Nearest and Dearest is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 45 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome (black & white) and 27 in colour. The series, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, starred Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel as squabbling middle-aged siblings Nellie and Eli Pledge who ran a family pickle business in Colne, Lancashire, in the North West of England.
Series premise and history
The first episode set up the premise: in his will, Joshua Pledge bequeathed a large sum of money to his middle-aged son and daughter... but only if they stay together for five years at his small pickle business, Pledge's Purer Pickles. However, hard-working spinster Nellie and her ne'er-do-well womanising brother Eli, rarely saw eye to eye. Nellie was played by comedian Hylda Baker, who was born and bred in Farnworth, eleven miles north of Manchester. Eli was played by Jimmy Jewel, a Yorkshire-born contemporary of Baker; he had made his name with Ben Warriss in the music hall (vaudeville) act Jewel and Warriss.
Also featured was the Pledges' second-cousin, Lily Tattersall, who was married to constantly-mute octogenarian Walter. Walter was unable to control his bladder, which led to one of the programme's oft-used catchphrases, "Has he been?". Lily was played by Madge Hindle, Walter by Edward Malin. Another regular character was the Pledges' toothless, cloth-capped old foreman, Stan Hardman (Joe Gladwin).
Much of the comedy was derived from Nellie's constant malapropisms. When asked by Lily if she knew the facts of life, Nellie replied with immense dignity, "Of course I do! I'm well over the age of content!" In another episode, Nellie has a suitor named Vernon Smallpiece, whom she addresses as 'Vermin Bigpiece'. When Eli insists on playing the high-powered executive once he is in charge of the pickle business, Nellie asks him who he thinks he is "sat sitting there like a big business typhoon!" In each episode, Nellie and Eli would hurl insults at each other to spectacular effect, as they fought over the family business or domestic matters, with Nellie's constant nagging and Eli's constant drinking and womanising fuelling their arguments. It was known that the insults continued off-screen as well, as Baker and Jewel disliked each other intensely in real life, their working relationship being described as "the most toxic in the whole of British sitcom history". In later episodes, Baker struggled to remember her lines and relied on cue cards and prompting from co-star Madge Hindle. Baker would suffer greatly with dementia during her final years.
The third series, transmitted in October and November 1969, was the first to be recorded in colour, but given that ITV began broadcasting in colour from 15 November 1969, most viewers would have seen these in black-and-white on their first run. An industrial dispute at ITV in 1971, known as the Colour Strike, led to seven of the eight programmes from the fifth series being made in black-and-white.
Episode list
Series 1: 1968
Series 2: 1969, summer
Series 3: 1969, autumn
Series 4: 1970
Series 5: 1970–71
Series 6: 1972
Series 7: 1972–73
Spin-offs and remake
In 1972, the main cast appeared in a film version of the series that was made by Hammer Films. The film included a vocal version of the series' theme tune sung by Hylda Baker.
In 1973, the series was adapted for the American market. Renamed Thicker Than Water, it starred Julie Harris and Richard Long as squabbling siblings Nellie and Ernie Paine, however, the US version was not successful and was cancelled after only 13 episodes.