History
John Sullivan became a scenery shifter at the BBC because of his desire to write a sitcom outline he had called Citizen Smith; fearing rejection if he sent the idea in, he decided it would be better to get a job, any job, at the BBC, learn more about the business and then meet someone who would actually take notice of his as yet unwritten script. After he approached producer Dennis Main Wilson, the first Citizen Smith script was written. Main Wilson loved the script and saw the potential for a series and it was put in to production almost immediately as a Pilot for Comedy Special - a showcase for new talent which had succeeded Comedy Playhouse - under the title Citizen Smith. The pilot was a success, and four series and a Christmas special were produced between 1977 and 1980.
Some sources erroneously name the pilot as "A Roof Over My Head", which was actually the title of the previous week's Comedy Special, written by Barry Took (which also led to a series).
Read more about this topic: Citizen Smith
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