6 Dates with Barker - The Removals Person (1971)

Ep 1 of 6: The Removals Person. A short sighted removals man is given the job of moving a wealthy family during the King's coronation and finds himself striking up a friendship with their maid Travers during the job. Starring Ronnie Barker, Josephine Tewson, Joan Benham, Gillian Fairchild, Nan Brauton and Christopher Timothy in an early role. This was one of those series to showcase Ronnie Barker's talents as well as serve a purpose of future sitcom pilots (such as Seven of One did in 1973), all in different years. Ironically out of the six picked here, this was the only one that would eventually become a sitcom, but 15 years later when Ronnie Barker made his decision to retire from show business. That sitcom was Clarence (1988) (which may give you a hint of what is to come next week), but here the removals man is called Fred. It's certainly one of the better offerings in this series, though the next one to come would also reappear in a longer format and would terrify and delight kids everywhere...