Man About The House starred Paula Wilcox, Richard O’Sullivan and Sally Thomsett (Image: Bert Hill/TV Times/Getty)
While Man About the House may seem tame when watched through a contemporary gaze during reruns on and ITVX, the beloved British sitcom was considered quite daring when it debuted 51 years ago.
The fact that the premise involved a man sharing a flat with two single women raised more than a few eyebrows in 1973. However from the off they turned sexual stereotypes on their head.
It was made it clear the reason the two women, Chrissy (played by Paula Wilcox) and Jo (Sally Thomsett), wanted a male roomate in the shape of Robin (Richard O’Sullivan) was because they couldn’t cook.
Since he was at culinary school it seemed a match made in flatmate heaven. While their landlord George Roper (Brian Murphy) wasn’t necessarily delighted about the arrangement, his wife Mildred (Yootha Joyce) loved their young tenants and always took their side – often flirting with Robin in the process.
Over six seasons, from 15 August 1973 to 7 April 1976, viewers watched as Robin and Chrissy tried to deny their attaction to each other, while they all adapted to sharing a space with a member of the opposite sex.
It was such a huge success it spawned two spin-off shows featuring the stars: George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest. It even got a big screen outing in 1974 and was remade in the US Three’s Company in 1977. With such an enduring legacy takes a look at where the cast are now.
Richard O’Sullivan’s character Robin got his own spin off show (Image: Getty)
Richard O’Sullivan – Robin Tripp
A former child star Richard, now 80, had also appeared in the Elizabeth Taylor epic Cleopatra before he was cast in Man About The House. He played culinary student Robin Tripp who ended up sharing a flat with the two women.
When the show ended his character was given a spin off Robin’s Nest, in which his character set up a bistro financed by his girlfriend’s father. The premise of this show was also groundbreaking as it was the first UK sitcom to feature an unmarried couple cohabiting.
He had a relationship with co-star Tessa Wyatt who played his girlfriend Vicky and the pair had a son Jamie, but they split in the mid 80s.
He continued to work steadily on screen. In 1979, he played the titular character Dick Turpin in the LWT drama which ran until 1982. From 1984 to 1988, he starred in the sitcom Me and My Girl, playing widowed single father Simon Harrup.
He kept a lower profile in the 1990s although he worked steadily. His final acting role was in a one-off satire in 1996 titled Holed about a suburban golf club.
He suffered a stroke in 2003 and in the aftermath, he moved into Brinsworth House, a retirement home for entertainers in Twickenham.
Paula Wilcox is busier than ever in her 70s (Image: Getty )
Paula Wilcox – Chrissie Plummer
Although Paula, now 74, played a singleton in Man About The House, she was happily married in real life. Sadly her husband, fellow actor Derek Seaton, died aged 35 in 1979 from a brain haemorrhage.
She didn’t remarry until 1991 when she wed Nelson “Skip” Riddle, an American businessman and the eldest son of the composer, bandleader and arranger Nelson Riddle and the couple are still together.
Professionally she has worked more or less non stop since the show ended. Her first role following the comedy was as the eponymous single mother in Miss Jones and Son which ran from 1977 to 1978.
The actress appeared regularly on screen in guest roles, and in 1991 she returned to her sitcom roots as Ros West in a show called Fiddlers Three opposite Peter Davison.
Her packed CV includes appearances in huge shows such as Holby City, Casualty, Footballers Wives, and Grantchester.
In recent years she reached a whole new generation of fans with roles in popular soaps and . She also appeared in the most recent series of Greg Davies sitcom The Cleaner.
Sally Thomsett was bestknown for The Railway Children before landing a role on the sitcom (Image: Getty)
Sally Thomsett – Jo
Prior to Man About The House, Sally had been a child star who was best known for her role in the classic 1970 movie, The Railway Children.
After the show ended she quit acting for a while in order to travel but returned to the business in the mid 80s. The actress, now 74, made regular stage appearances and became a panto favourite.
In 1996, at the age of 46, she had a daughter, Charlotte, with her partner Paul Agnew and her career slowed down. Speaking to Daily Mirror at the time, she explained: “I thought, I’m not going to be my best while I’ve got a little child, so I won’t do any acting.
“I’ll take seven years out and when she’s old enough I’ll go back to work. But the timing didn’t turn out well. That was the time of Big Brother and reality TV starting, and they’d stopped making nice comedies.”
She and Paul didn’t marry beause it turned out she was already married to Danish film producer Claus Hede Nielsen and was unable to get a divorce.
In 2019 she admitted: “I haven’t seen Claus since 1985. I don’t know where he is to divorce him. I think he went back to Denmark, or to LA. I’m still legally his wife, but I haven’t got a clue where he is. What does it really matter? It’s not as if he’s bothering me.”
Yootha Joyce went on to star on the spin-off show George and Mildred (Image: Getty)
Yootha Joyce – Mildred Roper
Yootha Joyce had enjoyed a succesful theatre career before she began landing guest parts in shows such as On The Buses and Steptoe and Son alongside big screen appearances.
After years of playing a supporting role, Man About The House was her first starring part and she shone as Mildred Roper, the flirtatious wife of curmudgeonly landlord George (Brian Murphy).
Their partnership was so successful and popular that when the show ended, they were given their own spin off George and Mildred. It saw the couple move to a middle class suburb as Mildred tried to better herself while George wanted a quiet simple life.
The show started in 1976 and got the big screen treatment in 1980. Sadly this was to be her last work as her long term alcoholism caught up with her.
She was admitted to hospital in the summer of 1980 and died of liver failure four days after her 53rd birthday on 24 August that year,with her on screen husband and good friend Brian at her bedside.
The inquest into her death revealed that she had been drinking up to half a bottle of brandy a day for ten years and very much more in the period prior to her death.
The pathologist revealed her liver was twice the normal size and that her heart and lungs had also suffered because of her drinking. Her cause of death was given as portal cirrhosis of the liver.
Brian Murphy has enjoyed a long career (Image: Getty)
Brian Murphy – George Roper
Brian Murphy, now 92, had been a jobbing actor for decades before landing the role of landlord George Roper in Man About the House.
He had previously worked with his on screen wife Yootha Joyce in theatre which contributed to their on screen chemistry. Along with Yootha, he starred in the spin off show George and Mildred when Man About The House ended.
His character was so popular that in 1978 he released a single called Jogging recorded in the persona of George. Sadly Yootha’s death in 1980 brought an end to that chapter of his life.
In 1981, he starred in The Incredible Mr. Tanner, a sitcom was created specifically for him, however the show failed to take off.
One year later, he took on a role in the driving school sitcom, L for Lester, but this was also a ratings failure and was cancelled after just six episodes.
Despite this he worked steadily, and from 2003 to 2010 he starred as Alvin Smedley in Last of the Summer Wine. His most recent TV appearance was in a 2023 documentary celebrating half a century of Man About The House.
He has been married to fellow sitcom royalty Hi-de-Hi! actress Linda Regan since 1995. She is his second wife and he has two adult children, Trevor and Kevin, from his previous marriage to Carol Gibson.