Three Live Wires

Three Live Wires

1961 - United Kingdom

Comedy series that chronicled the merry misadventures of the employees of a London based TV sales and repair shop. Most of the stories revolved around chief technician Mike, actor Michael Medwin, who had sprung to fame as Springer in the popular Granada series The Army Game. His two co-workers were fellow Londoner George played by George Roderick and Northerner Malcolm, played by Bernard Fox who later gained TV fame in the USA, first as Malcolm Meriwether on The Andy Griffith Show and then as the bumbling Col. Crittenden on Hogan's Heroes

All three actors had appeared in an earlier sitcom called The Love Of Mike. A fourth TV repairman was Higgenbottom played by Derek Benfield and Deryck Guyler (most famously the school caretaker, Potter, in Please Sir!) was the shop manager. 

Unusually for a British sitcom the series ran to a continuous 26 episodes and each of them featured a special guest star of the calibre of Peter Vaughan, Dudley Moore, Dickie Henderson, Arthur Lowe, and a young Ronnie Corbett.

Published on February 6th, 2019. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

The Bulldog Breed

A single series of seven comedies about Tom, the perennial optimist, as he wanders through life leaving chaos in his wake totally oblivious to the problems he causes for everyone.

Also tagged Britcom

Ghost Squad

An elite division of Scotland Yard, the Ghost Squad was set up to investigate and infiltrate spy rings, underworld gangs or anything else that came outside the duties of regular policing.

Also released in 1961

The Army Game

Hugely successful series from Granada TV that started in 1957 as a fortnightly live sitcom, which was moved to a weekly spot when it became so popular. The series followed the misfortunes of a mixed bag of army conscripts.

Also tagged Britcom

The Dick Van Dyke Show

This much loved, top rated US comedy series from the 1960's very nearly didn't make it on the air because then CBS chief, Jim Aubrey, disliked it so intensely that he had to be persuaded by the shows sponsors, Proctor and Gamble, to put it on.

Also released in 1961

Harpers West One

Life in a fictional West End department store employing around 4,000 staff.

Also released in 1961

Room at the Bottom

From the corridors of power to the passages frequented by lower personnel. It's them against us. And both are guaranteed laughs

Also starring Deryck Guyler

A for Andromeda

Now recognised as a classic science fiction series, A for Andromeda was developed for television by writer and BBC producer John Elliot from an original storyline by Cambridge astronomer and novelist Fred Hoyle.

Also released in 1961