By the late '70's, Mollie Sugden was a big comedy star, thanks to 'The Liver Birds' and 'Are You Being Served?'. In 1977, Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft crafted a vehicle for her - 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' ( set in the year 2050 ) - in which she was Gertrude Noah, a housewife who as first prize in a cookery competition is taken around Britain's biggest and newest space craft by T.V reporter Clive Cunliffe ( Ian Lavender ), scientists Carstairs ( Donald Hewlitt ) and Fanshaw ( Michael Knowles ) and dogsbody Garstang ( Joe Black ). Predictably, the ship is blasted into space and the crew try their best to bring the craft back down to earth.
Scenes back on earth featured Tim Barrett ( I couldn't stand him ) as head of the British space exploration centre Garfield Hawk and the lovely Ann Michelle as his assistant Scarth Dare. Gordon Kaye prefaced each edition as the newscaster for 'Far & Wide' ( an obvious spoof of 'Nationwide' ).
Made by the same team behind 'Are You Being Served?', 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum' and 'Dad's Army', 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' should have been a born hit. Sadly it was not. Viewers were unamused by the cheap special effects and vulgar jokes. Yes it was crude, vulgar, cheaply made and it was corny even by 1970's standards, but the thing is, I loved it, it was a pure guilty pleasure. Mollie Sugden was as marvellous as ever though Ian Lavender shone too as Cunliffe. Knowles and Hewlitt had a great chemistry together much the same as they did in 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'. Joe Black was hilarious as Garstang and in my opinion he did not receive anywhere near as much credit as he deserved. Gordon Kaye also was very funny here as the newsreader.
One priceless scene had the crew trying to activate a robotic hen in order to get some eggs for breakfast. The eggs are duly laid, however, a malfunction causes the eggs to retract back into the hen, causing it to explode. Hardly 'Red Dwarf' I know, but miles funnier than the more recent mess that was 'Hyperdrive'.
After only six episodes, 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' vanished into the milky way. Sugden's next vehicle was the more successful 'That's My Boy', made by Yorkshire Television. If you by some miracle manage to come across 'Come Back Mrs. Noah', give it a try. Just imagine 'Are You Being Served?' set in a space ship rather than a department store and you should be alright.
Scenes back on earth featured Tim Barrett ( I couldn't stand him ) as head of the British space exploration centre Garfield Hawk and the lovely Ann Michelle as his assistant Scarth Dare. Gordon Kaye prefaced each edition as the newscaster for 'Far & Wide' ( an obvious spoof of 'Nationwide' ).
Made by the same team behind 'Are You Being Served?', 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum' and 'Dad's Army', 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' should have been a born hit. Sadly it was not. Viewers were unamused by the cheap special effects and vulgar jokes. Yes it was crude, vulgar, cheaply made and it was corny even by 1970's standards, but the thing is, I loved it, it was a pure guilty pleasure. Mollie Sugden was as marvellous as ever though Ian Lavender shone too as Cunliffe. Knowles and Hewlitt had a great chemistry together much the same as they did in 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'. Joe Black was hilarious as Garstang and in my opinion he did not receive anywhere near as much credit as he deserved. Gordon Kaye also was very funny here as the newsreader.
One priceless scene had the crew trying to activate a robotic hen in order to get some eggs for breakfast. The eggs are duly laid, however, a malfunction causes the eggs to retract back into the hen, causing it to explode. Hardly 'Red Dwarf' I know, but miles funnier than the more recent mess that was 'Hyperdrive'.
After only six episodes, 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' vanished into the milky way. Sugden's next vehicle was the more successful 'That's My Boy', made by Yorkshire Television. If you by some miracle manage to come across 'Come Back Mrs. Noah', give it a try. Just imagine 'Are You Being Served?' set in a space ship rather than a department store and you should be alright.