The Lovers (TV series)

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The Lovers was 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 the ITV company Granada. 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 ditzy character with a penchant for pet names such as "Geoffrey bobbles bonbon", while Geoffrey, though dreamy, was somewhat rough around the edges, obsessed with taking Beryl to bed. A typical exchange between them might consist of the following:

Geoffrey : But everyone else does it. They're at it like knives!

Beryl : N-O spells NO! Poor Geoffrey bobbles bonbon!

Despite the above the show was much loved for the writing, the characters, and the actors portraying them. It ran for 13 episodes over two years. Like other shows of the time, it was used as the basis for a movie, with mixed results.

[edit] 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."