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Number 96 – Episode 35 (1972)

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clip ‘My good woman’

Original classification rating: M. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Dorrie (Pat McDonald) and Herb Evans (Ron Shand) receive a visit from the snobbish Claire Houghton (Thelma Scott) who unwittingly gives Dorrie a brand new title.

Curator’s notes

by Andrew Mercado

Episode 35 opens just after Don Finlayson (Joe Hasham) has told Bev Houghton (Abigail) that he is gay. This unintentionally hilarious moment (thanks to Don’s pronunciation of the word 'homosexual’) has been widely seen in TV history retrospectives ever since and was one of the first clips to be uploaded by fans onto YouTube after the first DVD release of the series.

Bev’s mother Claire Houghton (Thelma Scott), a snooty society lady from the more upmarket Sydney suburb of Point Piper, is introduced in this episode when she deigns to travel ‘down’ to the inner-city suburb of Paddington. Invited into Dorrie and Herb’s flat, she talks down to them but the hapless Dorrie is so thrilled at her social standing she doesn’t notice the insults.

A long-running joke is set up as Dorrie mispronounces herself as the building’s ‘consurge’ after Claire has enquired if she is the ‘concierge’. Dorrie’s malapropisms became legendary as she talked about being ‘beresk’ instead of berserk, suffering ‘migrant’ headaches instead of migraines, and her most infamous saying ‘Why wasn’t I told?’. Decades later, another set of suburban malapropisms would enter the Australian vernacular courtesy of Kath and Kim (2002–07).

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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