The Lovers (TV series)

The Lovers is a British television sitcom by Jack Rosenthal, starring Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox as a courting couple, Geoffrey and Beryl. It was made between 1970 and 1971 by Granada Television for the ITV network. The series was also given a repeat run on Channel 4 in 1996.

The Lovers
GenreComedy
Created byJack Rosenthal
Written byJack Rosenthal
Geoffrey Lancashire
Directed byJack Rosenthal
Les Chatfield
StarringPaula Wilcox
Richard Beckinsale
Robin Nedwell
Joan Scott
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series2
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production company(s)Granada Television
Release
Original networkITV
Original release27 October 1970 (1970-10-27) –
18 November 1971 (1971-11-18)

The hook for the show was the mismatch between the two, particularly in the area of sex (which Beryl referred to as "Percy Filth"). Beryl was a slightly dizzy character with a penchant for pet names such as "Geoffrey bubbles bonbon", while Geoffrey, though dreamy, was somewhat rough around the edges, and obsessed with taking Beryl to bed.

Episodes

The series ran for 13 episodes over two series. Like several other British sitcoms of the time, it was used as the basis for a movie. The Lovers! was released in 1973 and featured Beckinsale, Wilcox and Scott, together with Susan Littler, Rosalind Ayres and John Comer (as Geoffrey's dad).

Series 1 (1970)
  • Sardine Sandwiches (27 October 1970)
  • The Date (3 November 1970)
  • Freckle Face (10 November 1970)
  • Brainwashing (17 November 1970)
  • A Pipe And A Moustache (24 November 1970)
  • The Truth Game (1 December 1970)

Series 2 (1971)
  • The Engagement (7 October 1971)
  • Breaking It Off (14 October 1971)
  • Birthday (21 October 1971)
  • Joint Bank Account (28 October 1971)
  • The Better Homes Exhibition (4 November 1971)
  • A Trial Marriage (11 November 1971)
  • The Best Laid Plans... (18 November 1971)

Cast
Character Actor
Geoffrey Scrimshaw Richard Beckinsale
Beryl Battersby Paula Wilcox
Mrs Battersby Joan Scott
Roland Lomax Robin Nedwell

Trivia

In one episode Geoffrey plays with the word "misled", pronouncing it as "mizzled", and meaning something more like confused than deluded. This one word provided much of the humour in the show, including the last line when, talking to a companion in a pub who is complaining about his bad luck, he says "You must have been mizzled."

gollark: I think you mean "5 haskell programmers".
gollark: Then you can use ints and get confused when you forget to multiply by a hundred or whatever in the UI.
gollark: In most use cases, you don't hit the 0.300000000004y level of necessary accuracy, which makes it mostly fine.
gollark: I mean, given that base 10 is what we use, it's quite important that computers can handle it correctly.
gollark: Never mind, I just don't understand maths.

See also
  • List of films based on British sitcoms

DVD release

The Complete Series of The Lovers was released on DVD by Network in 2007.

References
  • Evans, Jeff (2001). The Penguin TV Companion. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-051467-8.
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