Porkpie (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Porkpie was a British
sitcom on Channel 4
television starring Ram John Holder
as Augustus 'Porkpie' Grant. It was a spinoff from Desmond's. Porkpie kept several key characters from Desmond's and in the first episode Grant, ('Porkpie'), was seen standing outside the barber
shop Desmond used to run saying "Desmond, since you die, it always rain - either it is the clouds crying for you, or else you having a bloody good leak!".
, life in Peckham
continues. In the first episode, after the reading of the will of his late friend Desmond Ambrose (Norman Beaton
), Augustus 'Porkpie' Grant, a former employee at the Ford Motor Company
is now a lollipop man. He borrows a pound from Michael, (Desmond's son), and buys a lottery ticket. The ticket turns out to be a winner and 'Porkpie' (as he is always called by friends) suddenly finds himself with a fortune of ten million pounds. However, before he announces he has won he gives Michael a pound back, so he cannot have any claims to the money. He moves out of his flat into a home and also hires a chauffeur to drive him around in his new car, a Ford Escort ('Porkpie' explained he bought one because "I always wanted one of these, I could never afford one, not even with the staff discount"). As time (and the series move on) 'Porkpie' goes through various situations and learns who he can and can't trust now he is a millionaire.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sitcom on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television starring Ram John Holder
Ram John Holder
Ram John Holder is a British actor. He began his performing career as a folk singer in New York. In 1962 he came to London and worked with Pearl Connor's Negro Theatre Workshop initially as a musician, and later as an actor...
as Augustus 'Porkpie' Grant. It was a spinoff from Desmond's. Porkpie kept several key characters from Desmond's and in the first episode Grant, ('Porkpie'), was seen standing outside the barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
shop Desmond used to run saying "Desmond, since you die, it always rain - either it is the clouds crying for you, or else you having a bloody good leak!".
Plot
Following the end of the highly successful Desmond'sDesmond's
Desmond's is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was shot in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989...
, life in Peckham
Peckham
Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
continues. In the first episode, after the reading of the will of his late friend Desmond Ambrose (Norman Beaton
Norman Beaton
Norman Lugard Beaton was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom....
), Augustus 'Porkpie' Grant, a former employee at the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
is now a lollipop man. He borrows a pound from Michael, (Desmond's son), and buys a lottery ticket. The ticket turns out to be a winner and 'Porkpie' (as he is always called by friends) suddenly finds himself with a fortune of ten million pounds. However, before he announces he has won he gives Michael a pound back, so he cannot have any claims to the money. He moves out of his flat into a home and also hires a chauffeur to drive him around in his new car, a Ford Escort ('Porkpie' explained he bought one because "I always wanted one of these, I could never afford one, not even with the staff discount"). As time (and the series move on) 'Porkpie' goes through various situations and learns who he can and can't trust now he is a millionaire.
Series
The character of 'Porkpie' was very popular in Desmond's, and it was hoped that after the end of that series, 'Porkpie' could repeat the success in his own series; but the show did not really catch on. It was first screened in 1995 with the last new episode being shown in 1996. It ran for 12 episodes.Cast
- Augustus Neapolitan Cleveland 'Porkpie' Grant (Ram John HolderRam John HolderRam John Holder is a British actor. He began his performing career as a folk singer in New York. In 1962 he came to London and worked with Pearl Connor's Negro Theatre Workshop initially as a musician, and later as an actor...
), continued to work as a lollipop man, although he didn't enjoy his job. He struggled to make ends meet and was unable to afford to pay his bills. He visited the barbershop where his late friend best Desmond and his family use to live and work, where he bumped into Desmond's eldest son Michael. Porkpie asked Michael if he could lend him a pound for his bus fare, which he did. Porkpie went to the local shop and marked a lottery ticket with the pound. He ended up winning the lottery, hitting the jackpot, winning ten million pounds.
- Michael Ambrose (Geff FrancisGeff FrancisGeoffrey "Geff" Francis, most known as Geff Francis is a Black British actor who portrayed Lynford, a hoodlum in For Queen and Country...
) was the eldest son of Porkpie's late best friend Desmond and his wife Shirley. He was still working as a bank manager at the branch where he worked. Porkpie hired Michael as his financial advisor. Michael didn't agree with many of the choices Porkpie made when it came to spending his money.
- Gloria Ambrose (Kim Walker) was the only daughter of Porkpie's late best friend Desmond and his wife Shirley. Michael suggested that she visit Porkpie, as he was feeling lonely. It was revealed that she was still with her boyfriend Alex, as Porkpie asked her how he was. Gloria only appeared in the first episode.
- Sean Ambrose (Justin PickettJustin PickettJustin Pickett is an actor best remembered for his role in the Channel 4 situation comedy Desmond's. For six seasons he played the role of Sean Ambrose, the barber's son in the comedy which was set in a Barbers shop of the same name, situated in the heart of Peckham...
) was the youngest child of Porkpie's late best friend Desmond and his wife Shirley. He visited Porkpie with his sister Gloria on the night shortly before Porkpie found out he had won the lottery. It was revealed that Sean was still studying as Porkpie asked him how college was. Sean only appeared in the first episode.
