The Early Bird
Dir: Robert Asher
1965
*****
Throughout my childhood in our house, whenever someone did something wrong, my father would automatically shout 'MR GRIMSDALE!'. Robert Asher's 1965; The Early Bird is very of its time, very Norman Wisdom, very British and above all, very funny. The world lost a great comedian when Wisdom passed, if you're unaware of his work you need to rectify it immedetly. It's great to see Wisdom and Edward Chapman's Milkmen enter the world of colour too and they are supported by the great Jerry Desmonde and John Le Mesurier to boot. They also have a bigger budget, making this quite the explosive addition to the Pitkin and Grimsdale comedies.

A Stitch in Time
Dir: Robert Asher
1963
*****
A Stitch in Time sees Norman Wisdom reprising his character Norman Pitkin for the third time, once again he's alongside Edward Chapman as the lovable and rather forgivable, Mr. Grimsdale. It's funny, still to this day if there is an emergency in our house we don't all shout "Don't panic Mr. Mainwaring, we shout 'Mr. Grimsdale!!!' I've said it before and I will say it again (and will fight to the death anyone who disagrees) but I love Norman Wisdom and in my opinion he is one of the greatest Englishmen of all time.