Duty Free (TV series)

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Duty Free is a British sitcom written by Eric Chappell and Jean Warr and made by Yorkshire Television for ITV.

It centred on two British couples - the Pearces and the Cochrans - who meet while holidaying at the same Spanish hotel and the interruptive affair conducted by David Pearce and Linda Cochran during their break.

It starred Keith Barron and Gwen Taylor as David and Amy Pearce; while Neil Stacy and Joanna Van Gyseghem played Robert and Linda Cochran. Another recurring character was the hotel waiter Carlos (played by Carlos Douglas).

There were three series and 22 episodes in total, plus a Christmas special. The show ran from 1984 to 1986 and was a ratings success, though critics struggled to accept the concept that two couples on holiday in Spain would spend the majority of their time at their hotel, and never go outdoors. Although set in Spain, the show was filmed entirely in a Leeds studio - only for the concluding Christmas special was the budget found to film some scenes in Spain. There was also scorn poured on the idea that two people could conduct an affair in a hotel without their partners noticing, although Amy Pearce was far more suspicious of her husband than Robert Cochran was of his wife.

Like many British sitcoms, there was a class-related tension between the two; with the Pearces working class socialists from Yorkshire; and the Cochrans a more affluent, middle-class and Conservative couple from the Home Counties. The character of David Pearce, much to his wife's chagrin, became uncomfortable with his own status and politics after meeting the Cochrans and tried to change his outlook.

[edit] Trivia

The actor Frazer Hines and television presenter Judith Chalmers made guest appearances on the show, playing themselves. The former was a hotel guest who tried to seduce Amy Pearce; the latter was filming an episode of Wish You Were Here...? from the hotel and interviewed the two couples.