Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle is a British television sitcom, which aired from 1983 to 1985, and was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network.[1] Starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim London, the show spawned a sequel, Home James!, which was also made by Thames. Home James ran from 1987 to 1990.
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy |
Written by | Colin Bostock-Smith Jim Eldridge Tony Hoare Spike Mullins |
Directed by | Anthony Parker |
Starring | Jim Davidson John Bardon Sue Nicholls Nicholas Day Brian Hall Brian Capron Anita Dobson Sara Corper Rosalind Knight |
Theme music composer | Keith Emerson |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 22 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Anthony Parker |
Running time | 30 mins |
Production company(s) | Thames Television |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Original release | 30 November 1983 – 7 November 1985 |
Plot
Jim London is a young lovable rogue who becomes a man of property when a relative dies, leaving him a run-down Victorian property at 17 Railway Terrace in the Elephant and Castle area of south London. He gets into various problems with the police and spends most of his time getting drunk and chasing women.
Cast
Character | Actor |
---|---|
Jim London | Jim Davidson |
Ernie "Dad" London | John Bardon |
Wanda Pickles | Sue Nicholls |
Arnold Moggs | Nicholas Day |
Brian | Brian Hall |
Tosh Carey | Brian Capron |
Lois Tight | Anita Dobson |
Vera Spiggot | Sara Corper |
Jim's Mum | Rosalind Knight |
Episodes
22 episodes were aired over 3 series.
Production
The sitcom's theme tune was composed by Keith Emerson. The full length version can be heard on two of his albums, Hammer It Out and Off the Shelf.
DVD releases
Series one was released on DVD in September 2007. The complete series was released on 5 May 2008 and was later re-released by Network on 3 October 2016.
References
- "Up The Elephant And Round The Castle". British Classic Comedy. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.