NEW MILLS, UNITED KINGDOM, April 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Les Dawson’s Cissie and Ada, published by Razzamatazz Publications in January 2014, brings together a selection of original television comedy scripts written by Terry Ravenscroft during his years working with Les Dawson for the BBC. The book presents material written for two characters who became familiar to British television audiences through The Dawson Watch and The Les Dawson Show.
Rather than offering commentary or reinterpretation, the book focuses on preserving the scripts themselves. It presents the work as it was written during production, allowing readers to see how the characters and conversations were shaped before being performed on screen. It also references when Terry Ravenscroft’s reflections on when he first met Les Dawson and how the Cissie and Ada characters were brought into being.
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸
The book includes scripts written between 1978 and 1983, a period during which Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebottom were a regular part of BBC comedy programming. Ada was portrayed by Les Dawson, while Cissie was played by Roy Barraclough. Their scenes were largely based on dialogue, timing, and observation rather than on visual spectacle.
The published scripts reflect the working relationship between writer and performer. While some sketches were adjusted during rehearsal or shortened for broadcast, the material in the book closely follows the versions originally submitted during production.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲
The humour in Les Dawson’s Cissie and Ada is grounded in everyday conversation and familiar situations. The scripts focus on ordinary domestic life, personal habits, and social attitudes, using character voice rather than exaggerated scenarios. Much of the comedy comes from how the characters speak to one another and how they react to small details. The humour is broad, sometimes bawdy, based on working class people whom Terry Ravenscroft and Les Dawson were brought up with.
By presenting the material in written form, the book offers a clearer view of how comedic structure, pacing, and dialogue were developed on the page before being performed for television audiences.
𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
The book is intended for adult readers with an interest in British television comedy and scriptwriting. It may appeal to those who watched British comedy during the late twentieth century, as well as readers interested in how television scripts were written during that period.
It also provides useful reading for writers, performers, and students who want to understand character-based comedy and the process behind writing for established performers.
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿
Terry Ravenscroft is a British writer with a long career in television and radio comedy. His work includes scripts for The Les Dawson Show, The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise, Alas Smith and Jones, Not the Nine O’Clock News, and The Ken Dodd Show. He also wrote the BBC Radio comedy series Star Terk Two, which received industry recognition.
Born in 1938 in New Mills, Derbyshire, Ravenscroft later turned to book writing after retiring from television scriptwriting. Since then, he has written more than twenty books, including memoirs, novels, and humorous works. He continues to live in Derbyshire.
𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
Since its publication, Les Dawson’s Cissie and Ada has stood as a written record of a particular period in British television comedy. The book documents the written foundations of characters that became widely recognised through broadcast performance.
By preserving these scripts in print, the publication contributes to the wider record of British comedy writing and offers insight into how familiar television material was created behind the scenes
The book is being re-launched partly to bring it to the attention of the reading public who were teenagers when the book was first launched 12 years ago..
Bracken Joseph
Book Marketer UK
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