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| Don't Drink the Water | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Ronald Chesney Ronald Wolfe |
| Written by | Ronald Chesney Ronald Wolfe Jon Watkins |
| Directed by | Mark Stuart |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Mark Stuart |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including adverts) |
| Production company | London Weekend Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 27 July 1974 (1974-07-27) – 6 December 1975 (1975-12-06) |
| Related | |
Don't Drink the Water is a 1974–1975 British televisionsitcom produced byLondon Weekend Television for theITV network. The series was created byRonald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe (who wrote almost every episode) and is a spin-off from their long running sitcomOn the Buses. Thirteen episodes were broadcast over two series from 27 July 1974 to 6 December 1975.
The storyline follows Cyril Blake living in Spain with his spinster sister Dorothy after his retirement from the Luxton & District Traction Company.
| # | Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Home from Home" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 27 July 1974 (1974-07-27) |
| 2 | "The Food" | Story by : Geoff Rowley & Andy Baker Teleplay by : Jon Watkins | 3 August 1974 (1974-08-03) |
| 3 | "Dry Run" | Jon Watkins | 10 August 1974 (1974-08-10) |
| 4 | "The Lift" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 17 August 1974 (1974-08-17) |
| 5 | "Careful What You Eat" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 24 August 1974 (1974-08-24) |
| 6 | "The Fuse" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 31 August 1974 (1974-08-31) |
| 7 | "The Smell" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 7 September 1974 (1974-09-07) |
| # | Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | "What! No Telly?" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 1 November 1975 (1975-11-01) |
| 9 | "The Romance" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 8 November 1975 (1975-11-08) |
| 10 | "A Helping Hand" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 15 November 1975 (1975-11-15) |
| 11 | "The Neighbours" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 22 November 1975 (1975-11-22) |
| 12 | "Fred" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 29 November 1975 (1975-11-29) |
| 13 | "Keeping Fit" | Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe | 6 December 1975 (1975-12-06) |
InTheRadio Times Guide to TV ComedyMark Lewisohn describedDon't Drink the Water as: "Nothing more, or less, than one of the most excruciating ITV sitcoms of them all,"[1] ranking it at No. 6 in his "The worst British sitcoms?" list.[1]: 853
Network originally included the first episode ofDon't Drink the Water as anextra feature on the seventh seriesDVD ofOn the Buses, which was released on 13 November 2006. All thirteen episodes were released on a two-disc DVD by Network on 1 November 2010. All thirteen episodes were also released in a box-set on 19 September 2011 along with all seven series ofOn the Buses and all three film spin-offs of that series.[2]
