Clive Swift on all-things Keeping Up Appearances
LONDON – July 14, 2010: Today was more Keeping Up Appearances with our interview with Clive Swift. In this case, you probably do know the name and his work. Clive’s brilliant 
portrayal of Richard, Hyacinth’s husband, is a perfect example of the excellent casting that sets British comedy apart from their American counterparts. As Clive noted, the supporting casts in Britcoms are as important to the success of a series as the lead actor or actress. No character is a throw-away character in a British comedy. With KUA, you not only have the likes of Josephine Tewson, Geoffrey Hughes, Judy Cornwell, Mary Millar and David Griffen, but even the casting of David Janson as the Postman was brilliantly done and important to the success of the series.
In addition to casting, Clive talked extensively about his character, Richard, and how he, and fellow cast members, “grew” their characters over time throughout the series. Some interesting tidbits as to how Clive took what was the written word in the script and shaped Richard into the character that we’ve come to know and love over the years.
Up next, we continue our tribute to the writers of British comedy for PBS in March 2011, Roger Lloyd Pack (Owen, The Vicar of Dibley and Clive Swift’s co-star in The Old Guys) and Penelope Keith (Margo Ledbetter, The Good Neighbors and Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, To The Manor Born).
Getting some good questions sent in from around the world. Keep it up. Send questions to tellyspotting@kera.org and we’ll do our best to incorporate.
