Kingswood Country
Series title card
GenreSitcom
Created by
Written by
  • Gary Reilly
  • Tony Sattler
  • Doug Edwards
  • Ian Heydon
Directed byKevin Burston
Starring
ComposerMike Perjanik
Country of originAustralia
No. of series6
No. of episodes89
Production
Producers
  • Gary Reilly
  • Tony Sattler
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyRS Productions
Original release
NetworkSeven Network
Release30 January 1980 (1980-01-30) –
1 September 1984 (1984-09-01)
Related
Bullpitt!
The Best of Kingswood Country DVD cover (Volume 1)

Kingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that was broadcast on the Seven Network from 1980 to 1984. It was created by Gary Reilly and Tony Sattler and produced by their production company, RS Productions. The series starred Ross Higgins, Judi Farr, Peter Fisher, Laurel McGowan and Lex Marinos, and was a spinoff from a series of sketches on the comedy sketch series The Naked Vicar Show.

The series won Logie Awards for Best Comedy in 1981 and 1982. A sequel series, titled Bullpitt!, was broadcast from 1997 to 1998, although it proved less successful.[1]

Premise

The series is a family sitcom, which focuses on the main character, Edward Melba "Ted" Bullpitt (Ross Higgins), a white Australian, conservative, Holden Kingswood-loving putty factory worker and WWII veteran and his interactions with his more progressive wife and two adult children.

He lives for three things: his beloved chair in front of the TV, his unsuccessful racing greyhounds Repco Lad and Gay Akubra and his Holden Kingswood car (late in the show's run Ted traded-in the Kingswood, which had gone out of production around the time the series began, for Holden's replacement mid-range family car, the Commodore). His long-suffering wife, the vague and dithering Thelma (Judi Farr), was cast as a traditional housewife trapped by Ted's conservative family views, but she often got her own back on Ted (this often included using old Myer receipts she had hidden in a drawer to fool Ted into thinking she paid less for a new item, often clothes, than she really had).

Ted's Kingswood is never shown on any episode.

Humour was generated by the conflict of Ted's traditional views and his children's progressive nature. Ted's son, Craig (Peter Fisher), is a sexually rampant medical student. Ted's daughter, Greta (Laurel McGowan), is a feminist, and is married to Bruno (Lex Marinos), the son of Italian immigrants, to whom Ted objects (often referring to him as a "bloody wog" and an "Al Grassby Groupie"). Other politically incorrect humour included Ted's references to Neville, the concrete Aboriginal garden statue. This was named after Australia's first Aboriginal Senator, Neville Bonner, who enjoyed the series so much he visited the show's recording.

At other times, humour was based on the more traditional comedic methods of poorly thought-out schemes of Ted's (usually get-rich-quick); class differences (between the suburban Bullpitts and Ted's 'Datsun dealer brother Bob and his upwardly-mobile wife Merle) and simple misunderstandings leading to a chain of humorous events.

Cast and characters

Main characters

  • Ross Higgins as Edward "Ted" Melba Bullpitt, a middle-class putty factory worker with a love for his Holden Kingswood (later his Holden Commodore). Ted is intolerant of Catholics. During the war, he was part of a kitchen unit captured by the Italians, which explains his dislike for Bruno Bertolucci, an Italian man who has married his daughter, Greta. He enjoys reading the comic Mandrake, sitting in front of the television with the paper or a beer, and tending to his greyhounds (Gay Akubra and Repco Lad). Ted is known as "Big Bum Bullpitt" to the students and nuns at the local Catholic school St Joseph's. He is afraid of the nuns, although he likes Sister Maria, because she also likes beer. According to Ted, he is a descendant of Lord Stokely Bullpitt of Kingswood who died in 1786 as he fell from his horse during a nun hunt. His only son was illegitimate so therefore could not claim his father's title. That son married an Italian kitchen maid named Maria Bertalucci – an ancestor of Bruno. The title was first bestowed by Henry VIII to a man whom he gave a large section of his forest or the King's Wood, hence the title.
  • Judi Farr as Thelma "Thel" Bullpitt, Ted's wife, mother of Craig and Greta. She often answers the telephone with catchphrases in the hope of winning a prize from TV Week or whatever competition is running on the radio. Thelma keeps a drawer full of old receipts to show Ted after buying expensive items from Myer (she holds her fingers over the date and waves the receipt at him, showing a small purchase). Thelma gives very specific advice on how to perform everyday chores – for example, making coffee or tea, "You'll have to add hot water dear, otherwise it'll be a bit dry". In the spin-off, Bullpitt, it is revealed she divorced Ted, married an Italian and lives in Italy.
  • Peter Fisher as Craig Bullpitt, Ted's only son. He is a medical student and later in the series marries his girlfriend Wendy.
  • Laurel McGowan as Greta Bertolucci, née Bullpitt, Ted's only daughter who is married to Bruno Bertolucci.
  • Lex Marinos as Bruno Bertolucci, Ted's son-in-law, who he refers to as "the wog", and is married to Greta. He drives a purple Chrysler Valiant, which is often a sore point with the Holden-loving Ted. Bruno takes great delight in poking fun at Ted and calling him "Grumblebum" or "Teddles", but affectionately calls Thelma "Mrs B" and sympathises with her for having to put up with Ted.
  • Colin McEwan as Bob Bullpitt, Ted's brother. Bob, is a used car salesman, often referred to as a "bloody Datsun dealer" by Ted. He has a love-hate relationship with both Ted and his wife Merle and insults are often traded, though he does have a soft spot for Thelma. His trademark greeting is, "Hey-dee ho everybody, here comes the party!"
  • Maggie Dence as Merle Bullpitt, Ted's upwardly mobile sister-in-law, married to his brother Bob. Merle seems to dislike both Bob and Ted and often insults them both, although she gets on well with her sister-in-law, despite Thelma's sometimes vague nature.
  • Shelia Kennelly as Rosa Bertolucci. After Ted's wife Thelma leaves, Bertolucci comes to look after hapless Ted. She describes herself as a "happy-go-lucky wog" and is fond of cooking.

