Terry and June

Terry and June is a BBC television sitcom, which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of Happy Ever After, and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford, who live in Purley.

Most of the 65 episodes were written by John Kane, with seven other writers also writing some episodes.

Production

Terry Scott and June Whitfield began their television partnership in Scott On in 1968.^[1] On 7 May 1974, a Comedy Playhouse pilot called "Happy Ever After" aired on BBC1 with Scott and Whitfield playing Terry and June Fletcher, a middle-class couple whose grown-up children have just left home.^[1] This was commissioned into a series of the same name, and five series and three Christmas specials were broadcast, ending on 25 April 1979.^[1]

John T. Chapman, one of the original writers, said that the programme had run out of ideas and had to come to an end. BBC Comedy, however, were unwilling to end a popular show, and so brought in fresh new writers. Legal complications meant that the name and setting had to change, and so on 24 October 1979, Terry and June was born.^[1]

The characteristics of Terry and June remained largely similar.^[1] However, the character of Aunt Lucy and her mynah bird, a popular ingredient of Happy Ever After, were dropped.

The character of Melinda Spry, Terry and June's neighbour, was originally played by Joan Benham in the 1981 episode "The Lawnmower". Benham died on 13 June 1981, and Terry and June was her last television appearance. She was replaced by Diana King.

The BBC planned a feature-length film, entitled Terry and June - The Movie, but it was never made.^[1]

Cast

Plot

The series starts as middle-class couple Terry and June Medford prepare to move into 71 Poplar Avenue in Purley, Surrey.^[2][3] They are in their late-40s, and have a daughter named Wendy, who is married to Roger; both are rarely seen. Terry's nephew, Alan Medford, pays occasional visits where he always causes some form of trouble. Terry is headstrong, and determined, although his plans and schemes normally end in disaster. June, meanwhile, is patient of her husband, but frequently doubtful about his ideas.

Terry works for "Playsafe Fire Extinguishers and Appliances", and his boss is Malcolm Harris. Malcolm frequently has affairs, and he and his wife Beattie, a friend of June, frequently argue. The owner of Terry's company is Sir Dennis Hodge (played by Reginald Marsh who played a similar character in The Good Life), a grumpy man who rules the company with a rod of iron. His personal secretary of over 20 years is Miss Nora Fennell, whose fondness for Sir Dennis is not returned.

In the first two series, their neighbours are Brian and Tina Pillbeam. From the third to sixth series, the Medfords' neighbours are Tarquin and Melinda Spry. Terry and Tarquin are frequently competing against each other.

Cars

In the first series, Terry drives a dark navy blue Mk2 Ford Granada. At the start of the second series, Terry receives a new company car, a metallic Tara Green Austin Princess (a Series 2 1700HL model, with fake registration NMO 49W). This Princess was not used in the following series as the next model Terry uses is an older Series 1 Brooklands Green 2200HL, but still with the fake and now incorrect registration. In the 1985 series, Terry keeps his "Wedge" theme with the updated Neutilus Blue Austin Ambassador. In the 1987 series, Terry goes back to Ford and drives a metallic red Ford Sierra. In the last series he switches to a briefly seen Mk3 Ford Granada.

Episodes

Terry and June first aired on 24 October 1979, running for a total of 9 series and 65 episodes, (including four Christmas Specials). The last ever episode aired on 31 August 1987.

Criticism

The show attracted large viewing figures, typically attracting significantly larger audiences than the alternative comedy programmes with which it was contemporaneous, some of which frequently lampooned the show. In 2004, it came 73rd in Britain's Best Sitcom, jointly with Happy Ever After.

In The Listener at the end of its run it was described, not unaffectionately, by Andy Medhurst as "a Macmillanite sitcom" to which Thatcherism was as alien as socialism.^[4]

Home media

All nine series and four Christmas Specials have been released on DVD in Region 2. The Complete Collection 10 disc boxset DVD Region 2 is due for release on 4 September 2017.^[5]

References

General

• Terry And June at British TV Comedy
• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003

Specific

External links

• Terry and June at BBC Programmes
  
• Terry and June on IMDb
• Terry and June at British Comedy Guide