''Second Thoughts'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

comedy television programme that ran from 3 May 1991 to 14 October 1994. It was broadcast on the

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 ...

network and made by the

company

LWT 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 ...

. It was followed by a sequel, '' Faith in the Future''. ''Second Thoughts'' followed the lives of two middle-aged divorcees, Bill MacGregor and Faith Greyshott, from very different backgrounds trying to develop a relationship, despite the pressures pulling it apart (namely Faith's two teenage children and Bill's devious ex-wife Liza, who works alongside him). ''Second Thoughts'' was based upon the real-life relationship of the writers, husband and wife Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie. It originally aired as a radio series on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

broadcast between 1 November 1988 and 23 July 1992. The radio series consisted of four series and a Christmas special broadcast in 1992 with a total of 31 episodes. The radio scripts were used for the television series on

. The fifth series was the only series not to be based on the original radio scripts. During the recording of an episode of series four, Lynda Bellingham was surprised by the '' This Is Your Life'' host

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', ''Give Us a Clue'', '' This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...

on set as she was to be the star of an episode of ''This is Your Life''. Her co-star James Bolam was in on the surprise, and Lynda appeared truly shocked when Michael Aspel appeared on the set to present her with the big red book and to tell her "this is your life!" to the thundering applause of the studio audience. ''Second Thoughts'' ended on 14 October 1994, but has since been repeated on

Forces TV The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselve ...

. The original radio series was often replayed on

BBC7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the pr ...

, and continues to be repeated on BBC7's rebranded replacement,

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

Characters

*Bill MacGregor (

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in ''The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...

) – An art editor of a style magazine where he works alongside his bitchy ex-wife Liza. *Faith Greyshott (

Lynda Bellingham Lynda Bellingham, OBE ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as '' All Creatures Great and Small'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Second Thoughts'' and '' Faith in the Future''. Sh ...

) – Faith is a freelance illustrator who occasionally does work for the style magazine Bill works for.
She has two teenagers from her previous marriage, Hannah and Joe. The children and the dog often come before Bill. *Liza MacGregor ''(sometimes known as Liza Ferrari)'' (

Belinda Lang Belinda Lucy Lange (born 23 December 1953), known professionally as Belinda Lang, is an English actress. She is known for playing Liza in the ITV sitcom '' Second Thoughts'' (1991–94), and Bill Porter in the BBC sitcom '' 2point4 Children'' ...

) – Bill's glamorous ex-wife, Liza is a

histrionic Histrionic may refer to: * related to or reminiscent of (theatrical) acting, or acting out * Histrionic personality disorder, a Cluster B personality disorder * ''Histrionics'' (album), by The Higher * ''Histrionicus The harlequin duck (''H ...

woman with expensive tastes. Liza works for the same magazine as Bill and is constantly interfering with Bill and Faith's relationship. *Hannah Greyshott (

Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...

) – Faith's teenage daughter and eldest child. *Joe Greyshott (

Mark Denham Mark Denham (born 1975) is a British actor, best known for his role as Joe Greyshott in the sitcom '' Second Thoughts.'' Denham later appeared in one episode of the show’s sequel, '' Faith in the Future''. Denham had a role in the third episode ...

) – Faith's teenage son. Joe is obsessed with football and only shows interest in girls when they like football. *Hilary (

Louisa Rix Louisa MacGregor Rix (born 2 February 1955) is a former actress and interior designer. She is the daughter of actors Brian Rix and Elspet Gray. She studied drama at LAMDA and acted for many years on TV and in the theatre. Rix gained early the ...

in series 1; Paddy Navin in series 2 and 3) – Faith's best friend who is unlucky in love. *Richard (

Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. Early life Whitehe ...

) – Bill's boss at the magazine. Richard is married to Marjorie, but has an affair with Liza. *Marjorie (Georgina Melville) *Callum (Ian Henderson) – Bill's cousin. *Defor the Dog (Levi)

Episode guide

Series 1: 1991

Series 2: 1992

Series 3: 1992–1993

Series 4: 1993

Series 5: 1994

Radio series

Second Thoughts original started as a Radio series on BBC radio 4, between 1988 and 1991, before moving onto TV series.

Episode guide

* 1st series: 3 November-22 December 1988 * 2nd Series: 31 October-19 December 1989 * 3rd Series: 9 April-28 May 1991 * 4th Series: 18 June-23 July 1992 Xmas special 25 December 1992 ('The Fight Before Christmas').

DVD releases

All five series of ''Second Thoughts'' have been released on DVD. The first series was released in June 2005, but there was a six-year gap before the second series was released on 11 July 2011. (During the gap, Network DVD was busy sorting out and planning release schedules on other TV shows.) The third series was released just under four months later on 7 November 2011, followed by the fourth series on 16 January 2012, and the fifth and final series on 5 March 2012, with a complete series set consisting of all five series together that followed.

References

External links

* . * . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Second Thoughts (Series) 1990s British sitcoms 1991 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows