I tend to disagree with both reviewers here, it's definitely not hilarious, nor is it utter rubbish, Agreed it has an abysmal theme tune, but this was made in the 80s, most shows of the time do. It has a few laughs, but it's one of those shows that's pleasant enough to watch and has a few nice ideas, don't panic buy it, but if you see if for a few Pounds get it, it's OK viewing 6/10 John Inman fans will indeed enjoy this show, he does seem a little under used here, but for me the funny moments come from a crazy Myriam Margolyes who adds quite a lot to this show as crazy Italian Housekeeper to Rula Lenska. Maybe a second series would have been good, be interesting to know how it did when it was originally transmitted.
7 Reviews
''I get my satisfaction sharing your success!''
Rabical-9116 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
John Inman's Thames Television vehicle 'Odd Man Out' ( broadcast in 1977 ) did not exactly thrill the viewing nation. It was a ratings flop and after seven episodes came off air following complaints about the show's reliance on gay jokes. ITV however felt there was hope for Inman yet and after another brief spell with the BBC in 'Are You Being Served?', he was awarded another leading role: as a male P.A to businesswoman Joan Warner who is head of Eight Star Multinational Corporation, in this Southern Television based show written by 'On The Buses' stalwarts Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. It tried to be a little different to 'Are You Being Served?' in that his homosexuality was not really an issue, however it gained none of the affection from viewers that Jeremy Lloyd & David Croft's show did.
Inman plays Graham Jones, the harassed P.A to Ms. Warner, who is played by Rula Lenska. Graham not only assists Warner at work but also in her personal life, whether it is pretending to be her husband when a lecherous businessman has designs on her, taking her spoiled brat of a daughter ( Claudine Bowyer ) to the dentist or helping her at home when she is taken ill. At work, Graham colleagues are the scatty Brenda ( Gina Maher ), the fluttery Daisy ( Christine Ozanne ) and the hoity-toity Ruth ( Joan Blackham ).
Graham also at times has to contend with Ms. Warner's over-excitable Italian maid Maria ( played by Miriam Margolyes, long before she became a human cannonball ) who is often seen to be darting around like a fly being chased around by someone wielding a rolled-up newspaper.
'Take A Letter, Mr. Jones' was worth watching but it was no classic. The laugh track irritated right from the start ( at the beginning of every episode whenever Inman appeared, we would hear a huge burst of unwarranted applause ). The theme tune by John Lewis was equally as annoying. Inman was faultless as Jones and the lovely Rula Lenska provided some excitement as the sexy businesswoman. Christine Ozanne and Joan Blackham later worked together on another ill-fated sitcom, the BBC's 'A Small Problem'. Irritating was Claudine Bowyer as Warner's obnoxious daughter Lucy. Miriam Margolyes probably stood out from all in the cast as the scatty maid.
After the six episodes ended, 'Take A Letter, Mr Jones' was gone. Shortly after, Southern Television lost its franchise with ITV. A shame as it really needed a second series to get it going. It was released on DVD back in 2009 and a few years ago was even repeated on the now defunct satellite channel Film 24. It is amusing stuff for John Inman fans but just don't expect to be laughing out loud, that's all.
Inman plays Graham Jones, the harassed P.A to Ms. Warner, who is played by Rula Lenska. Graham not only assists Warner at work but also in her personal life, whether it is pretending to be her husband when a lecherous businessman has designs on her, taking her spoiled brat of a daughter ( Claudine Bowyer ) to the dentist or helping her at home when she is taken ill. At work, Graham colleagues are the scatty Brenda ( Gina Maher ), the fluttery Daisy ( Christine Ozanne ) and the hoity-toity Ruth ( Joan Blackham ).
Graham also at times has to contend with Ms. Warner's over-excitable Italian maid Maria ( played by Miriam Margolyes, long before she became a human cannonball ) who is often seen to be darting around like a fly being chased around by someone wielding a rolled-up newspaper.
