‘DALLAS,’ ‘DYNASTY’ CITED : BRITISH HOUSEWIVES ASSN. IS ‘FED UP’

Every time J. R. Ewing of TV’s “Dallas” cheats on his wife, Sue Ellen, he arouses the ire of British housewives.

Alexis of “Dynasty” is enough to make them switch off the telly.

In fact, they’re not too crazy about Dr. Kildare, either.

Complaints about the state of TV--including numerous American imports--have prompted members of Britain’s National Assn. of Housewives to consider withholding a portion of the mandatory 46 yearly license fee that owners of color TV sets pay to the government.

“There is too much sex, too much violence, too much bad language, rape scenes and getting in and out of bed together, and our members are fed up with it all,” Irene Watson, chairman of the 30,000-member association, said by telephone from her home in Plymouth, England, earlier this week.

In a wire service report, Watson singled out “Dallas” and “Dynasty” as two offenders. She also told The Times that “even a well-known hospital drama has distressing scenes to 5- or 6-year-olds and it is shown at half past 5, before they have gone to bed.”

A check with the BBC about its current lineup indicates that the hospital show in question is “Dr. Kildare,” which starred Richard Chamberlain in its 1961-66 U.S. run and is seen in England in reruns.

Watson said the “rubbish” on British TV was not limited to American shows but included movies, shows “from all over the world” and even “the news programs at 6 o’clock.”

The housewives organization’s most recent newsletter, Watson said, asked members if they wanted to withhold a portion of their license fees proportionate to the amount of time they “had to turn off their TV (sets) and couldn’t watch.” The license fee--the equivalent of about $51--subsidizes the BBC’s commercial-free programming.

The BBC’s official response to Watson’s group was that the network “takes a great deal of care in the scheduling of programs designed for more adult taste and for a great many years has undertaken not to screen programs before 9 p.m. that children might find disturbing.

“But in the final analysis,” the prepared statement continued, “the BBC cannot be expected to assume the mantle of parental control, and beyond 9 p.m. the BBC expects parents to supervise the programs watched by their children.”

The BBC clearly is at odds with Watson’s group over what constitutes “adult taste”: “Dallas” airs Wednesdays at 8:10 p.m. and “Dynasty” (which British viewers pronounce “ Din -asty”) screens Saturdays at 8:05 p.m., both before the 9 p.m. “watershed,” said BBC spokesman Tony Gwyn Jones.

“I think you’ll find that here they’re very much programs that are watched by the family,” Jones said.

A “controversial play” or “light entertainment of a sort of racy nature” would air after 9 p.m., he said.

“Dallas” and “Dynasty” consistently are among the three or four most popular shows in England, Jones said. (“Dallas” is so popular that BBC’s competition, the commercial Thames Television network, just stole the show away by offering nearly twice as much money per episode to its distributor--making front-page news in all of England’s national newspapers.)

Other popular U.S. shows are “Starsky & Hutch” and “ ‘Kojak,’ of course,” Jones said.

Watson said that she and other leaders of the housewives association will meet later this month to discuss the results of the membership poll and the proposal to withhold fees.

The BBC, meanwhile, has offered to address the housewives’ complaints more fully but has made it clear that the women had better not mess around with network revenue. “The question of withholding of license fee payments,” the network’s statement concluded, “raises legal factors which the Home Office and the department responsible for broadcasting are best placed to deal with.”