The late Charles Villiers was a charmer. He charmed everyone: his bookmaker, his wine merchant, his bank manager, and a vast number of other ladies apart from his own wife.
He died in the most distressing circumstances – drowned at sea off Cape Finisterre, having borrowed his friend Lord Carroway’s yacht for a weekend trip to Weymouth.
As his widow, Jacqueline Villiers (Moira Lister), better known as Jacqui, very rightly remarked during the reading of his will: (a) Charles never had any sense of direction; and (b) it wasn’t borrowing Lord Carroway’s yacht that she objected to, it was borrowing Lady Carroway as a deck hand.
She then sat back to listen to the contents of her late – if not lamented – husband’s Last Will and Testament.
And the contents, which gave her rather a shock, proved that even after departing this life, Charles continued to run true to form. He had left her precisely £22,000 in debts.
Jacqui has a teenage daughter at school (Sally Thomsett), and is determined to keep her there.
She is equally determined to pay off the debts, and she has a small coterie of devoted bridge-playing friends who are resolved to help her do so – and, if humanly possible, find a successor to Charles.
But first, our very merry widow must find a job, and for the first seven episodes, we saw her in occupational hazards ranging from opening an antique shop, running a do-it-yourself meals-on-wheels concern called ‘Rentameal’, acting as companion to a quite batty old dowager in the South of France, acting in a more than usually avant-garde play, and flogging dud china in Petticoat Lane.
Debuting on Monday 27 November 1967, this BBC comedy series (written by Alan Melville) culminated with Jacqui winning the Pools, which rescued her from her period of unaccustomed poverty.
The very merry widow returned for a second series in September 1968, with Jacqui learning that her investments had all just fallen apart at the seams and she was practically broke once more.
This time, she tried her hand at fashion modelling, veterinary receptionist work, and taking a second (French) lodger (Georges Lambert) into her home at Charleston Mews.
The character of Jacqui Villiers returned in May 1969 for another six episodes, this time entitled The Very Merry Widow and How – The ‘How’ was a consumer research magazine where Jacqui now worked as a researcher, testing everything from prams to transport cafes and London Transport to health farms.
Guests included Beryl Reid, Roland Culver, Hugh Paddick, Richard Briers, Terry Scott, Dandy Nichols, Gretchen Franklin, Norman Bird, Peter Bayliss, Arnold Ridley, Michael Robbins, and Arthur Mullard.
Jacqui Villiers
Moira Lister Mrs Frayle
Molly Urquhart Freddie Phillipson/Mr Wright
Donald Hewlett Mavis Anstruther
Diana King Francois
Georges Lambert Jennifer Villiers
Sally Thomsett Millicent Dickson/Frobisher
Elizabeth Allan Lady Phillipson
Cicely Courtneidge
Episodes
With the Worst Will in the World | Square Meals at Round Tables | The Thing’s the Play | Creepy Time Down South | Words, Words, Words | Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen | Treble Chance Would Be a Fine Thing || Mink to Me Only | Green-eyed Monster Trouble | Anything Legal Considered | Animal Crackers in My Group | Under Cover, If Wet | Judgement in Paris || How About It? | How Far Can You Go? | How Are You Feeling? | How About the Patter of Tiny Feet? | How to Lose Friends and Not Influence People | How About Going Into Transports of Delight?
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And the contents, which gave her rather a shock, proved that even after departing this life, Charles continued to run true to form. He had left her precisely £22,000 in debts.
