After four series of 'Romany Jones', Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney took two of its characters - Lily & Wally Briggs, her a gossipy rat bag and him a dim-witted, under-the-thumb layabout, played by Queenie Watts and Arthur Mullard respectively - and pitched them into a show of their own, called simply 'Yus, My Dear'. Here Wally and Lil are moved from their caravan home to a council house as the gypsy caravan site they have lived on for so long is redeveloped.
Making his acting debut here is future 'Eastenders' star Mike Reid ( he played wily con man Frank Butcher ) as Wally's younger brother Benny, who is on the scene most of the time to tap money off of his gullible brother ( who is earning a healthy wage as a bricklayer ). Benny has a girlfriend in the shape of Molly ( the lovely Valerie Walsh ), a buxom red-head who works as a stripper at a seedy nightclub. Lil, almost like Mildred Roper from 'George & Mildred', is keen to get her foot on the social ladder and make new friends, only for Wally and Benny to come along and show her up.
'Yus, My Dear' was a typical offering from its era, neither original, groundbreaking or even subtle but it was highly amusing. Mullard and Reid are on good form here. There is a hilarious scene in one episode where Benny is berating Wally for his lack of culinary skills- ''When you were a nipper I used to cook your breakfast!'' says Wally. Benny's response: ''Oh yeah, I remember your Welsh Rarebit! Me and my mates used to sole our shoes with them!''. I crease up each time I hear Wally's cries of ''Cor!'' ( used whenever a young bimbo sauntered past his leering eyes ) or ''I ain't fick!'' ( bellowed whenever one dared to insult his intelligence ). Mike played Benny in that same hyperactive delivery that he used for his stand-up routines in 'The Comedians'. Valerie Walsh's Molly was one of my favourites, mainly due to her sexy legs and her dazzling.....eyes ( you know what I mean! ). Queenie Watts' Lil got on my nerves but all the same without her the show wouldn't have worked ( Wally and Benny wouldn't have had anyone to bounce their humour off of otherwise ).
Arthur Mullard sang the show's catchy theme tune, which was written and composed by Denis King and Myles Rudge.
I don't care what anyone says, I liked the show. Both series of 'Yus, My Dear' were released on DVD a number of years back, though strangely it was released ahead of its predecessor 'Romany Jones' ( which is also now out on DVD ). Both shows are good in their own right though in my opinion, 'Yus, My Dear' is the better of the two.
Making his acting debut here is future 'Eastenders' star Mike Reid ( he played wily con man Frank Butcher ) as Wally's younger brother Benny, who is on the scene most of the time to tap money off of his gullible brother ( who is earning a healthy wage as a bricklayer ). Benny has a girlfriend in the shape of Molly ( the lovely Valerie Walsh ), a buxom red-head who works as a stripper at a seedy nightclub. Lil, almost like Mildred Roper from 'George & Mildred', is keen to get her foot on the social ladder and make new friends, only for Wally and Benny to come along and show her up.
'Yus, My Dear' was a typical offering from its era, neither original, groundbreaking or even subtle but it was highly amusing. Mullard and Reid are on good form here. There is a hilarious scene in one episode where Benny is berating Wally for his lack of culinary skills- ''When you were a nipper I used to cook your breakfast!'' says Wally. Benny's response: ''Oh yeah, I remember your Welsh Rarebit! Me and my mates used to sole our shoes with them!''. I crease up each time I hear Wally's cries of ''Cor!'' ( used whenever a young bimbo sauntered past his leering eyes ) or ''I ain't fick!'' ( bellowed whenever one dared to insult his intelligence ). Mike played Benny in that same hyperactive delivery that he used for his stand-up routines in 'The Comedians'. Valerie Walsh's Molly was one of my favourites, mainly due to her sexy legs and her dazzling.....eyes ( you know what I mean! ). Queenie Watts' Lil got on my nerves but all the same without her the show wouldn't have worked ( Wally and Benny wouldn't have had anyone to bounce their humour off of otherwise ).
Arthur Mullard sang the show's catchy theme tune, which was written and composed by Denis King and Myles Rudge.
I don't care what anyone says, I liked the show. Both series of 'Yus, My Dear' were released on DVD a number of years back, though strangely it was released ahead of its predecessor 'Romany Jones' ( which is also now out on DVD ). Both shows are good in their own right though in my opinion, 'Yus, My Dear' is the better of the two.