Kingswood Country


Kingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering suburban father. It was written by Gary Reilly and Tony Sattler and produced by their production company, RS Productions. The show won Logie Awards for Best Comedy in 1981 and 1982, and was briefly revived in a spin-off in 1997 titled Bullpitt, although it proved less successful.

Premise

The show is a family sitcom focusing on the main character, Edward Melba "Ted" Bullpitt, a white Australian, conservative, Holden Kingswood-loving putty factory worker and WWII veteran and his interactions with his more progressive wife and two adult children.
He lives for three things: his beloved chair in front of the TV, his unsuccessful racing greyhounds Repco Lad and Gay Akubra and his Holden Kingswood car. His long-suffering wife, the vague and dithering Thelma, was cast as a traditional housewife trapped by Ted's conservative family views, but she often got her own back on Ted.
Ted's Kingswood is never shown on any episode.
Humour was generated by the conflict of Ted's traditional views and his children's progressive nature. For example, his son Craig is portrayed as a sexually rampant medical student and is referred to as an "Al Grassby Groupie". His daughter, Greta, is portrayed as a feminist and is married to Bruno, the son of Italian immigrants, to whom Ted objects. Other politically incorrect humour includes Ted's references to Neville, the concrete Aboriginal garden statue. This was named after Australia's first Aboriginal Senator, Neville Bonner, who enjoyed it so much he visited the show's recording.
At other times, humour was based on the more traditional comedic methods of poorly thought-out schemes of Ted's ; class differences and simple misunderstandings leading to a chain of humorous events.

Guest stars on Kingwood Country

Guest stars in the series included Graham Kennedy, Robert Hughes, Noeline Brown, Cornelia Frances, Ray Meagher, Henri Szeps and Bruce Spence, amongst others.

Characters

Ted Bullpitt

Played by Ross Higgins. Ted, full name Edward Melba Bullpitt, is the main character of the series. He is intolerant and has a particular hatred of Catholics. Ted was part of a kitchen unit captured by the Italians in World War Two. His favourite thing, over his wife and family, is his Holden Kingswood. He also enjoys reading the comic Mandrake, sitting in his chair in front of the television, either while reading the paper or with his tankard of beer as well as tending to his greyhounds. Ted is known as "Big Bum Bullpitt" to the students and nuns at the local Catholic school St Joseph's. He is also afraid of the nuns, though seems to like Sister Maria as she also likes beer.
According to Ted, he is a descendant of Lord Stokely Bullpitt of Kingswood who died in 1786 as he fell from his horse during a nun hunt. His only son was illegitimate so therefore could not claim his father's title. That son married an Italian kitchen maid named Maria Bertalucci – an ancestor of Bruno. The title was first bestowed by Henry VIII to a man whom he gave a large section of his forest or the King's Wood, hence the title.

Thelma Bullpitt

Played by Judi Farr. Thelma, known as "Thel" for short, is Ted's wife and mother of Craig and Greta. She often answers the telephone with catchphrases in the hope of winning the latest prize from TV Week or whatever competition is currently running on the radio. Thelma also keeps a drawer full of old receipts to show Ted after buying expensive items from Myer. Thelma gives very specific advice on how to perform everyday chores – for example, making coffee or tea, "You'll have to add hot water dear, otherwise it'll be a bit dry". In the spin-off, Bullpit, it is revealed she divorced Ted, married an Italian and lives in Italy.

Craig Bullpitt

Played by Peter Fisher. Craig is Ted's only son. He is a medical student and later in the series marries his girlfriend Wendy.

Greta Bertolucci

Played by Laurel McGowan. Greta is Ted's only daughter and is married to Bruno Bertolucci.

Bruno Bertolucci

Played by Lex Marinos. Bruno is Ted's son-in-law, who he refers to as 'The Wog' and is married to Greta. He drives a purple Chrysler Valiant, which is often a sore point with the Holden-loving Ted. Bruno takes great delight in poking fun at Ted and calling him 'Grumblebum' or 'Teddles', but affectionately calls Thelma 'Mrs B' and has sympathy with her for having to put up with Ted.

Bob Bullpitt

Played by Colin McEwan. Ted's brother. Bob, is a used car salesman, often referred to as a 'Bloody Datsun dealer' by Ted. He has a love-hate relationship with both Ted and his wife Merle and insults are often traded, though he does have a soft spot for Thelma. His trademark greeting is 'hey-dee ho everybody, here comes the party!”

Merle Bullpit

Played by Maggie Dence. Ted's upwardly mobile sister-in-law and is married to his brother Bob. Seems to dislike both Bob and Ted and often insults them both, although she gets on well with her sister-in-law despite Thelma's sometimes vague nature.

Rosa Bertolucci

Played by Sheila Kennelly. After Ted's wife Thelma leaves, Bertolucci comes to look after hapless Ted. She defines herself as a happy-go-lucky wog.

Catchphrases

The series has spawned some catchphrases such as:
SeasonEpisodesFirst airedLast aired
11330 January 198011 June 1980
21318 June 198024 September 1980
32018 June 198115 October 1981
42327 May 198226 April 1984
51019841984
6107 July 198413 September 1984

DVD

A 'Best Of' DVD was released in 2003 featuring 13 out of the 89 episodes as well as the original skit on The Naked Vicar Show that spawned the series. A second 'Best Of' featuring an additional 13 episodes was also released in 2006. Then in September 2008 a third best of set was released. On 12 May 2010 The Best of Kingswood Country Volume 4 was released with another 13 episodes, which will mean that 52 out of 89 episodes will be available on DVD commercially.
The Complete Series collection was released as an 11 disc DVD box set on 4 December 2019, from Via Vision Entertainment. It contains all 89 episodes of the show.
TitleFormat#Ep#DiscRegion 4 Special FeaturesDistributors
The Best of Kingswood Country DVDSeason 01, Episodes 01,08,10,11.
Season 02, Episodes 14,16,19.
Season 03, Episodes 16,31.
Season 04, Episodes 07,08,15,16.		03–*The original sketch from The Naked Vicar Show.
  • Goof reel
  • Fantastic Photo Gallery
Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country DVDSeason 01, Episodes 12 & 13.Season 02, Episodes 02.
Season 03, Episodes 04,10,14,19.
Season 04, Episodes 02 & 14.
Season 05, Episodes 02 & 08.
Season 06, Episodes 01 & 10.		034 September 2006-Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country DVD130330 August 2008-Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country DVD130312 May 2010-Shock Entertainment
The Best of Kingswood Country DVD521213 October 2010N/AShock Entertainment
Kingswood Country: The Complete SeriesDVDSeason 01, Episodes 01-13
Season 02, Episodes 01-13
Season 03, Episodes 01-20
Season 04, Episodes 01-23
Season 05, Episodes 01-10
Season 06, Episodes 01-10		114 December 2019
  • The original sketch from The Naked Vicar Show.
  • Goof reel
Via Vision Entertainment

Bullpitt! (Kingswood Country spin-off)

A spin-off to the series was the short-lived, much panned Bullpitt! in 1997. Of the original show's cast, only Ross Higgins had a regular role. Elaine Lee co-starred. A Best of Set was released in September 2008.