This BBC1 children’s comedy series – written by Lawrie Kinsley and Michael Craig – starred Scottish comedy double-act, cousins Mike Hope and Albie Keen.
The pair had inherited a vast Victorian mansion complete with faithful old retainer, Crumble the Butler (Peter Goodwright) and Mrs Grapple (Ruth Kettlewell) the martinet cook and housekeeper.
Mike and Albie reappeared in Hope and Keen’s Crazy Bus (1972). This time, they were following a treasure map they found in the attic of the Crazy House and searching the country for their Uncle Ebenezer’s fortune – in a Glasgow Corporation double-decker bus.
The bus’s ex-Clippie, Jessie McPherson (Scottish comedienne Una McLean), had taken up immovable residence on the top deck of the bus, so wherever they went, they had to take her with them. Their quest took in locations such as Brighton, Windsor, Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens and Loch Ness.
The duo returned once more with a third BBC children’s series – The Hope and Keen Scene – in 1974.
Mike
Mike Hope Albie
Albie Keen Crumble
Peter Goodwright Mrs Grapple
Ruth Kettlewell The Shadow
David Hatton Jessie McPherson
Una McLean
