Oh Doctor Beeching! was a BBC situation comedy that ran for 19 episodes from 1995 to 1997. Set in 1963, it dealt with the trials and tribulations of life at a rural railway station - the fictional "Hatley" - as its staff faced an uncertain future due to Dr. Richard Beeching's drastic cost-reducing measures.
The show was written and created by Richard Spendlove, drawing from his experiences of 35 years working on the railways, and David Croft, one of the most famous British comedy writers of all-time, responsible for such popular classics as Dad's Army, Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo! .
David Croft Regulars
Oh Doctor Beeching! featured many of the same actors who had previously appeared in other David Croft sitcoms, the most familiar of whom - Paul Shane, Su Pollard and Jeffrey Holland - had had prominent roles in Croft's two efforts prior to Beeching - Hi De Hi! and You Rang M' Lord?.
Suite 101: Was it fun working with Paul, Su and Jeffrey?
"Well, yes. I mean Paul’s okay. Rotherham guy – not too far away from where I lived so we kind of spoke the same language and got on quite well together. Su Pollard is the same off-set as she is on. She’s manic, she’s a delight to be with. She is also kind as well.
"I have read reports in the paper about her being estranged from her parents and all that rubbish. It’s nothing of the sort. I mean she bought them a lovely house out on the east coast. Her sister has a beauty business in Nottingham in which I think she has an interest and she’s very closely connected to her family, very closely indeed.
"Very sadly, her dad died about four years ago. I met both her parents obviously and it was quite funny because when I first met them, I said to her dad, 'You must be very proud of her' and he said, 'Well yes we are, but we don’t understand where she gets it all from!' because he said her sister’s not a bit like that and her sister isn’t – she’s totally different - quiet, unassuming and everything else.
Oddly enough, the first time we both appeared on a stage in public, it was at the same theatre – me some years before her. I was in a musical called The Quaker Girl in Nottingham when I was 16 and it was the little theatre in Nottingham and that’s where her career started some years later."
Blakey in the Signal Box
Stephen Lewis, best known as Blakey on 1970s ITV sitcom, On The Buses, also had a main role in Oh Doctor Beeching! as Harry Lambert the signalman. Was there a moment when either Richard Spendlove or David Croft said, "Let's get Blakey from On the Buses to play this character?"
"No," replies Richard. "We both interviewed Stephen together as the signalman and he seemed to be a good bet and he did a good job. He’d got a good track record. You use that as the kind of people to take.
"In actual fact, in many of the other cases, it was said we used the "David Croft Repertory Company." Well why not? I mean they were all good for the parts and quite frankly, in most cases, they turned in good performances, I thought."
Plans for the Series
Although David Croft believed that the show would run and run, it was surprisingly decomissioned after just two series with the BBC perhaps mistakenly believing that the public weren't interested in it. This abrupt ending left many questions unanswered, not least whether or not Hatley would have eventually survived the Beeching Axe.
Suite 101: Was Dr. Beeching going to close the station in a future episode?
"Oh no, I don’t think so – not for a minute. In fact, we were going to develop it – there’s no doubt about that. In fact, what I can tell you is that John Inman was going to be in the next series and he was going to play Su Pollard’s father.
Suite 101: That would have been funny.
"Yes it would because he was a delight, John was. Absolute delight to work with and be with - I’d known John before Beeching."
Suite 101: Had you planned a final episode?
"Not at all because David had already said it was going to be another Coronation Street, so on that basis, coming from the mouth of a genius like that, we assumed that would have been the case - so what would have been the point in planning for an end to it? I mean he maintained that he would be dead before it finished.
"I think that kind of storyline could have gone on for three or four years with that uncertainty (over possible station closure) built into the storylines."
From the Railway to the TV
Suite 101: During your 35 years on the railways, did you ever think that one day you would go on to write a sitcom with David Croft?
"Does anybody? (laughs) No, I never thought that that would happen at all and certainly not with anybody as eminent as David.
"What you need to remember about David is that, for instance, his prowess was such that at one point, he went to the Head of Light Entertainment many years ago and said, 'Right, I’ve got a new situation comedy for you' and the Head of Light Entertainment – I’m not sure whether it was Bill Cotton – said to him, 'What’s it called?' He said, 'I’m not telling you.' He said, 'Well, what’s it about?' So David said, 'I’m not telling you.'
"So he said, 'Well do you expect us to commission it?' So David said, 'Yes, of course I do,' so he said, 'Well, you’d better get on with it then,' and it was ‘Allo ‘Allo!. He woulldn’t even tell them the title and on the basis of that, they commissioned the series on his say-so!
"The man is an unmitigated genius. I mean even now, he’d make a funeral funny. If he went to a funeral, he’d make it amusing. Incredible man."
Mr. Ernest Orkindale: District Inspector
As well as coming up with the original idea for Beeching, developing it and co-writing it, Richard Spendlove also made his TV debut in a small, but memorable role.
"I got a sort of acting debut in it," he explains, "because we were writing one episode and I said to David, 'We need another character here' and he said, 'What sort of character?' and I said, 'We need a District Inspector,' so he said, 'What does he do?' and I said, 'Well, he’s a foil between Paul Shane and Jeff, you see.'
"So he said to me, 'Have you ever been a District Inspector?' so I said, 'Yes,' so he said, 'Well, you’d better play him then.' So the result of that was that Mr. Ernest Orkindale, District Inspector was born and yours truly played him."
End of an Era
David Croft has had various successful showbusiness partnerships over the years, but to date, Richard Spendlove remains the last person to have written with the great man.
Since then, the sitcom format has changed somewhat and the gentler style of television comedy pioneered by the likes of David Croft and Jimmy Perry would seem to be a thing of the past, particularly as far as the BBC is concerned.
Suite 101: Was the end of Oh Doctor Beeching! the end of an era in terms of the David Croft-style of situation comedy?
"Yes, it was. I mean David won’t work now. There’s no reason why he should anyway - he’s a very wealthy man, but you know, in any case, yes, I was the last."
Suite 101: Did you think you would go down in comedy history as his last writing partner?
"I would have thought it was just about the greatest honour in the world and that’s turned out to be the case and it is to me a priceless achievement."
Adrian Peel - Adrian is an English freelance writer and journalist currently living in Mexico. Over the past eight years, he has had articles, features ...
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