Foggy Dewhurst - We Salute You! (1976 - 1997)

The late Brian Wilde first played Foggy in, "Last of the Summer Wine" back in 1976 when his character was brought in to replace Cyril Blamire (Michael Bates)....
Foggy was a former soldier who liked to boast of his military exploits in Burma during the Second World War (in fact, he was a sign-writer).........

Although Foggy considered himself very regimental and heroic, when confronted Foggy was generally meek and incompetent. Like the previous third man- and all subsequent third men- he considered himself the leader of the trio, and frequently took charge of Compo and Clegg. Foggy Dewhurst was infamous for trying to figure out a solution to the trio's everyday problems, only to make them much worse. In earlier years Foggy wore a scarf with regimental colours on it. When Wilde left the series in 1985 to star in his own sitcom as well as to pursue other TV work, it was explained that Foggy had moved to Bridlington to take over his family's egg-painting business.

Returning in 1990 following the impromptu departure of Michael Aldridge, he claimed he had tired of a life of egg painting, and wanted to return to his old life. In 1997, when Wilde's illness prevented him from taking part in the series, he was written out in the Special, "There Goes the Groom", (in which the character was only seen in brief, non-face shots, played by a double; this episode also introduced his successor, Truly).

An unconscious, hung-over Foggy was swept off to Blackpool by the local postmistress. There he inadvertently proposed to her in a verbal slip-up over the wedding rings of which he had taken charge "for safe keeping" (out of the dubious care of Best Man, Barry).

But he must have at least liked her, as he was never heard from again after that. Foggy's real first name was revealed to be Walter (with the middle initial "C"); "Foggy" is a nickname, derived from the traditional song "The Foggy Foggy Dew", aided perhaps by the fact that, in his earlier episodes, he would occasionally "blank out" everything around him to help himself to concentrate, particularly when he was thinking up new ideas or finding solutions to problems. This is particularly noticeable in the episode "The Man from Oswestry."

Tv Times - The Rat Catchers (1967)

This classic cover from TV Times dates back to 1967 and on the cover is the late actor Gerald Flood who at the time was starring in the ITV intelligence series, "The Rat Catchers....."
The Rat Catchers was a 1960s British television series about a top secret British Intelligence Unit who receive orders from the Prime Minister and without questions battles enemy spies, saboteurs, and other criminals in order to protect the security of Great Britain and the Western Alliance. The show centred around three major characters: Peregrine Pascale Smith (portrayed by Gerald Flood), the Oxford University-educated managing director with 12 years experience under his belt, Brigadier H. St. J. Davidson (portrayed by Philip Stone), the emotionless analytical brains behind the group, and newly-recruited Richard William Hurst (portrayed by Glyn Owen), formerly a superintendent at Scotland Yard who though he was said to have gone by the book in the police force, seems to have some problems with authority now. Part of the problem is that the Brigadier refuses to tell him more than the minimum that he needs to know about the organisation. Officially he works for Smith's company: Transworld Electronics and in episode 3, he is not sure whether Smith or the Brigadier is his boss.

The organisation was based at Whitehall but officially didn't exist, being denied at the highest level as they worked with the greatest secrecy. The show began with the arrival of Hurst who is out of step with the other two. Raymond Francis was originally picked for the Hurst role but changed his mind at the last minute. Many of the stories were continued, sometimes with cliff-hanger endings.

The show aired from February 2, 1966 to April 27, 1966 and December 15, 1966 to March 9, 1967 and comprised 25 60-minute episodes. It was a Rediffusion TV Network Production. Producer Cyril Coke. It was in the Monday 8 pm slot. Theme music composed and arranged by Johnny Pearson. Directed by James Ormerod and produced by Cyril Coke.

Jerry Lewis is The Delicate Delinquent (1957)

The Delicate Delinquent was a 1957 American black-and-white film which starred Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1956 and released on June 6, 1957 by Paramount Pictures and is notable as the first film that Lewis made without his longtime partner Dean Martin.

• The Delicate Delinquent was filmed from September 5-October 12, 1956 and is based upon a script entitled Damon and Pythias. Darren McGavin stepped in to fill the role of a police officer that was originally written for Martin. Although the credits show a copyright date of 1956, the film was released the following year, a common practice in Hollywood.
• Lewis, who also produced the film, played a 'juvenile', although he was 30 years old at the time.
• The romantic interest in the film was provided mainly by actress Martha Hyer, who married Hal Wallis in 1966, the producer of the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis films. Hyer's fancy dresses in the film were designed by longtime Paramount costumer designer Edith Head.
• Comedian/impressionist Frank Gorshin made a rare dramatic appearance as a gang member in the film.

When a gang fight breaks out in the alleyway next to his lower-class New York apartment building, Sidney Pythias, a well-meaning apprentice janitor, is mistakenly arrested, along with a group of juvenile delinquents that includes Monk, Artie and Harry. The arresting officer, Mike Damon, is chastised by Capt. Riley, his new supervisor, who points out that Mike's efforts to reform teenage delinquents has only landed Riley in the hospital. In turn, Mike, a decorated policeman, argues that he was once a delinquent himself who was saved from a life of crime by a policeman, and he is merely trying to follow that example. Riley then gives Mike one month to reform at least one juvenile delinquent or be transferred out of the precinct. Seeing a scared and grateful Sidney groveling at a police sergeant's feet upon his release, Mike decides to make the young janitor his project.

