The Likely Lads

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The Likely Lads
Bob and Terry in The Likely Lads
Genre	Sitcom
Picture format	4:3
Running time	30 mins
Producer(s)	Dick Clement
Starring	James Bolam Rodney Bewes Sheila Fearn
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Original run	December 1964–January 1972
No. of episodes	20
Official website
IMDb profile

The Likely Lads was a hit British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Twenty episodes were shown, over three series, by the BBC between December 1964 and July 1966. There was later a successful sequel series, in colour, entitled Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?. This was broadcast in twenty-seven episodes between January 1972 and December 1974. A feature length spin-off movie was released in 1976.

The show followed the close friendship of two working-class young men, Terry Collier (James Bolam) and Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes), in the northeast of England in the mid 1960s.

Both were conceived during an air raid on the same night and born in the same year, 1944. After growing up together they're now working in the same factory, Ellison's, alongside the older, wiser duo of Cloughie and Jack. The gritty, yet richly verbose, humour derives mostly from the tensions between Terry's cynical, down-to-earth 'everyman' personality and Bob's ambitions to better himself and join the middle class.

There is also a poignant note of social comment, as Terry and Bob struggle to enjoy the booming Swinging Sixties on their meagre incomes. Thus, at the end of the third series, in 1966, a depressed and bored Bob joins the Army but is rejected due to his flat feet. Terry however, who secretly decides at the last minute to enlist to keep Bob company, is accepted A1 and shipped away for three years.

For the record, it was gradually revealed that Terry and Bob's full names were Terence Daniel Collier and Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris respectively. The characters, both born in 1944, were slightly younger than the actors playing them. Also, dialogue from an episode of the 1972/73 sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? revealed Terry's birthday to be, unusually, February 29. Bob's birthday is apparently the same as Bruce Forsyth's: February 22.

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? was produced five years later, when Terry grumpily returns home after completing his extended enlistment. Bob marries his childhood sweetheart Thelma Chambers in this later series, but still has time for many adventures with Terry such as a bike race, the famous 'football result' episode, and a memorable Christmas fancy dress party.

The word 'likely' in the title, which in some northern English dialects means 'likeable', in the context of the series is more likely to mean 'likely to succeed', for in the 1960s series the two main characters are on the brink of making their way in the world.

'What Became Of The Likely Lads' is also a 2004 song by The Libertines which enjoyed some UK chart success.

1 Cast
2 Episodes
3 See also
4 External link

[edit] Cast

James Bolam (Terry Collier)
Rodney Bewes (Bob Ferris)
Sheila Fearn (Audrey: Terry's sister)

Only 8 episodes remain in the BBC archive:

[edit] Episodes

Note that many of these have been lost because of the BBC's wiping policy of the 1970s. If you have or know anyone who has a copy of the lost episodes, contact the BBC urgently.

Series 1