'Happy Ever After' Pilot Episode

I was watching a video of the Mac Master in Tenerife, and he was talking about the comments of his video, I think he said Terry and someone else was saying his should be eating more Spanish Curry or something, and I remember Terry and June ? 

But I did not remember this, "Happy Ever After", well I do not think I could ? I blame Danger Mouse 😝

Happy Ever After is a British sitcom starring Terry Scott and June Whitfield. It aired from 7 May 1974 to 25 April 1979 on BBC1.

The series was co-written by scriptwriters John T. Chapman, Eric Merriman, Christopher Bond, John Kane and Jon Watkins.

After Happy Ever After ended, Scott and Whitfield starred in Terry and June from October 1979 to August 1987, a sitcom that was similar to Happy Ever After (minus Aunt Lucy), with Terry and June's surname changed from Fletcher to Medford and the setting moved to Purley.

Cast[edit]

• Terry Scott as Terry Fletcher
• June Whitfield as June Fletcher
• Beryl Cooke as Aunt Lucy
• Lena Clemo as Susan Fletcher (pilot)
• Pippa Page as Susan Fletcher (from series 2)
• Caroline Whitaker as Debbie Fletcher

Plot[edit]

Terry and June Fletcher are a middle-aged, middle-class couple who find themselves alone when their grown-up children, daughters Susan and Debbie, leave home. However, they are not alone for long as Aunt Lucy comes to live with them, along with her talking mynah bird.

Terry frequently hits upon an idea, which due to his foolhardy and obsessive manner he then continues with whatever the consequences, while June remains patient and tolerant.

Episodes[edit]

Pilot (1974)[edit]

Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

• Pilot (7 May 1974) (part of Comedy Playhouse)

Series One (1974)[edit]

All episodes written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

1. "The Hotel" (17 July 1974)
2. "Terry's Church Sermon" (31 July 1974)
3. "Amateur Dramatics" (7 August 1974)
4. "The French Businessman" (14 August 1974)
5. "Keep Fit" (21 August 1974)

Series Two (1976)[edit]

All episodes written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

1. "A Country Cottage" (8 January 1976)
2. "Old Folks' Party" (15 January 1976)
3. "Lucy's Premium Bond" (22 January 1976)
4. "Telemania" (29 January 1976)
5. "Terry in Court" (5 February 1976)
6. "The Flower Show" (12 February 1976)
7. "June's Day in Bed" (19 February 1976)
8. "Frank's Return" (26 February 1976)
9. "Filming the Fletchers" (4 March 1976)
10. "Terry the Author" (11 March 1976)

Series Three (1976)[edit]

All episodes written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

1. "Foster Fletchers" (9 September 1976)
2. "Restoration Piece" (16 September 1976)
3. "It's All in the Title" (23 September 1976)
4. "Mistaken Identikit" (30 September 1976)
5. "Rally Ho" (7 October 1976)
6. "Separation of Convenience" (14 October 1976)
7. "The Protest" (21 October 1976)
8. "Foreign Exchange" (28 October 1976)
9. "Tea For Two" (4 November 1976)

Christmas Special (1976)[edit]

• "Christmas" (23 December 1976) – Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

Series Four (1977)[edit]

All episodes written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

1. "Hello Sailor" (8 September 1977)
2. "Talk of the Devil" (15 September 1977)
3. "You've Got to Have Art" (22 September 1977)
4. "A Proper Charlie" (29 September 1977)
5. "He Who Excavates Is Last" (6 October 1977)
6. "Never Boring" (13 October 1977)
7. "Never Put It in Writing" (20 October 1977)

Christmas Special (1977)[edit]

• "June's Parents" (23 December 1977) – Written by Eric Merriman and Christopher Bond

Series Five (1978)[edit]

1. "Watch Your Weight" (5 September 1978) – Written by Eric Merriman and Christopher Bond
2. "The Music Went Around & Around" (12 September 1978) – Written by John Kane
3. "Rogue Male" (19 September 1978) – Written by John Kane
4. "The King & June" (26 September 1978) – Written by Eric Merriman and Christopher Bond
5. "A Woman Called Ironside" (3 October 1978) – Written by Eric Merriman and Christopher Bond
6. "The More We Are Together" (10 October 1978) – Written by Jon Watkins

Special (1979)[edit]

• "The Go Between" (25 April 1979) – Written by Eric Merriman and Christopher Bond

Home media[edit]

All five series, pilot and specials of the sitcom were released onto DVD on 26 September 2016.^[1]

References[edit]

1. ^ "Happy Ever After- Complete [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
• Phill.co.uk Guide to Happy Ever After

External links[edit]

• Happy Ever After at IMDb 
• Happy Ever After at British Comedy Guide
• \

Genre	Sitcom
Starring	Terry Scott June Whitfield Beryl Cooke
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	41
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	7 May 1974 – 25 April 1979

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 contributing some episodes.

