Up the Elephant and Round the Castle


Up the Elephant and Round the Castle is a British television sitcom, which aired from 1983 to 1985, and was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. Starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim London, the show spawned a sequel, Home James!, which was also made by Thames. Home James ran from 1987 to 1990.

Plot

Jim London is a young lovable rogue who becomes a man of property when a relative dies, leaving him a run-down Victorian property at 17 Railway Terrace in the Elephant and Castle area of south London. He gets into various problems with the police and spends most of his time getting drunk and chasing women.

Cast

CharacterActor
Jim LondonJim Davidson
Ernie "Dad" LondonJohn Bardon
Wanda PicklesSue Nicholls
Arnold MoggsNicholas Day
BrianBrian Hall
Tosh CareyBrian Capron
Lois TightAnita Dobson
Vera SpiggotSara Corper
Jim's MumRosalind Knight

Episodes

22 episodes were aired over 3 series.

Production

The sitcom's theme tune was composed by Keith Emerson. The full length version can be heard on two of his albums, Hammer It Out and Off the Shelf.

DVD releases

Series one was released on DVD in September 2007. The complete series was released on 5 May 2008 and was later re-released by Network on 3 October 2016.