By Dick Clement And Ian La Frenais, Part One - Sitcoms 1964-1974.

Probably the best TV comedy writers Britain has ever produced.

Introduction - Trapped in Comedy

Terry (James Bolam, left) talking bollocks again as Bob (Rodney Bewes) rolls his eyes once again.

Between 1964 and 1984, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote some of funniest, the most realistic, and the best-loved sitcoms in British television’s storied history - The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, Porridge and ITS sequel Going Straight, and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.¹

Far too much to do proper justice to in one or even two articles, so this is part one of three.

So much great comedy - great British comedy, at least - is claustrophobic in nature, with characters trapped in a situation they cannot escape with people they would much rather not be with.

An old married couple, their daughter and son-in-law congregated in the living room, constantly arguing - that’s the central plot of every episode of Till Death Us Do Part.

A son trying to better himself whose father drives him mad and thwarts his ambitions, every episode - Steptoe And Son, this week, last week and next week.

The last survivor of the human race, three million years into the future, and a hologram of his dead room-mate who he hated, recreated by the ship’s computer because he will keep the survivor sane - Red Dwarf.

The ultimate expression of this genre would be two guys in prison in the dark for thirteen episodes, perhaps with one sign of an extra person as the meals are delivered. I’m surprised this has not yet been tried by the BBC, if only as a budgetary measure.

The Likely Lads (1964 - 1966)

Terry and Bob channelling the Kray Twins there.

The Likely Lads was Dick and Ian’s first scriptwriting work. Over three series and 20 episodes it featured the lives of Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes) and Terry Collier (James Bolam), two young working-class blokes, whose horizons do not extend far beyond booze, birds and football, living in an unspecified town in the North-East.

It’s a solid start rather than a stellar one. The writers are very much developing their craft here, but the scripts already show a natural touch which sets it apart from its sitcom peers owing to its realistic style.

The emphasis is on the interplay between the two leads, hence the programme has more in common with Granada TV’s hugely successful soap opera Coronation Street than, say, Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd’s eternal suburban get-rich-quick schemes in Hugh And I, which places its main characters in situations that can sometimes stretch believability.

The initial run of the show ends in 1966 with Terry joining the Army by mistake and being waved off cheerily by Bob in a cliffhanger that just cries out for a sequel.

Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? (1973 - 1974)

Terry’s turn to zone out while Bob tells him he should get off his arse and do something.

Five years later (for Bob and Terry, though it’s more like seven for the viewers), Clement and La Frenais returned to their characters with more TV and a few films under their belt, working with the likes of Oliver Reed, Richard Harris and Peter Cook.

The difference between the earlier series and Whatever Happened To…? is there for all to see. Bob and Terry are older and a little wiser, as are the writers. Any remaining sitcommy elements and cheesy incidental music have disappeared. The previous bog-standard theme tune has been replaced by a tune and images which perfectly express the downbeat mood of the programme.

Check it out. The scene set in 30 seconds of music and images. Oh What Happened To You?...

In the opening episode, Strangers On A Train, Terry is on the train from London back up to the North-East when the lights go out and another passenger enters the carriage, heavily laden with packages. They strike up a conversation.

Terry - Been in the army.
Passenger - Oh, aye? Enjoy it?

Terry- Got a lot out of it.

Passenger - I nearly went in once.
Terry - Could've done worse.

Passenger - Funny story attached to it. See, I had this mate. Me best mate.Very close.
A few years ago, I thought it'd be a good idea to join up. See a bit of the world. So I signed on. But when I went away, this mate of mine went to pieces. I suppose it was like losing your right arm. So, he signs on just to be with me.
And, you'll never guess…

He gets in and I get discharged! Flat feet! I'm free again and he's in for three years! I can still see the look on his face! I still laugh when I think about it.
It's a sad story in a way, 'cos he hasn't spoken to me since, but when you're telling a story, you have to see the funny side! You've got to laugh! Ha, ha, ha, haha!

Terry - You bastard! (the lights go on)

Bob (for it is he) - Terry!

Terry - You rotten bastard!

Bob - You've got to see the funny side!

Terry - Your best mate lost the most vital years of his life! It is a joke!

Bob - I'm very sorry, Terry.
Terry - … Does sorry wipe the slate clean?

Bob - We TRIED to buy you out! Honestly, I organised a whip-round. We just couldn't raise enough funds.

Terry - My going away whip-round had plenty of funds!

