''Heartburn Hotel'' 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 ...

that ran for two series on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 1998 to 2000. The programme concerns the owner-operator and tenants of the Olympic Hotel—an establishment named in anticipation of a successful Olympic bid by the UK. Each series is six episodes long; one special aired in December 1998. ''Heartburn Hotel'' was written by John Sullivan and Steve Glover; it starred Tim Healy as the hotel's proprietor. The first series premiered on

at 10 PM on 20 July 1998. The second series aired from 23 June to 28 July 2000, at a 10:20 PM time slot.

Characters

Harry Springer and Duggie Strachan are the main protagonists in the comedy. After both characters were involved in the

Falklands conflict The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...

they both move back to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Harry to own the Olympic Hotel and Duggie to become a teacher. These two characters take opposing viewpoints in almost every matter and although Harry pretends to sympathise with his customers, his views are radically right wing as opposed to Duggie who emphatically empathises due to his own plight brought about by his gambling addiction. The reason Duggie accepts his landlords overbearing boorishness dates back to the Falklands whereupon Harry saved his life, a fact that Harry does not let Duggie forget. Other characters include Baker ( Kim Wall), Morgan (Ifan Huw Daffyd) and Scouse (Stephen Aintree).

Episodes

References

External links

* * * * {{John Sullivan (writer) 1990s British sitcoms 2000s British sitcoms 1998 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms Television series produced at Pinewood Studios Television series set in hotels