''Life Begins'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

first broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

between 16 February 2004 and 9 October 2006, starring

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

and

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

Anne Reid Anne Reid, MBE (born 28 May 1935) is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000); and her role ...

and

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...

Premise

The story focuses intensely on Philip Raymond (Phil) Mee and Margaret Eileen Brenda (Maggie) Thornhill-Mee, and their two children James and Rebecca. It also features various friends and relatives of the couple. The series depicts typical family life and presents the struggles of friends and family members, such as Maggie's parents, Eric and Brenda.

History

The first series of ''Life Begins'' began on 16 February 2004. The first series was a success. The show managed viewing figures ranging from 9.51 to 10.45 million winning all of its time-slots. The series has been aired on Channel Seven in Australia and TV ONE in New Zealand. As the first ''Life Begins'' was so popular a second series was launched which began on 16 February 2005. Series two received strong ratings of 6.38 to 8.62 million. A third series started on 4 September 2006 on ITV. Again the viewing figures were still high managing to win half of its timeslots with figures of 5.79 to 6.32 million. It was always intended by the writers that the third series would be the last. A fourth series, thought possible at the time, never materialized.

Cast

as Maggie Mee *

as Phil Mee *Elliot Henderson-Boyle as James Mee *Ace Ryan as Rebecca Mee *

as Brenda Thornhill *

as Eric Thornhill *

Claire Skinner Claire Skinner (born 1965) is an English actress, known in the United Kingdom for her television career, particularly playing Sue Brockman from the BBC television series ''Outnumbered (British TV series), Outnumbered''. Early life Claire Skin ...

as Clare *

Stuart McQuarrie Stuart McQuarrie (born 19 March 1963) is a Scottish actor who has starred in several acclaimed films, including ''Trainspotting'' and '' 28 Days Later''. Besides numerous film and TV appearances McQuarrie has performed extensively in theatre th ...

as Guy *

Ellie Haddington Ellie Haddington (born 17 February 1955 in Aberdeen) is a British actress with a career spanning over 40 years. Early life and education Haddington was born in Scotland. She trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 1975 ...

as Kathleen *Sarah Ozeke as Karen *Beans El-Balawi as Freddie *

Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British actor famed for his portrayal of the antiquarian John Aubrey in the record-breaking solo play ''Brief Lives''. Abroad, he won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway re ...

as Frank * Alan Williams as George *Naomi Allis Stone as Anna *Nicholas Boulton as Kieron *

Chloe Howman Chloe Howman (born 1978 in London, England) is an English actress. The daughter of actor Karl Howman, her sister is actress Katy-Jo Howman. Career The sisters' first appearance was in 1986 with their father, as children in his series ''Brush Str ...

as Helen *

Paul Thornley Paul Thornley is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career An article about Thornley in ''Snooker Scene'' magazine in 1989 commented that: "In the last sixties, Thornley was the best player in Canada but, out of respect and personal ...

as Jeff * Danny Webb as Paul *Abby Ford as Samantha *

Michelle Holmes Michelle Holmes (born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe; 1 January 1967, Rochdale, Lancashire), is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials. Career Holmes performed in a pop band called the Dunky Dobbers. She changed her ...

as Genevieve *

Finlay Robertson Finlay Robertson (born 2 May 1975) is a British actor. Life and career Robertson was born in the Netherlands to Scottish parents, and grew up in England. He studied History at Cambridge University. Robertson has more than 40 screen credits, ...

as Kevin *

David Westhead David William Logan Westhead (born 1 June 1963) is an English actor. Early life Westhead was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, Cambridgeshire. He studied drama at University of Bristol, Bristol University before going on to Royal Academy of ...

as Brian *

Suzanne Burden Suzanne Burden (born 1958) is a British actress. A graduate of RADA, she has appeared on television, and occasionally in films, since the early 1980s. She gained attention as Esther Summerson in ''Bleak House'' (1985). In 1989, she played Patrici ...

as Penny *

Laura Patch Laura Patch (born 21 June 1980) is a British comedy actor, best known for playing several characters in the Channel 4 series ''Star Stories'' alongside Kevin Bishop. TV * 2002: ''Lexx'', playing Piccalina Sternflanks in Series 4, Episode 14 "P ...

as Tina *

Alexandra Gilbreath Alexandra Gilbreath (born 28 March 1969) is an English actress, born in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Widely known for her role as depressed author Lucy Moss in ''Not Going Out' ...

as Mia *

Matthew Cottle Matthew Cottle (born 16 February 1967) is an English film, stage, radio and television actor. He is best known for his role in Citizen Khan as Dave. Early life Cottle was born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and studied drama at the Royal Ac ...

as Nick *Jon Newman as Simon *Lewis Rose as Tom *

Kelly Hunter Kelly Hunter (born 21 July 1963) is a British film, television, radio, stage and musical actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She is a Laurence Olivier Award nominee and Radio Academy Award and TMA Awar ...

as Mrs Lane

Music

The music plays over the "next time" clip and the credits is the specially produced "Life Begins Mix" of

Faithless Faithless are an English band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, '' Reverence'', was released in 1996 and their most recent, ''All Blessed'', in 2020. They have sold millions ...

' song "No Roots", from their album of the same name released in June 2004, four months after ''Life Begins'' began, meaning the song was debuted on the show in this version. Faithless'

Sister Bliss Ayalah Deborah Bentovim (born 30 December 1970), better known by her stage name Sister Bliss, is a British keyboardist, record producer, DJ and songwriter. In the studio, she is best known for her work with Rollo Armstrong as one half of the pr ...

provided other music for the series.

Episodes

Series 1 (2004)

Series 2 (2005)

Series 3 (2006)

Broadcast

UK air dates

*Series One - 16 February 2004 to 22 March 2004 *Series Two - 16 February 2005 to 30 March 2005 *Series Three - 4 September 2006 to 9 October 2006 From June 2014, the show was repeated on

ITV Encore ITV Encore was a British drama pay television channel in the United Kingdom that was owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was exclusive to Sky (United Kingdom), Sky's digital satellite platform, Sky Go, Now TV (Sk ...

ITV's new drama channel for sky customers.

International air dates

Ratings in Australia: The first episode of the first series aired over Australia's non ratings period, and the opening episode rated 1.1 million mainland capital city viewers, which was the 12th most watched show for the week. Ratings continued around the one million viewers mark throughout series one. The first episode of series two moved to 9:30pm and rated 998,000 viewers, ranking first in its time slot. The second episode rated 853,000 viewers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Begins (Tv Series) 2000s British drama television series 2004 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows Television shows set in the United Kingdom