Teen author favoures '70s sitcoms over Gavin and Stacey

2:20pm Friday 13th August 2010

By Melanie Dakin

Abysmal is how 18-year-old author Tex Fisher describes cult TV show Gavin and Stacey and he goes on to lament the current state of British TV in general. Tex, who has just released his first book Man About the House and George & Mildred: The Definitive Companion, has his comedy loyalties firmly set within the 1970s.

“I don’t find current television that interesting or entertaining,” says Tex. “The list of stuff I hate is quite long. There is the odd chortle with shows such as Outnumbered or Green Green Grass, but to be honest, most nights I find myself sticking on a DVD of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em or Rising Damp.

“I was born a long time out of that wonderful golden age of television,” Tex explains. “So I developed a fondness for these old programmes.”

That ‘golden age’ saw popular series such as Man About the House and George & Mildred, attracting audiences of more than 20 million, so they transferred to Elstree Studios from Teddington Studios for their big screen debuts.

Elstree also played host to three film spin-offs for On The Buses using locations in and around Borehamwood.

Tex is now working on his next book, The Making of On The Buses, with the support of writers Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney.

“Elstree neglects the fact it’s got such a great screen heritage. There’s not much movie tourism in the area and it’s greatly missed.”

Some slight grammatical errors aside, Man About the House and George and Mildred: The Definitive Companion gives readers a thorough insight into these vintage shows. There are cast biographies and interviews, an exhaustive A-Z of every support artist, details of the films, opening titles, filming locations and even an amusing 1970s phrase dictionary. The best contribution comes from Brian Murphy, who played George who apparently asked Tex to post his questions in a letter and he replied by sending a cassette tape with his answers on. Of the chemistry between himself and Yootha Joyce, Brian made the memorable comment: “we seemed to just drop in like old sinners”.

The book also pays tribute to the magnificent writers of both shows, Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. Tex gives a thorough account of their careers and a welath of information about how the programmes came into being.

Tex was born in Hammersmith, attended Holyfield School in Kingston-Upon-Thames and now lives in Grays in Essex. Despite a pile of rejection letters, he has persevered with his writing and has met with interest in what many publishers deemed to be too much of a niche market. After on The Buses, he tells me he has his sights set on a companion guide to 'Allo 'Allo.

Tex will be signing copies with actor Brian Murphy (Man About the House and George & Mildred) at Waterstone’s in the Glade Shopping Centre, Bromley on September 11.