Come Back Mrs. Noah


Come Back Mrs Noah, known as Operation Noah in the US, is a British 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.

Cast

In 2050, British housewife Gertrude Noah wins a cookery competition, and the prize is a tour of Britannia Seven, the UK's new Space Exploration Vehicle. In the pilot episode, the craft is accidentally sent blasting off into space with Mrs Noah and a small crew on it. The series then centres on efforts to bring Mrs Noah back to Earth. The news bulletins on Earth, read by Gorden Kaye, revealed countries like the United States and Germany had to turn to Britain, the most successful nation on Earth, for help. After a failed effort to nudge the craft into the Earth's atmosphere, the series concluded with Mrs. Noah, and crew, careering off uncontrollably to the depths of space.

Episodes

All of the episodes are directed by Bob Spiers and written by the team of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd.
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Other countries

A pilot for an American version, starring Charlotte Rae in the title role, was recorded for NBC in 1978, with a second episode, with some cast and set changes requested by NBC being taped two months later; however the series was never picked up and these two episodes never aired. To appease Rae's contract with NBC, later that year she was cast in the sit-com Diff'rent Strokes.
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.

Footnotes