Keeping Up Appearances

tv show

poster for Keeping Up Appearances

40 total episodes

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5 seasons

The Full Bouquet

First Aired October 29, 1990

Genres:

Overview

Hyacinth Bucket (whose name, she insists, is pronounced "Bouquet") is a suburban housewife in the West Midlands. She would be the first to tell you that she is a gracious hostess, a respected citizen, and a well-connected member of high society. If you don't believe that, just ask her best friend Elizabeth, held captive in Hyacinth's kitchen; or the postmen and neighbours who bristle at the sound of her voice; or Richard, her weary and compliant husband. In fact, Hyacinth's reputation could be as perfect as her new lounge set, if not for her senile father's love of running wild in the nip. Oh, and she would prefer it if her brother-in-law was a sharper dresser. And that her husband was more ambitious. And that her sisters were more presentable. And do take your shoes off before you come in the house, dear. Mind that you don't brush against the wallpaper.

tv poster

Specials

25 episodes

Air Date

December 25, 1991

Overview

Christmas may come but once a year, but for arch-snob Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet, if you please), disaster, drama and humiliation – all obstacles on the ladder to social-climbing success – are far more frequent. In these Christmas Specials we see a delightful cruise on the QE2 start in a less-than-delightful muddy field. We see a glorious English Civil War pageant, with Hyacinth as Queen Henrietta Maria, go royally wrong when the cast fails to turn up and her unsavoury relatives step into the breach. And we see that even The Season of Good Will isn’t immune from woe, as a sherry-fuelled Richard, dressed as Santa, brings Hyacinth tidings devoid of any comfort and joy.

Cast