'Take A Letter, Mr. Jones' was worth watching but it was no classic. The laugh track irritated right from the start ( at the beginning of every episode whenever Inman appeared, we would hear a huge burst of unwarranted applause ). The theme tune by John Lewis was equally as annoying. Inman was faultless as Jones and the lovely Rula Lenska provided some excitement as the sexy businesswoman. Christine Ozanne and Joan Blackham later worked together on another ill-fated sitcom, the BBC's 'A Small Problem'. Irritating was Claudine Bowyer as Warner's obnoxious daughter Lucy. Miriam Margolyes probably stood out from all in the cast as the scatty maid.
After the six episodes ended, 'Take A Letter, Mr Jones' was gone. Shortly after, Southern Television lost its franchise with ITV. A shame as it really needed a second series to get it going. It was released on DVD back in 2009 and a few years ago was even repeated on the now defunct satellite channel Film 24. It is amusing stuff for John Inman fans but just don't expect to be laughing out loud, that's all.
Under-rated Inman comedy
tbaltmail27 May 2019
Primarily a vehicle for John Inman (Rula Lenska mostly plays the straight person, with Miriam Margolyes providing a recurring chaos element) - this short- lived series manages it's fair share of hilarity.
The role-reversal premise isn't really one that's played out from a female empowerment perspective - the first episode teases that line, but the payoff is set up (via a press "spin" angle in the story) to establish the theme of Inman's character (Mr Jones) as the one who is put upon to make sacrifices and deal with with various "non work" calamities on top of his normal job, in order to support his "single mum" boss who puts her own job first. This theme is present throughout the series.
Although most of the episodes follow a (very) similar formula, and it's certainly not (as it might seem from first impressions) an early example of progressive gender or cultural politics, it's a series which gives plenty of bang for your buck in terms of laughs - definitely one to check out if you like crudely stereotyped Aussies or Americans......
The role-reversal premise isn't really one that's played out from a female empowerment perspective - the first episode teases that line, but the payoff is set up (via a press "spin" angle in the story) to establish the theme of Inman's character (Mr Jones) as the one who is put upon to make sacrifices and deal with with various "non work" calamities on top of his normal job, in order to support his "single mum" boss who puts her own job first. This theme is present throughout the series.
Although most of the episodes follow a (very) similar formula, and it's certainly not (as it might seem from first impressions) an early example of progressive gender or cultural politics, it's a series which gives plenty of bang for your buck in terms of laughs - definitely one to check out if you like crudely stereotyped Aussies or Americans......
Awful early 1980s John Inman sitcom
trevorwomble1 February 2024
This is a terrible effort from the writers of On the Buses. John Inman had become famous for his character of Mr Humphreys in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, which was coming towards the end of its run and this feeble effort to give him his own starring sitcom on rival network.
The simple concept was to take a simple concept of a male boss and female secretary and reverse the roles with the boss being female (played by dramatic actress Rula Lenska) and have Inman as the male secretary. Sound hilarious? Of course it isn't. Despite Inman trying his best, the scripts are truly awful and this should never have got past the pilot stage. But Southern Television thought that there was enough there to commission six episodes. Unsurprisingly it never made it to a second series.
So what is wrong with it? Where do I begin. How about the horrible theme music for one. It's supposed to be futuristic sounding synth sounding but it just grates and dates it horribly. Then there's the cheesy introduction. John Inman walks into the office halfway through someone's conversation and the audience clap his appearance like it's some awful American sitcom from the 1970s. Then there's the dreadful film set of '8 Star', the company where he works. It makes the set of Grace Brothers look positively epic in comparison. And then the show limps along until the commercial break with some feeble plot point.
That this show has been forgotten about for 40 years until TPTV started reshowing it speaks volumes. Remember that this was showing in the same year as Only Fools and Horses made it's TV debut, a show superior to it in every way possible. And the following year we would have the Young Ones, a sitcom that was designed to rebel against shows like this. But even in 1981 this show must have looked pretty awful as much better sitcoms like The Good Life had already come and gone.
