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Posted by jcafcwbb (U10391343) on Friday, 21st March 2008
I was watching an old episode of Ever Decreasing Circles the other day and thought that Martin, played by Richard Briers, is the best duffer on TV I have ever seen. The way he is meticulous about the various committees he is running is the first argument, the local paper he photostats with great pride, but the killer is the way he hates Paul for all his modern, smarmy ways. He takes great offence at the way that everyone asks this fancy-dan newcomer and questions his long held control over all matters of village life.
This character is the epitome of duffing.
Obviously, this can be categorised into fictional or non-fictional, although it's hard to think of real duffers.
Corporal Jones
Victor Meldrew
Richard Bucket
Ross Geller
Howard Moon
Alan Hansen
Nicholas Crane
Mark Kermode
I guess many women duffers get sidelined in a Moira Stewart-stylee by TV bosses.
What is this "television" of which you speak?
Blimey, I fear you have given this far too much thought.
All the above plus...
Basil Brush
The Major (Fawlty towers)
Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart
Albert Tatlock
Mr Rusty
Bayleaf the Gardener
The Chicken in the Clangers
Jack Hargreaves
Cousin Jimmy (reggie Perrin)
Windy Miller
Lou Beale
There's a book in this. Carry on...
gidx
Aah, now you're talking my era. Surely The Major and Cousin Jimmy must qualify as uber-duffers.
I had intended to start a similar thread the other week but thought it may die on it's arse so I resisted the temptation. I'm glad to see that others too have lost valuable "work" time thinking about such trivial matters! "Bravo" I say.
Any-hoo, surely THE epitome of Duffer-dom has to be Basil Fawlty? (He would have been the reason for me starting my intended thread in the first place, by the way).
If for only for the one scene he surely deserves to be the televisual Duffer par excellence. In the opening scene of Gourmet Night when his car won't start, he utters the immortal line;
"Come on. Is it so difficult for you to start? If you don't go there's no point in having you".
And as for the scene when it breaks down completely at the end, he resorts to swearing at the car before beating it with a branch. When modern mechanics have let him down, the Duffer in him comes to the fore. Genius.
After watching Magicians last night I nominate David Mitchell. I also have remember the Professor from series two of Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century.
Got to include 'Dad' (Old Man Sugden) from vintage 'Emmerdale Farm', played by the gloriously-named Toke Townley (how's that for long term memory, God knows why it's in there...) and while we're on an Emmerdale theme, might aswell chuck in Amos Brearley and Mister Wilkes.....
, in reply to message 5.
Posted by thegreatgalah (U11243211) on Wednesday, 26th March 2008
Good call re Albert Tatlock! Check out the middle section of Leatherface's 'Dead Industrial Atmosphere' (from the 'Mush' album) for a case in point:
(To a nascent Ken Barlow, in his trademark northern burr): "You know, I never thought the day would come I'd have to say this, but I reckon that that college has turned you into a proper stuck-up litle snob!"
A veritable duffng masterclass...
, in reply to message 10.
Posted by the-airshow-duffer (U10124730) on Wednesday, 26th March 2008
Ah fellow duffers, may I say what a brilliant thread. Could i second the earlier vote for Howard Moon - contemporary and somewhat obscure duffing galantry at it's finest.
A slightly different take on this topic from me though...
Popular prime time info-tainment show Top Gear (other motoring shows are available... hold on... do i have to disclaim agianst a bbc show on a bbc thread?!?! Hmm..) embarked on growing their own biofuel. The episode followed Clarkson, Hammond and May get to grips with modern large scale farming machinery, from Clarksons JCB 'Sports Tractor' to Hammonds articulated 'Starship Enterplough'.
These multi-geared-hydro-lifting-horsepower-generating-earth-moving machines proved too complex for the well known popular presenters. Therefore, en-mass technical confusion = instant duffing. Yet, this was not what caught my attention.
As i watched on, it seemed the programme editor may have been a fan of our beloved 'Coe show, especially Duffing, as lo and behold the 'Out of town' themetune was proudly faded in whilst the machinery bafflement went on.
It was a televisual duffing feast...
Ah yes, Windy Miller. As hmhb.com defines him:
Anarchosyndicalist windmill operative, still corn grinding in spite of the mechanised mill down the road.
