Keeping Up Appearances is a
British sitcom created and written by
Roy Clarke for the
BBC, centred on the life of eccentric and snobbish
middle class social climber
Hyacinth Bucket, who insists that her surname is pronounced "Bouquet". The sitcom follows Hyacinth in her attempts to prove her social superiority and to gain standing with those she considers
upper class; attempts that are constantly hampered by her decidedly lower-class extended family whom she desperately seeks to hide. Much of the humour comes from the
culture clash between Hyacinth's vision of herself and the reality of her
working class background, plus the farcical situations she finds herself in as she battles to protect her social credibility. The show has many running jokes, and spawned five series and 44 episodes; four of which are Christmas specials.
Keeping Up Appearances was a great success in the UK and also captured large audiences in the
US,
Canada,
Australia,
Denmark,
Sweden,
Belgium and the
Netherlands, but ceased production in 1995 when Routledge wanted to move on to other projects. Since its original release, all five series—including Christmas specials—have been available on DVD. It is regularly repeated worldwide (
Public television stations including
PBS member stations in the US;
BBC One,
Gold, and
Drama in the UK and Ireland). It is also available for viewing on
Netflix.