The Bed-Sit Girl 1965

The Bed-Sit Girl

1965 - United Kingdom

Another sitcom from the prolific two Ron's writing team of Chesney and Wolfe, The Bed-Sit Girl was written as a starring vehicle for Sheila Hancock, who had become a household name in the duo's earlier smash hit comedy, The Rag Trade.

Sheila Hancock

Sheila plays a secretary, an ingenious, kind-hearted but disorganised creature who is always aiming at sophisticated self-possession but usually achieves only a comical, embarrassed muddle with a steady stream of failed romances and frustrated failures, even though she will never give up her dreams of a more glamorous and fulfilling existence.

The Bed-Sit Girl

She would gladly swap places with her glamourous friend and neighbour Dilys (occasional Carry On star - Dilys Laye) and attempts to associate herself with what she considers the 'jet set'. But the two girls have as diverse personalities as they have jobs. Dilys is a much cooler and sharper customer who does actually work in the 'jet set' - well, she works as an air hostess and that's as 'jet set' as you can get.

Hy Hazell

When the series returned for a second outing Dilys had jetted off permanently and Sheila had by now befriended the worldly-wise Liz (Hy Hazell) who recommends compiling a list of the good and bad points of the new occupant of Dily's flat. David (Derek Nimmo) is a twenty-eight year-old eligible bachelor. But during an encounter at a laundromat, the possibility of a romance almost ends when he stumbles across her written-down assessment of his assets and liabilities.

The Bed-Sit Girl

For Sheila, not much changed between the first and second series. Still the same as ever, dreaming of being swept off her feet in a wild romance (preferably by a playboy) but going from job to job and always ending up in the typing pool where she can't read her own shorthand and sometimes struggles to read back what she has typed.

Described by the scriptwriters as 'More Brief Encounter' than 'Up the Junction', we are unable to assess the quality of this series because sadly, all twelve episodes are lost.

Published on April 16th, 2023. Written by Malcolm Alexander for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

Dilys Laye

With a career spanning over five decades, Dilys Laye graced the West End, Broadway, and screen, starring in iconic productions like the "Carry On" films. Her talent extended to Shakespearean plays, musicals, and television

Also starring Dilys Laye

Daddy Kiss It Better

Television play about a married couple who's marriage is falling apart, written by one of British theatre's greatest writers of the last 60 years, that was broadcast on Yorkshire Television's opening night in July 1968

Also starring Dilys Laye

Entertaining Mr Sloane

A handsome, sexy and completely amoral young man, joins Kath's household as a lodger and proceeds to manipulate her and her brother. Joe Orton's play made its television debut almost a year after the author was bludgeoned to death by his partner.

Also starring Sheila Hancock

The Rag Trade

Staff turn militant in an East End sweatshop.

Also starring Sheila Hancock

The FBI

Allegedly based on the case-files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The F.B.I. was endorsed by none other than the Bureau's real-life chief of operations, J. Edgar Hoover.

Also released in 1965

Get Smart

Comedy spoof of just about every secret agent movie and TV series.

Also released in 1965

After Henry

BAFTA-nominated comedy After Henry followed the comfortable middle-class lives of three women; except that, for one of them, life wasn't all that comfortable...

Also tagged British Sitcom

Tony Hancock

When Tony Hancock left the BBC for ITV his was one of the most watched shows on British television. By the end of this ITV series his career was in shreds...

Also starring Derek Nimmo

Absolutely Fabulous

Developed from a sketch in the TV series French and Saunders in which Saunders played a baseball capped parent berated by her prim and proper daughter (French), the pilot episode was greeted by one TV executive with the comment, "I don't think women being drunk is funny."

Also tagged British Sitcom