“Hyacinth Bucket” Keeping Up Appearances (1972)

     “Hyacinth Bucket” Keeping Up Appearances (1972) Hyacinth has decided to write a book of etiquette for the rest of us, the “socially less fortunate.” Adapted from the TV scripts by Jonathan Rice, it is a pleasure for fans, and probably a tedious bore for everyone else. I enjoyed it. Kathryn and Roy gave it to Mother in 1993, and it looks well read, so P&M etc must have read it also. I liked it, but then I like Hyacinth. Hyacinth’s determination to keep up appearances is after all her version of everyone’s desire to make something of oneself and be acknowledged as a real person. The TV episodes (written by Roy Clarke) at times achieve an odd pathos: the line between farce and tragedy is quite thin. *** (2004)