The Dustbinmen

1960s British tv sitcom

Number 3 Gang - four completely different dustbin men (or how they prefer to be called refuse collectors), who have one thing in common - they devote their time to skiving and scheming to earn some money or at least drive their depot inspector mad.

Rating	6.0
Series creators	Jack Rosenthal
Years	1969 - 1970
Country	United Kingdom
Format	25 minutes per episode
Language	English
Locations	the story takes place in ManchesterGreater Manchester, EnglandUnited Kingdom
Series tags	working classstaffskivingabsurdalwomanizersurrealswindle

The Dustbinmen trivia

Swearing

Just like later Porridge, The Dustbinmen used the pseudo-profanity - it would be hardly realistic for the dustbin men not to swear during their work, but at the same time in 1960s no television would broadcast a series that would contain profanity, so the creators came up with made up words that replaced the swearing, f.e. "piggin’ or "bog off".

Original play

Series was developed by Jack Rosenthal from his ITV Playhouse play called There’s a Hole in Your Dustbin, Delilah. He turned it into first series, but during the second series he more or less deserted the project to work on his next sitcom, The Lovers.