Editing Dandy Nichols (section)

== ''Till Death Us Do Part'' ==
Dandy Nichols's best-known role was Else Garnett in the landmark series ''Till Death Us Do Part'', where she played the long-suffering wife of the character [[Alf Garnett]] who was a parody of a working class [[Tory]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/dandy-nichols-p52558|title=Dandy Nichols - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> The part was originally played in the pilot episode for the series (as part of the BBC's ''[[Comedy Playhouse]]'') by future ''[[EastEnders]]'' actress [[Gretchen Franklin]].<ref name=screenonline>{{cite web | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874193/ | title=Nichols, Dandy (1907-1986) |  website=Screenonline.org.uk | access-date=26 September 2012}}</ref> However, when it was commissioned as a series, Franklin was unable to break her contract for a [[West End theatre|West End]] play and Nichols was cast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1493873/Gretchen-Franklin.html|title=Gretchen Franklin|date=12 July 2005|website=Telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

Nichols's role seemed, at first, almost negligible: spending the best part of one early episode reading the telephone book as Alf embarked on another of his tirades. However, Else proved to be a perfect foil for Alf, and could put him down effortlessly with a withering look or cutting remark.<ref name=screenonline/> Perhaps her finest hour – in an episode shown by the BBC in tribute to Dandy in 1986 – was when, in 1974, Else took a leaf out of Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]'s book and went on a "three-day week", forcing Alf to fend for and feed himself on her days off.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b849bf260|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812182804/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b849bf260|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 August 2021|title=Else's Three Day Week (1974)|website=Bfi.org.uk|access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>

In the original scripts, Alf was to refer to his wife as a "silly cow". This was firmly vetoed by BBC Head of Comedy [[Frank Muir]], who thought this was inappropriate. Nichols said that it was "a lot of silly fuss about a silly moo" which was overheard by script writer [[Johnny Speight]] and became the series' most enduring catchphrase.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGNADwAAQBAJ&q=dandy+nichols+silly+moo&pg=PT308|title=1001 TV Series: You Must Watch Before You Die|first=Paul|last=Condon|date=15 February 2018|publisher=Octopus|isbn=9781788400466}}</ref>