Bob - That was for you going away. We… couldn't seem to raise the same support for you… coming back.

The twenty-eight episodes of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? cover Terry’s attempts to re-integrate into a home town that has changed beyond recognition in many ways, while socially mobile Bob is constantly trying to better himself.

The show forms an excellent document of 70s blokish life. The often-repeated episode No Hiding Place details the lads’ attempts to avoid knowing the result of the afternoon’s Bulgaria v England football game before they watch the highlights in the evening.²

If you only ever watch one episode³, that’s the one to go for. Among other things it contains Terry's classic rant about foreigners, Brit xenophobia taken to its logical conclusion.

The first series builds up to Bob’s wedding to Thelma. Without meaning to, Terry causes issues between the happy couple simply by wanting to hang out with his old mate. Five years in the Army means his development is still very much arrested at the teenage stage, whereas Bob is looking to the future - but of course, that doesn’t mean he wants to completely ditch his mate, and his old life, just yet.

It has been said that Bob and Terry are essentially an old married couple, which makes sense. You can’t imagine even the best of mates saying some of the more personal stuff they say to each other without a fight ensuing.

James Bolam has always been reluctant to talk about his time on the show but he did give an interview to the Independent a few years ago in which he pretty much nailed the reasons for the show’s lasting appeal:

“The Likely Lads has lasted because the characters struck reality. People could identify with them. Mothers could identify with sons, and sons could identify with themselves.

The series works so well because there's an underlying truth about it all,"

That's why classics are classics. When you watch Laurel and Hardy, there's a fundamental truth about them, a believability which I never find with Chaplin. In the same way, you can believe in Bob and Terry."

Thick As Thieves (1974)

Pat Ashton was a full eleven years older than the actors portraying the two men who loved her, husband George (Bob Hoskins, right) and lover Stan (John Thaw).

Thick As Thieves is a forgotten gem. A menage a trois with one woman and two men was truly groundbreaking - shades of Francois Truffaut’s classic film Jules et Jim, albeit set in working-class South London.

I can’t offhand think of a similar sitcom example, even fifty years later - if a love triangle is portrayed, it will always feature a man with two women (Man About The House, Goodnight Sweetheart).⁴

Small-time criminal George Dobbs is released from prison into the loving arms of his wife Annie - but things have changed while he’s been inside, and Annie has now taken up with his best mate Stan. George is more upset than angry, as he feels he has not only lost his wife, but also his best friend.

The three settle into a routine which works surprisingly well for all parties, except Annie who finds herself with twice the washing-up, twice the dirty clothes to clean and twice the hassle:

“There are two men in my life, to one I am a lover, to the other I’m a wife, and I give them both the best – and get nothing bleeding back in return!” - Annie ⁵

The casting is excellent. Stardom was still a little in the future for dramatic actors John Thaw (The Sweeney, Inspector Morse) and Bob Hoskins (The Long Good Friday, Pennies From Heaven), but here they effortlessly click into a comedy double-act, with Thaw as straight man Stan and Hoskins showing great pathos as put-upon figure of fun George.

And especial props to Pat Ashton, primarily known for her appearences in both On The Buses movies, here playing the utterly convincing Annie, torn between the two men she loves, yet who drive her nuts.

Only eight episodes were made. The show finished after one series, which was a shame as there was plenty of scope for developing the story further.

The DVD is out of print, but it’s available on eBay and elsewhere for a reasonable price. Its also on Daily Motion, and is well worth checking out.

The show is very much a bridge between The Likely Lads and Porridge, and seems to have been written about the same time Dick and Ian were writing Prisoner And Escort, which became the pilot for Porridge.

Click here for Part Two which covers Porridge.

1. Thick As Thieves would doubtless be on that list, except that unlike the other three, it has never been properly repeated and has thus disappeared from the public consciousness. That’s how commercial television used to treat shows in the 70s, More on this subject in a future post.

2. As time goes by it becomes less and less believable that this was a thing that actually used to happen. If I can come over all Max Boyce for a minute, I know. I was there.

3. But you really should watch the whole series, its great.

4. Yes I know (spoiler alert) Robin (Richard O’Sullivan) never got anywhere with Chrissy (Paula Wilcox) or Jo (Sally Thomsett) but it wasn’t for lack of trying…

5. Incidentally, this line almost counts as a product placement. Remember the Shredded Wheat advert?