This date in 1979 saw the first broadcast of To the Manor Born starring Penelope Keith. 10 things you might not know about the show.
1. To the Manor Born is a BBC television sitcom, created and mostly written by Peter Spence and starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles.
2. The title is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The full quote goes: "Though I am a native here and to the manner born, it is a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance".
3. The premise: Audrey fforbes-Hamilton is forced to sell her vast country estate, Grantleigh Manor, when her husband dies, and move into a smaller house on the estate. She does, however, still drive a Rolls Royce and keeps her butler. The manor is bought by Richard DeVere, a nouveau riche millionaire supermarket owner originally from Czechoslovakia. The series focusses on their love-hate relationship.
4. Spoiler alert. Love wins out in the end, though, as in the last regular episode, Richard has to sell the Manor to finance a refrigeration plant. Audrey’s Uncle Greville has just died, and left her a big pile of money, enough to buy the manor back at auction. She then asks Richard to marry her.
5. To the Manor Born was filmed in Cricket St Thomas, a village in Somerset. The manor is Cricket House, which was, at the time of the original series, owned by Peter Spence’s father-in-law. Today it’s a hotel with a wildlife park. Audrey’s house, The Old Lodge, is about a mile away and called West Lodge. The church is the Church of St Thomas, located on the grounds of the estate.
6. Spence first got the idea for the series when he met a woman just like Audrey at a party. A comedian Spence wrote for bought a manor house, and invited Spence to the house-warming. The previous owner was also on the guest list. Spence met her, and also heard the comedian’s description of her, which he would later describe as a "perfect description" of Audrey.
7. The theme tune was composed by Ronnie Hazlehurst, the BBC's Light Entertainment Music Director. He composed theme tunes for many sitcoms around this time.
8. Audrey’s late husband was called Marton (pronounced “Martin”). This spelling came about as a typo on a script. John Lloyd, the producer of the radio play, decided to keep this spelling because "the aristocracy are always mucking about with the spelling of things".
9. The final episode set a record for the biggest-ever audience for a single programme on British TV, with an audience of over 27 million viewers. The record was broken 15 years later by the series Only Fools and Horses with 27.6 million viewers.
10. Dame Penelope Keith, who died in 2026, was the last surviving member of the main cast.
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