Fresh Fields

Fresh Fields is a British sitcom starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. A ratings success at the time, it was written by John Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV, running for four series between 7 March 1984 and 23 October 1986.

Premise and series history

Hester and William Fields (McKenzie and Rodgers) are a devoted middle-aged, middle-class couple living in Barnes, London with an idyllic suburban lifestyle. William works as an accountant while Hester is a housewife, as well as working part-time in a local restaurant, Lucy's Kitchen. The crux of the show (and the meaning of the title) is that Hester, suffering somewhat from empty nest syndrome, is constantly looking to liven up her life with new hobbies and interests, much to the exasperation of her hard-working husband, who simply wanted a quiet life.^[1] The opening credits of the show - which featured both characters in silhouette form - also reflected this, with Hester shown exercising and playing a drum kit, while William relaxed in a rocking chair.

The family home had a granny flat attached, in which Hester's mother Nancy (Fanny Rowe) lived. She was divorced from Hester's rogueish father Guy (Ballard Berkeley), who made several attempts to convince Nancy to give him another chance, with the pair finally remarrying in the last episode. Hester and William had two children of their own: Tom, who lived in New Zealand and was never seen, and Emma, who was never seen on-screen, but telephoned her parents in every episode, usually at inconvenient times. (Debby Cummings supplied the voice). Emma's husband Peter (Philip Bird) did appear occasionally. They later had a son — the Fields' first grandchild — whom they named Guy, after his great-grandfather.

The Fields' neighbour Sonia Barrett (played by Ann Beach) who would pop around in every episode to borrow items. Hester was not perturbed by this, as the two were close friends, but Sonia's appearances would irritate William to comical effect. Sonia had the show's only catchphrase — she would always knock on the back door of the Fields' home and then say "It's only Sonia!" as she let herself in. Sonia's husband John (John Arthur) appeared on occasion, as did William's secretary Miss Denham, played by Daphne Oxenford.

Fresh Fields ended in 1986 but three years later the series resumed as French Fields, which saw William and Hester relocating to France after William accepted a job there. There were three series of 19 episodes made between 5 September 1989 and 8 October 1991, all written by John T. Chapman and Ian Davidson. Philip Bird appeared as Peter in several episodes, with Emma finally seen on screen (now played by Sally Baxter). Ann Beach also made a guest appearance as Sonia in the final episode.

Episodes

DVD releases

All four series of Fresh Fields have been released on DVD, A 7-disc set (containing both the series and sequel title) was released in 2011.

See also

• French Fields

References

1. ↑ Series 1, episode 5, stated by Hester

External links

• Fresh Fields at the Internet Movie Database.