Cissie and Ada

Cissie and Ada, in full Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebotham or Sidebottom are two housewives from Northern England (or, more specifically, Lancashire) created and played by the comedian Les Dawson and the comic actor Roy Barraclough on television in the 1970s and 1980s. With a love of gossip, stoical pursing of lips and constantly heaved bosoms, Cissie and Ada became a hit with the British public. Dawson explained that this mouthing of words (or "mee-mawing") was a habit of Lancashire millworkers trying to communicate over the tremendous racket of the looms, and then resorted to in daily life for indelicate subjects.

Contents

• Les Dawson Cissie Ada Chatting on the Doorstep
• Cissie And Ada An Hysterical Rectomy Stage Show
• References

The pair created the characters in rehearsals, in homage to the music hall star Norman Evans, before being persuaded by the producer to use them in sketches in the show Sez Les. Although Dawson needed persuading to don drag, and Barraclough was nervous that he would not be able to match Dawson's talent for ad-libbing, the characters became permanent features of the show.

The characters were revisited by the pair in a series of commercials for fresh cream cakes in 1984.

In 2006 Sir Ian McKellen, writing in The Independent, named them the tenth best drag act ever created, commenting that they "were as real as the crones in the Rover's Return". Barraclough recalled that his characterisation of Cissie "was drawn from an aunt of mine who always thought she was slightly above the rest of the family, Auntie Annie. You know, she would always have a sherry. And the rest of the family always took the piss out of her." Key to Dawson's portrayal of Ada was a handbag "tightly clutched to the waist in a manner suggesting infinite disapproval".

A planned Christmas special and a series to follow were both cancelled because of Les Dawson's death in 1993. Barraclough has declared that "it's rewarding to see Cissie and Ada have passed into comedy legend".