Foreign Affairs is a Britcom that aired on BBC1 in 1966, starring Leslie Phillips and Ronnie Barker.
The series takes place in the Foreign Office in Whitehall, following the moves of Administrator of Foreign Affairs, Sir Hugh Marriot (Austin Trevor). His assistant is the charming ladies' man Dennis Proudfoot (Phillips), and together they work to resolve (or to be more accurate, win) conflicts with the Soviet Embassy.
On the Russians' side, the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Relations, Serge Volchanivov (Joe Melia), is assisted by Grischa Petrovich (Barker). Finishing off the main cast are the Foreign Office's postroom boy, Taplow (Richard O'Sullivan), and both sides' secretaries, Miss Jessup (Dorothy Frere) and Irinka (Sonia Graham).
The series was wiped after its initial 1966 run, following The BBC's archival policy at the time, meaning the series has been lost to time.
While in the long run, the series seems to have gone down as a footnote in history, it introduced writers Brian Cooke and Johnny Mortimer to Richard O'Sullivan, who would later star for them in Man About the House and its Spin-Off Robin's Nest.
Not to be mistaken with Foreign Affairs.
Tropes in this Series:
- British Brevity: The series only aired for a six-episode run in 1966.
- The Casanova: Typical for a Leslie Phillips role, Dennis is a notorious womaniser.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Leslie Phillips' character's name is "Dennis", but at least one newspaper article on the series gave it as "Denis".
- No Full Name Given:
- We don't get to know Taplow or Miss Jessup's first names.
- The same can be said for Irinka's surname.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: In "Can We Have Our Ball Back?", some youngsters are playing cricket near the Soviet Embassy when their ball lands in "Russian Territory". Rather than just give the boys their ball back, the Soviet Embassy and the Foreign Office get into a conflict over whether it is allowed to be returned or not.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: "One of Our Islands is Missing" is a play on the film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing.
- Questioning Title?: The second episode is titled "Can We Have Our Ball Back?".
- Short-Runners: Only six episodes were produced in one year.
