''Happy Ever After'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

starring

Terry Scott Owen John "Terry" Scott (4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the ''Carry On films''. He is also best known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcom ''Terry and June'' with June Whitfield. Early lif ...

and

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress. Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...

. It aired from 7 May 1974 to 25 April 1979. The series was co-written by scriptwriters John T. Chapman,

Eric Merriman Eric Hugh Peter Merriman (6 December 1924 – 2 June 2003) was a British radio and television writer, who provided material for numerous comedians including Frankie Howerd, Terry Scott and Morecambe and Wise. Born in Golders Green, the son of mu ...

, Christopher Bond, John Kane and Jon Watkins. After ''Happy Ever After'' ended, Scott and Whitfield starred in ''

Terry and June ''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, T ...

'' 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

as Terry Fletcher *

as June Fletcher *

Beryl Cooke Beryl Cooke (1 November 1906 – 21 August 2001) was an English actress. Her career spanned six decades; she is most familiar to British audiences as Aunt Lucy in the sitcom '' Happy Ever After'' and Mrs. Vance in the BBC drama '' Tenko''. ...

as Aunt Lucy *Lena Clemo as Susan Fletcher ''(pilot)'' *Pippa Page as Susan Fletcher ''(from series 2)'' *Caroline Whitaker as Debbie Fletcher

Plot

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

Pilot (1974)

Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman *''Pilot'' (7 May 1974) (part of ''

Comedy Playhouse ''Comedy Playhouse'' is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including ''Steptoe and Son'', '' Meet the Wife'', ' ...

'')

Series One (1974)

All Episodes Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman #''The Hotel'' (17 July 1974) #''Terry's Church Sermon'' (31 July 1974) #''Amateur Dramatics'' (7 August 1974) #''The French Businessman'' (14 August 1974) #''Keep Fit'' (21 August 1974)

Series Two (1976)

All Episodes Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman #''A Country Cottage'' (8 January 1976) #''Old Folks' Party'' (15 January 1976) #''Lucy's Premium Bond'' (22 January 1976) #''Telemania'' (29 January 1976) #''Terry in Court'' (5 February 1976) #''The Flower Show'' (12 February 1976) #''June's Day in Bed'' (19 February 1976) #''Frank's Return'' (26 February 1976) #''Filming the Fletchers'' (4 March 1976) #''Terry the Author'' (11 March 1976)

Series Three (1976)

All Episodes Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman #''Foster Fletchers'' (9 September 1976) #''Restoration Piece'' (16 September 1976) #''It's All in the Title'' (23 September 1976) #''Mistaken Identikit'' (30 September 1976) #''Rally Ho'' (7 October 1976) #''Separation of Convenience'' (14 October 1976) #''The Protest'' (21 October 1976) #''Foreign Exchange'' (28 October 1976) #''Tea For Two'' (4 November 1976)

Christmas Special (1976)

*''Christmas'' (23 December 1976) – Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman

Series Four (1977)

All Episodes Written by John Chapman and Eric Merriman #''Hello Sailor'' (8 September 1977) #''Talk of the Devil'' (15 September 1977) #''You've Got to Have Art'' (22 September 1977) #''A Proper Charlie'' (29 September 1977) #''He Who Excavates Is Last'' (6 October 1977) #''Never Boring'' (13 October 1977) #''Never Put It in Writing'' (20 October 1977)

Christmas Special (1977)

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

Series Five (1978)

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

Special (1979)

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

Home media

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

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

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

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Happy Ever After 1974 British television series debuts 1979 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Comedy Playhouse English-language television shows