Cissie and Ada
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| | Les Dawson's Cissie and Ada is a
collection of some of the scripts I wrote for Les when I worked as his
scriptwriter during the years 1978 to 1983, originally on two series of the
BBC's 'The Dawson Watch' and subsequently on three series of 'The Les Dawson
Show'. Les was Ada of course, and Cissie was played by Roy Barraclough, who you
may recall later starred as Alex Gilroy in Coronation Street. Les Dawson,
British comedy's finest, was a joy to know, in real life exactly the same
person you saw on your TV screens. Writing comedy scripts isn't the easiest of
professions, but writing Cissie and Ada was easier than most scriptwriting jobs I took on
because as a boy I grew up amongst women
much like Cissie, and especially Ada, hair-curlered Ena Sharples-like harridans who would
habitually spend a good part of their day standing on their front
doorsteps commenting to each other other about the disgusting state of the
curtains at number 29 over the road before going on to do a demolition job on
the character of the woman at number 14 who was 'no better than she should be'
and 'too thick with her lodger for my liking - well I heard her bedsprings going
at three-o-clock this morning and her husband's on nights'. My abiding
memory of Les is standing at the BBC Club bar with a third double scotch in his hand, during the hour between final
rehearsal and show time, whilst the show's
producer Peter Whitmore looked anxiously on, hoping against hope that Les
wouldn't order another. Les ordered another. "Don't you think you've had
enough, Les?" asked Peter, 'We've a show to do you remember." Les indicated to
the barman to fuifil his order, turned to Peter, and in
the manner of a great Shakespeare tragedian actor said: "I can't go on alone." Priceless.
Les is sadly no longer with us, and television repeats of his work are few and
far between, so perhaps these Cissie and Ada scripts, which were brought
wonderfully to life by Les and Roy, will go a little way towards filling the
unfillable void he left. |
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