The Benny Hill Show Wikia
in: Episodes, 1974 Episodes

Coalpits

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Production[]

Episode: 21
Date: March 13, 1974
Time: 48:33
Musical Director: Ronnie Aldrich
Vocals: The Ladybirds
Choreography:
Producer: Mark Stuart
Director: Mark Stuart
Writer: Benny Hill

Episode[]

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Highlights[]

  • Match of the Week
  • The Short and Unhappy Romance of Ted Tingle

Cast[]

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Quotes[]

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  • Benny Hill - "You know, it was our own dear Lord who said, and I'm inclined to believe Him, that the meek shall inherit the Earth, but if the meek inherit the Earth, what are the single men going to get?"
  • Benny Hill - "Poor men wish they were rich... Rich men wish they were handsome... Single men wish they were married... And married men wish they were dead..."
  • Benny Hill - "She may look like a million dollars now, but in twenty years' time, she'll still look like a million dollars... In loose change!!"
  • Benny Hill - "Nature gave woman eyes like the stars... A complexion like silk... And a mouth like a rosebud…. She stuck a tongue in it and swallowed the whole damn thing."
  • Benny Hill - "Just remember, nobody's wrong all the time... even a clock that don't go is right twice a day."
  • Benny Hill - "Remember your wife is smarter than ever you were because you married her and she married you."
  • Fred Scuttle - "She's got sunken cheeks, shallow eyes, deep dimples and a cleft shin. When she smiles, her entire face caves in!."
  • Fred Scuttle - "He just came out of the Merchant Navy. I don't think he's ever seen the opposite sex."
    Little Johnny - "They're the ones who go back when they're dancing."
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  • Colonel - "If there are any escapes, you will be put on a diet of bread and water."
    Captain Schtuk - "Extra rations? Goody, goody, goody....."
  • Benny's Son - "Hey, paw, can I go out to play?"
    Abner - "What with those holes in your trousers."
    Benny's son - "No, paw, with the kids across the street."
  • Benny Hill - "Please don't blame my doggy; it's not his fault at all. Someone left a wet umbrella standing in the hall."
  • Benny Hill - "Why do they put big walls around cemeteries? I mean, the people on the inside aren't going to come out, and the people on the outside don't want to go in!"

Trivia[]

  • This episode was recorded on February 22, 1974.
  • The opening quickie features an expectant father (Benny Hill) who is happy to have a son until the nurse (Bella Emburg) asks for her finger back.
  • The first string of quickies features bloopers from Fanny and Johnny Craddock]] with German accents, two dancers (Benny Hill and Diana Darvey smack into an unpainted set piece, another interruption from Fanny Craddock and Benny as a spokesman for the Hallo Hair Studio accompanied by Malou Cartwright as a model and Jon Jon Keefe as a studio grip. Fannie returns with yet another on-air interruption.
  • Nicholas Parsons returns briefly to the series after a several episode absence. This would be his last appearance in the series.
  • The male models in Fred Scuttle's Escorts are Bob Todd, Jackie Wright and Jerold Wells. The female escorts are Diana Darvey (green), Jeannie Collings (yellow), Zoe Hendry (pink) and Malou Cartwright (black) with Bella Emberg in a white dress and orange sweater, revealed to be Scuttle's wife.
  • Judith Durham performs "Strut Yourself" with the Hottest Band in Town. This number may be a bit obscure to even most die-hard Benny Hill fans as it didn't appear in American syndication nor in the HBO VHS/DVD packages. (The title is misleading; in her number, she actually sang a small portion of "I Wanna Dance to Your Music," followed by a cover of the 1920s jazz/blues song "Cakewalkin' Babies From Home.")
  • Additional Quickies feature a hillbilly son (Jon Jon Keefe) asking his father (Benny Hill) for permission to date his sixteen-year-old daughter (who looks twelve). This bit is repeated in Hold Back The Wind in 1977. Benny's hillbilly look in this sketch is recycled for Jed Jardine in Big Poppa.
    • Mexican prisoners (Jon Jon Keefe/Jackie Wright/Len Keyes/Bob Todd) paint the image of a naked woman on the inside of their jail door then point and laugh as their jailer (Benny Hill) puts his head on it
    • A husband (Benny Hill) pleads with his wife (Malou Cartwright) not to leave him but he's clearly more interested in the TV
    • The hillbilly patriarch tells his neighbor (Jerold Wells) how he put an ad up for a missing wallet in the Budapest News. His son (Jon Jon Keefe) asks to go out with holes in his pants. This bit is also repeated in Hold Back The Wind in 1977.
    • The hillbilly patriarch (Abner) lets his neighbor (Jerrold Wells) know he drinks because it's cheaper than sending the wife to the beauty parlor.
  • Instead of a tag, the episode ends with a medley of Mexican tunes and songs by Diana Darvey and Benny Hill accompanied by guitarist Guillermo Basilisco. Jackie Wright also appears singing a tune with Benny who "translates."
  • This was the last episode for Jim Tyson in the series; he died six months after this show originally aired. It is also the last appearance for Jon Jon Keefe and Jerold Wells, who both disappear from the series and don't return until the The Monte Carbolic Show episode in 1982.
  • This was the first episode to be produced and directed by Mark Stuart who would (with one exception) helm the show through 1977.
  • This episode marked the return of Ronnie Aldrich as musical director after an absence of three shows.
  • This episode is also the last on-camera appearance of The Ladybirds. The series would start a rotating venue of singers, entertainers and music bands until the creation of the Hill's Angels in the Eighties, but the vocals of the Ladybirds would be reused several times until the show ended in 1989.
  • This episode doesn't end with a tag or chase scene.
  • The Production Number for this episode is VTR 8779.

Sequence[]

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