Bowler

1 9 7 3 (UK)
13 x 30 min episodes

Written subsequently but as a ‘prequel’ to The Fenn Street Gang (itself spun-off from Please, Sir!), this sitcom harked back to the earlier life of Pete Craven’s dodgy boss, Stanley Bowler (George Baker) – the wealthy wide-boy villain who has a finger in every profitable pie, and whose money can buy everything except the thing he wants most – class.

His unstoppable ambition to move in higher social circles sees him embarking on a series of ill-fated schemes – including opening his very own gentlemen’s club, conspicuously embracing high culture, and even trying to set himself up as a laird.

Sadly, while Bowler stumbles from one faux pas to another, the doors of society remain very firmly closed.

Renny Lister appeared as his estranged wife Doreen, Gretchen Franklin as his cockney mum and Fred Beauman as his valet, Reg.

Guest stars in the episodes included Wendy Richard, Valerie Leon, Bridget Armstrong, Julian Holloway, Freddie Jones, Aubrey Morris, Johnny Briggs, Kevork Malikyan and Alfie Curtis.

Stanley Bowler 
George Baker
Reg 
Fred Beauman
Doreen Bowler 
Renny Lister
Mum (Mrs Bowler)
Gretchen Franklin

Episodes

The Ides of March | Members Only | Come Round Any Old Time | They Never Come Back | Faithfully Yours | On the Fiddle | Monarch of the Glen | Thou Shalt Not Grass | Sweet and Sour Charity | R.I.P | The Family Tree | Bowler’s Analysis | Without Let or Hindrance