- Amanda "Mandy" Ambrose (Mathilda Thorpe) was Michael's wife. She use to work as Michael's PAPersonal assistantA personal assistant or personal aide is someone who assists in daily business or personal tasks. It is common in design to have a PDA, or personal design assistant....
at the bank before they were married. Michael blackmailed Porkpie into giving Mandy a job at the centre. Porkpie gave her the job as a waitress in the jerk chicken café in the centre with Leone, which she wasn't very happy with as she was expecting to be the art consultant or a restaurant manager. She often told Michael how much she wanted to become a mother although Michael kept insisting that he wasn't ready to become a father. Mandy made many efforts to conceive, including seeing a therapist.
- "Benji" Benjamin (Derek GriffithsDerek GriffithsDerek Griffiths is a British actor who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to 1980s and more recently has played parts in TV drama.- Career :...
), was a busker that Porkpie met at the bus stop when he was on his way home after buying his lottery ticket. After Porkpie claimed his prize, he went to the pub where he bumped into Benji again and informed him that he had won the lottery. Porkpie then asked Benji if he could do him a favour and visit Michael with him at the bank and to pretend that he was the one that lent him the pound that he used to buy his winning lottery ticket. Benji asked Porkpie if he could give him a job as payment for doing him the favor. Porkpie hired Benji as his driver and gave him a job as a barman at the centre that he opened in memory of his late friend Desmond.
- Leone (Llewella Gideon), was Porkpie's live-in maid and also had a job as a waitress at the centre. She was the niece of Porkpie's good friend Vince. She came from the island of St. Lucia. When Vince found out that Porkpie was still looking for a maid, he recommended her to him. Vince said "Well, I have this niece just come straight from St. Lucia, cook the best peas and rice, this side of the Atlantic".
- Vince (Count Prince MillerCount Prince MillerCount Prince Miller is a Jamaican-born, British-based actor and musician.-Biography:...
) was Leone's uncle, a good friend of Porkpie's and a member of The Georgetown Dreamers, a band that Porkpie and Bert played in when they were young. He was the drummer for the band. He used to work as a part time assistant in Desmond's barbershop before moving on to become a bus conductor.
- Burt (Sol RayeSol RayeNeville Marshall-Corbin was a Guyanese cabaret singer, composer and recording artist who moved to England in the 1960s and originally studied acting, performing with the English Stage Company. He was born in Christianburg, Guyana....
) was an old friend of Porkpie's and was a member of The Georgetown Dreamers, a band that Porkpie and Vince played in when they were young.
- Mr. Lu (Ozzie YueOzzie YueOzzie Yue is an English actor, guitarist and singer. He is most noted for his roles in television programmes such as Father Ted, All Quiet on the Preston Front and Coronation Street as well as for roles in films such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Syriana and Nuns on the Run...
) and his wife bought the building of Desmond's old barbershop and turned it into a West Indian take-away. The old barbershop was only shown in the first episode and wasn't shown again even after it was turned into a West Indian take-away. Mr. Lu had stated that he and his wife had six daughters. His wife was only seen in the first episode but didn't speak.
- Aloysius (Robbie Tucker) was the boy that Porkpie met at the park when he was talking to his late friend Desmond, about what he would have done with the old barbershop if he had won the lottery, before it was sold. He walked up to Porkpie and said, "Hello lollipop man, are you talking to yourself?"
- "Susu" Doreen (Mona HammondMona HammondMona Hammond OBE is a Chinese Jamaican actress and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Jamaica, Hammond emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she has remained ever since. Hammond has had a long and distinguished stage career...
), was Porkpie's dream girl. She was the younger sister of his dear friend Shirley. Susu turned up out of the blue from Jamaica on Valentine's DayValentine's DaySaint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, after finding out about Porkpie's Lottery win in the West Indian Times newspaper. She told Porkpie that she married an English man back in the Caribbean so that she could come to England and marry him. Porkpie later found out that she had run away with all her husband's savings, sold his electric wheelchair and stolen his passport so that he couldn't go after her and that she only came to England to marry him and claim half of his fortune.
- Davina (Jane HowJane HowJane Onslow How is an English actress with a range of television,film and stage credits. In 1977 she married actor Mark Burns and had a son Jack in 1981...
) was a wealthy, white, English lady that Porkpie had met on his holiday to GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. She became good friends with Porkpie and they stayed in contact. She had a sister called Daphne.
- Written by: Trix WorrellTrix WorrellTrix Worrell writer, composer and director, was born in St. Lucia in the West Indies in 1960, and came to England at the age of five. As a teenager he worked with the Albany Theatre in South London, where he wrote and directed his first play, School's Out, in 1980...
- Produced by: Humphrey BarclayHumphrey BarclayHumphrey Barclay is a comedy executive and producer.-Career:His first foray into show business was via Cambridge Footlights revues where he appeared alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, David Hatch, Jonathan Lynn, Jo Kendall and Miriam Margolyes...
and Paulette RandallPaulette RandallPaulette Randall, is a British theatre director. She chairs the board of the Clean Break Theatre Company, and is former artistic director of the Talawa Theatre Company.-Projects:Royal Court Theatre* Directed Blest be the Tie by Doña Daley... - Executive Producers: Al Mithcel and Trix WorrellTrix WorrellTrix Worrell writer, composer and director, was born in St. Lucia in the West Indies in 1960, and came to England at the age of five. As a teenager he worked with the Albany Theatre in South London, where he wrote and directed his first play, School's Out, in 1980...