John Inman was a one trick pony in some ways but he deserved a better star vehicle than this load of rubbish. Worth watching just to see how NOT to make a comedy show.
The simple concept was to take a simple concept of a male boss and female secretary and reverse the roles with the boss being female (played by dramatic actress Rula Lenska) and have Inman as the male secretary. Sound hilarious? Of course it isn't. Despite Inman trying his best, the scripts are truly awful and this should never have got past the pilot stage. But Southern Television thought that there was enough there to commission six episodes. Unsurprisingly it never made it to a second series.
So what is wrong with it? Where do I begin. How about the horrible theme music for one. It's supposed to be futuristic sounding synth sounding but it just grates and dates it horribly. Then there's the cheesy introduction. John Inman walks into the office halfway through someone's conversation and the audience clap his appearance like it's some awful American sitcom from the 1970s. Then there's the dreadful film set of '8 Star', the company where he works. It makes the set of Grace Brothers look positively epic in comparison. And then the show limps along until the commercial break with some feeble plot point.
That this show has been forgotten about for 40 years until TPTV started reshowing it speaks volumes. Remember that this was showing in the same year as Only Fools and Horses made it's TV debut, a show superior to it in every way possible. And the following year we would have the Young Ones, a sitcom that was designed to rebel against shows like this. But even in 1981 this show must have looked pretty awful as much better sitcoms like The Good Life had already come and gone.
John Inman was a one trick pony in some ways but he deserved a better star vehicle than this load of rubbish. Worth watching just to see how NOT to make a comedy show.
OPENING AND CLOSING CREDIT DANCER/SINGER
anniec-227527 March 2021
I loved working on this series which was filmed in Poole . I live in Bournemouth. We spent a fabulous day filming the opening and closing sequences in the Barclays Building cast as a secretary. Jon Inman was a delight to work with. We also spent time recording at the Studio for the first episode which I appeared in. No credit there just an extra. The auditions for this were done at Southampton in the TVS studios. Being a professional singer/dancer was useful and my claim to fame is as Sara of Sinnermen and Sara MGM recording artist in the 1960''s Our recordings from that time have just been digitally remastered by us and we are advertising through Sinnermen and Sara Page. Lots of good memories of this time.
Terrible.
plan9925 January 2024
No surprise that this poor effort only lasted for six episodes and that was six too many. I've only managed to watch the first two as I can't bear to watch the other four.
Zero redeeming features. Very bad script, acting and the characters just don't interact at all and it's all a bit mechanical and the laughter track is very overused, mainly due to there being very little that's actually funny.
I don't remember this first time around, which is probably a good thing,
Only worth watching by those curious to know how bad the worst ever Sitcom actually was, as this is without a doubt the worst ever.
Zero redeeming features. Very bad script, acting and the characters just don't interact at all and it's all a bit mechanical and the laughter track is very overused, mainly due to there being very little that's actually funny.
I don't remember this first time around, which is probably a good thing,
Only worth watching by those curious to know how bad the worst ever Sitcom actually was, as this is without a doubt the worst ever.
Take a note, this show's hysterical!
Sylviastel3 December 2002
The show only lasted a few episodes but John Inman (a man deserving of his own British honor where it is an M.B.E.,O.B.E, C.B.E, or even Knighthood) is worth it playing the role of Mr. Jones, a secretary to an professional executive woman played by Rula Lenska. One of the joys is Miriam Margolyes O.B.E. in the role as Maria, the Italian housekeeper. She is wonderful in this role. The theme song is quite catchy. John Inman has been out long before Ian McKellen and he is quite well known for the obvious reasons. He is a comedic genius. After watching for years on Are You Being Served?, he chews the scenery easily. It is time for John Inman to get something for his contributions to entertainment over the decades. People who have done less have gotten something so please award John Inman. One queen surely deserves to meet Queen Elizabeth II. John Inman M.B.E. sounds great doesn't it?
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