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Graham’s Gang

BRIEF BUT BRILLIANT comdram which has stayed etched in a million brains. MARK FRANCIS was your eponymous everykid, posh (naturally) but who kept referring to himself as “a leader of men”. The rest of that titular band: Lux, a big tall dopey one with black-framed glasses; William, second-in-command who wanted to be gang leader causing friction between himself and leader-of-men Graham; and Robert and Keith, who were best buddies and always fighting. Spoilt Violet Elizabeth type girl called Mildred with a huge family who popped up everywhere (referred to as ‘Daddy Blight’, ‘Auntie Blight’ etc. by Graham et al) was always following them and trying to get in the gang. Episodes consisted of effortlessly bonkers but entertaining antics, including one where they all dressed up as Graham for some reason and ran round a shopping centre, one where William dressed up as a girl to take Mildred’s part in the school play when she got chicken-pox, one where there was a go-kart race in the town with Graham as one entry and Mildred and William coached by Mildred’s Dad as another. Plus there was the time when Mildred had a birthday party and members of a rival gang came dressed in Gorilla suits and trashed her house. Towards the end of the series there was even one where they got – gasp! – girlfriends (French exchange students, naturally). Nice one.

22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. Rob Williams

    July 26, 2009 at 5:54 pm

    I heard it was filmed at Leigh Park near Portsmouth, that that could be urban legend around these parts… If they had posh voices, then no way did the people there have posh voices!

  2. tim

    January 6, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    remember it well. great programme. can i find it anywhere on the interweb?

  3. Jon

    April 19, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    Yeah filmed in Leigh Park & Havant, where I grew up. Remember watching it and spotting all the local places! Can’t find any clips anywhere of it :o(

  4. televisualcabbage

    April 19, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Thank you Jon, always wondered about that….

  5. Damon

    July 24, 2010 at 3:09 am

    The theme has just popped back into my head. I can’t share it but after the ‘Graham’s Gang’ team shout, it was characterised by some suitably seventies instrumental music, possibly done by the same band who performed the It’s a Knockout theme and who were doubtless testcard regulars. I remember the go cart episode andMildred’s pouting face.

    They should bring it back like they did with This Life for a one-off: Graham’s Gang 32 years later.

  6. Andy

    July 25, 2010 at 7:05 am

    I was an undergraduate with Lloyd Mahoney (who played Keith), a nice man who sadly died young due to complications with asthma.

  7. Alan Corbett

    August 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    Totally shocked to hear that dear Lloyd died. I played Lux in Graham’s Gang, but sadly lost touch with the gang many years ago. I am though in touch with Melanie, who played Mildred, and have just let her know about Lloyd. To Andy – do you know anything more about how old Lloyd was when he died? Melanie and I have only just recently been trying to track everyone down for a reunion. This is such sad news.

  8. Helen

    October 16, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    I didn’t know Lloyd but my husband went to school with him and still speaks of him often. He died in about 1990, aged around 25 and is still sadly missed by all his friends. My husband too has been trying to find old episodes/clips of the show.

  9. Alan Corbett

    November 2, 2010 at 5:40 pm

    Hi Helen

    Many thanks for that. There is an episode of Graham’s Gang that you can watch at the British Film Institute, on the South Bank in London. They have a free facility there with a huge library of old shows and films. Melanie (who played Mildred) also has a couple of the episodes on dvd. Next time I see her I hope to get some copies and upload them on something like You Tube. Is your husband in touch with Lloyd’s family, by any chance?

  10. Andy

    November 20, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    To Alan,
    Apologies for delay in replying to your posting – I haven’t looked on here for a while. I wasn’t in touch with Lloyd when he died, but I gather from those that were that he died after an asthma attack. I was once at a party around 1985 when Lloyd had to be taken off in an amublance after an asthma attack – I’m afraid that he smoked, which obviously didn’t help.
    Sorry to bring bad news – and for the tardiness of my response. Yes, I think it was around 1990.

  11. Helen

    November 21, 2010 at 4:56 pm

    Hi Alan
    Thank you for that information – Simon is often in London for work and is now planning to visit the Film Institute! We will also look out on You Tube for further clips. Thanks!
    He isn’t in touch with Lloyd’s family, I’m afraid.

  12. Alan

    November 26, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    To Andy and Helen

    Many thanks for your replies.

    best wishes

    Alan

  13. Colin

    May 3, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    I was in the series as an extra. Had lunch with Bruce Parker and Brigit Forsyth as theirs was the only table with a space on it. Which means that I can place myself in that particular episode. Memories of BBC outside catering at Leigh Park Gardens, take after take of a scene where I was in a fight in the background, and a fake shopfront stuck onto the wall of the small store / toilet block in the football fields just outside Park Parade. I still have my BBC contract.

  14. Mark

    July 18, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    I was a big fan of the show, being from the Leigh Park area. We loved spotting all the places that Grahame’s Gang hung out. I remember sometimes being very confused when I saw a fake shopfront or hut which wasn’t there when I went to look for it. Does anyone know where I can view an episode online?

  15. Steve

    August 28, 2013 at 2:41 am

    I too was an extra for this show.
    I had a BBC contract and did filming at the old Oak Park school. I was on screen for about 10 second, but got paid GBP 15,00 each day from the BBC. Unfortunately I no longer have the contract.

  16. ian H

    August 31, 2013 at 10:34 am

    I also was in the episode where the birthday party ended up in a huge food fight. I remember it was such fun! I believe the school got paid for us to be in it but of course the kids never got to see any of the cash! Would love to see that episode again but despite the searches there appears to be nothing available?

  17. Caroline

    January 24, 2014 at 7:26 am

    Hi everyone

    I too was an extra in the episode Mildred’s Birthday Party. A friend of mine was also in this episode. I still have a cutting from an old TV times which gave names of the cast, Ivor Salter and Jo Robottom.. Sad to hear of the passing of Lloyd. I went to Broomfield School (now known as Park Community) and lived in Leigh Park and also loved spotting the local area in the episodes. I have trawled the internet looking for clips etc but to no avail. Hardly anyone ever remembers the show when I mention my “claim to fame”. It would be great if anyone could find anything and share.

  18. Liz

    February 19, 2014 at 10:23 am

    Hi all

    I am coordinating a heritage lottery project in Leigh Park. We are collecting material for a community map and 4 memory boxes.

    At the moment I am looking for material to inform these boxes and it seems fitting to make sure something from Graham’s gang appears in the boxes and on the map

    If anyone can give me an details on the programme, any copies of stills or even copies of episodes that would be fantastic

    You can email info to liz at heritage@makingspace.org

    Hope to hear from someone about this and that anyone with Leigh Park connections will be keen to share their stories of living there with us for the project and a future legacy for the next generations of residents

    Thank you

    Liz

  19. justin

    April 19, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    don’t remember the show clearly but do remember them picking on the character William from what I remember they seamed to sit on him a lot and god was Mildred a pain in the neck was she grahams girlfriend?

  20. justin

    April 19, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    I would love it if it came out on dvd does anybody know if it is.

  21. Dristarg

    October 16, 2014 at 10:55 am

    The ‘Inbetweeners’ of its day.

  22. Darren

    October 30, 2015 at 10:16 pm

    The episode entitled “Fooling Around” has been uploaded to Youtube.

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