Northern comedians Cannon and Ball (arguably the most popular comedy duo in the country at the time) join the police force for their first feature film.
The duo are the local bobbies in the predictably named village, Little Botham, in the county of Dorminster. The village has virtually no crime, thanks to the money-making efforts of Sergeant Tommy Cannon and Constable Bobby Ball.
The police station has an interconnecting door to Bobby’s supermarket and Tommy’s betting shop, conveniently letting them serve in the shop and take bets while on duty.
But the peace is shattered when the county’s Chief Constable (Eric Sykes) discovers their 10-year undetected crime record and issues a closure notice on the tiny substation.
Worried, Cannon and Ball plan a crime they can solve to save their jobs. They decide to steal valuable paintings and conveniently recover them from a smuggler’s cave.
With the help of the local cockney lord of the manor (Roy Kinnear) and a crafty coastguard (Jon Pertwee), the boys in blue set up their crime. But their continued efforts to save the station – and their jobs – get them involved with some real art thieves and a UFO.
The film is a loose remake of Will Hay’s Ask A Policeman (1939).
Critics hated it, but fans loved it.
Bobby Ball died from COVID-19 at the Victoria Hospital in Blackpool on 28 October 2020, aged 76.
PC Bobby Ball
Bobby Ball Sergeant Tommy Cannon
Tommy Cannon Kim
Suzanne Danielle Mr Lloyd
Roy Kinnear Chief Constable Cranshaw
Eric Sykes Chief Superintendent
Jack Douglas Chief Superintendent’s Driver
Ken Barker John Hilling
Edward Judd Hilling’s Secretary
Su Douglas Coastguard
Jon Pertwee Farmer
Arthur English Herdsman
Billy Burden Estate Agent
Nigel Lambert Fred the Postman
Eric Francis Customs Officers
Richard Borthwick
John D. Collins Police Radio Operator
Laurence Harrington High Street Policeman
Richard Hunter Heavy Set Man
Peter Rutherford WPC Radio Operator
Rosemary Williams Fisherman
Tommy Wright
Director
Val Guest
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The police station has an interconnecting door to Bobby’s supermarket and Tommy’s betting shop, conveniently letting them serve in the shop and take bets while on duty.
