nearby, so they can spend a lot of time, also the bishop has a chaplain, Mervyn Noote, to help him with every day tasks. Noote is a good-natured young man, but unfortunately also accident-prone, which sometimes causes some disturbances. But there is one thing that spoils that idyllic setting, or rather someone - the dean. Dean Lionel Pugh-Critchley takes care of the St Ogg’s Cathedral, so the bishop must deal with him quite often, The dean is a very strict man, not only when it comes to the religious or administrative matters, but pretty much to every aspect of life, which often clashes with the rather easy-going approach of the bishop. To make things worse, the dean also lives next door to the bishop, so they not only stumble upon each other while dealing with the cathedral matters, but also the dean interferes with the personal life of Bishop Hever.

It seems unlikely that a sitcom about a Church of England bishop could be a good idea - some parts of the everyday life could not be used (especially since the show was written in the 1960s), some of the everyday situations could not be used because all the main characters are priests, but every single episode of All Gas and Gaiters proves that with good script you can make great show even from unlikely idea. All Gas and Gaiters is a slow-paced show, but well-developed characters and good chemistry between cast members made this show a classic.

The radio version was a copy of the TV episodes with added narrator introductions to some of the scenes, so the listeners would be able to understand what was happening.