Faces of Jim

1 9 6 1 – 1 9 6 3 (UK)
7 x 30 minute episodes (Seven Faces of Jim)
6 x 30 minute episodes (Six More Faces of Jim)
6 x 30 minute episodes (More Faces of Jim)

Faces of Jim was a black & white BBC comedy television series starring Jimmy Edwards with each episode being an individual half-hour sitcom.

The first series aired in 1961 as The Seven Faces of Jim, the second (1962) as Six More Faces of Jim and the third series (1963) as More Faces of Jim.

In the first episode, ‘The Face of Devotion’, tender-hearted and hard-working Jim was the owner of a small garage who was newly married to a flighty, fun-loving girl called Tess (June Whitfield). Jim had to make a success of the marriage or lose Tess to suave ballroom dancer, Trent Nugent (Alfred Marks).

Other episodes featured Jim as an eminent astro-physicist dealing with an unidentified object from outer space; a shopkeeper’s son determined to find room at the top; a saintly village doctor with a guilty secret lurking in his past; the possessive Mr Glumm (marking the TV debut of the popular radio family, the Glumms); a hen-pecked grocer with the ability to read minds; Doc Jamieson, a veteran of the Far East who takes on a Javanese witch doctor called Umaala (played by Ronnie Barker); a retired team merchant who is bedevilled by six unmarried daughters; a famous war-time Commando who comes out of retirement for one final, glorious exploit; a mysterious upper-class bigamist (with three wives and 12 children) being treated for amnesia by an eminent Harley Street psychiatrist (Ronnie Barker again); a worried father whose young son drinks a hormone mixture intended for dad’s potted plant and turns into a fully grown man; a Roman builder called Hadrian who is constructing his eponymous wall despite hostile opposition from the Saxons led by Rowena (June Whitfield); a professional wrestler; a former MI5 agent who discovers Viscount Montgomery took personal possession of the German surrender document at the end of WWII; and a Governor-General in ‘A Matter of Empire’.

All episodes were written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.

Episodes

Series 1: The Face of Devotion | The Face of Genius | The Face of Power | The Face of Dedication | The Face of Duty | The Face of Guilt | The Face of Enthusiasm
Series 2: The Face of Fatherhood | The Face of Retribution | The Face of Wisdom | The Face of Perseverance | The Face of Loyalty | The Face of Tradition
Series 3: A Matter of Amnesia | A Matter of Growing Up | A Matter of Spreadeagling | A Matter of Upbringing | A Matter of Espionage | A Matter of Empire

Jimmy Edwards
June Whitfield
Ronnie Barker
Richard Briers
Alister Smart
Amanda Barrie
John Grieve
Diane Elliott
Dick Emery
Toke Townley
Paul Eddington
Richard Waring
Pamela Conway
Melvyn Hayes
Prunella Scales

Video