Not sure about the anarcho bit. Maybe the devil-may-care positioning of his front door does reveal that reckless streak within.
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by Jane_6MusicHost (U9666316) on Thursday, 27th March 2008
Lovely James May - he is a prince among duffers.
Zoe x
Would have to put in a vote for David 'Bing' Crosbie from Brookside. Stiff military-style moustache, beige anorak, clipboard and absolutely no truck with the modern world.
Not on TV, but surely Humphrey Littleton and in fact anyone who has ever appeared on "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue", qualify as the "Gold Standard" of the Duffer world?
Humph is a definite. And, factfans, he gave my dad his first gig in his band sometime in the mid-50s. Some years later I was on the same table as him and my old chap at an awards dinner and I'm proud to announce that both Coes fell asleep at table.
It was very late by then.
More stories when I remember them.
Gidx
I seem to remember Harry Enfield's dad Edward giving the impression that modern life was just a little bit too fast-paced for his liking.
"I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" is dull and arch. Does that equate with dufferdom? If so, then I'm on the wrong messageboard and will gladly get my coat.
Duffing's a broad church M/Mme/Mlle Agneau. And you're most welcome.
Of course being dull and arch isn't necessarily a bad thing.
As you were.
, in reply to message 19.
This posting has been hidden during moderation because it broke the in some way.
At the risk of seeming too obvious, surely Roy Cropper out of Corrie has got to be right up there.
BRIAN CANT!
Mind your language Fist
It was a more innocent age, when a childrens' entertainer could sport such a moniker.
But his dufferdom grew and blossomed until it reached his peak on Appledown Farm on 5 in the mornings
And while I'm at it, anyone old enough to remember an afternoon kids show on ITV in the 1970s called Crippens or Pipkins or something? It had Hartley hare and a pig and a monkey and a dancing ostrich? Well, the old bloke in that - classic duffer. He died after the first few years. I remember I cried. Like a child. (obviously)
Have a vague memory of Pipkins, but as ITV was something of forbidden zone in our house in those days, only fleeting glimpses were ever possible. My other half didn't live under such a harsh regime and informs me that Hartley Hare affected a posh accent and that Topov the monkey was a bit of a Cockney geezer. She also said the puppets were a bit crap!
Pipkins was quie depressing viewing. Wasn't there a brummie pig as well. I think there was. Though that in itself wasn't depressing. Hartley was often hungry.
The theme tune went
Pipkins the workers, pipkins, pipkins, going where help is needed.
I hope you were singing along. It's taken me back to days of going home at lunchtime and wanting to stay with me mother to listen to Waggoners Walk. We'd generally start to walk back to Bishop Road Juniors after the first ten minutes of ITN news.
Now I'm wistful.
Was there not some mention of 'Indigo Pipkin' in the theme song? Am I making that up?
To slightly high-jack the orignal theme of this thread if you'll permit me...
My lunch-time viewing before returning to nursery consisted of;
"Vicky the Viking" (a boy named Vicky? Is that right? It messed with a 4 year old's head I can tell you)
"The Sullivans" (never really understood it but I seem to recall really liking the theme tune when I was a nipper even though it completely escapes me now)
"Gideon" (no mikey-taking intended. It was a very meloncholic story about a long-necked goose called Gideon and not much else can I tell you about it. A bit weird in retrospect)
Ah, the memories! Heinz Tomato soup for lunch, then back to nursery to re-engage with fellow nippers as we got elbow deep in sand / water in the name of basic education.
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by Ian_From_Bruton (U10889793) on Tuesday, 1st April 2008
James May is a prince among duffers, being a big shed afficionado. Where would we duffers be without our sheds?
I heard him talking to Mark Radcliffe about his new series on the world's greatest inventions. He explained that nearly all of the great inventions had first seen the light of day in a shed. Which, in my book, makes the shed the greatest invention of all time.
Pipkens it was then. Not Crippens. Shame!
Hartley Hare was incredibly waspish and camp, wasn't he? Also glassy eyed and threadbare. Like a thespian hare who'd once famous in the theatre but now propped up the snug bar of the Coach and Horses, drinking gin.
Other daytime treats I remember were Crown Court, Mr & Mrs, and Painting With Nancy. Though actually they used a brush, disappointingly.
Absolutely no duffers there. Sorry.
