''Maggie and Her'' 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

Julia McKenzie Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...

and

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

that ran from 1978-79 (though an earlier pilot episode was made and shown in 1976). Made by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

for ITV, the series is about a divorced school teacher (played by McKenzie) and her elderly neighbour (Handl).

Premise

Maggie Brooks is a 35-year-old divorced school teacher who lives in a block of flats in London. Her next door neighbour Mrs. Perry (known to Maggie as Mrs P.), is an eccentric,

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...

-prone elderly woman who takes it upon herself to interfere in Maggie's life as much as possible. Though they are not related, the pair of them have a classic mother/daughter relationship with Mrs P. regularly knocking on Maggie's front door to voice her opinions on a variety of things (including the men in Maggie's life). Some of the other residents of their building were occasionally seen played by

Anna Wing Anna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing (30 October 1914 – 7 July 2013) was an English actress who had a long career in television and theatre, known for portraying the role of Beale family matriarch Lou Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. ...

Sylvia Coleridge, and Maggie's professional life as a teacher in an inner city London comprehensive school was also shown,

Carol Gillies Carol may refer to: People with the name * Carol (given name) * Henri Carol (1910–1984), French composer and organist * Martine Carol (1920–1967), French film actress * Sue Carol (1906–1982), American actress and talent agent, wife of actor ...

was The Headmistress and Maggie Foot the P.E Teacher. In series two

Carmen Silvera Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 – 3 August 2002) was a British comic actress. Born in Canada of Spanish descent, she moved to Coventry, England, with her family when she was a child. She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and ...

was the new Headmistress.

Series history

The first series of ''Maggie and Her'' began transmission in January 1978, though an earlier pilot episode of the series (entitled ''Poppy and Her'') with McKenzie and Handl in the same roles was screened on ITV in 1976. The premise and setting of the earlier pilot episode was virtually the same, with the only tangible difference being that McKenzie's character was called Poppy instead of Maggie. McKenzie also performed the series theme tune, composed by

Laurie Holloway Laurence Holloway (born 31 March 1938) is an English pianist and composer from Oldham, Lancashire, England. He is perhaps best known as the Musical Director for Michael Parkinson's chat show, firstly on the BBC then ITV. He also was Musical Dire ...

Home media

Both series of ''Maggie and Her'' have been released on Region 2 (UK) DVD by Network in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The first series also includes the original ''Poppy and Her'' pilot episode as a bonus feature.

References

External links

* *{{British Comedy Guide, sitcom, maggie_and_her, Maggie and Her 1970s British sitcoms 1976 British television series debuts 1979 British television series endings British comedy television shows English-language television shows ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows Television series by ITV Studios