Little Dimpton

## Bio

**Little Dimpton** is the (fictional) English town where many of the incidents and events of "The Benny Hill Show" take place. Not much is known about it or where it is located. It is the location of the Little Dimpton Health and Sun Club and was the site of a war between the street cleaners and the local police police. Despite such incidents, it has recurring street parties.

On April 16, 1986, the town is visited by Benny the Bum, who knocks over and damages a local statue in the park. He struggles to put it back together until a young lady (Lorraine Doyle) becomes the model inspiring him to fix it. Even then, the connections are so worn down from repeated attempts that it falls apart. Another problem results when the girls (unidentified) in the living display at Ace Sports kick a ball that smashes the window across the street at the Cafe Ole. A young girl (Vanessa Biddulph) gets blamed for the vandalism and spends her time racing from a police officer (Bob Todd) until stopping to watch TV with two men (Benny Hill and Jon Jon Keefe) at Acme Video. Meanwhile, back at the cafe, a waiter (Jon Jon Keefe) tries to discourage a patron (Henry McGee) from ordering the chef salad. When he fails, he has to take the salad away from the chef.

Every January 13, the town celebrates "National Smile Week" where everyone goes through the week in a good mood despite problems or heart ship. Among incidents:

* A police officer (Henry McGee) helps an old woman (Sue Upton) find her bus pass by poking in a muddy storm drain despite the fact she had it the whole time
* A Good Samaritan (Benny Hill) tries helping a female motorist (Zoe Bryant) while hitting his head and getting knocked about by her car
* A naughty school boy (Benny Hill) busts his schoolmates (Hill's Little Angels) balloons and they retaliate by stomping his feet
* A old gentleman (Johnny Hutch) helps his young bride (Lorraine Doyle) get her suitcase off a tall armoire as it falls on him
* A biker (Benny Hill) watches his girlfriend's (Sue Upton) little girl (Louise Whatling) mistake his helmet for a potty

When the week is over, the town's surly newsman (Bob Todd) confesses he's tired of all the smiling. However, one man (Benny Hill)is still smiling. At the bus top, he's smiling at a beautiful young lady (Helen Carpenter) and her boyfriend (Jon Jon Keefe) takes offense. Still smiling, he gets pushed back, knocking over a little old lady (Sue Upton). The police officer arrives to stop the fracas, and the man moves aside, knocking over the officer's bike to be crushed in traffic. As the man is still smiling, the officer thinks he did it on purpose. Now, there's four people who want his head, and he runs off realizing his watch has stopped and that "National Smile Week" is over. He flees down the street, stealing a bicycle to Thorpe Park and the Thunder River Ride, using it to escape his pursuers.

The locals are very health-conscious with a strong joggers community in the area. There's a husband (Benny Hill) who goes jogging with his neighbor (Jon Jon Keefe) while leaving his wife (Lorraine Doyle) at home. The local post man (Henry McGee) jogs as does the old woman (Bob Todd) next door as her husband (Johnny Hutch). A local nurse (Helen Carpenter) jogs while pushing an old lady (Sue Upton) in a wheelchair, but the old biddy is usually forcing her to chase after other joggers. The local meter maids (Carla De Wansey and Zoe Bryant) jog along their route as they ticket cars (and collapsing runners (Brendan Keaney). A local suicide (Bob Todd) even jogs to the lake on his way to take his life, only turning back after breaking his toes on a boulder. The local milk man (Jerold Wells) even jogs while delivering milk to the local housewives, annoying one (Carla De Wansey) as the jiggling has turned her butter into cream. In the park, a smoker (Henry McGee) jogs between cigarettes, taking a light off the torch of an Olympic runner (Brendan Keaney)).

The smoker soon catches up with the old woman and the two men. She starts annoying them to the point that her nurse stops to apologize for her. She ends off disappearing with the younger good-looking man, but his older companion is stuck with the old biddy's harassment. When he gets distracted by two beautiful young ladies (Debbie Scamp and Lindsey Cole), the old lady is left to roll down the lane and off the cliff. She is ultimately rescued by two paramedics (Henry McGee and Bob Todd). Along the way, she harasses a few more joggers (Johnny Hutch, Jenny Drummond(?) and Mike Mulloy), but she soon passes by the jogging husband again and has him arrested by two jogging police officers (Jon Jon Keefe and (Brendan Keaney). To add insult to injury, the husband is trotted by his own house where his neglected wife (Lorraine Doyle) watches by the window, where she is soon joined by one of the two officers.

Every April 5, 1989, Little Dimpton has a German festival entertained by Otto Schtuk und die Bavarian Schtompers outside of the Kabaret Klug. The week is also marked by the merchandise at Benny's Trunks coming to life and interacting with the pedestrians going by the shop.

### Locations and Businesses

* Ace Sports
* Acme Sports
* Andre Fashions
* Barcland Bank (possibly)
* Ben's Trunks
* Cafe Le L'Opera
* Cafe Ole
* G. Sapp - Tree Surgeon
* Just Marriage
* Kabaret Klug
* Little Dimpton Health and Sun Club
* Little Dimpton Hospital
* Passion Flower Hotel
* Spuds You Like
* Stanley Road Infants School
* Titmarsh Sign Painters

## Trivia

* Little Dimpton seems to cover the majority of the city sets filmed in the studio in the Late 80s, some of which were taken outside the studio.
* Other locations used in sketches in the series are Teddington and Lower Tidmarsh.
* The location of Henry McGee's storm drain sketch is also used as the front of the Barcland Bank for the Fingers McNee sketch on January 16, 1984.
* The Stanley Road Infants School sequence has a chalkboard reading "We luv teecher," hearkening back to the Girls Girls Girls Nightclub fantasy where Benny played a similar troublemaker.
* The Thorpe Park wood railing and stairs was also seen in the Mahala sketch from March 16, 1983.

## Episode(s)

* The Monte Carbolic Show
* News At Ten
* Great Mysteries with Orson Buggy
* Talking Point
* Cagney and Lacey
* The Halitosis Kid (unidentified)
* Club Chicago-Go (unidentified)

## Gallery

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