The Culture Vultures is a Britcom that aired on BBC1 in 1970, starring Leslie Phillips and Jonathan Cecil.
The series follows Dr. Michael Cunningham (Phillips), one of the University of Hampshire's senior anthropology lecturers. While Dr. Cunningham has many students who rely on him, such as Vivienne (Sally Faulkner), he doesn't seem to care much for what he does, preferring to spend his time gambling, picking up women, enjoying the nightlife, and trying to find opportunities to travel the world.
While Dr. Cunningham often finds himself in hot water, he luckily possesses the charm necessary to get himself out of any lasting trouble. Other colleagues working with him at the university include Dr. Ian Meredith (Cecil) and Professor George Hobbes (Peter Sallis).
The series was wiped after its initial 1970 run, following The BBC's archival policy at the time, meaning the series has been lost to time.
The Trope Vultures:
- Actor Allusion: Leslie Phillips plays a Doctor of Anthropology, a nod to his roles as medical doctors Dr. Burke and Dr. Grimsdyke in the Doctor... Series.
- British Brevity: Only five episodes were made over one year.
- The Casanova: Par for the course for a Leslie Phillips character, Dr. Cunningham is a womaniser always on the look for a lovely young girl.
- Cut Short: The series ended after only five episodes were filmed. This was due to Leslie Phillips suffering from an internal haemorrhage early in production, which made him too ill to work.
- Fixing the Game: "Rake's Progress" revolves around Dr. Mantis (a colleague of Dr. Cunningham's) inventing a foolproof system of predicting the roulette wheel.
- The Gambling Addict: Dr. Cunningham is known for his love of gambling. In "Rake's Progress", he attempts to use a system to predict the outcomes of a roulette wheel.
- No Full Name Given: We don't get to discover Vivienne's last name at any point in the series.
- Short-Runners: The series only lasted for five episodes; one episode shorter than a standard Britcom's minimum series length.
- Shout-Out:
- The second episode was titled "Rake's Progress", after a series of eight paintings by William Hogarth.
- "Practical Demonstrations" shows that Dr. Cunningham owns a copy of The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: The third episode was titled "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble", after a line from Macbeth.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Professor Hobbes is to Dr. Cunningham, clashing with him over his blasé approach to his work.
- Ultimate Job Security: While Dr. Cunningham is almost always in trouble for his lax attitude concerning his job, he always manages to charm his way out of trouble.
