A Fine Romance (1981 TV series)

A Fine Romance is a British situation comedy starring husband-and-wife team Judi Dench and the late Michael Williams. The series was nominated for nine BAFTA British Academy Television Awards and was a winner of two for Dench's performances (in 1982 and 1985).

A Fine Romance
Series titles
GenreSitcom
Romance
Created byBob Larbey
StarringJudi Dench,
Michael Williams,
Susan Penhaligon, and
Richard Warwick
Theme music composerJerome Kern and
Dorothy Fields
Opening theme"A Fine Romance"
Performed by Judi Dench
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series4
No. of episodes26
Production
ProducersJames Cellan Jones,
Graham Evans, and
Don Leaver
Running time30 minutes
Production companyLondon Weekend Television
Release
Original networkITV
Original release1 November 1981 (1981-11-01) –
17 February 1984 (1984-02-17)[1]

Cast

Judi Dench starred as the female lead, Laura, against the late Michael Williams as the male lead, Mike. Laura's matchmaking sister and brother-in-law were played by Susan Penhaligon and Richard Warwick, respectively.

Creatives, production, and broadcast

A Fine Romance was written by Bob Larbey, and took its name from the song, "A Fine Romance", from the 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film, Swing Time. Judi Dench recorded the song as the theme music of the production. It was produced for London Weekend Television by James Cellan Jones, Graham Evans, and Done Leaver.[2][3] It was first broadcast on 1 November 1981, and lasted for 26 episodes over four series. The final episode was broadcast on 17 February 1984.

Plot

The series involves Laura Dalton (Judi Dench), a single, middle-aged translator who is somewhat socially inept. Her glamorous younger sister Helen (Susan Penhaligon), who is first seen in Janet Reger lingerie,[lower-alpha 1] and her husband Phil (Richard Warwick) pair her up with Mike Selway (Michael Williams), a shy landscape gardener.

The story follows their awkward romance and insecurities. Bad luck seems to follow them everywhere, from the ferry to Calais to an attempted romantic evening watching television. Laura constantly dwells on her beautiful sister's fairy-tale marriage while still retaining an attitude of a child, locking herself in cupboards when things do not go her way. Although immature and tending to fly off the handle, she assists Mike in organizing his struggling business, volunteering her time to type his correspondence and do the bookkeeping. Phil and Helen often regret ever bringing the two together, because they are nearly always involved in the couple's squabbles. Overall, however, Mike and Laura find they cannot live without one another, though they are not able to put it into words.

Episodes

The following are the tiles of each of the episodes in the four seasons, with the date of original airing given in parentheses.

Series One (1981)

  • 1.1. First Meeting (1 November 1981)
  • 1.2. Different Answers (8 November 1981)
  • 1.3. The Restaurant (15 November 1981)
  • 1.4. Unlucky In Love (22 November 1981)
  • 1.5. How To Avoid Bankruptcy (29 November 1981)
  • 1.6. Keep Them Apart (6 December 1981)
  • 1.7. Playing Games (13 December 1981)

Series Two (1982)

  • 2.1. A Helping Hand (17 January 1982)
  • 2.2. A Trip To The Dentist (24 January 1982)
  • 2.3. Was That A Proposal? (31 January 1982)
  • 2.4. The New Secretary (7 February 1982)
  • 2.5. Boulogne (14 February 1982)
  • 2.6. Furniture (21 February 1982)

Series Three (1983)

  • 3.1. Missing (4 November 1983)
  • 3.2. The Hotel (11 November 1983)
  • 3.3. The Dinner Party (18 November 1983)
  • 3.4. Business Problems (25 November 1983)
  • 3.5. Parenthood (2 December 1983)
  • 3.6. Extreme Measures (9 December 1983)

Series Four (1984)

  • 4.1. The Telephone Call (6 January 1984)
  • 4.2. In Hiding (13 January 1984)
  • 4.3. Mike's New Girlfriend (20 January 1984)
  • 4.4. A Weekend Away (27 January 1984)
  • 4.5. Problems (3 February 1984)
  • 4.6. A Romantic Meal (10 February 1984)
  • 4.7. Happy Ever After? (17 February 1984)

Home releases

All four series of A Fine Romance have been released on DVD by Network, with release dates as follows.

DVDRelease date
The Complete Series 123 January 2006
The Complete Series 217 April 2006
The Complete Series 314 August 2006
The Complete Series 416 October 2006
The Complete Series 1 to 4 Box Set6 October 2008

Awards and recognition

The series was nominated for nine BAFTA British Academy Television Awards, winning twice for performances by Dench, in 1982 and 1985.

References

Notes

  1. As a subtle "in" joke, Dench is first seen reading a paperback copy of Andrea Newman's novel A Bouquet of Barbed Wire, which was dramatised for television a few years previously with Penhaligon as the female lead. Penhaligon is glimpsed on the front cover with Frank Finlay, who played her father in Bouquet.

Citations

  1. [https://archive.today/20130423210742/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/7633 |publisher=BFI Screenonline |accessdate=28 February 2013}}-->
  2. Fiddick, Peter (10 October 2019). "James Cellan Jones obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. A Fine Romance - Watch Episodes on AcornTV or Streaming Online | Reelgood, retrieved 8 May 2020
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