In May 2022, the now-defunct Forces T. V. channel repeated this short-lived Granada sitcom. It came about because one of its stars - Roy Barraclough - had been appearing for some years in 'Coronation Street' ( as landlord 'Alec Gilroy' ) and he was keen to leave that soap and return to his first love - comedy. The original plan was for him to reteam with Les Dawson for a sitcom based on their popular 'Cissie and Ada' characters - gossiping Northern housewives. Les died in 1993, and the idea had to be abandoned. John Stevenson, a writer on 'Coronation Street' who'd also written sitcoms such as 'Nearest & Dearest' and the marvellous 'Brass', came up instead with 'Mother's Ruin' ( an old fashioned term for gin ). Roy played 'Leslie Flitcroft', owner of a health shop called 'Nurse Nature'. He is struck on 'Wendy Watson' ( Kay Adhead ) and wants to begin a new life with her, but finds his wishes thwarted at every turn by his domineering alcoholic mother 'Kitty' ( Dora Bryan ). Added to the mix is Julia Deakin ( from 'Spaced' and 'Oh Doctor Beeching!' ) as Leslie's spinster shop assistant 'Brucella Pashley' ( great name! ).
With its animated opening credits and jaunty theme tune, the show seemed to be deliberately attempting to invite comparisons with 70's sitcoms. Critics were incensed, and duly ripped the show to pieces. Audience reaction was not good either. 'Mother's Ruin' lasted about as long as a Liz Truss premiership. Two things stopped it from being a success. Firstly, old school comedy was in decline ( Russ Abbot, Little and Large, Cannon and Ball, and Bobby Davro were a few of the comedians who got swept off the airwaves by a tidal wave of alternative comedy ). Secondly, the premise of 'Mother's Ruin' owed a great debt not only to the 1976 sitcom 'My Son Reuben' but also Ronnie Corbett's 'Sorry!', the latter having just completed a long run on BBC-1. So the dice was loaded against 'Ruin' from the start.
The Forces T. V. repeats revealed the show not to be an unfairly forgotten classic, but a modest little show which managed to be sporadically amusing ( which is far better than not being amusing at all ). A disappointed Barraclough returned to Weatherfield, while Bryan headed for Holmfirth and joined the cast of 'Last Of The Summer Wine'. In 1993, old school comedy had sadly become a ruin.
With its animated opening credits and jaunty theme tune, the show seemed to be deliberately attempting to invite comparisons with 70's sitcoms. Critics were incensed, and duly ripped the show to pieces. Audience reaction was not good either. 'Mother's Ruin' lasted about as long as a Liz Truss premiership. Two things stopped it from being a success. Firstly, old school comedy was in decline ( Russ Abbot, Little and Large, Cannon and Ball, and Bobby Davro were a few of the comedians who got swept off the airwaves by a tidal wave of alternative comedy ). Secondly, the premise of 'Mother's Ruin' owed a great debt not only to the 1976 sitcom 'My Son Reuben' but also Ronnie Corbett's 'Sorry!', the latter having just completed a long run on BBC-1. So the dice was loaded against 'Ruin' from the start.
The Forces T. V. repeats revealed the show not to be an unfairly forgotten classic, but a modest little show which managed to be sporadically amusing ( which is far better than not being amusing at all ). A disappointed Barraclough returned to Weatherfield, while Bryan headed for Holmfirth and joined the cast of 'Last Of The Summer Wine'. In 1993, old school comedy had sadly become a ruin.
