''Dear John'' is a
British sitcom
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...
, written by
John Sullivan. Two series and a special were broadcast in 1986 and 1987.
The sitcom's title refers to
"Dear John" letters, usually written by women to their partners as a means of ending a relationship. John discovers in the opening episode that his wife is leaving him for a friend. He is kicked out of his home, while still being expected to pay the mortgage, and forced to find lodgings. In desperation, he joins the 1-2-1 Singles Club and meets other people (whom one could describe as misfits), who have fared equally unfortunately in their romantic lives. The outside shots of houses were filmed in Melthorne Drive,
South Ruislip
South Ruislip is an area of west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon, south-east of Ruislip, south of Eastcote, north-west of Northolt, and west of South Harrow. A 2017 estimation put the population of South Ruislip ward as 13,150 resident ...
.
In 1988, an
American adaptation of ''Dear John'' was produced by
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
for the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
network, starring
Judd Hirsch
Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS series ...
. That series lasted for four seasons.
Characters
Major characters
*John Lacey (
Ralph Bates
Ralph Bates (12 February 1940 – 27 March 1991) was an English film and television actor, known for his role in the British sitcom '' Dear John'' and the original ''Poldark''.
Biography
Bates was born in Bristol, England. His parents were bo ...
) — a secondary-school teacher whose wife leaves him for his best friend, Mike. He is thrown out of his home but has to continue paying the mortgage on it, while living in a
bedsit
A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...
. Although John's wife is
manipulative and John can be considered the wronged party, he admits in retrospect that he may have neglected her emotionally. He feels cut off from his son, to whom he has access only on Sundays. They end up at the zoo because it's the only place open; his son saying they've seen one penguin so many times that the first time they came "he was an egg". John's problems come from an inability, or unwillingness, to confront people or from being "too nice" – giving rise to situations that can rebound in unexpected ways.
*Kate (
Belinda Lang
Belinda Lucy Lange (born 23 December 1953), known professionally as Belinda Lang, is an English actress. She is known for playing Liza in the ITV sitcom '' Second Thoughts'' (1991–94), and Bill Porter in the BBC sitcom '' 2point4 Children'' ...
) — an outwardly
frigid
Frigid may refer to
* Cold
* Polar region or frigid zone, one of the two geographical zones of the Earth's surface within the polar circles
* FRIGID New York, an Off-Off-Broadway festival hosted by Horsetrade Theatre
* Hypoactive sexual desire dis ...
woman with three failed marriages. She continually spars with Kirk, whose growing lust for her becomes a running theme. At one point, she shares a bed with John, although it is suggested that nothing more than sleeping happened, as they were both drunk at the time. Eventually, she goes to Greece and finds a boyfriend (much to Kirk's dismay), only to make a surprise reappearance in the show's final episode.
*Ralph Dring (
Peter Denyer
Peter John Denyer (20 August 1947 – 18 September 2009) was an English actor who played Dennis Dunstable in London Weekend Television's ''Please Sir!'', and its spin-off series ''The Fenn Street Gang'', taking on the role of a teenager when a ...
) — a shy, timid and rather glum man with absolutely no image at all; whose only real friend is a
terrapin
Terrapins are one of several small species of turtle (order Testudines) living in fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae.
The name ...
named Terry and who married a Polish woman called Blomlika. She was a
defector who (as Ralph tells it), worked as a welder at the
Gdańsk Shipyard
The Gdańsk Shipyard ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...
, was smuggled out of Poland by her brother by "hiding in the bottom of a Polish Army mobile field kitchen" and deserted Ralph on their wedding day. He develops a genuine friendship with Kirk, even though Kirk holds his boring demeanour in some disdain. He often gives Kirk a lift home on his
motorcycle combination due to Kirk's 'Porsche' always "being in dock". In series two, Ralphy (as Kirk calls him) makes a "shrewd investment" by buying a mobile discotheque from a friend and adopts the
persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...
of disc jockey ''Dazzling Darren Dring''; a name conjured up by Kirk. Unfortunately, he only has two records in his 'collection';
Green Door
"The Green Door" (or "Green Door") is a 1956 popular song, with music composed by Bob "Hutch" Davie and lyrics by Marvin J. Moore. It was first recorded by Jim Lowe which reached number one on the US chart in 1956. The song has been covered ...
by
Shakin' Stevens
Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...
