Editing Up Pompeii!

{{Short description|British TV sitcom (1969–1991)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox television
| image = UpPompeii!.jpg
| caption = Opening title
| creator = [[Talbot Rothwell]]
| writer = Talbot Rothwell<br />[[Sid Colin]]
| starring = [[Frankie Howerd]]<br />[[Max Adrian]]<br />[[Elizabeth Larner]]<br />Kerry Gardner
| composer = [[Alan Braden]]
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_episodes = 16 (including ''Further Up Pompeii'')
| producer = [[Michael Mills (British producer)|Michael Mills]]<br />[[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]<br />[[Sydney Lotterby]]
| runtime = 30–45 minutes
| network = [[BBC One|BBC1]]
| first_aired2 = {{Start date|1969|09|17|df=y}}
| last_aired2 = {{End date|1970|10|26|df=y}}
}}
'''''Up Pompeii!''''' is a [[British television]] comedy series set in ancient [[Pompeii]] and broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring [[Frankie Howerd]]. The first series was written by [[Talbot Rothwell]], a scriptwriter for the [[Carry On (franchise)|''Carry On'' films]], and the second series by Rothwell and [[Sid Colin]]. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991 and a [[Up Pompeii (film)|film adaptation]] was released in 1971.

==Background==
''Up Pompeii!'' first appeared in the    ''[[Comedy Playhouse]]'' series, after [[Michael Mills (British producer)|Michael Mills]] and [[Tom Sloan (broadcaster)|Tom Sloan]] from BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment visited the ruins of [[Pompeii]]. Since Mills had recently seen Frankie Howerd in the stage musical ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' he casually remarked to Sloan that he half expected Howerd to suddenly appear round the corner. Sloan had replied 'Why not?', and the idea took root. Talbot Rothwell was invited to write a script and the designer Sally Hulke visited [[Pompeii]] with a sketch book and camera to ensure realism and authenticity.<ref>Radio Times, 25 March 1971</ref>

A slight variation of this is related by [[Bill Cotton]] who, in a June 2000 interview with author Graham McCann, said the idea originated with Mills, then the BBC's Head of Comedy, after seeing Frankie Howerd in that same play.<ref name="Cull">Nicholas J. Cull "Infamy! Infamy!" in Sandra R. Joshel (et al., eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3NCIYRRIVUC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA180 ''Imperial Projections: Ancient Rome in Modern Popular Culture''], Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005 [2001], pp.180–81</ref>

There were concerns in the Corporation's copyright department that the parallels between the musical and the comedy series might lead to litigation over possible plagiarism, but Rothwell told the BBC that he had seen neither the stage musical nor its film adaptation.<ref name="Cull" />

==Plot==
The series is set in ancient, pre-eruption [[Pompeii]], with the players bearing Latinised names suggestive of their character. Howerd is the slave Lurcio (pronounced ''Lurk-io''); his bumbling old master Ludicrus Sextus ([[Max Adrian]], then [[Wallas Eaton]]), the promiscuous wife is Ammonia ([[Elizabeth Larner]]), their daughter Erotica ([[Georgina Moon]]) and their virginal son Nausius (Kerry Gardner). Other regulars are Senna the [[Fortune-telling|Soothsayer]] ([[Jeanne Mockford]]) who constantly warns of impending death and destruction and, in series one, [[Plautus]] ([[Willie Rushton]]) a semi-godlike figure, making pithy comments from a location somewhere between the clouds and Mount Olympus. Guest stars included several actresses from the ''[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]'' film series, including [[Barbara Windsor]], [[Wendy Richard]] and [[Valerie Leon]].

The format was an exotic backdrop for an endless series of [[double entendres]] and risqué gags from Howerd, constantly breaking the fourth wall with [[aside]]s to the live studio audience which go unheard by the other characters (a device harking back to classical theatre). He also bemoans the quality of his script, complaining the other players have the best lines. Each episode starts with a [[prologue]] from Howerd – which is invariably interrupted by the doom-laden warnings of Senna, or the demands of his master or mistress.

Thirteen 30-minute episodes were made, in two series (March – May and September – October 1970). In between there was also a 13 minute ''Up Pompeii'' segment in the 1970 ''Royal Television Gala Performance''.<ref>https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1b0478c5a0ed483e9e1b00818432a557 ''Royal Television Gala Performance'' on BBC Genome</ref>

In addition, it had been preceded by a [[Television pilot|pilot]] episode (1969) as part of [[Comedy Playhouse]], and it was followed up with two later special episodes both called ''Further Up Pompeii'', one in 1975 and the other, written by Brian Leveson and Paul Minett, in 1991 (the former with, and the latter without exclamation mark). The latter sparked speculation that there could be a new series, but Howerd's death in 1992 put an end to any such prospect.

Apart from the change to the actor playing Ludicrus Sextus, there are some differences between the two series of ''Up Pompeii'', the second series using noticeably fewer sets than the previous. This may have been due to the second series being commissioned, filmed and broadcast within four months from the end of the first.

