Come Back Mrs. Noah
Come Back Mrs Noah is a British sitcom starring Mollie Sugden that aired on BBC1 from 17 July to 14 August 1978 with a pilot broadcast on 13 December 1977. It was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, who had also written "Are You Being Served?" which also starred Mollie Sugden. "Come Back Mrs Noah" was not a success, with some regarding it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made. Plot. In 2050, British housewife Gertrude Noah wins a cookery competition, and is awarded a tour of "Britannia Seven", the UK's new  Space Exploration Vehicle. The craft is accidentally sent blasting off into space with a crew consisting only of Mrs Noah, proton physicist Carstairs, neutron physicist Fanshaw, lightbulb-changer Garstang, and BBC reporter Clive Cuncliffe. The series then centres on efforts to bring them back to Earth. The programme "Far and Wide" (a parody of "Nationwide") features frequent updates read by Gorden Kaye. These reports present a reality in which Britain is the most successful nation on Earth, providing aid to countries like Germany and the United States. Development. David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd came up with the idea of the  science fiction sitcom after noting the huge popularity and impact of films such as "Star Wars" which came out in 1977. The series was originally intended as a vehicle for Mollie Sugden and to take her out of the usual setting she would be in. Croft was very worried that soon others would be starting work on similar projects so he wished to rush it past the BBC as soon as possible, Croft later said that 'It speaks volumes about the flexibility of the BBC at that time ... we rushed it along without any opposition at all. One of my  concerns, when I spoke to [Head of Comedy] Jimmy Gilbert, was that everyone would soon be trying to do something similar in this area, because "space" was suddenly all the rage, so I was greatly bothered about the danger of duplication. So I told him that Jeremy and I had an idea that we really liked, and that we wanted to do a pilot, but that the idea was so "hot" that I'd prefer not to tell him what it was about. And Jimmy, to his eternal credit, didn't ask for a script, he didn't question it  at all, he just told me to go ahead and do it.' Production. David Croft signed up Mollie Sugden as Mrs Noah who had previously been popular on another Croft and Lloyd sitcom "Are You Being Served?." Also in the series was Ian Lavender who was well known for his role as Private Pike in "Dad's Army". Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles played physicists Carstairs and Fanshaw, the two were already well known to viewers as Colonel Reynolds and Captain Ashwood in the popular sitcom "It Ain't Half Hot Mum." As the series producer David Croft was effectively  in control of the entire production, however he still had to make do with low-budget sets made from pieces of cardboard and plywood spray-painted battleship grey. Many felt that the production was rushed and not to the standard that it could have been. Other countries. "Come Back Mrs Noah" was also shown in the Netherlands, starting on 30 June 1979. It was also aired in Australia and on several public television stations in the United States including WPBT in Miami, Florida and WNED-TV in Buffalo, New York.