Monday 25 September 2023

James Dark (Costume Designer - The Dummy)


Dark worked in the ATV costume and wardrobe department during the 1970s notching up credits on Carry on Laughing (1975), the Beasts episode 'The Dummy', episodes of The Muppet Show during 1978, 'The Ghost in the Pale Blue Dress' (20th May 1978) - an episode of the anthology series Scorpion Tales, and the Edward Woodward /Jane Wymark vehicle The Bass Player and the Blonde (1978).

Between 1976 and 1981 he was the main costume designer for The Muppet Show, clocking up over thirty episodes. For these productions he was credited as Jimmy Dark. He had a sole credit on the drama anthology series ITV Playhouse with the intriguing episode 'Sin With Our Permission' (26th May 1981), a science fiction flavoured play set in the future in a new town which is under constant surveillance. The town also has a daily soap opera which provides a platform for solutions for problems occurring within the town.

During the 1980s he was credited as a costume designer and as such he enjoyed credits on the sitcoms The Other ‘Arf (1980) and Girls on Top (1986) as well as period comedy dramas Flickers (September – October 1980), Pictures (February – March 1983) and The Bretts (1988 – 1989). He also contributed towards the children’s football drama Murphy’s Mob (1985).

Between 1990 and 1993 and worked on the sitcom The Upper Hand[1] and this appears to have been his television swansong.

TV Credits
1975 Thriller – 'A Midsummer Nightmare', Carry on Laughing
1976 Beasts – 'The Dummy'
1976 – 1981 The Muppet Show
1978 Scorpion Tales – 'The Ghost in the Pale Blue Dress', The Bass Player and the Blonde
1979 Bob Hope at the London Palladium
1980 The Other ‘Arf, Flickers
1981 ITV Playhouse – 'Sin with Our Permission'
1983 Pictures
1985 Murphy’s Mob
1986 Girls on Top
1988 – 1989 The Bretts
1993 The Upper Hand




[1] This was the UK version of the American sitcom Who’s The Boss? The UK version starred Joe McGann and Honor Blackman.

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