, and another unnamed track which is scratched, so is never played. His microphone patter and act are not nearly as glitzy as his name - unanimated and interjecting his performance with such comments as "Get down", "Do that funky thing" and "Don't give me that jive, Clive" in his normal monotone voice.
*Kirk St Moritz / Eric Morris (
Peter Blake) — a crass, tactless
chauvinist
Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotis ...
, who claims to drive a
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
(although the audience never sees it) and dresses in the style of
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
in ''
Saturday Night Fever
''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...
''. Kirk (who claims to be a spy) is shown at the end of series one to be nothing more than an
alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
created by Eric Morris who, though he is in his mid-thirties, lives in shabby circumstances with an overbearing mother who calls him "Big Ears". His room contains a number of toy guns and models, whilst the walls are covered with action movie posters. In reality, he still has the mindset of a teenager who longs for a more exciting life. His long, rambling and often preposterous anecdotes about his "experiences" cruising the
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
highways on his
Harley Davidson Harley may refer to:
People
* Harley (given name)
* Harley (surname)
Places
* Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada
* Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada
* Harley, Shropshire, England
* Harley, South Yorkshire, England
* Harley Street, in Lo ...
, seducing nuns, military service with the
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
and
clandestine
Clandestine may refer to:
* Secrecy, the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals
* Clandestine operation, a secret intelligence or military activity
Music and entertainme ...
missions during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
with his "buddy" ''Wang'', contrast in the second season with the audience's newly gained knowledge that Eric is really a sad, shy man who has made little impact in wider life. In the series' final episode, however, we see that perhaps there are aspects of Kirk that are more real than perhaps even Eric realises when he displays courage and honour to protect his friends in a perilous situation.
Eric claims to John in private that Kirk represents all the qualities he aspires to, and that he has other personae, suggesting Eric has simply become a persona that he presents to his mother, just as Kirk is the persona he presents to the 1-2-1 Club. Kirk explains Eric in public as an undercover version of Kirk with his mother being his (male) operations controller in disguise, to whom he refers by the codename of "Z". In the series' final episode, Eric is returning with Kirk's dry-cleaned outfit when he sees his friends about to be beaten up by a group of
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
. In homage to
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
, he retreats into the pub toilet and (after the Superman theme is played), emerges as Kirk, who swiftly dispatches the gang. Eric has an ongoing fascination with Kate, who (as Kirk) he nicknames 'Tiger'. Although in his Kirk persona they enjoy a combative relationship with insults and barbs regularly flying between them, he claims to John, and later Kate herself, that under the surface he is "kind of fond of her". In reality, he is smitten with her and tries to get John to organise a date for him. Apart from John, the rest of the group only ever meet the Kirk alter ego.
*Louise (
) — the organiser and
facilitator
A facilitator is a person who helps a group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neutral", meaning t ...
of the group. Something of a ''
Sloane Ranger
In the United Kingdom, a Sloane Ranger, or simply a Sloane, is a stereotypical upper-middle or upper-class person, typically although not necessarily a young one, who embodies a very particular upbringing and outlook. The Sloane Ranger style is ...
'', with a
plummy accent, who often ends sentences with "Yah?" or "You ''will'' enjoy it", she divorced her husband because of his
fetishistic
A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over oth ...
tendencies and remains obsessed with other people's sex lives. This may be her reason for organising the group and is most certainly the cause of her catchphrase "Were there any ''sexual'' problems?" She also insists upon pronouncing Ralph's name in the more old-fashioned style of "Rafe".
