| Birds of a Feather | |
|---|---|
Opening credits (1990–98) |
|
| Format | Sitcom |
| Created by | Laurence Marks Maurice Gran |
| Developed by | Alomo Productions |
| Starring | Pauline Quirke Linda Robson Lesley Joseph |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 102 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Allan McKeown Michael Pilsworth Claire Hinson |
| Running time | 95x30 minutes 1x40 minutes 4x50 minutes 1x60 minutes 1x75 minutes |
| Distributor | FremantleMedia |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 |
| Original run | 16 October 1989 – 24 December 1998 |
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.
The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs (Robson) and Sharon Theodopolopodos (Quirke) brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green (Joseph) is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault.
Production ceased on Christmas Eve 1998 after a very successful 9-year-run.
On 3 March 2009, the The Mirror reported that the classic sitcom was set for a return reporting that Lesley Joseph, Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson have all been asked by the team behind the sitcom to make another series.[1] Quirke was reported as saying that they were up for the challenge if the writers came up with good ideas. As of August 2011, no new information regarding a new series has been released.
On 8 July 2010, Linda Robson confirmed on 'This Morning' that a script has been written for a stage show, which all three actresses are keen to be involved with, but this would depend on the availability of Pauline Quirke, who had just been contracted to 'Emmerdale' for 6 months. Quirke announced on 16th May 2011 that she would be leaving Emmerdale at Christmas 2011, and that a touring version of Birds of a Feather would start in spring 2012.[2]
Contents |
For sisters Sharon Theodopolopodos and Tracey Stubbs, life is never the same again when their husbands are convicted of armed robbery and sent to prison. Sharon, a common, large and loud-mouthed character from Edmonton, moves into her wealthy sister's luxury home in Chigwell, so that the two can give each other support.
Sharon has always felt inadequate next to her slimmer, elder sister Tracey and felt she had the tougher childhood. Her marriage to Chris, a waster of Greek Cypriot descent, was miserable and childless, due to her "inability" to have children. She is condemned by Chris's family for this but Sharon discovers, during series one, that Chris is the infertile one. Sharon happily cheats on Chris and gives him grief when visiting.
Tracey, however, loves her husband, Darryl, whose legitimate business was building conservatories (he was a bank robber on the side). He and Tracey have a son, Garth, who becomes a chef after going to boarding school, and eventually marries Kimberley.
The sisters' neighbour is the wealthy, snobbish, man-eating Dorien Green. Dorien is married to the rarely seen Marcus, but is always getting involved with other men. Dorien and Marcus are Jewish. Her marriage was also childless, due to her vanity and the lack of affection between her and Marcus. She is a regular, if uninvited, guest at Tracey's house, and mocks Sharon about her weight, whilst Sharon teases Dorien about her lifestyle and age. This mutual teasing is friendly and playful rather than serious or hurtful, and it is often shown that Sharon and Tracey care for Dorien and vice versa. If any of them get into trouble or have a problem, the others are often the first to help, regardless of the consequences.
Marcus eventually tires of Dorien's selfishness and infidelity and leaves her to begin a new life with his secret mistress and love child. Dorien later starts a loving relationship with Richard, which is initially strained due to Richard's children taking an instant dislike to Dorien, which she gladly reciprocates.
There is some uncertainty about Dorien's maiden name. She says that her father's name was Arthur Friedman, but a wedding invitation to Sharon and Tracey reveals her mother's name to be Estelle Kapper. Dorien's mother appears on screen once but is often mentioned as an icy, domineering woman, and the two clearly have a stormy relationship.
In the series seven episode, "Porridge", Darryl and Chris are released from prison and are determined to start afresh. Chris feels remorse for his crimes and for not treating Sharon better during their marriage. He impresses Sharon by getting an honest job as a pizza delivery man. Darryl, however, feels that the only way to treat Tracey is to return to unscrupulous tactics. He attempts to launder counterfeit money into Sharon and Tracey's swimming pool business but is caught and once again imprisoned - along with an innocent Chris, much to Sharon's dismay. Darryl and Tracey's marriage is severely strained after this, and Tracey contemplates leaving Darryl, but decides against it. However, she does warn him that she will not stay faithful.
