''It Takes a Worried Man'' is a British TV

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 ...

. It was made by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and ran for three series, broadcast from to . The first two series were broadcast on the ITV network, and the third and final series on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. Most episodes were written by the star,

Peter Tilbury Peter Tilbury (born 20 October 1945) is a British actor and writer, best known for the sitcom '' It Takes a Worried Man'' (1981-4), which he created and starred in. Tilbury was born in Redruth, Cornwall. As an actor Tilbury's television appeara ...

, who played office worker Philip Roath. The title comes from a line in the folk song Worried Man Blues.

Premise

Philip Roath is a middle-aged and divorced office worker who is highly intelligent, but suffering a

midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...

, and completely bored with his job. He is never seen doing any actual work, just conversing with his colleagues about his boredom and frustrations with life. His boss suspects that Philip does little work, but is powerless to prove it or to do anything about it. Philip is also seen in

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

sessions with his analyst, Simon, who has worse emotional issues than Philip does. Philip and is wife are also having marriage-related problems.

Cast list

– Philip Roath *

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 ...

– Liz * Diana Payan – Ruth * Andrew Tourell – Napley *

Nicholas Le Prevost Nicholas Le Prevost (born 18 March 1947) is an English actor. Early life Le Prevost was born in Wiltshire. He was educated at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset from 1957 to 1961 and at Kingswood School, Bath from 1961 to 1964. ...

– Simon * Christopher Benjamin – The Old Man (Philip's boss) *

Angela Down Angela Down (born 15 June 1946) is an English actress. She is known for her role in the BBC drama programme ''Take Three Girls'' portraying cockney art student Avril for the first series before being replaced in the second. Career Down played ...

– Lillian

DVD release

All three series of ''It Takes a Worried Man'' have been released individually on DVD, with a complete series set to follow.

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0125624 1980s British sitcoms 1981 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings ITV sitcoms Channel 4 sitcoms Midlife crisis in television Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) English-language television shows