Set in Carlisle Crescent, a (fictitious) middle-class residential street in the London borough of Kensington, W11, this £700,000 series from Thames Television delivered 12 soapy hour-long afternoon plays about the people who lived in ‘the crezz’.
The focal point was the Communal Garden Committee, chaired by lecturer Charles Bronte (Joss Ackland). Although desperately keen to foster a sense of cohesion and create a Utopian “village” community, he was often forced to mediate in the disputes that arose among the Crescent’s residents.
Resentment, rivalry and jealousy were never far from the surface
Charles was patiently supported by his wife, Jackie (Elspet Gray), and his 17-year-old schoolgirl daughter, Esther (Briony McRoberts).
The Bronte family – occupying an entire huge house bought 15 years ago for a tenth of its present value in the days before it became fashionable again – was completed by Grandmother Bronte (Joan Hickson), who specialised in being extremely nice, and, at the same time, incredibly infuriating.
Ken Green (Peter Bowles) was a reasonably successful science fiction writer, and his wife, Sue (Carole Nimmons), put up remarkably well with his neurotic obsession that society was forever on the brink of some cataclysm (Ken wanted to plant the gardens with soy beans to make the family self-supporting).
She also put up with his “secret” affair with the neighbour’s wife, Emma Antrobus (Isla Blair) and his agonised seriousness.
Cyril Antrobus (Anthony Nicholls) was a highly successful barrister and a good deal older than Emma. Like everyone else in The Crezz, Cyril was aware of the affair but put up with it, although it tended to drive him to drink.
So did almost everything about having a young wife. Such as her re-decoration of their house in chrome and leather. To Cyril, life in Carlisle Crescent had become like living on the QE2.
Dr Balfour-Harvey (Hugh Burden) ran the slightly seedy, none too successful general practice at the end of the crescent.
Single, with hints of a mysterious past in the Far East, he was a terrible snob, rather excitable, and drank too much to be a good doctor.
A preposterous figure, he was forever shouting at people and chasing them out of the communal garden.
Middle-class trendies Brenda and Colin Pitman (Janet Key and Nicholas Ball) were recent arrivals in the Crezz. Colin ran his own advertising business while Brenda also worked in advertising, but made more money than he did.
Despite having a Spanish au pair – Consuela (Jiggy Bhore) – Colin clung ostentatiously to his working-class original, which the two children, Giles (Grant Bardsley) and Tracy (Charlotte Fitzgerald), found very dreary.
Lady Clarke (Aimee Delamain) was the widow of an admiral and occupied an entire house alone. Eccentric and in touch with the hereafter, she had a habit of standing on her lavatory and peering through the window with binoculars to check on everybody else’s business.
Hafez Aziz (Tariq Yun) managed the Lancia Hotel, which had been formed by knocking houses together. Surprisingly, Aziz had a close relationship with Lady Clarke, as they both shared an interest in the occult.
Major Rice (Gerald James) was, in fact, a major in the Corps of Commissionaires, but he was an expert on everything from judo to seashells and could talk to the limits of boredom on any subject. He lived on the less fashionable side of the gardens and was in perpetual opposition to the Brontes.
George Smith (Frank Mills) was a ticket collector on the Underground with an ambition to own a champion greyhound. His wife, Molly (Hilda Braid), worked in a supermarket. Their son Bing (Lee Walker) had an unblemished record of unemployment since leaving school and tinkered with motorbikes all day.
Daughter Jane (Linda Robson) was waiting to get married, but couldn’t find a place to live, so she resented the ‘gentrification’ of the neighbourhood.
The Smiths were defiantly “downstairs” in the upstairs-downstairs structure of the Crezz – as were the Macarthys. Irish immigrant stock with a growing family in a rented basement in the Crezz, Joe Macarthy (Alan Devlin) was a van driver with aggressive tendencies toward the “middle-class gits”, particularly when they took advantage of his wife, Bridget (Eileen O’Brien).
The family was completed with four young Macarthys (Bobby Collins, Natasha Green, Simon Welch and Joanne Annand), and a suitably severe Irish grandmother (Elizabeth Begley).
The flat they rented was rather shabby, mainly because the landlords were running it down in the hope of getting them out. Some residents felt that, as non-rate payers, they shouldn’t be entitled to Crescent facilities at all.
Denny (Paul Greenhaigh) and Terry (Roland Curram) were two homosexual residents living as husband and wife.
They ran an antiques business in the Portobello Road. The butch Terry aspired to sober respectability and didn’t approve of Denny’s camp flamboyance at all.
West Indian Clarence Henderson (Anton Phillips) ran a travel agency and was an extremely respectable resident, accepted and liked by the predominantly middle-class community.
Created by BAFTA-nominated writer and playwright Clive Exton, the lighthearted series analysed the personal lives of the residents and monitored their inter-relationships, with one household taking centre stage in each episode.
With further scripts by Willis Hall (Billy Liar, Budgie), William Trevor (Play for Today) and Alick Rowe, The Crezz featured an exceptional ensemble cast that included stand-out performances from Ackland, Peter Bowles and Nicholas Ball.
Unfortunately, after five weeks on the air, ITV shunted the series from its primetime schedule (8 pm) to a late-night slot.
Charles Bronte
Joss Ackland Jackie Bronte
Elspet Gray Esther Bronte
Briony McRoberts Ken Green
Peter Bowles Sue Green
Carole Nimmons Emma Antrobus
Isla Blair Cyril Antrobus
Anthony Nicholls Dr Balfour-Harvey
Hugh Burden Brenda Pitman
Janet Key Colin Pitman
Nicholas Ball Giles Pitman
Grant Bardsley Tracy Pitman
Charlotte Fitzgerald Consuela
Jiggy Bhore Lady Clarke
Aimée Delamain Hafez Aziz
Tariq Yun Major Rice
Gerald James George Smith
Frank Mills Molly Smith
Hilda Braid Bing Smith
Lee Walker Jane Smith
Linda Robson Joe Macarthy
Alan Devlin Bridget Macarthy
Eileen O’Brien Mrs Macarthy
Elizabeth Begley Denny
Paul Greenhaigh Terry
Roland Curram Clarence Henderson
Anton Phillips
Episodes
The Longest Day | The Spanish Succession | All Good Nature | Night Manoeuvres | Fire Down Below | Voices from the Past | Gone to the Dogs | Bent Doubles | The Battle of Harvey Street | A Flash of Inspiration | The Newcomers | Pitman’s Folly
Video
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Resentment, rivalry and jealousy were never far from the surface
So did almost everything about having a young wife. Such as her re-decoration of their house in chrome and leather. To Cyril, life in Carlisle Crescent had become like living on the QE2.
George Smith (Frank Mills) was a ticket collector on the Underground with an ambition to own a champion greyhound. His wife, Molly (Hilda Braid), worked in a supermarket. Their son Bing (Lee Walker) had an unblemished record of unemployment since leaving school and tinkered with motorbikes all day.
Denny (Paul Greenhaigh) and Terry (Roland Curram) were two homosexual residents living as husband and wife.
