- Citizen James at BBC Online
- Citizen James at the BBC Online Comedy Guide
- Citizen James at British Comedy Guide
- Citizen James at IMDb
- Citizen James at British TV Resources
| Citizen James | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Starring | Sid James Sydney Tafler Alec Bregonzi Bill Kerr Liz Fraser |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 32 (21 missing) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC TV |
| Release | 24 November 1960 – 23 November 1962 |
Citizen James is a BBC sitcom that ran for three series between 24 November 1960 and 23 November 1962. The show featured comedian and actor Sid James and Sydney Tafler with Bill Kerr and Liz Fraser appearing in early episodes. It was initially written by the comedy writing team of Galton and Simpson, who based the characters very much on the "Sidney Balmoral James" and "William Montmorency Beaumont Kerr" roles that they had played in Hancock's Half Hour.
The first series was set around 'Charlie's Nosh Bar', a cafe in Soho, and centred on Sid's get-rich-quick schemes. He is helped by "Billy the Kerr" and quite often frustrated by the local bookmaker Albert Welshman (Tafler). Liz Fraser played Sid's long-suffering girlfriend who has been waiting for seven years for Sid to set the date.
Changes were made to the format after the first series. Sid James' character was changed to be something of a people's champion, campaigning for social justice. Bill Kerr and Liz Fraser departed and Sidney Tafler played a different character: Charlie Davenport. The location switched from Soho to Sid and Charlie sharing a house.
Later episodes were written by then Morecambe & Wise writers Dick Hills and Sid Green.[1]
Despite not being written by Galton and Simpson, the sets and familiar supporting cast gave these last two series a recognisable Hancock feeling to the proceedings.
Like many BBC series of this time, episodes were not necessarily retained (see Wiping). Only eleven episodes from the three series are known to still exist.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Race" | Exists | 24 November 1960 | |
| Out of money, Sid hits on an idea to fix a "waiter's race" by use of a ringer. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Elixir" | Exists | 1 December 1960 | |
| Sid and Bill try their hand in the snake-oil business, selling "Dr." Sidney James's Magical Elixir. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Money" | Exists | 8 December 1960 | |
| Liz entrusts £300 to Sid to take to the Bank, but Sid and Bill soon find themselves parted from the money by Albert. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Rivals" | Exists | 15 December 1960 | |
| Albert has a wager with Sid that he can get a date with Sid's fiancée. And at 10-1, Sid can't resist the odds. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Raffle" | Exists | 22 December 1960 | |
| Sid and Bill have to organise a raffle to replace the 'Nosh Bar' Christmas money which went on Sid's gambling debts. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Brand Image" | Exists | 29 December 1960 | |
| Sid and Bill try their hand at selling cigarettes but need an actor to help launch their new brand. | |||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Lamp" | Missing | 2 October 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 8 | 2 | "Crusty Bread" | Exists | 9 October 1961 | |
| Sid and Charlie set out to find why the old style crusty bread loaves have disappeared. Why aren't they baked any more if people still want them? | |||||
| 9 | 3 | "Kids" | Missing | 16 October 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 10 | 4 | "The Handbag" | Missing | 23 October 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 11 | 5 | "The Football Team" | Missing | 30 October 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 12 | 6 | "The Hotel" | Missing | 6 November 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 13 | 7 | "Insurance" | Missing | 13 November 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 14 | 8 | "Sit-Down" | Missing | 20 November 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 15 | 9 | "The Rally" | Missing | 27 November 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 16 | 10 | "The Pensioner" | Missing | 4 December 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 17 | 11 | "Teenagers" | Exists | 11 December 1961 | |
| Sid and Charlie go rushing across the country to stop a young couple on their way to Gretna Green. | |||||
| 18 | 12 | "Washing Day" | Missing | 18 December 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 19 | 13 | "Christmas Day" | Missing | 25 December 1961 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Archival Status | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | "The Hospital" | Missing | 31 August 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 21 | 2 | "The Play's the Thing" | Missing | 7 September 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 22 | 3 | "The Tennis Ball" | Missing | 14 September 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 23 | 4 | "It's Not Cricket" | Missing | 21 September 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 24 | 5 | "The Reporter" | Missing | 28 September 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 25 | 6 | "The Day Out" | Exists | 5 October 1962 | |
| Sid and Charlie are in Whitsea for a day-trip, but find in difficult to find a space in a overcrowded beach. | |||||
| 26 | 7 | "The Transistor" | Missing | 12 October 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 27 | 8 | "The Old People's Outing" | Missing | 19 October 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 28 | 9 | "A Perfect Friendship?" | Missing | 26 October 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 29 | 10 | "The Watchdog" | Exists | 2 November 1962 | |
| After catching a burgular in his living room, Sid purchases a guard dog after the Police fail to notice his concerns. | |||||
| 30 | 11 | "The Librarian" | Missing | 9 November 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 31 | 12 | "The Tube Station" | Missing | 16 November 1962 | |
| TBC. | |||||
| 32 | 13 | "The Jury" | Exists | 23 November 1962 | |
| Sid and Charlie are on jury duty. Sid enrages the other members from preventing a unanimous decision when he's not convinced about the evidence. | |||||
The then-surviving episodes, comprising the complete Series One, and two episodes each from Series Two and Series Three, were released as a collection by Acorn Media UK in February 2012. A further episode, the sixth episode of series three, was subsequently found in a store room of Monaco Television, by Philip Morris.[2][3][4]