Birds of a Feather

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This article is about the British sitcom. For other uses, see Birds of a Feather (disambiguation).

Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather Series One DVD
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran
Starring	Pauline Quirke Linda Robson Lesley Joseph
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	102
Production
Running time	95x30 minutes 1x40 minutes 4x50 minutes 1x60 minutes 1x75 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	16 October 1989 – 24 December 1998
Links

Birds of a Feather was a successful and long running British sitcom starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph that aired for nine series from 1989 to 1998. It was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also created Goodnight Sweetheart. In 2004, it was voted 38th in Britain's Best Sitcom. Its theme tune was Irving Berlin's What'll I Do, sung by Quirke and Robson.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot 3 Writers 4 Episodes 4.1 Series One (1989) 4.2 Christmas Special (1989) 4.3 Series Two (1990) 4.4 Christmas Special (1990) 4.5 Series Three (1991) 4.6 Christmas Special (1991) 4.7 Series Four (1992) 4.8 Christmas Special (1992) 4.9 Series Five (1993) 4.10 Christmas Special (1993) 4.11 Series Six (1994) 4.12 Christmas Special (1994) 4.13 Series Seven (1997) 4.14 Christmas Special (1997) 4.15 Series Eight (1998) 4.16 Series Nine (1998) 5 Other countries 6 DVD releases 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Cast

• Pauline Quirke - Sharon Theodopolopodos
• Linda Robson - Tracey Stubbs
• Lesley Joseph - Dorien Green
• David Cardy - Chris Theodopolopodos (series 1; series 7 and 8)
• Peter Polycarpou - Chris Theodopolopodos (series 2 to 1994 Special)
• Alun Lewis - Darryl Stubbs (series 1 to 1994 Special)
• Doug McFerran - Darryl Stubbs (series 7)
• Matthew Savage - Garth Stubbs (from series 2)

Note - Simon Nash played Garth Stubbs in the second episode of Series One. Stephen Greif played Marcus Green in the 1990 Christmas Special, while Nickolas Grace played him Series One Episode 5, Series 5 Episode 5 and Series 7 Episode 6.

[edit] Plot

The premise revolved around two sisters, Sharon and Tracey, whose lives had taken very different routes. Sharon had married waster Greek Cypriot called Chris and lived on a council estate whilst the latter had risen through society to reach the status of a pampered housewife in the exclusive suburb of Chigwell in Essex, her husband Darryl making money from a swimming pool business. When the women's husbands were convicted and imprisoned for armed robbery, Sharon moved in with Tracey so they could support each other. Their next neighbour was Dorien Green, a busty and sexually voracious Jewish woman who was always having affairs, reminding the viewer of a poor man's Joan Collins. The only other main character was Tracey and Darryl's son, Garth, who was frequently caught up in the activities of the three women.

The comedy was largely derived from the culture clash between the two sisters, Dorien's love life, her cuckolded husband and the earthy language in the banter between Quirke and Robson, who were close friends in real life and had previously appeared together in another Marks & Gran series, Shine on Harvey Moon.

[edit] Writers

Most episodes were written by Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran, Gary Lawson & John Phelps, 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 all wrote one episode each.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Series One (1989)

1. Nicked (16 Oct 89)
2. Just Visiting (23 Oct 89)
3. Shift! (30 Oct 89)
4. Women's Troubles (6 Nov 89)
5. Cheat! (13 Nov 89)
6. Substitute (20 Nov 89)

[edit] Christmas Special (1989)

• Sailing (26 Dec 89)

[edit] Series Two (1990)

1. Getting A Grip (6 Sep 90)
2. Sweet Smell Of Success (13 Sep 90)
3. Young Guns (20 Sep 90)
4. Muesli (27 Sep 90)
5. Keep Off The Grass (4 Oct 90)
6. Mice (11 Oct 90)
7. Brief Encounter (18 Oct 90)
8. You Pays Yer Money (25 Oct 90)
9. Trust (1 Nov 90)
10. Thirty Something (8 Nov 90)
11. Love On The Run (15 Nov 90)
12. Old Friends (22 Nov 90)
13. Parting (29 Nov 90)
14. Jobs For The Girls (6 Dec 90)
15. Someone Else's Baby (13 Dec 90)

[edit] Christmas Special (1990)

• Falling In Love Again (25 Dec 90) (75mins)

[edit] Series Three (1991)

1. Keeping Up Appearances (31 Aug 91)
2. Tinker, Tailor (7 Sep 91)
3. Baby Come Back (14 Sep 91)
4. Just Family (21 Sep 91)
5. Confidence (28 Sep 91)
6. The Lost Weekend (5 Oct 91)
7. History (12 Oct 91)
8. Poetic Justice (19 Oct 91)
9. Flavour Of The Month (26 Oct 91)
10. Cuckoo (2 Nov 91)
11. Schooling (9 Nov 91)
12. Business (16 Nov 91)

