Line #9 Series/OnTheHouse


1	[[quoteright:964:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/onthehouse.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:964:L to R: Charlie Cattermole and Gussie Sissons.]]
3
4	->''"'We Shall Not Be Moved' - That's what it says, and that's what we mean."''
5	-->-- '''Gussie Sissons''' leading yet another strike, "Take Me to Your Leader"
6
7	''On the House'' is a {{Britcom}} that aired on Creator/{{ITV}} from 1970-71, starring Creator/KennethConnor and John Junkin.
8
9	Charlie Cattermole (Junkin) is the foreman at a construction site owned by a firm called Thomas Clackwood and Sons. Charlie's team should be trying to build an estate of bijoux residences, but the only thing in his way of doing a good job is Gussie Sissons (Connor), the chief labourer and shop steward who loves going on strike as much as possible.
10
11	Gussie and the rest of the workers - Old Fred Spooner (John Normington), Arnold Pugh (Creator/TommyGodfrey), Walter (Gordon Rollings), and Stanley (Peter Attard) - love to give Charlie a hard time whenever they can.
12
13	In Series 2, Walter and Stanley [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared]], and in their place came Derek (Derek Griffiths) and Harvey Micklethwaite (Creator/RobinAskwith). Series 2 also introduced Dr. Stanley (Creator/PatrickTroughton), a psychotic, wheelchair-bound man who would stop at nothing to get Gussie and the others out of the way of his "floodtide of progress".
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15	The series hasn't been aired since 1971 and although all episodes exist, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes the series has never been officially released in any form]]. The only available clip on the internet is from the episode "Take Me to Your Leader" and can be viewed [[https://twitter.com/SaucySeventies/status/1344629383101886465 here]].
16	----
17	!! On the Tropes:
18	* ActorAllusion: In "Take Me to Your Leader", Harvey mentions the Daleks from ''Series/DoctorWho''. "Take Me to Your Leader" was also the second appearance of Creator/PatrickTroughton as Dr. Stanley, who was better known for playing the Second Doctor.
19	* AffectionateNickname: Arnold calls Gussie "Gus".
20	* AlliterativeName:
21	** '''C'''harlie '''C'''attermole.
22	** '''B'''eryl '''B'''agley, a OneShotCharacter from "Will the Real Harvey Micklethwaite Please Stand Up?"
23	* AlliterativeTitle: Series 2 has an episode titled "'''Tr'''easure '''Tr'''ove".
24	* BigStormEpisode: "The Wettest Day of the Year" revolved around exactly that - the builders trying to cope with a massive rainfall.
25	* BreakingTheFourthWall: In "Take Me to Your Leader", Dr. Stanley looks directly into the camera and gives a rant about how he will stop at nothing to let Charlie's men hold back his floodtide of progress.
26	* BritishBrevity: Only twelve episodes were produced in two years.
27	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Both Walter and Stanley disappeared after Series 1.
28	* EvilCripple: Dr. Stanley is wheelchair-bound, but a truly sinister character, going as far as to threaten the builders with nerve gas in "Take Me to Your Leader".
29	* FinalSeasonCasting: The final series dropped Gordon Rollings and Peter Attard from the cast, and in their place brought in Derek Griffiths and Creator/RobinAskwith.
30	* TheGhost:
31	** The boss of the building firm, Thomas Clackwood, never appeared in the flesh.
32	** Old Fred mentions Elsie in "Take Me to Your Leader", an old friend who liked to sing at Christmas.
33	* LaughingMad: Dr. Stanley ends his deranged [[BreakingTheFourthWall direct-to-camera]] rant in "Take Me to Your Leader" by wildly cackling.
34	* LazyBum: Harvey was a long-haired layabout, a character similar to the one that Creator/RobinAskwith would later play in the ''Film/ConfessionsOfASeries''.
35	* MusicalisInterruptus: The builders singing "We Shall Not Be Moved" in "Take Me to Your Leader" gets cut short by the arrival of Dr. Stanley:
36	-->'''Dr. Stanley:''' ''Oh'', please, gentlemen, do not stop. That is ''almost'' my favourite song.
37	* NoFullNameGiven: We never get to find out Walter, Stanley, or Derek's last names.
38	* OneSteveLimit: There were two characters called "Stanley" - a builder from Series 1, and recurring antagonist Dr. Stanley from Series 2.
39	* QuestioningTitle: Series 2 had episodes titled "Are You Giving Me the Business'''?'''" and "Will the Real Harvey Micklethwaite Please Stand Up'''?'''".
40	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Dr. Stanley threatens the builders with nerve gas in "Take Me to Your Leader", Arnold, Old Fred, Harvey, and Derek all scarper, leaving Gussie to face him all alone. Gussie yells at them to come back but takes one more look at the spray guns and bolts too.
41	* ShortRunners: The series only aired for twelve episodes over two years.
42	* ShoutOut:
43	** After the builders sing "We Shall Not Be Moved" in "Take Me to Your Leader", Old Fred gets sidetracked and starts going on about other songs he likes, namely "Till the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold" and "Baby Face".
44	** When Dr. Stanley's henchmen arrive on the building site with spray guns full of nerve gas in "Take Me to Your Leader", Harvey remarks "Blimey, it's [[Series/DoctorWho the Daleks]]!".
45	** The episode "Will the Real Harvey Micklethwaite Please Stand Up?" gets its title from the phrase "Will the real ____ please stand up?" from the GameShow ''Series/ToTellTheTruth''.
46	* SitcomArchNemesis: Gussie and Charlie were forever at odds due to their positions as shop steward and foreman; Charlie wants to get work done on the building site, whereas Gussie would rather be on strike 24/7.
47	* TakeThat: In "Take Me to Your Leader", Arnold rudely calls Dr. Stanley "Malcolm Muggeridge on wheels".

Context Series / OnTheHouse