Keeping Up Appearances

One of many pretty streets in central Bruges

I noticed that there was a draft blog in my Bruges file recently which I had begun and then forgotten so I am including and extending it today. Probably written during my last year in Bruges [2021] as mention is made of the positive effect of Covid and Lockdown which happened in 2020. "As I wander the Bruggean streets, I keep noticing the eye-catching results of considerable efforts on the part of owners of restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, to beautify their outside spaces and add extra appeal for visitors and tourists. Almost every terrace on the Markt, for instance, can boast flowering plants in containers, little trees in large pots, greenery and floral flourishes in one guise or another.. It is aesthetically delightful and Covid with Lockdown can take much of the credit. It is a significant celebration in an already beautiful little city; rather like a splendidly accoutred dowager pinning a luscious rose in her hair."

Hyacinth alias Patricia Routledge

The long-suffering Richard 
played by Clive Swift

As I wrote the above title, I welcomed the familiar phrase from long ago, one which always raises a smile. Obviously I was referring to Brugge polishing up its image, but the smile which generally accompanies that expression comes from the inevitable association with a 90s TV sitcom with that title, Keeping Up Appearances. 1990-1995.  Instantly, happily, one remembers Hyacinth Bucket [ALWAYS pronounced, incorrectly, Bouquet!] a snob and social climber, played exquisitely in the series by Patricia Routledge. Hyacinth, formidable though she was but so fondly recalled, was an almost divine inspiration for the ever-class-conscious Brits; she was perfectly formed for every class-based social minefield as she desperately tries to hide her working class roots and emphasise her middle class exclusivity. She always answers her phone thus, “The Bouquet residence; the lady of the house speaking.” There is always a Northern undercurrent to her working class attempted RP [Received Pronunciation] as she struggles to impress others with her refinement and pretended affluence. She adores to give ‘executive-style’ candlelit suppers with her Royal Worcester Avignon plus the Royal Doulton china with “the hand-painted periwinkles.” One of four sisters named after flowers, she desperately tries to hide her two ghastly lower-class sisters, Daisy and Rose, the latter a sexy man-eater, and probably promiscuous to boot. And of course, there is Daisy’s proudly non-working slob of a husband, Onslow, who probably lives on Benefits! In fact, Onslow, sofa-bound and vest-clad, proudly unshaven

The cast.

and definitely unbowed, becomes Hyacinth’s nemesis throughout the series. Daisy and Rose turn up, from time to time unexpectedly, [obviously they are never invited] often with Hyacinth’s senile father, conveyed in a totally run-down, scruffy, back-firing Ford Cortina; NOT a car for anyone in the aspiring middle class. They are unfailingly, proudly and noisily, working class, lacking, and indeed, oblivious to, any social pretensions whatsoever, Meanwhile, Richard, [Clive Swift] Hyacinth's husband, wearily tolerates her social-climbing ambitions, and tenaciously continues his long-suffering endurance, all made even more difficult when he has to take early retirement from his Council job and he is home all day. Before his early retirement from some lowly bureaucratic job, Hyacinth always referred to him as 'a power in the local authority.'

"The Bouquet residence; the lady of the house speaking."

Hyacinth’s much-lauded son Sheridan, about whose intellectual prowess she frequently boasts, despite the fact that he is following a course on embroidery at a Polytechnic and lives with his friend. Tarquin.We never actually meet Sheridan, and  Hyacinth is blissfully unaware of her son’s real relationship with his flat-mate who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas and has won prizes for his embroidery. Though never clarified, Richard’s calm manner over Sheridan suggests that perhaps the son has confided his real sexuality to his tolerant father. Meanwhile, Hyacinth boasts about the frequent letters and phone calls from her son, suggesting their close relationship, though in truth dear Sheridan never writes and only phones when he needs money.

Rose, Hyacinth's sex-obsessed sister

There are countless, priceless memorable lines from the series, always uttered by Hyacinth oblivious to any deeper signifying message. Her fourth sister, Violet, though never normally seen, quite often phones. Hyacinth always wears a satisfied, rather superior, smirk as she announces, "It's my sister, Violet, the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony." Hyacinth complains, "Sometimes on sleepless nights, my head is swimming with the responsibilities of organising another candle-lit supper." Richard has a frisbe at one point which he claims has been given to him but poor doubting Hyacinth says, " And sometimes I wonder ......... did he REALLY buy that frisbe?"

Judy Cornwell as Daisy, the more
lovable sister though she IS 
married to the ghastly Onslow.

She abhors people who try to pretend they're superior and "make it so much harder for those of us whe really are."    She enquires innocently, " What is the missionary position in China these days?" And vows to protect one character from "sinking into moral turpitude." Oh, dear Hyacinth never fails to evoke gusts of knowing laughter and is still remembered fondly nine years after the series finished. It ended because Patricia Routledge decided that she should do other things. Rumour has it that her decision was greeted with dismay by cast and writer alike but the series folded as Patricia had feared; she had indeed become Hyacinth!!

Post Script 

"On 3 September 2024, BBC Four, aired a second retrospective 15-minute special interview, with the leading role actress, Dame Patricia Routledge.   In the short documentary Routledge recalled how the character of Hyacinth Bucket had entered her life, how she was cast in the role as one of televisions most formidable comedy characters. Routledge also explained her pleasures of working with her fellow cast members and shared her thoughts of why the character of Richard Bucket endured many years of his marriage with Hyacinth. She explains why – despite her fondness for every element of the sitcom, that it was her own personal decision, to call time on the show, when the BBC and all of the other cast and crew members would have loved for it to have continued."

 

 

Hyacinth and Richard
two enduring comic characters