
Bella Emberg
Actor · 1937 – 2018 · Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Bella Emberg (born Sybil Dyke 16 September 1937 in Brighton, Sussex, England, UK) is a British actress who appeared on The Benny Hill Show and The Russ Abbot Show, where she played Blunderwoman. She has also featured in Softly, Softly and Z Cars, as well as having small roles in Grange Hill as a cleaner. Her professional debut was in weekly repertory in Ryde, Isle of Wight — the summer season 1962. She made a guest appearance in The Basil Brush Show, and also featured in Doctor Who, a total of three times. In the 1970s, she had uncredited roles in the Third Doctor serials Doctor Who and the Silurians and The Time Warrior. In 2006, she was seen in the Tenth Doctor episode "Love & Monsters", where she played Mrs Croot. A second appearance as Mrs Croot was recorded for "The Runaway Bride" but cut before transmission. She played the part of Aunt Barbara in the Second series of the CBBC programme "Bear Behaving Badly" in 2008, the third series in 2009, and the fourth in 2010.
Series22
TV7.6Action & AdventureDramaThe Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.
Doctor Who
2005 · 3.5K votes
TV6.7DramaChildren's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.
Grange Hill
1978 · 26 votes
TV6.7ComedyClassic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.
Sykes
1972 · 6 votes
TV5.7RealitySurprise, Surprise is a British television programme originally hosted by Cilla Black and produced by London Weekend Television for ITV. It ran for 14 series from 6 May 1984 to 5 September 1997, after which four annual specials were produced between 1998 to 2001. In 2012, the show returned after a 11-year hiatus. The revived version is produced by ITV Studios and presented by Holly Willoughby. The show is currently in its second series.
Surprise, Surprise
1984 · 6 votes
TV7.0Action & AdventureDramaCallan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972. The series starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, a reluctant professional killer for a shadowy branch of the British Government's intelligence services known as 'the Section'.
Callan
1967 · 10 votes
TV7.2ComedyThe Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.
The Benny Hill Show
1969 · 182 votes
TV7.8ComedyA father and son who work as rag-and-bone men live together in Shepherd's Bush, London. While Albert is content with their way of life, Harold aspires to better himself and build a life of his own, but his attempts are repeatedly thwarted by his father, leading to frequent clashes between the two.
Steptoe and Son
1962 · 39 votes
TV7.3KidsComedyThe Basil Brush Show was a British children's television sitcom series, starring the glove puppet fox, Basil Brush. It was produced for six series by The Foundation, airing on CBBC from 4 October 2002 to 21 December 2007. The show is a spin-off from the original 1960's/1970's BBC television series, but without any of the original cast.
The Basil Brush Show
2002 · 18 votes
TV7.1ComedyMan About the House is a British sitcom created and written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer, and starring Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Richard O'Sullivan, Brian Murphy, and Yootha Joyce. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 April 1976. It was considered daring at the time because it featured a man sharing a London flat with two single women. Single roommates Chrissy and Jo search for a third tenant to help pay the rent, they intend on finding another female. But then they encounter Robin Tripp... who's looking for a place to stay. Two spin-offs were produced: George and Mildred (1976–79) and Robin's Nest (1977–81). A film adaptation was released in 1974 and, in 1977, the series was remade for American audiences as Three's Company.
Man About the House
1973 · 21 votes
TV6.8MysteryCrimeBased on the short stories by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown is a Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective.
Father Brown
1974 · 10 votes
TV6.8ComedyMiddle-aged, middle-class couple Terry and June Fletcher expect to settle down in domestic bliss when their children leave home and they are left with a quiet, peaceful house. Their peace, however, is short-lived when ditzy Aunt Lucy decides she’s moving in.
Happy Ever After
1974 · 4 votes
TV7.2ComedyBritish sitcom in which happy-go-lucky character Peter Barnes comically and haphazardly tries to deal with the daily frustrations his life throws at him.
A Sharp Intake of Breath
1977 · 6 votes
TV6.9ComedyA middle-aged housewife feels frustrated with her mean and miserable husband, the married couple adapting to life in an up-market housing estate.
George and Mildred
1976 · 34 votes
TV7.3ComedySeven of One is a 1973 BBC2 comedy anthology starring Ronnie Barker. 7 of 1 is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms, three of which were picked up for a full series run. Originally called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other.
Seven of One
1973 · 6 votes
TV7.6DramaPennies From Heaven is a 1978 BBC television drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from a song of the same name written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into miming to popular 1930s songs. During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent schoolteacher.
Pennies from Heaven
1978 · 17 votes
TV7.4ComedySet in 1980s London, this comedy series follows the Easmon family, which has settled in England after having arrived from Sierra Leone a decade earlier. The Easmons’ son, Akuna, hangs out in the housing project where the family lives, playing soccer and dodging the local thugs. The family’s life is turned upside down when Walter’s brother Valentine arrives in the U.K., bringing chaos in his wake and igniting a passion for music in Akuna.
In the Long Run
2018 · 16 votes
TV6.0ComedyThe Russ Abbot Show was a British television comedy series which starred Russ Abbot and ran on the BBC from 1986 to 1991, and for 14 episodes on Granada Television from 1994 to 1995. It featured comedy performers Les Dennis, Bella Emberg, Tom Bright, Maggie Moone, Suzy Aitchison, Gordon Kennedy, Paul Shearer and Sherrie Hewson among others.
The Russ Abbot Show
1986 · 2 votes
TV4.0DramaComedyIn 19th century Paris, Bette Fischer, a poor and homely spinster, forms an alliance with the seductive courtesan Valerie Marneffe to orchestrate revenge on her handsome and wealthy relatives.
Cousin Bette
1971 · 4 votes
TV6.6ComedySally Harrison is a harassed, well-meaning but scatterbrained young widow doing her best to bring up two boisterous sons, Simon and Peter.
...And Mother Makes Three
1971 · 5 votes
TV8.0ComedyFollows the daily antics of Woodley police station, where officers are more interested in taking bribes and doing little work than catching criminals. Inspector Spooner lives alone in a flat above the station and often had to deal with the messes created by his junior staff.
Spooner's Patch
1979 · 2 votes
- TVDrama
A quartet of Saturday night plays following the life of indomitable working-class Cockney woman Rosie Carr from the Edwardian era to 1960.
TV
Movies3
Movie6.7ComedyAn uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
History of the World: Part I
1981 · 955 votes
Movie5.9AdventureComedyA young boy's lucky t-shirt is transformed through a power surge and gives its wearer super-powers.
Sammy's Super T-Shirt
1978 · 9 votes
MovieComedyA documentary looking at the life of Benny Hill and with the use of an audience reaction test finding out if he is still funny to contemporary audiences.