Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

I am in the process of watching re-runs of this on Yesterday and have always loved it, the comedy is so well observed and it just doesn't seem to date at all. Bob and Terry are characters that we can all identify with, we were one of them back in the day, my brother was certainly Bob and I was Terry! Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' finest work, and that is saying something!

"Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads" is a continuation of the lives and friendship between Northern lads Terry and Bob. Like the best of British sitcoms, the humour is derived from character and from situations. The scripts are excellent on the whole and James Bolam and Rodney Bewes vividly brought their respective characters to life. Broadcast in 1973 and 1974, this series became immensely popular and spawned a feature film which wasn't so good. It is a bit of a pity that the two leading actors had a falling out. Bolam accused Bewes of revealing something about the former's private life and has refused to speak to or to have anything more to do with him. The events of this sitcom pick up five years after the original series came to an end. Terry has returned home after being overseas in the army. Bob has bought his first home and is about to settle down into married life. Their reunion occurs by accident onboard the same train in the opening episode and the story lines developed from there. Terry feels rather out of step with everything in his home town as a lot has changed. His old haunts are no longer in existence and he seems to be against anything in the way of progress. Terry's lack of ambition, his ignorance and hypocrisy are amongst the sources of laughter that is effortlessly delivered by both the actors and the writers. A classic of British comedy.

This is most probably the best comedy sequel of all time in the British comedy field, it certainly tops the original which was one of the runaway classics of the sixties.

At the helm once again is the writing talents of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and this time they really surpass themselves. It's 1973 and we see the social and industrial changes taking place in the North East of England through the eyes of long-time friends Bob Ferris and Terry Collier. Terry, just out of a five year stint in the army, and non the better for it, has to adjust to the aforementioned social changes with a little help from his best friend-the long suffering Bob.

One of the major aspects that Terry has to get used to, but never does, is the fact that it isn't just him and Bob anymore-there's Thelma as well, Bob's fiancée and soon to be Mrs.Ferris. All this unfolds superbly with great comic timing and a great continuing storyline throughout the 26 episodes and 1 Christmas special. The stand-out episodes include: 'Strangers On A Train', 'No Hiding Place', 'Boy's Night In', 'End Of An Era', 'One For The Road', 'The Great Race', 'Conduct Unbecoming'.

Rodney Bewes and James Bolam have both matured superbly into the lead roles and it's with age that this comedy series in my opinion has certainly come into itself. A fine supporting cast with hilarious consequences to be had in each and every episode, make this one of my personal favourite comedies along with 'Fawlty Towers' and 'Only Fools & Horses'. Another bonus is the catchy hit theme song by 'Highly Likely'-check it all out!

UPDATE: May 2006 - The Complete Series 1 is now finally available in crystal quality at long last - Hoorraayyy!!! Since the release of 'The Very Best of' on DVD four years ago it was thought that the six episodes on this compilation were the only surviving episodes - criminal! However, this is not the case and we finally have the first 13 episodes available to enjoy forever. I do believe that Series 2 will be available to buy in August 2006! All we need then is the 1974 Christmas Special - watch this space...

UPDATE: August 7th 2006 - And finally, the Complete Series 2 arrives to our DVD screens with a special feature bonus of the Christmas Special 1974!

Series 2 continues in fine style the story of Bob and Terry...and now Thelma, in one of the Best British TV Comedies of all time. There are some more wonderfully classic moments to cherish in this nicely designed 2-Disc package from the BBC which includes such great episodes as "Absent Friends", "One For The Road", "The Great Race", the brilliant "In Harms Way", "Conduct Unbecoming" and "The Shape Of Things To Come". Thank you Messrs. Clement & La Frenais!

Once you have completed a run of the second series then check out the Christmas Special on this package where Terry is learning to drive and reminds Bob that he hasn't forgotten his hand signals!

Timeless.

One of my favourites from the golden age of comedy.

I cringe at the outside shots of Newcastle because everywhere looks likes a building site. Rows of partly demolished terraced houses and countless rubble filled fields. I can assure you that living through the seventies it certainly didn't look like that all the time. Great to see them order two pints of beer, two bags of crisps, hand over a pound note and still receive change !

As other people have said, there really isn't a poor episode, just some are better than others.....outstanding ones include No Hiding Place and the Great Race.

With regard to the alleged issues they had working together.......this has been totally exaggerated. You can tell by watching that they had great chemistry and the subtle smiles and laughs when certain lines were delivered.

James Bolam has stated in his book that they got on really well and that it was a pleasure to work with Rodney. He was very saddened that Rodney was spreading the story that they parted under a cloud.

James stated that if he had an issue with Bewes then why would he agree to doing the updated series and also the second series.

James Bolam has said on several occasions that he enjoyed working with Bewes but after the series ended, they went their separate ways to do other jobs. He added that as an actor, you worked with people for a few weeks or months and really enjoyed their company, but then moved on to work with an entirely different cast. There was never any bad blood between him and Bewes and he was a little saddened that it had been reported that there was.

You just have to watch carefully to see that extra special chemistry.

I will end with a slight gripe I have. Considering it's a north east comedy, the only genuine actor from that area is Bolam himself. Most other actors put on this strange random northern accent which sounds more Yorkshire than Geordie.

UK TV is in forever love with repeats of "classic comedies" to the extent that on Christmas Day, the BBC found room on the schedules for an ancient episode of "Dad's Army" and gave whole themed evenings to the likes of Ronnie Corbett and "The Good Life", all of which are as about as funny as a hip-transplant. But tucked away on Channel 5 was the Christmas Special from 1974 of the best situation comedy ever to grace the BBC, the superb "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads", starring Rodney Bewes and James Bolam, written by genre-masters Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais ("Porridge", "Auf Weiderschien Pet").

While this Christmas edition is exceptionally funny and what actually prompted me to post this, I well remember that the standard of writing and acting was almost as strong spread over the two or three series they hung around for.

Unlike so many of the other so-called classic sit-coms, some of which I've mentioned above, the eponymous "Likely Lads" are wholly grounded in real-life, dealing with everyday situations, talking in everyday language. Thus there's no need to insert the cartoony outrageous characters so beloved of the Perry/Croft or Esmond and Larbey teams. These were two blokes that you could relate to who could be sat just a few seats up from you in the pub or at the football. The humour is less about the situation than the priceless dialogue, so sharp, barely a word wasted.

There's no artificiality in the setting, very obviously a run-down, depressed Newcastle or in the accents they employ. More than this though, they represent the working-class everyman muddling through life, dealing with the mundane, occasionally falling out with one another but being mates, always falling back in again.

The acting is superb, Bewes never better as the middle-class, socially upward aspirant Bob, Bolam in the only role in which I can watch him, as the down-at-heel feckless Terry and Brigit Forsyth a perfect foil for both as Bob's hoity-toity wife who comes between them.

But it really is more about the writing and time after time Clement and LaFrenais showed a winning empathy with character and the ability to get laughs out of the depiction of ordinary situations. "Porridge" and "Auf Wiederschien" are great too but this is their finest creation and in this Christmas episode, very possibly their best ever hour. Great, nostalgic theme-tune too, co-written by LaFrenais - a record of it even made the lower reaches of the pop-charts at the time