The Likely Lads
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| The Likely Lads | |
|---|---|
 Bob and Terry in The Likely Lads |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Starring | James Bolam Rodney Bewes Sheila Fearn |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 20 produced, 12 'lost' |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Dick Clement |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original run | December 1964 – July 1966 |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Likely Lads was a hit British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Twenty episodes were made and broadcast in all, over three seasons, by the BBC between December 1964 and July 1966. However, only eight of these shows have survived intact. (see below).
There was later a successful sequel series, in colour, entitled Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?. This was broadcast in twenty-seven episodes between January 1973 and December 1974. A feature length spin-off movie was released in 1976, and there have also been several BBC Radio adaptations.
The show followed the close friendship of two working-class young men, Terry Collier (James Bolam) and Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes), in the northeast of England in the mid 1960s. It has been confimed several times on various documentaries that the programme was not 100% set in its regular filming location of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but 'around there'. Neither 'lad' actually speaks in a Newcastle accent, for example. It is generally and logically accepted as a very 'Newcastle' programme however.
After growing up at school and Scouts together, Bob and Terry are found working in the same electrical factory, Ellison's, alongside the older, wiser duo of Cloughie and Jack. The show's gritty yet verbose humour derived mostly from the tensions between Terry's cynical 'everyman' personality and Bob's ambitions to better himself and progress to the middle class.
There was also a poignant note of social comment and pathos though, as Terry and Bob struggled to enjoy the booming Swinging Sixties on their meagre incomes. Thus, at the end of the third series, in 1966, a depressed and bored Bob attempts to join the Army but is rejected due to his flat feet. Terry however, who secretly decides at the last minute to enlist to keep Bob company, is accepted A1 and shipped away for three years.
Both 'lads' were conceived during the same wartime air raid and thus born in the same year, 1944. It was also gradually revealed later that Terry and Bob's full names were Terence Daniel Collier and Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris respectively. Also, dialogue from an episode of the 1972/73 sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? revealed Terry's birthday to be, unusually, February 29. Bob's birthday is apparently the same as Bruce Forsyth's: February 22
The colour sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? was produced five years later, when Terry grumpily returns home after completing his extended enlistment. Bob marries his childhood sweetheart Thelma Chambers in this later series, but still has time for many adventures with Terry such as a crooked bike race, the famous 'football result' episode, and a memorable Christmas fancy dress party.
The word 'likely' in the title, which in some northern English dialects means 'likeable', in the context of the series is more likely to mean 'likely to succeed', for in the 1960s series the two main characters are on the brink of making their way in the world.
'What Became Of The Likely Lads' is also a 2004 song by The Libertines which enjoyed some UK chart success.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- James Bolam (Terry Collier)
- Rodney Bewes (Bob Ferris)
- Sheila Fearn (Audrey: Terry's sister)
Guest stars
- George Layton (in "The Suitor" as "Mario" aka Ernie, Audrey's boyfriend and later husband, although he never appears in the latter role)
- Wendy Richard (in "Last of the Big Spenders")
- Susan Jameson (the real life wife of James Bolam, in "Double Date")
Only 8 episodes remain in the BBC archive:
[edit] Episodes
Note that many of these have been lost because of the BBC's wiping policy of the 1970s. If you have or know anyone who has a copy of the lost episodes, contact the BBC urgently.
Series 1
- Entente Cordiale - The lads return home from a foreign holiday
- Double Date - Lovelorn Bob is cheered up by a double date
- Older Women Are More Experienced - Terry finds an older girlfriend
- The Other Side Of The Fence - The lads attend a posh party
- Chance Of A Lifetime (LOST EPISODE)
- The Suitor - Terry enlists Bob's help to get rid of his sister's boyfriend
Series 2
- Baby, It's Cold Outside (LOST EPISODE)
- A Star Is Born (LOST EPISODE)
- Talk Of The Town (LOST EPISODE)
- Last Of The Big Spenders - The boys take two London girls out on the town
- Faraway Places (LOST EPISODE)
- Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (LOST EPISODE)
Series 3
- Outward Bound (LOST EPISODE)
- Friends And Neighbours (LOST EPISODE)
- Rocker - Bob invests in a 'mod' scooter
- Brief Encounter (LOST EPISODE)
- The Razor's Edge (LOST EPISODE)
- Anchors Aweigh (LOST EPISODE)
- Love And Marriage (LOST EPISODE)
- Goodbye To All That - As described above, with Bob fatefully joining the army...
