Keeping Up Appearances title card  Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket, with Clive Swift, who played her husband Richard. Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom (sometimes referred to as a Britcom in America) which ran on BBC1 from 1990 to 1993 and again in 1995. It revolves around the constant struggles of the protagonist Hyacinth Bucket—who pronounces as Bouquet, although her husband always pronounced it "Bucket" before he married. Hyacinth gets miffed whenever someone "mispronounces" it. She always seeks to appear to be of a higher social class than she is. Episodes often feature her latest scheme to move up in life from her middle-class existence—for example her sophisticated "candlelight suppers"—getting foiled. She frequently attempts to outdo her neighbours as well.
Hyacinth's husband, Richard, patienly endures his wife's eccentricities. When he tries to address an issue, she merely ignores him. A civil servant who takes early retirement midway through the series, Richard is always reminding Hyacinth of their middle-class financial status, which she brushes off.
Also featured are Hyacinth's lower-class sister Daisy and her "bone-idle" husband Onslow. Onslow and Daisy live with Daisy and Hyacinth's promiscuous sister, Rose, and their increasingly senile father. More often Hyacinth attempts to closely associate herself with her other, more wealthy sister, Violet, though this often goes awry as well.
Other characters include Hyacinth's next-door neighbour, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's brother Emmet. Emmet is a recently-divorced musician who moves in with his sister. Hyacinth, fancying herself a great singer, bursts into off-key song whenever Emmet is nearby in hopes that he will recruit her for his amateur operatics society.
The vicar of the Buckets' parish church and his long-suffering wife also appear regularly. The handsome young vicar often finds his wife jealous of the attentions other women pay to him, particularly, Hyacinth's sister Rose, who refers to him as "that dishy vicar".
As Hyacinth is the centre of the programme, it should be noted that many details of the other characters' lives are unknown. For example, we do not know Daisy and Onslow's surname, nor do we know Rose's. The vicar's given name is Michael, but his surname is also unknown. The vicar's wife is completely nameless, as is Hyacinth's father, who is referred to either as "Daddy" or "Father".
Critics of the sitcom have pointed out that the plot of each episode follows a rather rigid pattern, and claim that "once you've seen one episode, you've seen them all". More sympathetic reviewers point to the fact that formulaic repetition has been a noble characteristic of many much-loved sitcoms, and in this case provides a skeleton on which to hang the performance comedy that allows the cast, particularly Routledge, to excel.
Running Gags
The running gags in most episodes are:
- Hyacinth answering the phone as, "The Bouquet residence, lady of the house speaking. Oh, it's you...".
- Hyacinth yells "Sheridan!" very loudly when she receives a call from him. (usually only when Sheridan needs money from "mummy").
- Frequent mention of Hyacinth's son, Sheridan, but he does not make an actual appearance in any episode. There are some fairly obvious clues indicating that Sheridan is gay. Richard, and we the viewers, know this, however Hyacinth is oblivious to the fact.
- Frequent reference to Hyacinth's wealthy sister Violet, who has a Mercedes-Benz, a sauna and "room for a pony", though it's unclear whether she really does have a pony. Bruce, Violet's husband, has peculiarities that embarass Hyacinth, including cross-dressing and "ice cubes in the shape of naked ladies".
- The postman dreads delivering mail to Hyacinth's address. In one episode, a postman tried to bribe a neighbourhood boy to deliver the mail for him, but he responded, "For the Bucket woman? Forget it!" The milkman has similar troubles.
- Neighbour Elizabeth dreading Hyacinth's coffee breaks and, finding herself clumsy around Hyacinth, likewise dreading using her cups (Hyacinth rarely trusts her with her fine china"Royal Doulton with the handpainted periwinkles"). Elizabeth often nervously drops a biscuit into the coffee.
- Daisy making unsuccessful sexual passes and innuendos at husband Onslow ("Forget it, I've got a headache!")
- When coming home, Emmet, Elizabeth's brother, tries to sneak pass Hyacinth to avoid her high-pitched singing. "She'll sing at me, Liz," he frets to his sister.
- Onslow's car's exhaust pipe exploding with smoke.
- Onslow's dog (which lives in an abandoned car in the yard) barking at Hyacinth, and her falling into the shrubs as a result.
- Onslow hitting the TV set to turn it on.
- An anonymous caller mistakes the Buckets' phone number for the Chinese food takeaway.
- Whenever Onslow inquires about foodstuffs (for example, usually beer or bacon) and Daisy tells him that they're out, he responds with an exasperated, "Oh, nice!" He also uses this phrase for other unusual situations, usually revolving around Hyacinth.
- The Major's attempts at flirting with Hyacinth.
In North America, reruns of sitcom are broadcast on some PBS affiliates (in the United States) and on satellite channels such as BBC America and BBC Canada.
Cast
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