Come Back Mrs. Noah

Come Back Mrs. Noah is a British television sitcom starring Mollie Sugden that aired on BBC1 from 17 July to 14 August 1978, with a pilot broadcast on 13 December 1977. It was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, who had also written Are You Being Served? which also starred Mollie Sugden. Come Back Mrs. Noah was not a success, with some regarding it as one of the worst British sitcoms ever made.

Plot
In 2050, British housewife Gertrude Noah wins a cookery competition, and is awarded a tour of Britannia Seven, the UK's new Space Exploration Vehicle. The craft is accidentally sent blasting off into space with a crew consisting only of Mrs Noah, proton physicist Carstairs, neutron physicist Fanshaw, lightbulb-changer Garstang, and BBC reporter Clive Cuncliffe. The series then centres on efforts to bring them back to Earth. The programme Far and Wide (a parody of Nationwide) features frequent updates read by Gorden Kaye. These reports present a reality in which Britain is the most successful nation on Earth, providing aid to countries like Germany and the United States.

Main

 * Mollie Sugden as Mrs Gertrude Noah
 * Ian Lavender as Clive Cunliffe
 * Donald Hewlett as Carstairs
 * Michael Knowles as Fanshaw
 * Gorden Kaye as TV Presenter
 * Tim Barrett as Garfield Hawk
 * Joe Black as Garstang
 * Ann Michelle as Scarth Dare
 * Jennifer Lonsdale as Technician

Guests

 * Raymond Bowers as Professor Holzburger
 * Robert Gillespie as Mission Control
 * Harold Bennett as Priest
 * Christopher Mitchell as Butler
 * Norman Mitchell as Mr Noah
 * Diana King as Mrs Carstairs
 * Vicki Michelle as Maid
 * Jean Gilpin as 2nd Technician
 * Jennifer Guy as Ivy Basset
 * Kenneth MacDonald as Space Hen

Development
The series was originally intended as a vehicle for Mollie Sugden, to take her out of the usual setting she was often cast in. Co-writer David Croft was worried that others would soon start work on similar projects, so he rushed the idea past the BBC as soon as he could. Speaking to writer and historian Graham McCann years later, Croft recalled: "It speaks volumes about the flexibility of the BBC at that time but we rushed it along without any opposition at all. One of my concerns, when I spoke to [Head of Comedy] Jimmy Gilbert, was that everyone would soon be trying to do something similar in this area, because 'space' was suddenly all the rage, so I was greatly bothered about the danger of duplication. So I told him that Jeremy and I had an idea that we really liked, and that we wanted to do a pilot, but that the idea was so 'hot' that I'd prefer not to tell him what it was about. And Jimmy, to his eternal credit, didn't ask for a script, he didn't question it at all, he just told me to go ahead and do it."

Production
David Croft signed up Mollie Sugden as Mrs Noah, in her first sitcom starring role. Sugden had previously starred as Mrs Slocombe in the Croft and Lloyd sitcom Are You Being Served?. Also in the series was Ian Lavender, who was known for his role as Private Pike in Dad's Army. Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles played physicists Carstairs and Fanshaw; the two were already known to viewers as Colonel Reynolds and Captain Ashwood in the sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Other countries
Come Back Mrs. Noah was also shown in the Netherlands, starting on 30 June 1979. It was also aired in Australia and on several public television stations in the United States including WPBT in Miami, Florida and WNED-TV in Buffalo, New York.