When Mike tries to make friends with Sidney, however, the lonely janitor questions the policeman's motives, but accepts his dinner invitation when Mike tells him he has a twenty-one inch television. Back at the police station, Riley orders Mike to work with Martha Henshaw, a city council aide sent to their precinct to investigate the juvenile crime problem. When Martha asks to meet a juvenile delinquent, Mike tells the wealthy socialite to go out and find one herself, and, in turn, Martha finds Sidney. When the three meet at the policeman's apartment for dinner, Mike and Martha agree to pool their efforts to help the young man, but Sidney quickly leaves when the two reformers begin fighting with each other. Later, back at his apartment, Sidney tells Mike that he is "a nothin'...but would sure like to be a somethin'." Trying to build up the young man's self-confidence, Mike assures Sidney that he can do anything he wants, but is shocked when the novice janitor tells him that he wants to be a policeman.

Though he initially refuses Mike's request that he endorse Sidney's admission to the police academy, Riley relents after hearing Martha's glowing endorsement of Mike's handling of the bumbling Sidney. While helping Sidney fill out his application to the academy, Mike cannot stop talking or thinking about Martha, and when she arrives at Sidney's apartment to check up on the young man, Mike readily agrees to escort her home. The two soon begin seeing each other socially. Sidney's love life also takes a turn for the better when Patricia, an attractive young tenant in his building, reprimands him for not asking her out. Sidney tells the student nurse that he cannot date her until he makes something of himself. Although he struggles every step of the way through his police training, which includes judo and sumo wrestling lessons, Sidney makes it through the initial stages of the academy. Mike becomes so obsessed with helping Sidney, however, that Martha breaks up with him. Meanwhile, Sidney is visited by Monk and Artie, who try to talk him out of becoming a policeman.

Though Monk tells Sidney that the world is against them, Sidney argues that there are a lot of decent people in the world and he is just trying to be one. On his first patrol, Sidney is assigned to walk a beat with Mike in his own neighborhood, and the trainee ends up delivering a baby. Later that evening, however, Sidney gets involved in a police scuffle with his old hoodlum friends, and Artie is shot by his gun. Monk later confesses that the gun fell out of Sidney's holster during the fight, and he accidentally shot Monk while trying to steal the weapon. Cleared of the shooting, Sidney finally receives Riley's full endorsement to join the force, and he rushes home to give Patricia the good news. Later, policeman Sidney L. Pythias meets with his old hoodlum friends and offers them the same encouragement to improve themselves that Mike offered him.

Holiday On The Buses (1973)

I love the classic sit-com, On The Buses, despite being derided by the so called critics I think this is one of the best sit-coms from this particular period. I feel that the three feature films based around the series are even funnier than the actual series itself. Holiday on the Buses made in 1973 was the third and final film based on the series. Directed by Bryan Izzard, Holiday On The Buses starred Reg Varney and Doris Hare. The film succeeded the films On The Buses (1971) and Mutiny On The Buses (1972). The film was produced by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe for Hammer Films.

After a series of incidents at the bus depot, Stan (Reg Varney), Jack (Bob Grant) and Inspector Blake (Stephen Lewis) are sacked. Stan and Jack get a job as bus crew at a holiday camp, only to find that Blakey has also got a job at the camp, as security inspector. Stan invites the family to stay whilst he proceeds to chat up the guests and staff. Meanwhile, Blakey thinks he can teach the guests old time dancing. Stan and the family get into an adventurous holiday, including repainting the whole of a bedroom as Little Arthur squirts ink around the room, a suitcase full of murky river water, and an exploding toilet.

Reggatta de Blanc - The Police (1979)

Reggatta de Blanc was the second album by The Police, released in 1979. It features the band's first two number 1 hits, "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon".
The album took four weeks to record, spaced over several months. Unlike its successor, Zenyatta Mondatta, there was no pressure on the band. Stewart Copeland described it, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?' We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in."

Against the wishes of A&M, who had wanted to equip the promising band with a bigger studio and more famous producer, the Police opted to again record at Surrey Sound with Nigel Gray. The small budget (between £6,000 and £9,000) was easily covered by the profits of their previous album, Outlandos D'amour, further ensuring that the record label would have no control over the actual creation of the band's music.

Whereas Outlandos d'Amour had benefited from one of the most prolific songwriting periods of Sting's life, the recording sessions for Regatta de Blanc were so short on new material that the band even considered re-recording "Fall Out" at one point. To fill in the gaps, Sting and Copeland dug up old songs they'd written and used elements of them to create new songs. Much of the lyrics to "Bring on the Night" were recycled from Sting's Last Exit song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" similarly started as a Last Exit tune, while "Does Everyone Stare" originates from a piano piece Copeland wrote in college.

The album's title is a pseudo-French translation of "White Reggae".

The instrumental "Regatta De Blanc", one of the few songs written by the Police as a group, came from the long instrumental break in the live performance of "Can't Stand Losing You" and earned the band the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance for "Bring on the Night" is about the execution of Gary Gilmore - though purely by accident. Under its original title of "Carrion Prince", the song was about Pontius Pilate. After adapting it into "Bring on the Night" for Regatta de Blanc, Sting read The Executioner's Song and was shocked that the intentionally abstract lyrics he'd written fit exactly with Gilmore's life story. He claims that since then, "I sing it with him in mind." "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was covered by reggae singer Sheila Hylton in 1981, which became a UK Top 40 hit.