==Films and sequels==
The show inspired three films. The first was also called ''[[Up Pompeii (film)|Up Pompeii]]'' (1971) and added such characters as Bilius, Voluptua, Scrubba and Villanus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b98d038|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416031454/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b98d038|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2018|title=Up Pompeii (1971)|website=BFI}}</ref> It ended with the eruption of [[Mount Vesuvius]], which anachronistically (for AD79) included [[Nero]] (who added, "[[Great Fire of Rome|Wait till you see what I've up for Rome!]]"), and had a brief epilogue in which Howerd played a modern-day museum guide showing the petrified remains of the Pompeiian characters. It was produced by [[Ned Sherrin]] and retained only Frankie Howerd from the cast of the original series (Ludicrus, for example, was played by [[Michael Hordern]] in the film adaptation, Erotica by [[Madeline Smith]] and Nausius by [[Royce Mills]]). However, [[Aubrey Woods]] appeared in the TV series and the film, playing different roles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ff84bd7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003211148/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ff84bd7|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 October 2019|title=Aubrey Woods|website=BFI}}</ref>

The two sequels were ''[[Up the Chastity Belt]]'' (1971) and ''[[Up the Front]]'' (1972) which  transported Howerd's servile, cowardly character to [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] times (as Lurkalot) and [[World War I]] (as Private Lurk).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f722f91|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414094524/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f722f91|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 April 2018|title=Frankie Howerd|website=BFI}}</ref> A few years later, the BBC made one final special called ''Further up Pompeii!'' (with exclamation mark) in 1975.

The format of ''Up Pompeii'' inspired two later TV series, ''[[Whoops Baghdad]]'' (1973) and ''[[Then Churchill Said to Me]]'' (1982), both starring Howerd. The later series was shelved due to the outbreak of the [[Falklands War]] and – thought politically insensitive – the series was aired after Howerd's death in 1993.

A [[pilot episode]] for a US version of ''Up Pompeii'' for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], initially called ''The Pompeii Way'' but later renamed ''Up the toga'', still starring Frankie Howerd and co-starring [[Foster Brooks]], was recorded in 1971, but it did not proceed to a full series and was never shown.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10976254/ ''The Pompeii Way'' on the IMDb {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> Publicity shots on Getty Images show that it involved the "Olympia Theatre Company", suggesting it may have been based on episode 5 of series 1 ("The actors"). The existence of this pilot was undocumented for a long time, until the publicity photographs were noticed online. For a long time, it was unclear if the program still existed, until a [[16mm film]] copy was sold on eBay in late 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266019759870|title=Up the toga|website=ebay}}</ref>

The 1991 special ''Further up Pompeii'' (without exclamation mark) was made (by ITV/LWT) twenty years after the series had ended and by different writers. Lurcio is now a freedman with slaves of his own, but still has more than enough problems in his life. It could have served as a [[pilot episode]] for a revival of the series, but Howerd's death prevented that.

==Stage play==
In 1988, Howerd asked one of his writers, [[Miles Tredinnick]], to work on an updated stage version of ''Up Pompeii!'' for a proposed national UK tour, but the play was shelved when Howerd was offered a chance by [[Larry Gelbart]] to reprise his role as Pseudolus in ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in London's [[West End of London|West End]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/4kx/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum/production/bx6|title=Production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum &#124; Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> The play was eventually revised and updated and had its premiere in [[Chesterfield, Derbyshire|Chesterfield]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/lifestyle/damian_s_a_slave_to_his_art_1_2976746|title=Derbyshire Times review of ''Up Pompeii''}}</ref> in January 2011 and then embarked on a UK tour. Produced and directed by Bruce James, it starred Damian Williams, host of Sky One's ''[[Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old? (British game show)|Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?]]'', as Lurcio the slave. An acting edition of the play was published by Josef Weinberger Ltd in 2012.

==Audio revival==
In 2019, British production company [[Spiteful Puppet]] celebrated the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of the "Comedy Playhouse" pilot by releasing an audio adaptation based on the stage play by Miles Tredinnick.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/news/5482/up_pompeii_audio_show/|title=New audio version of Up Pompeii! stage show|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|date=9 September 2019|website=British Comedy Guide}}</ref> The script was adapted by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Daniel McGachey and Iain McLaughlin, with Eaton-Jones serving as producer and director of the live recording sessions at London's Shaw Theatre on 12 October. The two staged performances starred [[Madeline Smith]] as Ammonia, [[Frazer Hines]] as Ludicrus, Rosa Coduri as Erotica, Jack Lane as Nausius, Jilly Breeze as Senna, Ben Perkins as Corneus and Barnaby Eaton-Jones as Kretinus, with guest stars [[Cleo Rocos]] as Suspenda, [[Camille Coduri]] as Voluptua, and [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] as Trecherus. The lead role of Lurcio was played in the manner of Frankie Howerd by [[David Benson]], who had previously played Howerd on stage and radio. A double CD was released on 29 November.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/up-pompeii-an-audio-revival-at-the-shaw-theatre-review/|title=Up Pompeii - An Audio Revival at the Shaw Theatre &#124; Review|date=13 October 2019}}</ref>

==DVD release==
For many years, no complete home video release had been undertaken due to the nature of the [[videotape]] master materials. Like many television series of this era, most of the original videotapes were [[Lost television broadcast|wiped]].

