Keeping Up Appearances

Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom which ran on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. It has developed a rather devoted cult following in North America as well, airing regularly on PBS stations. It revolves around the constant struggles of the protagonist Hyacinth Bucket—who pronounces her surname as Bouquet, although her husband always pronounced it "Bucket" before he married. Hyacinth gets very aggravated whenever someone "mispronounces" it. She always seeks to appear to be of a higher social class than she is. Episodes often feature her latest scheme to move up in life from her middle-class existence—for example her sophisticated "candlelight suppers"—getting foiled. She frequently attempts to outdo her neighbours as well.

Related Topics:
British sitcom - BBC1 - 1990 - 1995 - PBS - Hyacinth Bucket

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hyacinth's husband, Richard, patiently endures his wife's eccentricities. When he tries to address an issue, she merely ignores him. A civil servant who takes early retirement midway through the series, Richard is always reminding Hyacinth of their middle-class financial status, which she brushes off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also featured are Hyacinth's working-class sister Daisy and her self-confessed "bone-idle, work-shy and out-of-condition" husband Onslow. Onslow and Daisy live with Hyacinth's promiscuous sister, Rose, and their increasingly senile father, whom Hyacinth idolizes. More often Hyacinth attempts to associate herself with her other sister, wealthy Violet, though this often goes awry as well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other characters include Hyacinth's next-door neighbour, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's brother Emmet. Emmet is a recently-divorced musician who moves in with his sister. Hyacinth, fancying herself a great singer, bursts into off-key song whenever Emmet is nearby in hopes that he will recruit her for his amateur operatics society. This has had the effect of causing Emmet to live in fear of her, and he will often try to hide when she comes to visit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The vicar of the Buckets' parish church and his long-suffering Scottish wife also appear regularly. The handsome young vicar often finds his wife jealous of the attentions other women pay to him, particularly, Hyacinth's sister Rose, who refers to him as "that dishy vicar".

Related Topics:
Vicar - Parish

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Hyacinth is the centre of the programme, it should be noted that many details of the other characters' lives are unknown. For example, we do not know Daisy and Onslow's surname, nor do we know Rose's. The vicar's given name is Michael, but his surname is also unknown. The vicar's wife is completely nameless, as is Hyacinth's father, who is referred to either as "Daddy" or "Father". Violet and Bruce have a sign outside their house saying "The Paddocks", but it's unclear if it's referring to the property, or if their last name is "Paddock".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Critics of the sitcom have pointed out that the plot of each episode follows a rather rigid pattern, and claim that "once you've seen one episode, you've seen them all". More sympathetic reviewers point to the fact that formulaic repetition has been a noble characteristic of many much-loved sitcoms, and in this case provides a skeleton on which to hang the performance comedy that allows the cast, particularly Routledge, to excel.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hyacinth's house is in the Binley woods area of Coventry, Daisy and Onslow live in a house in Stoke Aldermoor, also in Coventry.

Related Topics:
Coventry

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~