The Dingleys
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox television The Dingleys is an early South African television family drama from 1977, following the South African Broadcasting Corporation's introduction of television. Set in Pietermaritzburg in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), it centred on a fictional middle-class, white South African, English-speaking family, the Dingleys, who own a bookshop.<ref name="spectator">Boer War on the box, Richard West, The Spectator, 9 April 1977, page 7</ref>
The series starred John Hussey,<ref>The Kenneth Williams letters, Kenneth Williams, HarperCollins, 1995, page 247</ref> Vera Blacker,<ref>Starting Again In Egoli, Sheila Ward, AuthorHouse, 2013, page 32</ref> Sybel Coetzee<ref>South African Digest, Department of Information, 1978, Page 12</ref> and Eckard Rabe.<ref>The Dingleys, TV series, 1977]</ref> It was directed by Bill Faure.<ref>Obituaries in the Performing Arts, Harris M. Lentz McFarland & Co., 1994</ref> Although some outdoor scenes were shot on location in Pietermaritzburg, most of the show was recorded on a set in the SABC's Johannesburg studios.<ref>Filmed in KZN, News24, Stephen Coan, July 13, 2008</ref> Celia Motsie, who played the only black character in the series, was removed after she shared a table with white cast members in the SABC's whites-only canteen.<ref>The Rocky Rioter Teargas Show: The Inside Story of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, Pat Hopkins, Helen Grange, Zebra, 2001, page 27</ref>
It received mixed reviews from South African viewers, with the Rand Daily Mail publishing complaints from readers under the heading "The Dingleys are dreadful", although others described it as "good clean fun", praising the sight of "a family sticking together - be it rather conservative and dull."<ref name="spectator" />
The theme song, "Dingley's Bookshop", was performed by Rabbitt, and featured on their album A Croak And A Grunt In The Night.<ref>Rabbit Discography, MTV</ref> One of its members, Duncan Faure, was the brother of the programme's producer.<ref>The White Tribes Revisited, Richard West, Private Eye Productions, page 124</ref>