In the late 1970s, missing episodes of ''Up Pompeii!'' were found in the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC) archive. Because of the differences in international broadcasting, these copies had been converted to the North American [[NTSC]] television standard, and so one chunk of the series remained in its native PAL format, but the majority were found in a poorly-converted (dating long before digital conversion methods) NTSC state.<ref>The lostshows.com website [http://lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=59daa675-704c-4fad-8739-ca26599302eb lists] 12 of the 17 surviving in the North American standard.</ref> The picture quality of some of the Canadian finds was not high, and so their marketability was severely limited. However, six episodes were released on [[VHS]] in 1991 by BBC Video. These tapes were re-released by Second Sight in 1999, with a small music edit made to the episode featuring Jamus Bondus.

In 2004–05, through the success of a group of BBC employees' restoration work on similar NTSC-only episodes of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the BBC decided to convert all their NTSC-only productions (as reclaimed from various international stations) back to their original PAL format using a new computer-controlled process, [[Reverse Standards Conversion]]. A PAL-like, higher-quality image resulted in a more stable picture. The newly-restored masters made their debut on BBC FOUR in August 2006, and the BBC's DVD distribution arm [[2entertain]] released a box-set of Series 1 and 2 - including the pilot episode - and the 1975 special as well as a brand new ''Frankie Howerd Collection'' set in mid-September.

“The Frankie Howerd Collection” set includes not only both original series of ''Up Pompeii!'', but also the 1975 [[BBC]] special ''Further Up Pompeii!'' (not to be confused with the 1991 [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] special ''Further Up Pompeii''), “The Best of Frankie Howerd” DVD, and another Howerd series along a similar vein, ''[[Then Churchill Said to Me]]''.

==List of episodes==
===Pilot===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Episode Title
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Original Channel
!style="background:99CCFF" width="100"|Duration
!style="background:99CCFF" width="170"|Airdate
|-
|''[[Comedy Playhouse]]'': "Up Pompeii!"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|17 September 1969
|}

===Series 1===
{{Main|Up Pompeii! series 1}}
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Episode Title
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Original Channel
!style="background:99CCFF" width="100"|Duration
!style="background:99CCFF" width="170"|Airdate
|-
|"Vestal Virgins"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|30 March 1970
|-
|"The Ides of March"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|6 April 1970
|-
|"The Senator and the Asp"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|13 April 1970
|-
|"Britannicus"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|20 April 1970
|-
|"The Actors"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|27 April 1970
|-
|"Spartacus"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|4 May 1970
|-
|"The Love Potion"
|BBC1
|35 minutes
|11 May 1970
|}

===Series 2===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Episode Title
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Original Channel
!style="background:99CCFF" width="100"|Duration
!style="background:99CCFF" width="170"|Airdate
|-
|"The Legacy"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|14 September 1970
|-
|"Roman Holiday"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|21 September 1970
|-
|"Jamus Bondus"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|28 September 1970
|-
|"The Peace Treaty"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|12 October 1970
|-
|"Nymphia"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|19 October 1970
|-
|"Exodus"
|BBC1
|30 minutes
|26 October 1970
|}

===Specials===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Episode Title
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Original Channel
!style="background:99CCFF" width="100"|Duration
!style="background:99CCFF" width="170"|Airdate
|-
|''Royal Television Gala Performance'' segment
|BBC
|13 minutes
|24 May 1970
|-
|''Further Up Pompeii!''
|BBC
|45 minutes
|31 March 1975
|-
|''Further Up Pompeii''
|[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]/[[LWT]]
|42 minutes
|14 December 1991
|-
|''Up the toga (AKA The Pompeii Way)''
|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (USA)
|25 minutes
|(recorded 1971)
|}

===Film===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Title
!style="background:99CCFF" width="220"|Studio/<br />distributor
!style="background:99CCFF" width="100"|Duration
!style="background:99CCFF" width="170"|Release
|-
|''[[Up Pompeii (film)|Up Pompeii]]''
|[[Anglo-EMI]]
|90 minutes
|1971
|}

==See also==
* ''[[Up the Chastity Belt]]'', a medieval spin-off film
* ''[[Up the Front]]'', a World War I spin-off film
* [[wiktionary:titter|Titter]]
* [[List of films based on British sitcoms]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0125650}}
* {{Screenonline TV title|783908}}
* {{British Comedy Guide|tv|up_pompeii}}
* [http://www.milestredinnick.co.uk/page47.html ''Nearly Up Pompeii!'' by Miles Tredinnick]
* [http://www.milestredinnick.co.uk/page97.html A list of ''Up Pompeii'' stage productions]

[[Category:1969 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1991 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1960s British sitcoms]]
[[Category:1970s British sitcoms]]
[[Category:1990s British sitcoms]]
[[Category:BBC television sitcoms]]
[[Category:Pompeii in popular culture]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:ITV sitcoms]]
[[Category:London Weekend Television shows]]
[[Category:Television series by ITV Studios]]
[[Category:Television shows adapted into films]]
[[Category:Television shows adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Television dramas set in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Television series set in the Roman Empire]]