Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
| Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? | |
|---|---|
| Starring |
James Bolam Rodney Bewes Brigit Forsyth |
| Theme music composer |
Mike Hugg Ian La Frenais |
| Opening theme | "Whatever Happened to You?" |
| Ending theme | "Whatever Happened to You?" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
James Gilbert Bernard Thompson |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 9 January 1973 – 24 December 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Likely Lads |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974.
The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.
Set in Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England, the show follows the friendship, resumed after five years apart, of two working class young men, Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes) and Terry Collier (James Bolam).
The word "likely" in the title referred, in the 1960s series, to those showing promise, but also to those likely to get up to well-meaning mischief.
The humour was based on the tension between Terry's firmly working class outlook and Bob's aspirations to join the middle class, through his new white-collar job, suburban home, and impending marriage to prissy librarian Thelma Chambers (Brigit Forsyth).
Since the ending of the original series in 1966, Bob has left factory life behind and now works for his father-in-law's building firm (something which makes Bob even more desperate to curry favour with Thelma and her family). At Thelma's urging, Bob is also joining sports clubs and attending dinner parties, which Terry views as Bob aspiring to join the middle classes. This results in Terry viewing Bob as a class traitor, and believing his own Army experience and solid working class ethos gives him moral superiority.
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Wikipedia