Potter (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Potter was a 1979 BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke
. Running for three series, it originally starred Arthur Lowe
as Redvers Potter, a busybody former sweet manufacturer ("Pottermints - the hotter mints") with time on his hands following retirement. Set in suburban South London, the series followed Potter in his various attempts to keep himself occupied by interfering in other people's business.
The series co-starred Noel Dyson
as his wife Aileen, John Barron
as the Vicar and John Warner as "Tolly" Tolliver, his next-door neighbour. Characters in later series included Harry H. Corbett
as the comic ex-gangster Harry Tooms and Brenda Cowling
as Jane. Lowe died in 1982, and as plans for the third series were already advanced, he was replaced by Robin Bailey
, after which the series was discontinued.
Mark Lewisohn
notes that although many of the characters (long-suffering wife, vicar, neighbour) were sitcom clichés "they seemed less so in the skilled hands of writer Roy Clarke, who had already proved a master of naturally humorous dialogue".
Roy Clarke
Roy Clarke OBE is an English comedy writer.-Career:Clarke is best known for creating BBC Sitcoms; Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and Keeping Up Appearances...
. Running for three series, it originally starred Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...
as Redvers Potter, a busybody former sweet manufacturer ("Pottermints - the hotter mints") with time on his hands following retirement. Set in suburban South London, the series followed Potter in his various attempts to keep himself occupied by interfering in other people's business.
The series co-starred Noel Dyson
Noel Dyson
Noel Dyson was an English actress. Dyson appeared in a number of films but is best remembered as a versatile television actress who became a very familiar face to British viewers in a career spanning almost 50 years...
as his wife Aileen, John Barron
John Barron (actor)
John Barron was an English actor.-Biography:Born in Marylebone, London, Barron was interested in acting from an early age. For his 18th birthday his godfather paid his entry fee to RADA. After serving as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, he returned to stage acting...
as the Vicar and John Warner as "Tolly" Tolliver, his next-door neighbour. Characters in later series included Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
as the comic ex-gangster Harry Tooms and Brenda Cowling
Brenda Cowling
Brenda Rose Cowling was an English actress. A native of London, Cowling wanted to be a film actress from the time she was a child; however, upon leaving school, she trained instead as a shorthand typist.After a time she joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was a member of the same...
as Jane. Lowe died in 1982, and as plans for the third series were already advanced, he was replaced by Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...
, after which the series was discontinued.
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn is an English author and historian, regarded as the world's leading authority on the English rock band The Beatles.-The Beatles and related subjects:...
notes that although many of the characters (long-suffering wife, vicar, neighbour) were sitcom clichés "they seemed less so in the skilled hands of writer Roy Clarke, who had already proved a master of naturally humorous dialogue".