''Shine on, Harvey Moon'' 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 ...
series made by Witzend Productions and
Central Television for
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 ...
from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by
Meridian Broadcasting
ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...
.
This generally light-hearted series was created by comedy writers
Laurence Marks and
Maurice Gran
Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the British sitcom, sitcoms ''The New Statesman (1987 TV series), The New Statesman'', ''Birds of ...
. The series is set in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
shortly after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. On being
demobbed
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
serviceman Harvey Moon, played by
Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor.
Early life
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born ...
, returns home and finds his family involved in various troubles. His wife Rita, played by
Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
, is not interested in resuming their relationship and works in a seedy nightclub frequented by American servicemen. He becomes involved with the
Labour Party and campaigns against the local
Hackney branch of the
far right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
Union Movement
The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the Uni ...
, after his mother expresses support for the UM albeit briefly.
The name of the series is a wordplay on the title of the popular 1908 song "
Shine On, Harvest Moon!" The first series was commissioned and recorded by
ATV (the forerunner to Central Television) at their
Elstree studios
Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...
, with the second series recorded in the same studios under the ownership of Central Television and with the remaining series filmed at Central's new facilities in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
.
Regular cast
* Frieda Gottlieb –
Suzanne Bertish
Suzanne Bertish (born 7 August 1951, Hammersmith, London) is an English actress.
Educated at Woldingham School, Bertish joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in many of its productions, including its marathon eight-and-a-half-ho ...
* Harvey Moon –
Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor.
Early life
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born ...
and
Nicky Henson
* Erich Gottlieb –
Leonard Fenton
Leonard Fenton (''né'' Finestein; 29 April 1926 – 29 January 2022) was a British actor, director and painter, best known for his role as Dr. Harold Legg in ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Fenton was born Leonard Finestein[Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, novelist and playwright. He played Neil in the BBC comedy '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in ''Filthy Rich & Catflap''. He has appeared in many West End mu ...]
* Veronica –
Pauline Quirke
Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...
* Maggie Moon –
Linda Robson
Linda Patricia Mary Dunford ( Robson; born 13 March 1958) is an English actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in the sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' (1989–1998, 2014–2020) and her appearances as a weekl ...
* Violet "Nan" Moon –
Elizabeth Spriggs
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
* Rita Moon –
Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
* Harriet Wright –
Fiona Victory
Fiona Victory (born 1952) is an Irish actress.
Her television roles include: Louise Daly in ''Bracken'' (1980), Harriet Wright in ''Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1982), Maeve Phelan in ''The Hanging Gale'' (1995) and Dr Annie Robbins in '' Dangerfield ...
* Stanley Moon –
Lee Whitlock
Lee Whitlock (17 April 1968 – 17 February 2023) was a British television and film actor. Of the many roles in film and TV, they included ''Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1982), '' Two of Us'' (1987), '' Casualty'' (1991), ''Grange Hill'' (1993), '' S ...
The series was revived by
Meridian Television
ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...
in 1995, this time set during the 1950s, with
Nicky Henson taking over the role of Harvey. It also brought in a new regular character, Noah Hawksley, played by
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon (born ) is a British actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the ''Resident Evil'' film series. He has had roles on many television series such as ''Doctor Who'', ''Merli ...
, an old friend of Harvey's who was facing racial prejudice.
DVD releases
Three 3-disc DVD box sets have been released by
Acorn Media UK. The first comprises all episodes from series 2 and selected episodes from series 1 and the other, released in 2007, contains all episodes of series 3.
In 2012 a three disc set was released containing all episodes of series 4.
[
]
References
External links
* .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shine On Harvey Moon
ITV comedy-dramas
ITV television dramas
1982 British television series debuts
1995 British television series endings
1980s British drama television series
1990s British drama television series
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television series by ITV Studios
Television series set in the 1940s
Television series set in the 1950s
English-language television shows
Television shows produced by Central Independent Television
Television shows produced by Meridian Broadcasting
Television shows set in London
Union Movement
Television shows shot at ATV Elstree Studios