*Sylvia (Lucinda Curtis) — a nervous woman with an irritating laugh who divorced her husband because of his
transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
. She is held as a figure of fun by Louise who, much to Sylvia's embarrassment, often persuades her to share her experiences in front of the whole group. This is seen when Sylvia is moved from her Wednesday night meeting to John's Friday night meeting. Sylvia finds John attractive and makes an attempt to invite him to her house for a romantic meal. John does not feel the same way and the two never become involved any further than friendship. It is suggested that other members of her previous Wednesday night group found her highly annoying, resulting in an attempt by one member trying to run her over with a car (twice) and another pushing her off the top of
Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike () is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif.
Scafell Pi ...
. This explains the reason for her being moved to the Friday night group.
Minor characters
*Mrs Arnott (Jean Challis) — quiet, hat-wearing Mrs Arnott (who suffers from depression) generally sits at the back dressed in dowdy clothing, occasionally chipping in with unexpected comments, such as that her husband used to make her play hoopla with ring doughnuts. Eventually, she leaves the group to look after her daughter's children when her daughter goes to work in Africa for
VSO. She is often tactlessly referred to as "the fat lady" by Kirk. Even in her presence.
*Toby Lacey (William Bates) — Ralph Bates's real-life son portrays his screen son, Toby.
*Wendy (
Wendy Allnutt
Wendy Allnutt (born 1 May 1946) is an English stage and screen actress.
She now teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, leading a degree course in Training Actors Movement.
Life
Born in Lincoln, Allnutt trained for an acting career ...
) — John's sexually manipulative and bossy ex-wife.
*Mike Taylor (
Roger Blake
Roger Donald Blake (born 21 December 1957 in Neath, Glamorgan) is a Welsh people, Welsh actor, impressionist and entertainer. He is best known for his portrayal of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip in ''Spitting Image'' and ''The Bi ...
) — Wendy's rugby-playing partner and one of the causes of John's marriage breakdown. John's ex-best friend, Mike was helped by John when he went through a bad patch in his life. Whenever John mentions Mike, he adopts an ape-like stance and likens him to the
Honey Monster
Honey Monster Puffs are a honey-flavoured breakfast cereal made from sugar-coated wheat sold in the United Kingdom. The cereal was originally sold as Sugar Puffs, but was re-branded in 2014. It was labeled as Honey Monster Sugar Puffs for a ...
.
*Ken (
Terence Edmond
Terence Edmond (22 November 1939 – 14 March 2009) was an English actor, who played PC Ian Sweet in 78 episodes of ''Z-Cars'' between 1962 and 1964.
His popular TV character was killed off in an episode of the police drama transmitted live ...
) — Ken is John's teaching colleague and he and his wife Maggie have a strained marriage. Despite using a variety of contraceptives, he and Maggie have still managed to produce five children, whose upkeep and company he finds a constant burden. In contrast to John's simple desire to have a simple, loving relationship, Ken wants to spread his oats and has nothing but envy for what he imagines is John's new life of sexual freedom. This is due to John 'beefing up' the image of the 1-2-1 Club with ridiculous accounts of members such as "the Filipino twins", and his exploits in "the hot tub", in order to make his dull life sound much more exciting. Even though John attempts to convince Ken that the tales are pure fantasy, Ken refuses to accept this and joins the 1-2-1 Club looking for adventure. In order to validate his reasons for joining, he gives a woeful tale to the rest of the group that he and Maggie have been divorced for some time, that they are childless and he'd always wanted children. He starts to become romantically involved with Kate who sees him as a kindred spirit but the affair is discovered by Maggie after Kirk gives her an anonymous telephone tip-off. Ken never discovers the identity of the real informer and blames John. Later in the second series, Ken and Maggie seem to be working on their differences and Ken agrees to have a
vasectomy
Vasectomy, or vasoligation, is an elective surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into the urethra and ...
. His envy for (as he sees it), John's 'freedom' as a divorcee never entirely dissipates.
*Maggie (
Sue Holderness
Susan Joan Holderness (born 28 May 1949) is an English actress on both stage and screen having had appearances in '' Bless This House'' (1974), '' The New Avengers'' (1977), ''Canned Laughter'' (1979),
''The Sandbaggers'' (1980), ''The Cleopatr ...
) — Ken's wife; who finds him extremely irritating.