Production[edit]

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 two 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, was 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 Benhamin 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]

Despite being seen as "cosy" and somewhat "dated" even upon its original broadcast, and lampooned by contemporaneous alternative comedy programmes, the show nevertheless attracted large viewing figures. The series never came to an 'official' end, with series 9 in 1987 not planned to be the last, but, according to main writer John Kane, the show "just sort of petered out in the end",^[1] after series 8 (1985) already having been "buried in an early tea-time slot", with the BBC "slightly embarrassed of their 'safe and cosy' sitcom but one which still commanded strong audience figures". Several scripts for a proposed series 10 were submitted, but in the end the show "simply wasn't renewed".^[1] During filming of series 9, Terry Scott commented that he felt the programme's format had started to become tired and that he was keen to do something new.

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 Thatcherismwas as alien as socialism.^[2]

The theme tune, "Bell Hop" by John Shakespeare (real name: John Carter), was also used for the radio series Never Too Late which starred Thora Hird and Joe Gladwin and ran for two series (1981 and 1982).

Cast[edit]

Main characters[edit] Terry Scott – Terence 'Terry' Medford June Whitfield – June Medford Reginald Marsh – Sir Dennis Hodge Terence Alexander – Malcolm Harris (series 1 and 2) Tim Barrett – Malcolm Harris (1980 Special to series 7) John Quayle – Malcolm Harris (series 8 and 9) Rosemary Frankau – Beattie Harris Joanna Henderson – Miss Nora Fennell (series 3 to 5; 8 to 9)

Recurring characters[edit] Roland Curram – Brian Pillbeam (series 1) Anita Graham – Tina Pillbeam (series 1 and 2) John Warner – The Rev. Austin Doyle (series 1, 3 to 5; 7 to 9) Allan Cuthbertson – Tarquin Spry (series 3 to 6) Joan Benham – Melinda Spry (series 3) Diana King – Melinda Spry (series 4 to 6) Roger Martin – Alan Medford (series 2, 3, 5 and 9) Patsy Smart – Miss Lavinia Dingle (series 7 and 8) Evie Garratt – Miss Dunwiddy (series 9)

Guests[edit]

• Gwen Nelson

Plot[edit]

The series starts as middle-class couple Terry and June Medford prepare to move into 26 Elmtree Avenue in Purley, Surrey.^[3][4] 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 can be headstrong and determined, but often as a result of his childlike enthusiasm getting the better of him, and his plans and schemes normally end in disaster. June, meanwhile, is tolerant of her husband, but frequently doubtful about his ideas and acts as the voice of reason and common sense, although this often falls upon deaf ears.

Terry works for Playsafe Fire Extinguishers and Appliances, and his boss is Malcolm Harris. In a continuity error his surname is sometimes referred to as Laurence instead of Harris. Malcolm frequently has affairs, and he and his wife Beattie, a friend of June, often argue. The owner of Playsafe is Sir Dennis Hodge (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 reciprocated.

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 frequently compete against each other.

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Terry and June episodes

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

Home media[edit]

All nine series and four Christmas specials have been released on DVD in Region 2. The Complete Collection 10 disc boxset DVD Region 2 has also been released on 23 October 2017.^[5]

DVD Title		Disc No.	Year	Number of episodes	DVD release
					Region 2
	Series 1	1	1979	6	15 August 2005
	Series 2	1	1980	7	30 January 2006
	Series 3	1	1981	7	17 April 2006
	Series 4	1	1982	6	19 June 2006
	Series 5	1	1982	7	28 August 2006
	Series 6	1	1983	6	16 April 2007
	Series 7	1	1983	6	13 August 2007
	Series 8 Volume 1	1	1985	6	19 May 2008
	Series 8 Volume 2	1	1985	7	18 August 2008
	Series 9	1	1987	7	4 May 2009
	Complete Collection	10	1979–87	65	23 October 2017

References[edit]

General

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

Specific

1. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d e f g h} Lewisohn, Mark (2003). Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy. London: BBC Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-563-48755-5.
2. ^ "Heart of the middle country", The Listener, summer 1987
3. ^ "Long Weekend". Terry and June. 24 October 1981. BBC. BBC1.
4. ^ "Unfaithfully Yours". Terry and June. 14 September 1985. BBC. BBC1.
5. ^ "Terry and June – The Complete Collection [DVD]". Amazon. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.

External links[edit]

• Terry and June at BBC Online 
• Terry and June at British Comedy Guide
• Terry and June at epguides.com
• Terry and June at IMDb 

Genre	Sitcom
Starring	Terry Scott June Whitfield Terence Alexander Tim Barrett John Quayle Reginald Marsh Rosemary Frankau Allan Cuthbertson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	9
No. of episodes	65 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (approximately)
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	24 October 1979 – 31 August 1987