Set nearly 10 years after the First World War, You Rang, M'Lord? was the last sitcom that the great writing partnership of Jimmy Perry & David Croft created and wrote for the BBC.

The pilot episode was made at BBC Elstree during 1988; and first broadcast on BBC1 on 29th December 1988 at 8pm.

The much-loved Perry & Croft sitcom Hi-de-Hi! (which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year) had finished in 1987 and You Rang, M'Lord? reunited cast members Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard.

The sitcom also featured a host of actors and actresses who were all part of the unofficial Perry & Croft repertory company. They included Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles (It Ain't Half Hot Mum), Bill Pertwee (Dad's Army) and Felix Bowness (Hi-de-Hi!).

The 26 episodes (25 x 50 minutes and 1 x 60 minutes) saw Shane and Holland playing Alf Stokes (a butler) and James (Jim) Twelvetrees (a footman) respectively. Both characters worked in service for Lord George Meldrum in this series which was a classy and exquisite-looking parody of dramas such as Upstairs, Downstairs.

Su Pollard, who unbelievably turns 60 this year, played parlour maid Ivy Teasdale, the constant object of the lustful attentions of The Honourable Teddy Meldrum (Michael Knowles). Teasdale, however, only had eyes for James Twelvetrees (Jeffrey Holland).

Other performances of note in the series came from Angela Scoular as Lady Angela Shawcross (the real life wife of actor Leslie 'Hello' Phillips), a pre-EastEnders' Barbara Windsor as Myrtle, Barbara New as Mabel (with her memorable series catchprase, "That'll be nice") and the lovely Susie Brann as Poppy.

There were certainly many saucy goings on both upstairs and downstairs in this wonderful sitcom which included location filming in Norfolk, including the seaside town of Cromer.

So what happened to the cast after the series ended 16 years ago in 1993? Well, Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard were reunited one final time for the David Croft and Richard Spendlove steam railway-based sitcom, Oh, Doctor Beeching!

More recently Paul Shane has made appearances in the ITV1 soap, Emmerdale; whilst Jeffrey Holland has been playing the part of Rene Artois in the stage tour of the Croft & Lloyd sitcom, 'Allo 'Allo! Su Pollard, meanwhile, has appeared in a Sixties stage musical called Shout! and the much-loved musical, Annie.

In 2007, I wrote, produced and took part in a one-off radio comedy called Brides to Be. I was in comedy heaven as I had managed to persuade Jeffrey Holland, his real-life wife Judy Buxton (who is most-well-known for appearing in the Dennis Waterman sitcom, On the Up) and Vicki Michelle (Yvette in 'Allo 'Allo!) to star in my radio comedy. This was (and continues to be) broadcast by various hospital radio stations on the hospital radio network.

During a break from rehearsals for the recording of Brides to Be, Jeffrey Holland and I chatted and he revealed how rightly-proud he was to have appeared in You Rang, M'Lord?

All of the episodes of You Rang, M'Lord? are now available to buy on DVD and are a must-see for fans, like myself, of classic situation comedies.

Fans of this sitcom might like to visit the following websites for more information:

Jeffrey Holland: www.jeffreyholland.co.uk

Su Pollard: www.supollard.co.uk

David Croft: www.davidcroft.co.uk