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in: Episodes, 1977 Episodes, 1978 Episodes

Benny Hill: Down Under

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1down under

Production[]

Episode: 32
Date: October 11, 1977 (Australia), April 12, 1978 (United Kingdom)
Time: 1:33:01
Musical Director: Jack Grimsley
Vocals: The Ladybirds
Choreography: Ross Hutchison
Producer: Dennis Spencer
Director: Rod Kinnear and Richard McCarty
Writer: Benny Hill

Down under3
Down under
Down under5

Episode[]

Highlights[]

  • Hold Back The Wind
  • The Legend of Benny Kelly
  • Lady Godiva
  • Love Will Find a Way
  • Archie's Angels - a spoof of the American TV-series "Charlie's Angels"

Cast[]

Quotes[]

Down under4
  • Big Daddy - "You can't marry, Lucy Jardine, boy! She's sixteen years old!"
    Big Daddy's Son - "I know... but she looks twelve!"
  • Lucy Jardine - "Would you like something to bite on?"
    Big Daddy - "Not at the moment, I had a biscuit with my tea."

Trivia[]

  • This episode was recorded at the Channel Ten studios in Sydney in August of 1977.
  • Filmed in Australia with an Australian crew and actors, this episode aired on October 11, 1977 in Australia and on April 12, 1978 in Great Britain.
  • The episode starts with eight unidentified dancers performing to the themes of the TV shows "The New Avengers," "M*A*S*H" and "Hawaii Five-0," Collectively, they were known as the Ross Hutchison Dancers, but they have yet to be identified separately.
  • The Claude and Fifi sketch ("Love Will Find A Way") is repeated from Top of the Tops from January 27, 1971.
  • The original Australian airing had the sketch order completely different from how it aired in the UK. In addition, the Australian version had a sketch that apparently was cut out from the UK airing, in which Chow Mein was the Chinese Minister of Culture for Australia, interviewed by Max Phipps. It appears to have been replaced for the UK airing by "Love Will Find A Way."
  • As well, the original Australian version, after "Les Girls," had Benny at the Sydney Opera House introducing "Archie's Angels." The gag involving this intro (a sign behind him saying "Made in Japan") would be rehashed in the 1991 Benny Hill's World Tour: New York special, only at Rockefeller Center. This intro was also taken out of the UK airing.
  • Other differences include the actor credits on the original Australian version as seen during the ending chase, but no actor credits on the UK airing (starting off with Benny's "Script and Original Music" credit).
  • The party scenes for the Benny the Bum sketch were filmed at the Oatlands House near Sydney, Australia.
  • The beach scenes were filmed at Collaroy Beach north of Sydney, Australia. The hotel in the background is the Collaroy Resort.
  • The Benny Kelly sketch, and the outdoor scenes in "Archie's Angels," were filmed at the Smoky Dawson Ranch in Ingleside, NSW.
  • This episode is unavailable on DVD; however, select clips from this episode were chosen to appear in the HBO "Video Sideshow" VHS Collection, and those and other clips were incorporated into both the 1979 and 1987 American half-hour syndicated packages (with some TV stations editing out the nudity in the "Benny Kelly" sketch).
  • The original Australian production number was VTR/DVT-84029. Thames assigned production number VTR 18938 to this show.

Sequence[]

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