MovieChat Forums > You Rang, M'Lord? (1988) Discussion > Cissy = Lesbian

Cissy = Lesbian

posted 18 years ago by unlikelyheroine
32 replies | jump to latest

A couple of years ago, for some reason, I started thinking about the old sitcom "You Rang, M'Lord?" which aired when I was aged from about 8 to about 13 I think. And it suddenly struck me that Cissy Meldrum was gay (really don't know why this revelation decided to hit me then!)

Watching the S1 DVDs I can now see it was all but spelled out that she was a lesbian and in a relationship with her "chum" Penelope - I was pretty surprised just how many references there were to it! As the BBC say on their Comedy Guide page about this programme, this was an unlikely place for a regular lesbian character to show up...!

From a couple of things Poppy says, she clearly has some idea what is going on - and Lord Meldrum's reaction is also very funny - trying to persuade Cissy not to wear men's clothes and wondering aloud whether to Teddy whether girls kiss each other on the lips these days...

Cissy and Ivy winking at each other in the first or second episode (Ivy presumably not in the same spirit as Cissy) was also very funny.

STOKES: Who's that tea tray for?
IVY: Miss Cissy.
STOKES: Well don't stay too long!
IVY: Why does everybody always say that?!

[–] IridescentTranquility 18 years ago

There's one bit I always remember when the Bishop comes to visit (he was also the Vicar in Dad's Army) and he saw Poppy and Cissy, and said something like, "What a pretty dress, Poppy", and then said , "What a pretty . . . pair of trousers, Cissy". I don't think he knew how to react.

I watched it when I was little and then it was shown again on UK Gold about three years ago and the same thing occurred to me.

You wouldn't know a joke if it got up and gave you a haircut - Edmund Blackadder

[–] gpthompson2 18 years ago

i always knew that she was gay. There was always hints to it. Especially when L.Meldrum saw Cizzy kiss her "Friend" Penelope on the lips, and Meldrum said;

Meldrum:(To Teddy) Do girls usually kiss each other on the lips these days?
Teddy: I dont know. i usually kiss girls on the lips.
Meldrum: Yes well we all know about that.

[–] wieldy 18 years ago

I watched this show as a kid and must have utterly forgotten about Cissy in the interim! It was a nice surprise to see her when I watched the DVDs.

The thing that always strikes me about Cissy is that as a character she's a bit of a rarity. Back in the 80's and early 90's it was incredibly rare to see a lesbian character portrayed in such a manner. From her dress and the way she acts it's clear that Cissy is a lesbian but the writers never made a bit deal of it and this is what I love about the character. Even these days it's rare that you get a lesbian character whose not treated as tittilation or some sort of plot device. Well done to Perry and Croft.

Dear Buddha, please send me a pony and a plastic rocket.

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[–] PoloPonies 18 years ago

I have a dim and dusty memory that the actress was "notorious" for going out with Prince Andrew in the earlyish 80s, so I'd think she's be late 20s/early 30s ny the time she played Cissy. I could be completely wrong, though - I just vaguely remember my Mum mentioning the Prince thing when we used to watch the show as a family!

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[–] PoloPonies 18 years ago

Agree, she was a very good actress! Pity she didn't go on to do other high profile work. Cissy was so unusual for a gay character back then - she was pretty, she was happy, she wasn't fat, and they didn't kill her off, ha ha!

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[–] Judoace 18 years ago

I havent seen her in anything else, but Ive looked out for her.

Im a tad too young to remember the show the first time around, so ( like many of the great English comedies) I have caught them later, on the likes of UKTV Gold etc. So Cissy as a lesbian hit me in about the second episode I watched, the references to her 'chum' Penelope were a bit of a giveaway, and the episode I think its in series three (cause its the second ep i saw) Penelope is sat on her knee fiddling with her monocle with Cissys arm around her.

Many congratualtions for the writers to be able to show a lesbian character without resulting to using her as a cheap gag or whatever.