Guests

Catchphrases

The series spawned several catchphrases, including:

  • "Don't 'Dad' me boy/girl, I'm your father!". "Don't 'Mum and Dad' us boy/girl, we're your parents" was also used.
  • "Pickle me grandmother!"
  • [when surprised from behind] "Strewth! Give a man a heart attack!"
  • "Strike me Catholic!"
  • [when someone asks to drink his beer] "Put the money on the fridge!". Sometimes changed to "Put the money on the fridge, wog!" when Bruno asked Ted for a beer.
  • "Somebody/someone should blow [current object of annoyance] up!" For example, "Someone should blow those nuns up!"
  • "The Kingswood! You're not taking the Kingswood!..." [insert far-fetched excuse]. For example, "I've just ducoed the tyres" or "I've just glad-wrapped the aerial!" or "I've just Mr Sheened the number-plate!"
  • "When I was a boy... " [insert long-winded, far-fetched story] Always responded to with "Yeah, yeah sure Ted/Dad."
  • "Hate, hate, vomit!"
  • [when asked how his day went] "Bloody shambles, of course!"
  • [the universal insult for a miserable, miserly old man] "Grumblebum!"
  • [in response to someone mishearing his surname] "No, it's Bullpitt. Yes, everyone says that." Also said often by Thelma when talking on the phone.
  • "Where's the bloody Kingswood?"
  • "Attila the Nun"
  • "Bloody wogs!"
  • "Bloody woman!"
  • "Bloody nuns!"
  • "Blow 'em all up!"
  • "Watch it, mate!"
  • "No wonder the country's in a mess"
  • "I win, you lose, and I'm the king of the castle!"
  • "Never marry a woman, mate"
  • "Where's my paper?"

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired
Season premiere Season finale
1 13 30 January 1980 11 June 1980
2 13 18 June 1980 24 September 1980
3 20 18 June 1981 15 October 1981
4 23 27 May 1982 26 April 1984
5 10 1984 1984
6 10 7 July 1984 13 September 1984

Home media releases

A "best of" DVD was released in 2003 and contained thirteen out of the 89 episodes, as well as the original sketch from The Naked Vicar Show which spawned the series. A second "best of", featuring an additional thirteen episodes, was released in 2006. In September 2008, a third "best of" set was released,[2] while on 12 May 2010, a fourth "best of" set was released, with another thirteen episodes. Thus, 52 out of the 89 episodes were available on DVD commercially.

On 4 December 2019, The Complete Series collection was released as an 11-disc DVD boxset, distributed from Via Vision Entertainment

Title Discs Episodes Special Features Release (Region 4) Distributor
The Best of Kingswood Country 3 Series 1: Episodes 1, 8, 10, 11

Series 2: Episodes 14, 16, 19

Series 3: Episodes 16, 31

Series 4: Episodes 7, 8, 15, 16

 1 December 2003 Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country: Volume Two 3 Series 1: Episodes 12, 13

Series 2: Episode 2

Series 3: Episodes 4, 10, 14, 19

Series 4: Episodes 2, 14

Series 5: Episodes 2, 8

Series 6: Episodes 1, 10

 4 September 2006 Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country: Volume Three 3 13 30 August 2008 Shock Entertainment
Best of Kingswood Country: Volume 4 3 13 12 May 2010 Shock Entertainment
Best of Kingswood Country: Collection 12 52 (contains Volumes 1-4) 13 October 2010 Shock Entertainment
Kingswood Country: The Complete Series 11 All episodes 4 December 2019 Via Vision Entertainment

Sequel

A spinoff to the series was the short-lived, much panned Bullpitt! in 1997. Of the original show's cast, only Ross Higgins had a regular role. Elaine Lee co-starred. A Best of Set was released in September 2008.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kingswood Country (Comedy), Ross Higgins, Peter Fisher, Laurel McGowan, 7 Network, RS Productions, 29 January 1980, retrieved 19 November 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ "Kingswood Country – The Best Of Kingswood Country: Vol. 2 (3 Disc Box Set) @ EzyDVD". Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
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