Reviews

It's 2007, and 12 years since Clive Swift waved goodbye to Keeping Up Appearances - the BBC comedy which focused on the snobbish lifestyle of Hyacinth Bucket ("Bouquet") and her long suffering husband Richard.

The show may be long gone but its legacy lives on courtesy of repeats in this country and around the world. The characters of Mr and Mrs Bucket were so strong that a new stereotype was born - a couple who constantly strive for recognition from the upper classes, whilst doing all they can to distance themselves from anyone they regard as 'common'.

The role of Richard may have brought Clive Swift notoriety, but in an appearance at The Quay Theatre in Sudbury he'll be retracing a wide and varied career.

Clive as King George II in Aristocrats

"I've filmed with Hitchcock, David Lean, John Boorman and I've been on and off the West End stage," Clive told BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Luke Deal. "I've worked with Alistair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, who were extraordinary on the stage.

"Alistair was so charismatic and so brilliant. So amusing, endearing and brilliant to an audience that nobody ever looked at me at all. I had vibes of 'do be quiet young man'. I wished I had stayed in bed."

An early break for Clive came courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

"I was incredibly lucky as I got in on the ground floor of the RSC in 1960 when it was being set up and I had a series of contracts with them.

"My father said 'what the hell are you being an actor for? You'll die of starvation in the rain'.

"So when I said 'actually dad I've got all these contracts with the Royal Shakespeare Company' he said 'oh it's rather like the civil service', not knowing the first thing about it and how fortunate I was."

Doctor Who

A TV and film career followed, including Frenzy in 1972 with the aforementioned Alfred Hitchcock, and in the mid 1980's Clive made his first appearance in Doctor Who - a show he's returning to in 2007.

"I was in it 25 years ago and am glad to say I'm in the Christmas special with Ms (Kylie) Minogue.

"She's terrific, a real little trooper. I think she was delighted to be acting again. Her and her manager were Whoites, or whatever they call themselves, so she was excited as anybody to be in it.

"She behaved like a normal actress, very unstarry. We all have scenes with her and she was really great - I really enjoyed meeting her."

Clive had similar praise for David Tennant, who's currently playing the Timelord: "David is just fantastic. I was with Colin Baker originally but this young man has an amazing energy and he's so committed to it that you've really got to pull your acting socks up to live with it.

"The other big change is the technology - all these computer graphics. We'd do scenes with a blue screen behind us and we had to pretend we were fighting against things which I couldn't see."

Keeping Up Appearances

Despite wanting to discuss other stages of his career, Clive is more than happy to talk about his memories of Keeping Up Appearances.

"What was amazing was that it became so popular so soon. The BBC in those days always used to make at least two series of a sitcom because they said it took the audience a while to get used to the world of it, the characters and the whole humour.

"So the director said 'whatever happens in the first series we'll make another series', which was nice - thank you very much. But by episode three or four of the first series we had audiences of 14 million, which was extraordinary."

Hyacinth fixes Richard's tie

Keeping Up Appearances was written by Roy Clarke, who also penned Last Of The Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"We only ever saw the writer, who's this very remarkable man, very briefly when we were rehearsing the first episode. That's when I learned that in a new sitcom, even the writer doesn't know everything about the characters - it's not all given before it starts.

"We were all allowed to ask him one question and I said 'what does Richard do?'. He had a moment's thought and said 'something very proper, something very respectable'.

"So I said 'that isn't much help - it could be a million things'. He said 'well I actually don't know'.

"It wasn't until several episodes later that it emerged that Richard worked for the local council, in a rather lowly capacity and was never going to make it to the top. So that's what I mean about developing the character.

"The first thing I decided was if Richard was a really meek and submissive person, in a way there was no conflict - because he'd be just a bit of fluff for Hyacinth. So the first thing I had to do, as far as the writer allowed me, was to fight back - to protest.

"I know I used to lose 98 per cent of the time and there was no conflict really but I had to put up a show or otherwise it's simply not interesting.

"If you play a mouse it's no good playing the mouse. You've got to play the potential rat.

Richard and Hyacinth

"Another way of looking at it is it's like Tom and Jerry and if I had walked away there'd be no show. I did have the odd episode where people would ask 'how do you survive Richard?'. And I'd say 'well I lock myself in the loo and read a lot'.

"But Patricia made a good point early on. Richard had no family at all - there was never any mention of his relations. So she wondered if he might have been an orphan.

"But I couldn't play that because the writer never gave me any lines which brought that up in context of any episodes."

The majority of viewers will no doubt have questioned why Richard put up with Hyacinth's way of life. But Clive is quick to stick up for his former on screen wife.

"She looks after him totally. He's nicely dressed and well fed. She's his publicity machine.

"I say in my own show that if Hyacinth was killed off in someway, Richard would be reduced to a couch potato and never go out again.

"She is the energy behind his whole life."
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Richard Bucket Overflows! An audience with Clive Swift is at The Quay, Sudbury, on Friday 26 October 2007.

Tickets cost £16 (concessions £15) and are available from the box office on 01787 374745 or by emailing boxoffice@quaytheatre.org.uk.