Rita and Wally is an Australiansituation comedy series which screened onATN-7 in 1968. This series was aspin-off fromMy Name's McGooley, What's Yours?, which ran from 1966 to 1968.
When the title character Dominic McGooley (Gordon Chater) left that series, it effectively continued as a new series under this title. The other regular cast members,John Meillon andJudi Farr, played the title characters along withNoeline Brown.[1]McGooley regularStewart Ginn also continued in this series. Without the heavy makeup that previously transformed his appearance, he played a new character here.
The key members of the McGooley creative team also carried over to this spin-off. As an innovation the title sequence featured animated figures of the leads with photographic superimposed heads. Notable guest stars wereSpike Milligan andChips Rafferty.
With the spin-off the main character Wally finally received a promotion to a white-collar job and the characters moved from their previous working-class area to more salubrious surrounds. Unfortunately once the show began it became apparent that the working class setting and conflicts, along with the character of McGooley, were crucial to the comedy of the situation andRita and Wally ended after only a few months.Rita and Wally had a run of 23 half-hour episodes.[2]
The final episode ofRita and Wally featured the return of Stewart Ginn, Frank Taylor and Gordon Chater reprising their roles of Peregrine Nancarrow, Vile and Dominic McGooley.[3]