The Gnomes of Dulwich is a Britcom that aired on The BBC in 1969 starring Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd.
Big (Scott), Small (Lloyd), and Old (John Clive) are three "proper" garden gnomes made of stone living outside 25 Telegraph Road. However, when several new "Empire Gnomes" made in China of cheaper material - including Plastic (Leon Thau), Rita (Lynn Dalby), and Dolly (Anne De Vigier) - move in next door, their serenity is challenged, with the haughty Big looking down on their new neighbours.
In their own time, Big and Small would sit by their pond and comment on all sorts of topics ranging from life to race to religion. Writer Jimmy Perry had always been interested in gnomes and in later years looked back on the series with fondness and stated, "It became a little cult".
The show had one repeat run in 1970, but all six episodes were wiped from the BBC archives. Only stills and just over a minute of audio from "Neighbours", the first episode, survive in the present day. In 2018, it was voted the "35th most wanted missing TV programme" by the British Comedy Guide.
The Tropes of Dulwich:
- Comically Missing the Point: When Big tells Small he goes around with his eyes closed in "Neighbours", Small wonders how he can when his eyes are painted open.
- Creator Cameo: Writer Jimmy Perry played a plaster bust of Napoléon Bonaparte in the final episode.
- Dirty Old Man: When Old isn't asleep, he has a keen eye for the female gnomes.
- The Faceless: The "human beans" were only either heard from offscreen or shown from the legs down.
- Fantastic Racism: Plastic gnomes are looked down upon by stone gnomes, simply for being different.
- Identical Stranger: "Two Big's in One Garden" saw the arrival of a new gnome that was an exact replica of Big, both gnomes coming from the Royal Hertfordshire Stone Gnome Company.
- Japanese Ranguage: The Empire Gnomes are from China and speak in an overly stereotypical way expected to be heard in a late '60s Britcom:Dolly: Hey boys! How about you taking us out tonight and having a bit of flun?
- Made in Country X: The Empire Gnomes are cheaply made in China, part of the reason the stone gnomes look down on them.
- Malaproper: The gnomes call human beings "human beans".
- Meaningful Name:
- Big is the biggest gnome at 25 Telegraph Road, whereas Small is the smallest.
- Old is an old sleepy gnome.
- Plastic is a gnome made of plastic.
- One-Word Title: "Neighbours", the series' first episode.
- Pun-Based Title: The series' title is a gnome-based pun on the term "The Gnomes of Zürich".
- Put on a Bus: Old, Plastic, Rita, and Dolly all disappear after "Two Big's in One Garden", as the final episode saw only Big and Small sold to 10 Downing Street.
- Second Episode Introduction: Rita isn't introduced until the second episode, "Small and the Girl Gnome Consult Tope Gnome".
- Senior Sleep-Cycle: Old is constantly fast asleep holding his spade.
- Short-Runners: The series only ran for one series of six episodes.
