The
lowdown: 'Whoops Baghdad!' was a short-lived comedy that
was broadcast on BBC1 between 25 January and
1 March 1973, and was set
in medieval Baghdad. Only one season of six episodes was made, and starred
Frankie
Howerd as Ali Oopla, the
bondservant and bodyguard of Abu ben Ackers, the Wazir of Baghdad (played
by Derek
Francis). It effectively
consisted a series of double entendres wrapped around a vague plot, with
lots of well-endowed
and scantily-dressed women
in harem costumes. The style of the humour is reflected in the fact that
one of the Wazir's
daughters has the unlikely
name of Boobiana. A notable feature of the series was Howerd's monologue
direct to camera
at the beginning of each
episode, while his character regularly directly addressed the camera during
each episode,
although the other characters
played out the script like a regular sitcom.
The
episode: 'Ali and the Thieves' was the fifth episode of
the series, first broadcast on 22 February 1973. It features
Patrick Troughton as Tambalane
the Tartar. Ali must rescue the Wazir after he is abducted by Tambalane,
and travels
with the Wazir's youngest
daughter, Saccharine, to Tambalane's court posing as a soothsayer. Tambalane
will reward
any soothsayer who can contact
his missing wife, Queen Tangarine, who has been abducted by persons unknown.
Saccharine pretends to be
the spirit of Tangerine, but one of the latter's henchmen exposes Ali as
a fraud. However,
Ali discovers that he really
can contact the spirit world, and summons up Tambalane's first wife, much
to Tambarlane's
horror. Saccharine then
appears, and reveals that she had been abducted by one of Tambalane's henchmen,
Havabanana.
Tambalane shows his gratitude
by given Ali is given a gift - the ancient pearl of his kingdom -
Tambalane's first wife.
The
verdict: 'Whoops Baghdad!' has its moments, but it is essentially
a remake of Howerd's earlier series, 'Up Pompeii',
just in a different setting.
Fans of Frankie Howerd's style of humour - or the Carry on series of films
- will enjoy the show,
but there is no mistaking
it as a product of the 70s! It is doubtful that some of the humour would
be permitted in sitcoms
today. Patrick Troughton's
performance is the highlight of the episode, and quite possibly the series
- he looks like he
was relishing the rare opportunity
to do comedy, and shows what a versatile actor he was.
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