Romany Jones (1972)
Synopsis
Romany Jones is a British sitcom created and written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe for LWT. Broadcast between 1973 and 1975, the programme follows the comic misadventures of two layabout families living on a caravan site. Originally designed as a starring vehicle for James Beck (Dad's Army), the 1972 pilot and 1973 first series centred on Bert and Betty Jones (Jo Rowbottom), newlywed after seven years, who spend their wedding night in their rickety caravan, natural to Bert but distinctly alien to Betty, born and bred in Streatham. Most of the humour focused on life in theirs and a neighbouring caravan housing Lily and Wally Briggs (Queenie Watts and Arthur Mullard, although Arthur English was cast in the pilot). Following Beck's death after completion on the second series, Bert and Betty were written out, and replaced with a city gentleman and his debutante wife, both of whom remain blissfully oblivious to the Briggs' antics.
Network
London Weekend Television
Episodes
The More We Are Together
Betty's mother visits the caravan she is now sharing with her workshy husband, Bert
The Ring
It's taken Betty several years of hard courting to get a wedding ring; it's taken her just 7 weeks of marriage to lose it. But the ring must be somewhere in the caravan...
Run Rabbit Run
Bert confidently predicts that broiler rabbits will solve all his financial problems and bring the maximum of profit with the minimum of effort. Betty doesn't share his enthusiasm - but the arrival of a boxful of baby bunnies melts her resistance...
A Rough Night
Betty's belief that she deserves better than a caravan home is underlined when Bert and Wally quarrel about a dustbin. With mice and ants as her unlikely allies, and after a night spent sleeping in the car, Betty looks set to win the battle - but who will win the war?
The Competition
Bert enters a competition to find the country's Ideal Newlyweds - and Betty nearly realises her life-long ambition of spending a proper honeymoon in the sun.
An Addition to the Family
Bert and Betty Jones return home late to find that a stranger has broken into their caravan. They understandably take strongarm action, but the bearded intruder resists all attempts at eviction.
Look After the Pennies
Betty decides that if she and Bert are ever to save enough money to buy a house, she must become the breadwinner. Unfortunately Bert is as incompetent as a house-wife as he is at everything else.
Cast
Details
Original Title
Romany Jones
Status
Ended
Seasons
4
Episodes
26
Production
Thames Television, LWT
