Not in Front of the Children is a BBC Television sitcom, which ran for four series from 1967 to 1970.
It starred Wendy Craig as Jennifer Corner, a rather scatterbrained middle-class housewife. For her role she received the 1969 British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Her husband Henry was a school art teacher, played by Paul Daneman in the Comedy Playhouse pilot "House in a Tree" and the first series, and Ronald Hines subsequently. They had three children, a boy in his early teens (played by Hugo Keith-Johnston) and two girls who were slightly younger (played by Roberta Tovey and then Verina Greenlaw, and Jill Riddick). Charlotte Mitchell played her friend Mary.
In later series, she had a baby, and they moved from the London suburb of Battersea to the country.
It is significant mainly as Wendy Craig's first role as a scatty housewife; she played similar roles in several other series over the next 15 years.
Contents
Surviving episodes
Series 1
Episode 3: "The Word" (8 September 1967)
Series 2
Episode 2: "Religious Revival" (1 March 1968)
Episode 5: "The Iron Hand" (22 March 1968)
Episode 6: "The George Washington Complex" (29 March 1968)
Episode 7: "Home Chat" (5 April 1968)
Episode 8: "Change of Policy" (12 April 1968)
Series 4
Episode 4: "A Babe Around The House" (3 October 1969)
Episode 13: "Pastures New" (5 December 1969)
Radio adaptation
With the television show proving popular, a radio adaptation of the programme was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1969 and 1970, with Wendy Craig and Francis Matthews in the leading roles. Charlotte Mitchell was Mary, Roberta Tovey was Trudi and Hugo Keith-Johnston played Robin. The scripts were adapted from the TV scripts by Richard Waring. Since 2015 both series have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
DVD release
The eight surviving episodes were released on DVD for the first time on Monday, 8 September 2014.