Sharon and Tracey's maternal aunt, "Auntie Sylvie" (Vivian Pickles), is frequently mentioned and appears twice.[3][4]
Birds of a Feather was broadcast for 102 episodes from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998. 95 episodes are thirty minutes in length, while one is forty minutes, four are 50 minutes, one is 60 minutes and one is 75 minutes. Most episodes were written by Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran, Gary Lawson & John Phelps (writer), Geoff Rowley, Sue Teddem, Peter Tilbury, Geoff Deane, Tony Millan & Mike Walling, Damon Rochefort and Sam Lawrence. Keith Lindsay & Martin Tomms, Steve Coombes & Dave Robinson, George Costigan & Julia North, John Ross, Frankie Bailey, Miles Tredinnick, Jenny Lecoat, Alun Lewis, Richard Preddy & Gary Howe and Ian Davidson & Peter Vincent & Tony Jordan all wrote one episode each.
The theme tune was Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do". From the first series Berlin sang it but from the third series onwards is sung by Quirke and Robson.
During the opening theme for series 1, Quirke and Robson were seen both dressed in a white shirt and a black skirt and they walked towards to screen through several spotlights. Once they reached the screen it faded to Quirke and Robson sat back to back as they rotated. The ending theme was an extended version sung by Quirke and Robson together. And it showed Quirke and Robson walking to the screen and back, passing through the spot lights, while the credits rolled on the left of the screen.
Series 2 featured the same music as series 1 but introduced the new opening which featured pictures of characters Sharon and Tracey as they grow up.
For the picture transition, the pictures faded. The last picture remained until the entire screen faded into the episode.
The episode closing theme, was an extended version of the song which was still sung by Quirke and Robson but they did not sing together, they had separate verses to sing, but they sang the last line together, "That won't come true, what'll I do". The video was of the child actors that are supposed to be a young Sharon and Tracey, in the second picture of the opening theme, out in a park eating ice creams with their teddies, chasing each other, Tracey trying to get Sharon to play, Sharon jumping down some steps, Tracey looking through a railing to a pond and it ends with Sharon and Tracey waving bye and running away from the screen together.
Series 3 introduced a new version of the song which was performed by Quirke and Robson. Robson sang the first verse and Quirke sang the last. It used the same video as the series 2 opening and closing theme.
Birds of a Feather was sold to over 30 countries worldwide, and the format was sold to countries including Australia (ABC TV), New Zealand, Spain and South Africa. The show is regularly re-run on Australian & New Zealand pay TV.
An American adaptation, called Stand By Your Man was made by Fox. Rosie O'Donnell played hard-up Lorraine Popowski, while Melissa Gilbert-Brinkman played her rich sister Rochelle Dunphy. Sam McMurray played Rochelle's husband Roger, and Rick Hall played Lorraine's husband Artie. The Dorien character was called Adrienne Stone played by Miriam Flynn. The series was broadcast for only eight episodes from 5 April 1992 to 9 August 1992.
While the series was airing on BBC1 in the 1990's there were some VHS releases of episodes from the series.
The first series of Birds of a Feather was released by Prism Leisure Corporation on 6 January 2003. Series One was released in Region 4 (Australia) in March 2007.
Series One was re-released with different packaging on 1 June 2009 and at the time FremantleMedia said that there were no plans to release the remaining series.
Series 1 was re-released for a 3rd time with new packaging along with Series 2 on 30 August 2010 through Network.
Series 3 & 4 were released on 31 January 2011 and were followed by series 5 & 6 on 21 February, series 7 & 8 on 7 March and series 9 on 11 April 2011. The Complete Series 1-9 box set was released on 10 October 2011 [5]
All releases are through Network and are fully comprehensive of the entire 9 series, including special episodes in order of broadcast.
| DVD Title | No. of discs | Year | No. of episodes | DVD release | Special episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 2 | ||||||
| Complete Series 1 | 1 | 1989 | 6 + special | 30 August 2010 | 1989 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 2 | 3 | 1990 | 15 + special | 30 August 2010 | 1990 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 3 | 2 | 1991 | 12 + special | 31 January 2011 | 1991 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 4 | 2 | 1992 | 13 + special | 31 January 2011 | 1992 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 5 | 3 | 1993 | 13 + special | 21 February 2011 | 1993 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 6 | 3 | 1994 | 14 + special | 21 February 2011 | 1994 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 7 | 2 | 1997 | 10 + special | 7 March 2011 | The Chigwell Years - Special Episode | |
| Complete Series 8 | 1 | 1998 | 6 + special | 7 March 2011 | 1997 Christmas special | |
| Complete Series 9 | 1 | 1998 | 6 | 11 April 2011 | N/A | |
| Complete Collection | 19 | 1989 - 1998 | 102 | 10 October 2011 | Christmas specials and special episode "The Chigwell Years" | |
THEATRE - It has been announced that 'The girls' will be running a theatre tour in 2012 - Check out http://www.birdsontour.com/home.html to book a seat at your local Theatre now!!!