New Malden - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

• In the BBC TV series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, New Malden features twice in the list of excuses Perrin made to his boss for his late arrival at work; one of the claims made is that a badger ate the signal box there.
• The house on the corner of Dukes Avenue/Howard Road featured in the exterior shots of 1970s ITV series Bless This House, which featured comedian Sid James.
• In 2004, Tesco reported that the New Malden store was the biggest consumer of fruit and veg in the Country, in relation to items of fruit purchased per customer. It is thought that the Korean diet contributes significantly to this.
• Mentioned in a mid-1990s MasterCard advert – "New York? The furthest he's ever been is New Malden!"
• Mentioned briefly on the radio traffic report in the BBC television series "Outnumbered".
• Mentioned in Stephen Fry's autobiography 'Moab is my washpot'. "I suppose some rat faced weasel from New Malden will be interviewed at any minute to give the other side of the hunting debate" (page 45)
• The Duke of Cambridge pub, now a Krispy Kreme doughnut store, was formerly a haunt of the Kray twins; the heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston attended the reopening night in the 1960s.
• Malden features in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which the "North Malden Icelandic Saga Society" change the script to the BBC's production of the Icelandic legend "Njorl's Saga" to incorporate references to Malden in an effort to attract investors. (Episode 1, Series 3)
• Mentioned in BBC Comedy 'Little Britain'. In the Fat Fighters scene the host asked a member of the group where a photograph of her was taken, she replies, "New Malden!"
  • In another episode of the same show, an Indian representative is asked whether she will be writing a letter to her family in India, to which she corrects "New Malden".