[edit] Christmas Special (1991)

• We'll Always Have Majorca (25 Dec 91) (50mins)

[edit] Series Four (1992)

1. Breadwinner (6 Sep 92)
2. Food For Thought (13 Sep 92)
3. Commitments (20 Sep 92)
4. Wipe That Smile Off Your Tape (27 Sep 92)
5. Caring (4 Oct 92)
6. Nine And A Half Days (11 Oct 92)
7. Belongings (18 Oct 92)
8. Hungry For Love (25 Oct 92)
9. Time And Tides (1 Nov 92)
10. Sisters Are Doing It (8 Nov 92)
11. The Front (15 Nov 92)
12. Okey-Cokey-Karaoke (22 Nov 92)
13. Loyalty (29 Nov 92)

[edit] Christmas Special (1992)

• The Chigwell Connection (25 Dec 92) (50mins)

[edit] Series Five (1993)

1. High Fidelity (5 Sep 93)
2. Bang (12 Sep 93)
3. Non-Starter (19 Sep 93)
4. Absent Friends (26 Sep 93)
5. Suspicious Minds (3 Oct 93)
6. Dead Loss (10 Oct 93)
7. A Brush With The Law (17 Oct 93)
8. Mind Over Matter (24 Oct 93)
9. East Side Story (31 Oct 93)
10. Find The Lady (7 Nov 93)
11. An Inspector Stays (14 Nov 93)
12. All Gone Pear Shaped (21 Nov 93)
13. The Beautiful Game (28 Nov 93)

[edit] Christmas Special (1993)

• It Happened In Hollywood (25 Dec 93) (60mins)

[edit] Series Six (1994)

1. Not In My Backyard (18 Sep 94)
2. Mrs Robinson (25 Sep 94)
3. First Time Caller (2 Oct 94)
4. Compulsion (9 Oct 94)
5. All Day And All Of The Night (16 Oct 94)
6. Appreciation Society (23 Oct 94)
7. Moving (30 Oct 94)
8. Out (6 Nov 94)
9. In At The Deep End (13 Nov 94)
10. Business Is Business (20 Nov 94)
11. Puppy Love (27 Nov 94)
12. Still Waters Run Deep (4 Dec 94)
13. On The Glass (11 Dec 94)
14. The Chigwell Years (18 Dec 94)

[edit] Christmas Special (1994)

• Christmas In Dreamland (24 Dec 94) (50mins)

[edit] Series Seven (1997)

1. Stand By Your Man (26 May 97)
2. Nearest And Dearest (2 Jun 97)
3. Cheers (9 Jun 97)
4. Relative Strangers (16 Jun 97)
5. Porridge (23 Jun 97)
6. Rising Damp (30 Jun 97)
7. Three Up, Two Down (7 Jul 97)
8. Are You Being Served? (14 Jul 97)
9. Never The Twain (21 Jul 97)
10. Three's Company (28 Jul 97)

[edit] Christmas Special (1997)

• Reservoir Birds (27 Dec 97) (50mins)

[edit] Series Eight (1998)

1. Trouble And Strife (5 Jan 98)
2. The Essex Patient (12 Jan 98)
3. Maids of Ongar (19 Jan 98)
4. Baggage (26 Jan 98)
5. Can't Judge a Book (2 Feb 98)
6. Money (9 Feb 98)

[edit] Series Nine (1998)

1. Ghost (16 Nov 98)
2. Mummies And Daddies (23 Nov 98)
3. Sunday (30 Nov 98)
4. Model (7 Dec 98)
5. Nuptials (14 Dec 98)
6. Holy Ground (24 Dec 98) (40mins)

Note - The date of broadcast of the final episode is unclear. IMDb says 23 December, British TV Comedy says 21 December and BBC Comedy Guide says 24 December.

[edit] Other countries

Birds of a Feather was sold to over 30 countries worldwide, and the format was sold to countries including Australia (ABC TV), Spain and South Africa. The show is regularly re-run on Australian 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 aired for only eight episodes from 5 April 1992 to 9 August 1992.

[edit] DVD releases

The first series of Birds of a Feather was released by Prism Leisure Corporation on 6 January 2003. However, no more DVD releases are planned, and an online Petition [1] has been started to persuade the BBC to release the episodes on DVD. Series One will be released in Region 4 (Australia) in March 2007.

[edit] References

• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
• British TV Comedy Guide for Birds of a Feather

[edit] External links

• BBC Comedy Guide for Birds of a Feather