Directing Situation Comedy by Harold Snoad

I’ve been wanting a copy of the BBC Manual by Harold Snoad for ages. And when it arrived, I wasn’t disappointed.

I’ll be honest. I was secretly hoping it would have some scrawled marginalia throughout, and that I could pretend to myself it was notes taken by someone who went on to direct some great sitcoms. Alas, there was none.

Here’s the back cover.

I think that camera is pointing through the window into Martin Bryce’s shed.

And a close up of that text at the bottom.

One of which was It Sticks Out Half A Mile.

And here’s how Harold introduces the tome.

And this, a little later on.

He ends the manual with this.

And here’s a great photo of the audience for a recording of Ever Decreasing Circles (the final episode, I think).

, , ,
Buy My Books
  • Nineteen 90s Shows
    Nineteen 90s Shows

    I wrote another book about television. I like television. I like television so much that the first thing I modelled and printed on my new 3d printer was this … I made some more after that too. There’s a few more, including TVS, ATV, and HTV, but I bought you here to talk about my…

Follow
Most Read
  • Re-Casting Keanu
    Re-Casting Keanu

    Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him eight years older than Clive Dunn was when he was first cast in Dad’s Army. But don’t panic, Clive Dunn was always playing much older characters than his own age. Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him seven years older than Stephanie Cole was when she was first…

From The Archive

Sign up for my FREE newsletter