[–] LuisaGallo 18 years ago

One thing I like about Cissy is the fact she is not nearly so stuck-up or spoilt as Poppy!!
Although they are sisters in the same family, they are two complete opposites in every possible way!
Cissy seems to really care about 'ordinary' people and doesn't like to think she is better than anyone else just because her father is a Lord.
I can only think maybe her experiences of growing up as a person who struggles with her sexuality have helped her to be a more compassionate person!

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[–] marga73 18 years ago

watching the series when i was younger i remember cissy as an heroine for me because she always dressed as a guy and i hated to wear dresses and skirts :) [i still only wear trousers]. but i don't remember thinking about her sexuality. rewatching the episodes now it's very obvious from the first episode.
one thing that has surprised me it's how the series is full of sexual jokes, i've always thought british comedy never do that! LOL

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[–] LuisaGallo 17 years ago

Not to mention all the Carryons, of course!

[–] marga73 17 years ago

from those series you both mention i've only seen "allo allo" :(

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[–] PoloPonies 17 years ago

I actually think Cissy is one of the best sitcom characters of all time. She's so different from everyone else that appeared in other 80s/90s Britcoms! Even now, I can't think of a comparable character in any other sitcom. She was almost the authorial conscience of it all!!

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[–] marga73 17 years ago

thanks to this post i discovered it and i've finally finished reading "the well of loneliness". it has amazed me how brave was the writer and how she could describe the love feelings so realistically (whether they are homo or hetero).
i bet it was cissy's favourite book!

[–] retrogal83 17 years ago

Of course Cissy was a lesbian.
Kissing her "Chum Penelope" on the lips in public, the references to her trying to attract female attention etc...
I loved the interplay with Teddy about vying for Ivy: "Well, Teddy; all I can say is 'May The Best Man Win'...!"

Not to mention when Ivy went in with the morning tea to find Cissy and Penelope cuddled up in bed together, fast asleep.

According to Stokes: "Miss Cissy and her friends do things that even I don't undersand...!"

It was always obvious, as far as I was concerned!

No No NO! Don't be silly; how can you find someone "Not Esther Williams"? (Graham Chapman)

[–] LuisaGallo 17 years ago

It's so funny when Ivy finds them all in bed in different situations and gets all confused!! "Least said soonest mended!" Says Mrs Lipton!

[–] PoloPonies 17 years ago

Totally agree - it was so adriot of the writers, they made Cissy's status perfectly clear to the majority, while at the same time those who wished not to see such things on BBC TV (the past is a foreign country, haha) could go into denial mode and pretend she was just a tomboy!

That scene in Series one where Cissy and Ivy wink at each other never fails to make me cry with laughter - Su is brilliant in her naive friendliness!

[–] PoloPonies 17 years ago

I haven't read it since university, so I'm a bit hazy on the plot, but it was so sad! I could have kicked that drip Mary for what she did (which I won't type, don't want to spoil the end for anyone!)!

Yes, you're right - and I can imagine Cissy writing to the press, condemning the banning of the book.

[–] randommovies2002 11 years ago

I've only just started watching this series. I'd never heard of it until a few months ago and then I kind of forgot about it. Just found a few eps online and started watching this weekend.

Cissy immediately reminded me of a character in Mapp & Lucia...but I cannot recall the character's name! Like Cissy, she always wore trousers and a man's haircut/style. IIRC she was also a painter.

[–] jockoandjelly-1 11 years ago

I think you're thinking of the splendid Quaint Irene :)

[–] randommovies2002 11 years ago

Ah, yes. Thanks!

I just checked and Mapp & Lucia is available in the US on Amazon Prime (free!). Guess what I'm watching tonight?

[–] darkbhudda 17 years ago

Cissy is great. So rare to see a lesbian written as a human being rather than a thinly veiled cipher for male bashing.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] jock_tamsons_wee_brother 8 years ago

I don't really watch much TV but characters from minorities are either portrayed in British TV as either psychos, victims or salt of the earth characters. While Cissy character wasn't as rounded as others in the series, it was good to see that she was wasn't as one-dimensional where, while she was on the side of the servants, there was instances of her putting them in their place then they got 'ideas about their station' which would be a natural reaction at that time even to those in the aristocracy who possessed progressive ideals.