Get Some In!

Among the lesser-known but richly deserving gems of British sitcom history is Get Some In!, a sharply observed and often delightfully irreverent comedy penned by the masterful writing duo John Esmonde and Bob Larbey. Best known for classics like The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles, Esmonde and Larbey here turned their attention to post-war military life, creating a series that cleverly mined the comic potential of National Service while capturing the tensions of class and character in 1950s Britain.

Set in 1955 at the fictional RAF Skelton, Get Some In! takes place during the era when National Service was compulsory for all able-bodied young men—a time remembered fondly or with dread, depending on one's personal experience. Much like the earlier Army Game, the show used the barracks setting as a microcosm of wider British society, bringing together an eclectic mix of draftees from vastly different backgrounds and thrusting them into the absurdly rigid world of military life.

The recruits are an instantly memorable lot: Jakey Smith, a slick 'teddy boy' played with youthful energy by a pre-Citizen Smith Robert Lindsay; Bruce Leckie, the well-meaning but hopelessly dim Scot portrayed by Brian Pettifer; Matthew Lilley, the mild-mannered son of a vicar, played by Gerard Ryder; and Ken Richardson, a posh, polite grammar school lad embodied by David Janson. Despite their social differences, they are quickly united by a shared nemesis—Corporal Percy Marsh.

Played with gruff relish by Tony Selby, Marsh is the very embodiment of the embittered NCO, determined to make his charges' lives as miserable as possible. His favourite target is young Ken, whom he dubs “Poof House Richardson”—not out of any actual suspicion of sexuality, but simply due to Ken’s refined accent and middle-class manners. It’s a choice that reflects the institutionalised prejudices of the era, and the series doesn’t shy away from showing the way class tensions played out in confined military spaces. Yet Marsh, for all his bluster, is never portrayed as clever or particularly competent. In fact, he’s regularly outwitted by the very lads he seeks to humiliate, and his comeuppance is often the source of the biggest laughs.

The initial setting of RAF Skelton gives way in later episodes to RAF Middleton, where the group is assigned to train as nurse assistants—only to discover, to their dismay, that Marsh has been transferred with them. Even a brief posting to Malta offers little relief, as the group soon find themselves back under Marsh’s heel at RAF Hospital Druidswater. This continuity of character and setting allowed the series to explore the evolution of relationships and deepen its humour, rather than relying on formulaic gags.

Running for three years—significantly longer than the basic training it depicts—Get Some In! remains a strikingly underappreciated part of British television heritage. One could argue it deserved a much longer run, but by the time it aired in the mid-to-late 1970s, National Service had become a relic of the past. For younger viewers, it was a quaint historical concept; for older audiences, perhaps a reminder of an experience they’d rather forget. This disconnect may well explain its relatively short lifespan. However, the quality of the writing was never in question—Esmonde and Larbey's scripting remained as crisp, insightful, and character-driven as in their more celebrated work.

It’s also worth noting the show’s conspicuous absence from the television schedules in the decades since. At the time of writing, Get Some In! has never been fully repeated on terrestrial television—a baffling oversight, considering the show’s pedigree and the strength of its performances. Robert Lindsay's charisma was evident even in these early years, while Tony Selby’s portrayal of Marsh stands out as one of British sitcom’s great comic villains.

Get Some In! is a sitcom that deserves to be rediscovered. Its humour is character-driven and often biting, yet underpinned by a warmth that prevents it from slipping into cruelty. Esmonde and Larbey understood people, their flaws, their prejudices, and their peculiarities, and they used the military setting not only to generate laughs, but to say something about the Britain of both the 1950s and the 1970s. It may not have enjoyed the long-term acclaim of some of its contemporaries, but for those who seek out the overlooked corners of British comedy, Get Some In! is well worth the watch., so a release by Network DVD was especially gratifying as it was also the first time the series had been made available in any format. The first DVD release not only included the entire six episodes of series one but also the 1975 Christmas Special.