Seaside shenanigans set in the fictional coastal resort of Cocklesea, a faded holiday destination of yesteryear.
As a child, Arthur Dumpton (James Grout) spent many happy school holidays there. Now, years later, he returns, fat with redundancy money, to restore the resort to what he remembers as its former glory.
Arthur seeks out his old boyhood friend Jacques du Bois (Norman Rodway), now an unsuccessful landscape painter married to Gloria (Joan Sims), Arthur’s boyhood sweetheart and the landlady of the Sunnysides Guest House.
He tries to enlist their support for his grandiose schemes but, although fond of him, they – in common with most of the residents of Cocklesea – are greedy and duplicitous. The result is that amiable but gullible Arthur finds himself fleeced by friends and strangers alike.
Cockles was a neat idea graced with strong acting talent, especially the underrated James Grout, who seems incapable of a poor performance.
Writer Douglas Livingstone developed the characters of Arthur and Gloria from Born And Bred which had featured Grout as a similarly good-natured salesman and Sims as a similarly strident pub owner.
Arthur Dumpton James Grout
Jacques du Bois
Norman Rodway
Gloria du Bois
Joan Sims
Emma
Elizabeth Edmonds
Madame Rosa
Fanny Carby
Mabel Gutteridge
Jane Lowe
Related Posts
Laverne and Shirley with The Fonz 1 9 8 2 (USA) 8 x 30 minute episodes Hanna Barbera produced this bizarre combination of two animated series…
Leave It To Charlie 1 9 7 8 - 1 9 8 0 (UK) 28 x 25 minute episodes David Roper starred in this comedy…
Dial RIX 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 6 3 (UK) 8 x 50 minute episodes This series of 50-minute farces by…
Amanda's 1 9 8 3 (USA) 12 x 30 minute episodes This ABC sitcom was an obvious (though unacknowledged) US adaptation of…
Holiday Lodge 1 9 6 1 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes Holiday Lodge was the 1961 summer replacement for The Jack Benny…
Our House 1 9 6 0 - 1 9 6 2 (UK) 13 x 55 minute episodes 26 x 45 minute episodes Our…
Born and Bred 1 9 7 8 (UK) 1 9 8 0 (UK) 12 x 60 min episodes The Tonsleys and the Benges - two…
Carry on Laughing! 1 9 7 5 (UK) 13 x 30 minute episodes Not to be confused with the series of compilations from the…
Arthur seeks out his old boyhood friend Jacques du Bois (Norman Rodway), now an unsuccessful landscape painter married to Gloria (Joan Sims), Arthur’s boyhood sweetheart and the landlady of the Sunnysides Guest House.
