The Dustbinmen

My late grandfather was a bin man for forty years and he thought 'The Dustbinmen' a great show, in fact he could put names to all the characters. Jack Rosenthal's scripts are wonderfully surreal, packed with terrific one-liners and its reasonably fair to say that the humour was on a different level to most I.T.V. comedies of that period such as say 'On The Buses'. It was only after he left and other writers took over that it went into decline. The cast were outstanding too, particularly the late Brian Pringle as 'Cheese & Egg' and Tim Wylton ( later to play 'Rodney Sillitoe' in 'A Bit Of A Do' ) as the gormless Eric. What tends to be overlooked about the show is how massively popular it was, often rivalling 'Coronation Street' in terms of viewing figures. Watching it recently on D.V.D. I thought it stood up very well, with only the annoying ( and obvious ) canned laughter letting it down. If people cannot enjoy a series like this anymore, its very sad.

That 'cry' which preceded the music in the opening titles was supposed to rhyme, but like this series, fell slightly short of its target.

I actually saw this when it went out in the 1960's, and although it then survived the transition to colour, it hasn't stood the test of time. The late Bryan Pringle, (who could have easily earned an Oscar in a school play) is the central character as "Cheese'n'egg". Superior and domineering, he can never quite figure out why the rest of the world doesn't understand him. The rest of the crew have IQ's that collectively add up to less than the days in a month, and add comic relief to 'Eggs' frustration.

To those that judge it harshly I would say remember this was the 1960's. Sophistication wasn't at the top of the agenda, and this was intentionally aired at a time when kids could see it, and many did. Admittedly, and regrettably, it was clearly a turkey, lasting no more than 20 episodes (presumably two seasons, the second being colour.) But it had a charm, and certainly projected one or two of those involved to better things: more than one seventies sitcom star had an early outing in this offering.

If, like me (at the age of twelve,) you were mildly amused at the sight of a Dustcart with the name Thunderbird 3 chalked on the back, ambling up the road while one man bullied a bunch of idiots, then this is for you.

Seeing as this comedy is about men who empty dustbins I`m going to sum up my opinion with the very ironic " This show is a load of rubbish " Like the previous commentator I too have caught this on Granada Plus and I fail to see how anyone found it funny all these years ago . The performances and writing seem to be more suited to a school production than a television show and the most irritating aspect is the word " Pigging " as in...

" Empty those pigging bins "

" Pig off "

Obviously no one could use the F word in gay abandon in those days but " Pigging " seems totally unconvincing , unlike PORRIDGE`s version " Naffing ". Mind you PORRIDGE was well written and well acted so that certainly helps

Unlike 'naffing' and 'frigging' which appear to have been made up by the writers to suggest more abusive language, the word 'pigging' was used in the north of England before the TV versions, and still is. My aunt is 78 and she still uses this word when she gets annoyed, and has done for as long as I can remember. Certainly well before the Dustbin Men hit our screens. I think we should remember that in the era when the programme was made our perceptions of what was funny were different, and looking back now at something from so long ago should be done with this in mind. Phoenix Nights and such similar shows should not be compared with stuff of yesteryear. It's a bit like comparing George Best and Wayne Rooney - different eras with different sets of values.