Set in the late 1950s, a young Hyacinth will be seen desperately trying to force her family to climb the social ladder.Set in the late 1950s, a young Hyacinth will be seen desperately trying to force her family to climb the social ladder.Set in the late 1950s, a young Hyacinth will be seen desperately trying to force her family to climb the social ladder.
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn this 2016 standalone prequel episode "Young Hyacinth", which may have intended to have been a back-door pilot leading to a prequel series, we learn more about the origins of Hyacinth's mindset. The family surname is finally revealed to be the Waltons. According to this episode, in the early 1950s, young Hyacinth Walton is working as a domestic servant for the Cooper-Smiths by day while living in a small canal cottage with her alcoholic father ("Daddy") and her three sisters (Violet, Rose and Daisy). Impressed by her eccentric employers, Hyacinth vows to escape her poor background and enter a world of the elegant upper class, thus leading to her ongoing behaviour seen in Keeping up Appearances, of "trying to climb the social (classes) ladder". Presumably, if the episode had become a series, it would finally have officially revealed just exactly how and why Richard and Hyacinth met and eventually got married, which continues to cause much debate and theories, even amongst the casual viewer.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years of Laughs (2023)
Featured review
Damp squib
This comedy one off is part of the BBC's continuing sitcom season in 2016. Written by Roy Clarke it is a prequel to Keeping up Appearances.
Kerry Howard plays young Hyacinth the maid with aspirations to be a social climber in 1950s Britain who would be later portrayed by Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced Bouquet.
Howard has the mannerisms of Routledge as well as the voice but with an abysmal script there was no characterisation. We see her living in a house by the canal with her more common sisters and their dad, a war veteran who is fond of the booze.
This episode was a laughter free zone, not helped by murky camera- work, lack of canned laughter, hammy acting and an unfunny script.
Writer Roy Clarke has previous form with prequels. He did First of the Summer Wine which had some charm despite the dodgy continuity with the main show, at least it complemented Last of the Summer Wine. Young Hyacinth does not.
Kerry Howard plays young Hyacinth the maid with aspirations to be a social climber in 1950s Britain who would be later portrayed by Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced Bouquet.
Howard has the mannerisms of Routledge as well as the voice but with an abysmal script there was no characterisation. We see her living in a house by the canal with her more common sisters and their dad, a war veteran who is fond of the booze.
This episode was a laughter free zone, not helped by murky camera- work, lack of canned laughter, hammy acting and an unfunny script.
Writer Roy Clarke has previous form with prequels. He did First of the Summer Wine which had some charm despite the dodgy continuity with the main show, at least it complemented Last of the Summer Wine. Young Hyacinth does not.
helpful•1920
- Prismark10
- Sep 2, 2016
Details
- Runtime28 minutes
- Color
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content