Mind Your Language

Mind Your Language was a British comedy series shown on ITV, between 1977 and 1979. Produced by LWT, it was set in a language school in London, with the late Barry Evans as the night school English language teacher for a motley crew of assorted foreigners.

Related Topics:
British - ITV - 1977 - 1979 - LWT - London - Barry Evans - English language

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The series was known for its humorous take on national stereotypes: the German woman was dour and humourless; the French woman was sexy and flirtatious; the Swedish woman was liberated and straightforwardly sex-mad; the Chinese woman a rampant Maoist; while the Sikh and Pakistani men were often on the brink of war, and the Spaniard, the Greek and the Italian were macho. Much of the humour also stemmed from the trouble the students had with the English language, their often outrageous speech patterns and the students' hilarious mispronunciations of English. In the politically correct days of the late 1990s the show was criticised, but in its day the show was popular with people of many backgrounds because of its light-hearted take on multiculturalism and because it gave some otherwise unrepresented minorities a television presence.

Related Topics:
Stereotype - German - French - Swedish - Chinese - Maoist - Sikh - Pakistan - Spaniard - Greek - Italian - English language - Politically correct - 1990s - Multiculturalism

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It was cancelled in 1979 by Michael Grade, then LWT's Deputy Controller of Entertainment, who considered the stereotyping offensive. Nevertheless it was sold to other countries where it found amazing popularity, including Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Singapore . It was also one of the first British TV programmes shown in South Africa after the end of the boycott by British Equity. It was even resurrected, briefly, for the export market by an independent producer, in the late 1980s. Only Granada Television transmitted the final 13 episodes consecutively as a complete series. Some ITV companies didn't show any of the episodes made in 1986. The programme was remade for US television as What a Country!

Related Topics:
1979 - Michael Grade - Australia - Sri Lanka - India - Malaysia - Singapore - South Africa - British Equity - What a Country

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Jamilla Massey who played the Indian lady Jamila Rahjha is now appearing as a character in BBC Radio 4's long-running soap opera The Archers.

Related Topics:
BBC Radio 4 - Soap opera - The Archers

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Written by: Vince Powell

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Directed by: Stuart Allen

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Produced by: Stuart Allen, Albert Moses

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Transmitted: 1977-86

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TV Channel: ITV

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4 series, 42 episodes

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Transmission Details

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Number of episodes: 29; Length: 30 mins

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Series One (13) 30 Dec 1977-24 Mar 1978 · Fri 7pm

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Series Two (8) 7 Oct-25 Nov 1978 · Sat mostly 6pm

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Series Three (8) 27 Oct-15 Dec 1979 · Sat mostly 6.45pm

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