*Mrs Lemenski (
Irene Prador
Irene Prador (née Peiser; 16 July 1911, in Vienna – 8 July 1996, in Berlin) was an Austrian-born actress and writer.
Biography
Prador was born as Irene Peiser, the daughter of Dr. Alfred Peiser and actress Rose Lissmann, and sister of actres ...
) — John's neighbour. She is a Polish woman of advancing years, who frequently encounters John in embarrassing circumstances, such as hitting his head on the wall in frustration. She refers to him as "you loony person" or "fruitcake person". She reveals herself to be a lonely woman, who was widowed in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
*Mrs Morris (
Sheila Manahan
Sheila Manahan (1 January 1924 – 29 March 1988) was an Irish actress.
Career
Among her film roles were Ann Willingdon in ''Seven Days to Noon'' (1950), Esther's mother in ''The Story of Esther Costello'' (1957), and Mrs. Jenkins in ''Only Tw ...
) — Kirk/Eric's overbearing Irish mother.
*Ricky Fortune (
Kevin Lloyd
Kevin Reardon Lloyd (28 March 1949 – 2 May 1998) was a British television actor, who came to prominence in the role of DC Alfred "Tosh" Lines in Thames Television's police drama series ''The Bill''.
Early life
Lloyd was born in Derby in ...
) — An ex-rock star who scored a 1969
one-hit-wonder
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
entitled, ''Not on My Birthday'', in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, with his group ''Ricky Fortune & the Fortunates''. He assumes that people know who he is, but they rarely do until prompted; whereupon they mostly recall that he was once on ''
The Sooty Show
''The Sooty Show'' is a British children's television series, created by Harry Corbett, and produced for the BBC from 1955 to 1967, and then for ITV from 1968 until 1992. The show, part of the ''Sooty'' franchise, focuses on the mischievous adv ...
''. Upon his arrival to the 1-2-1 Club, his claims to celebrity are mocked by Kirk but he is instantly recognised by Mrs Arnott who, it transpires, is a lifelong fan; much to Kirk's annoyance. In an attempt to protect Ricky from Kirk's insults, John claims to have bought every record that ''The Fortunates'' made, yet when challenged (by Kirk) to name his favourite ''Fortunates'' track, cannot name one and merely states "They all were". Later, Ricky is booked to headline at a charity concert with ''
Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had a number of hit records between 1963 and 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying.
...
'' as the warm-up act. At this time, it appears that Louise has booked Freddie in Ricky's place and he has been cast aside. Embarrassed and angry, he leaves, and it is only after this point that the audience finds out that it was merely a misunderstanding and Ricky was to be the main act after all. Ricky is never seen again.
Episodes
Series 1 (1986)
Series 2 (1987)
Title music
As with his other series, the title music was composed by the series' writer,
John Sullivan. It was arranged by
Ronnie Hazlehurst
Ronald Hazlehurst (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director.
Hazlehurst composed the theme tunes for many well-known Britis ...
; the composer of music used in many BBC comedies and light entertainment programmes. Joan Baxter provided the vocals.
Home releases
''Dear John'' appeared on video in 1998, three cassettes with both series and the Christmas special, under Playback Entertainment.
Acorn Media UK
RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television.
History
Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...
released both series of ''Dear John'' on DVD in the UK in 2010. The first episode is shorter than the one originally broadcast on BBC1 as contractual edits have been made, namely the removal of
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
music during and at the end of the episode. The subtitles still show "
Day Tripper
"Day Tripper" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out" in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney and ...
" being played as John enters the community hall and acknowledges some men dressed in 'Fab Four' suits, but the music playing is actually
muzak
Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingh ...
. And, at the end, when John and Kate discuss whether they will return the following week, Beatles music can be heard and silhouettes seen in an upper window of the centre. This scene has been totally removed.
References
External links
*
''Dear John''at the BBC Comedy Guide
*
*
{{John Sullivan (writer)
1986 British television series debuts
1987 British television series endings
1980s British sitcoms
BBC television sitcoms
English-language television shows
Psychotherapy in fiction