F-o-O, "no duffers there"? Are you insane?
Derek Batey - surely he was the definition of '70s game-show presenting dufferdom! Any man who could get excitied about asking a Mrs, "Which trouser leg does Mr out his leg into first?", surely deserves to be counted as a Duffer?
, in reply to message 30.
Posted by MickShrimpton (U10147690) on Wednesday, 2nd April 2008
Waggoners Walk. Oh my!
I think "insane" would be taking it too far. "Affably bemused" is how I advertise myself.
The pig in Pipkins had a broad brummie accent I recall.
Is Harry Worth going back a bit too far - he lived in a permanent state of duuferdom.
Worth is another definite. Do yoursleves a favour and re-enact his shop-window-legs-in-the-air gag. It's a cracker.
Earlier this week I saw Tony Benn heading for his local Post Office. Surely he's one of our greatest political duffers. Proof that duffing can be left-wing. Though, of course, it doesn't have to be. Nicholas Soames springs to mind.
Carry on brothers and sisters.
Any character of reality shows.
I'll see your "Harry Worth" and raise you a "Bob Holness".
If memory serves, he sensibly avoided doing the stupid "Dance" / hand-jive nonsense that some wacky students performed at the end of the latter episodes of Blockbusters.
I think his abstinence was born of true dufferdom.
Good call on Holness Lee. I would add that anyone who ever appeared on Blockbusters has probably gone on to develop Duffer tendencies, especially if they completed five Gold Runs.
Those who joked about having a 'P' are, of course, disqualified.
How can the man who played the hook on 'Baker Street' truly be a duffer? Or was that Gideon's Dad? And Harry Worth was the first man to play James Bond.
It's all so confusing.
It begs the question. How many Coe correspondents (if any) appeared on Blockbusters?
Surely a GENUINE Duffer appearing on Blockbusters would be flying solo?
Anyone who had to "double-up" in order to try and make it to a Gold Run would be instantly disqualified from being a Duffer in my book.
If we're going to have political duffers, then you've got to have Macmillan, Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Howe, and Dennis Thatcher.
And Peter Snow
PS How did you know he was going to the post office Gid? Was he holding an un-franked letter? Or were you following him?
And Sir Rhodes Boyson.
And Ming Campbell
F_o_O,
Speaking of Snows, I would have included John Snow for his Duffer-ly love of bright-tie-with-sombre-suit combination.
However, I once caught a flight from Glasgow to Leeds/Bradford airport which he was also on. The second we landed he got on his mobile telephone, despite repeated requests from the very polite cabin crew that passengers should refrain from doing so until they have entered the terminal.
I think I may have even heard the odd audible "Tut" whilst he continued using his phone in flagrant disobedience of aviation law.
QED - He's no Duffer.
, in reply to message 46.
Posted by snuffles_badger (U11106710) on Thursday, 3rd April 2008
I think Sir Patrick Moore should be considered as greatest tv duffer. He wears a monocle for starters and has been duffing on television since the fifties.
Boris Johnson, or is he putting it on wolf in sheep's clothing style?
A few female duffers for you.
I always thought Hamble (sp?) the doll from Play School was something of a duffer, she was forever thoroughly disapproving of that young whippersnapper, Jemima. Despite the fact that neither spoke a single solitary word,...ah the power of the toddler's imagination! Was this all in my mind?
Lisa Simpson with her jazz-loving, clever clogs, right-on creds must surely be a major contender for dufferdom?
The 'Walkies' woman from the telly - Barbara something? By golly, if you were a pet dog (or indeed, dog owner) in the late 70s/early 80s you knew your place when she was around. By the same token, Fanny Craddock. Both formidable women who seemed to be from a bygone age where such eccentric behaviour earned a strange respect rather than ridicule. Scary stuff, mind you!
Also, (not female this one) what about Chucky from Rugrats? Classic cartoon duffing from the wild-haired one, methinks. He's a fella who likes to live by the rules and doesn't go in for these new-fangled ways and adventures. Wise baby.
Duffingtastic stuff from you all - well done!
Marie x
Barbara Woodhouse, you mean? Oh yes!
While were at it, how about Mrs Mangle (and the identical character played by the same actress in the aforementioned Sullivans?)
What about that Nun who was hot on art?
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