Inside George Webley is a Britcom that aired on ITV from 1968-70, starring Roy Kinnear and Patsy Rowlands.
George Webley (Kinnear) is a bank clerk at Meanside and Beestley Savings Bank. He is also a Hypochondriac, and incredibly pessimistic, obsessive-compulsive, and pseudo-intellectual. His wife, Rosemary (Rowlands), is a much simpler person who, while she cares not for such things, still loves her husband dearly. The two live in a council house in Leeds, where George is constantly trying to better himself, only for his high view of himself to lead him to embarrassment time and time again.
While the show was never considered to be bad or poorly written, it was never repeated after its initial run. All of the first series is now considered Missing from the archives while the surviving second series is unable to be viewed by the public.
Tropes in this Series:
- Alliterative Name: Dirty Dora, a One-Shot Character from "Noblesse Oblige".
- Appeal to Tradition: "Brief Encounter" reveals that Rosemary is against the idea of women driving as she feels it is a man's job.
- British Brevity: Only two series totalling twelve episodes were made.
- Crash-Into Hello: George first met Rosemary in 1956, when he bumped into her on the steps of Leeds Central Public Library and nearly knocked her music case out of her hand.
- The Eeyore: George is a terrible pessimist and always the first to think of a negative to any situation, much to Rosemary's chagrin.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: George has the feminine "Meredith" as his.
- Faint in Shock: A horror film George and Rosemary watch in "The Light Is Dark Enough" is scary enough to make George faint in the first ten minutes.
- Hiccup Hijinks: George suffers from a case of hiccups in "Hold Your Breath and Count to Fifty", but despite all his and Rosemary's attempts to cure them, they won't seem to go away.
- Housewife: Rosemary believes a woman's place is in the home, and happily cooks and cleans for George. "Brief Encounter" reveals she doesn't even think women should drive!
- Hypochondria: George will believe he has every illness and ailment under the sun. In "Get Well Soon", he believes he is dying, and his doctor, Dr. Horniman, is just as much of a hypochondriac as he is, making matters worse.
- Ironic Name: Mr. Marigold from "A Lovesome Thing" is ironically a terrible gardener.
- Irony: In "A Lean and Hungry Look", the landlord of the local pub gives George a lecture on overdrinking. George sees the irony of it all, leading him to go to Simon's Gymnasium to try and lose weight.
- Mistaken for Dying: George thinks he is dying after swallowing a prune stone in "Get Well Soon", while Dr. Horniman doesn't do much to reassure him on the matter.
- Movie-Theater Episode: George and Rosemary spend "The Light Is Dark Enough" at the pictures watching a horror film promising a prize of £10,000 to anyone who dies of fright.
- Pun-Based Title: "A Lean and Hungry Look" from Series 2 is a play on the phrase "a mean and hungry look".
- Shout-Out: The fourth episode of Series 2 is titled after the film Brief Encounter.
- Sick Episode: Rosemary suffers from a cold throughout "Get Well Soon" but is unable to receive treatment as George and Dr. Horniman (incorrectly) believe George is dying.
- Steven Ulysses Perhero: When George wants to take up gardening in "A Lovesome Thing", he gets help from Mr. Marigold, a so-called gardening expert who is named after a type of flower.
- Talking in Bed: "I'll Get It in a Minute" revolves around George being unable to fall asleep as he is unable to remember the name of someone he knows. Unfortunately for Rosemary, he feels obligated to share this with her and so keeps her up with his efforts to remember.
- Vacation Episode: George and Rosemary go for a holiday in Bridlington in "Are You Sure or Only Positive", where George spends his time worrying whether he switched the gas off at home or not.
- Wedding Episode: "Noblesse Oblige" has the Webleys attend a wedding reception, where George is accused by Rosemary of being a snob for being the only one dressed formally while the buffet is in the chip shop!
