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‘Hello, the Vatican residence!’: The late Pope Benedict XVI was a ‘big fan of the ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances and imitated the phone catchphrase of snobbish Hyacinth Bucket’
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The late Pope Benedict XVI was reportedly a big fan of the ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, as revealed in a new documentary.
The comedy followed the trials and tribulations of snob Dame Patricia Routledge’s character, Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ‘Bouquet’), as she tried to climb the social ladder.
And the former leader of the Catholic Church, who passed away last year, was such a fan that it was said he would even imitate the character’s iconic phone verse.
Vatican residence: The late Pope Benedict XVI was reportedly a big fan of the ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, a new documentary has been revealed (Dame Patricia Routledge pictured)
According to the documentary: ‘There is a rumor that Pope Benedict made an impression of Hyacinth’s telephone catchphrase, ‘Hello, this is the Bouquet residence.’
And Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years Of Laughs, which airs on Friday night, also revealed that the show had other very famous fans.
With Dame Patricia saying: “We were one of the Queen Mother’s favorite sitcoms, which was lovely, and the Queen enjoyed it too.”
‘The Pope of the Catholic Church speaks!’: And the former head of the Catholic Church was such a fan that it has been said that he would even imitate the character’s iconic telephone verse.
Golden Comedy: The comedy followed the trials and tribulations of snob Dame Patricia Routledge’s character, Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ‘Bouquet’), as she tried to climb the social ladder (pictured with co-star Clive Swift)
Before adding: “Hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words, and why not.”
The BBC show ran for five series, between 1990 and 1995, and in 2001 was listed among Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Sitcoms of All Time.
It comes after the show received a viewer discretion warning for its release on streaming service BritBox in 2021.
Big fans: The late Queen and Queen Mother (pictured in 1985) were also reportedly big fans of the comedy.
With the family sitcom featuring several jokes that have fallen ill from today’s network bosses.
In one episode, Hyacinth and her husband visit their sister in the country and meet a well-spoken and elegant man.
Hyacinth then tells her husband that the stranger is ‘quent’, meaning eloquent, and ‘quent like a £4 note’.
Shock: It comes after the beloved sitcom received a viewer discretion warning for its release on streaming service BritBox.
In another episode, many of the show’s characters make jokes about a Pole questioning his right to live in the UK.
As a result, Britbox has now added a disclaimer warning viewers that the series “contains language and attitudes of the time which may cause offence”, the daily star reports.
The ITV and BBC streaming service said: “We review and update the BritBox catalog of programs on an ongoing basis.”
“Programming on the service that contains potentially sensitive language or attitudes of its time has carried appropriate warnings since our launch in November 2019, to ensure proper guidance is provided for viewers who choose to watch on demand.”
MailOnline has contacted BritBox for further comment at the time.
Modern Audiences: The family-friendly sitcom features several jokes that have fallen out of favor with today’s network bosses.