Get Some In
1 9 7 5 - 1 9 7 8 (UK)
34 x 25 minute episodes
This Thames TV show, written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey,
was basically The Army Game in blue serge.
The series
revolved around four lads from contrasting backgrounds, each of
whom had received their call-up papers to serve their National
Service in the Royal Air Force during the 1950s.
Their new master,
Corporal Marsh, introduced himself to them thusly;
"My name's Marsh. That's B-A-S-T-A-R-D . . . Marsh"
Set in "C Flight" at RAF Skelton in 1955, the four
recruits loathed and despised by Corporal Marsh were referred to
as "erks" and given an ongoing hard time. Marsh also
treated the new conscripts as his personal slaves - He would
recline on one of their (freshly made) camp beds and demand
"fag for the Corporal" . . . "light for the
Corporal" etc.
 Tony Selby, as Corporal Marsh, had previously appeared in a
similar role in an episode of Esmonde and Larbey's The Fenn
Street Gang.
Jakey Smith (or "Free F Smiff" as Marsh called him)
was a reformed Teddy Boy (played originally by Robert Lindsay who
went on to become famous as a more famous 'Smiff' in Citizen
Smith.
The nickname was a result of a verbal skirmish on Smith's
first day when Marsh asked his name. "Smiff" replied
Jakey in his uneducated cockney drawl. "Is that one 'F' or
Two?" joked Marsh, trying to humiliate the teddy boy.
"free!" came the reply.
Leckie was a Scot without much brain power, Ken a former
grammar school pupil, and Matthew Lilley was a vicar's son, and
something of a lily-livered character (ho ho).
 The third series saw the cast move to RAF
Midham, and the final
one (with Karl Howman replacing Lindsay, who had demobbed to star
in Citizen Smith) was set in the hospital at RAF
Druidswater.
During its run, Get Some In! featured single guest
appearances by Alfred Marks, Roy Kinnear, Paul Eddington and
Cheryl Hall (Robert Lindsay's real-life wife).
The title derived from the jeer that always greeted newcomers
into the services, "Get some in", meaning "Get some
time in" or "Get some experience under your belt".
|
