''That's Love!'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

sitcom about the domestic problems of a young married couple, lawyer Donald (

Jimmy Mulville James Thomas Mulville (born 5 January 1955) is an English comedian, comedy writer, producer and television presenter. He is best known for co-founding (in 1986) the British independent television production company Hat Trick Productions with De ...

) and designer Patsy (

Diana Hardcastle Diana Hardcastle Wilkinson is an English actress who has appeared largely in television roles. Career Hardcastle has appeared in episodes of ''Midsomer Murders'', '' Inspector Lynley'' and ''Taggart''. She played recurring roles in the series '' ...

). The programme was produced by TVS and 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 1988 and 1992. Four series were made, produced by

Humphrey Barclay Humphrey Barclay BEM (born 24 March 1941, Dorking, Surrey, England) is a British comedy executive and producer. Career Barclay was educated at Harrow School, before reading Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his first foray into sh ...

and directed by

John Stroud John Stroud (born October 29, 1957) is an American former basketball player and coach who played four years at the University of Mississippi, before being drafted by the Houston Rockets in the second round of 1980 NBA Draft The 1980 NBA dra ...

. All 26 episodes were written by

Terence Frisby Terence Peter Michael Frisby (28 November 1932 – 22 April 2020) was a British playwright, actor, director and producer, best known as the author of the play ''There's a Girl in My Soup''. Early life Frisby was born in 1932 in New Cross, s ...

, and it was executive produced by John Kaye Cooper, Sarah Lawson and Gill Stribling-Wright. There has been no domestic commercial release of the series on any format in the UK.

Plot

Series 1 and 2 are fairly straightforward sitcom fare, with very little in the way of story arcs or connecting episodes. Much of the comedic content is concentrated on Donald and Patsy continuing to learn about one another despite several years together. In the first episode, Donald discovers his wife has not told him the whole truth concerning her life before they married - specifically, how many previous sexual partners she has had. The last episode of the second series reveals that, despite appearances from their photograph album, Donald and Patsy are not actually married. The third series focuses on an affair between Donald and his client Laurel (

Liza Goddard Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950) professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.Before 1 ...

), which unfortunately kicks off just after Patsy and Donald finally tie the knot, leading to their visiting a marriage guidance counsellor in the first episode of the fourth and final series. The counsellor, Tristan Beasley (

Tony Slattery Tony Declan James Slattery (born 9 November 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' His ...

) falls in love with Patsy, and they embark on an affair, but Patsy, realising she won't feel the same way about Tristan, ends the relationship. In the final moment of the series, Patsy runs to Donald's arms, apologising to him for what she has done - it is left up to the viewer to decide whether the couple's marriage is doomed or they may be able to rescue their relationship.

Cast

- Donald Redfern *

- Patsy Redfern *

- Laurel Manasotti (series 3) *

- Tristan Beasley (series 4) Recurring cast *

Phyllida Law Phyllida Ann Law (born 8 May 1932) is a British actress, known for her numerous roles in film and television. Early life Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Meg "Mego" and William Law, a journalist. Prior to the Second World War, her fath ...

- Babs *Ralph Nossek - Victor *Lynne Pearson - Amanda Owen *

Rob Spendlove Rob Spendlove (born 1 May 1953 in London) is a British actor best known for his roles on British television. He studied drama at Middlesex Polytechnic, worked as a teacher and toured schools with a fringe theatre company. He has appeared in ma ...

- Gary (series 1) *

Neil Pearson Neil John Pearson (born 27 April 1959) is a British actor, known for his work on television. He was nominated for the 1994 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for '' Between the Lines'' (1992–1994). His other television roles include ''Drop the D ...

- Gary (series 2-4) *Vivienne McKone - Olive (series 1-2) *Robin Meredith - Geoffrey (series 3) *Nicolas Colicos - Hank (series 3-4) *Zoe Hodges - Redfern child *Matt Cole - Redfern child *Matthew Perry - Owen child *Eleanor Puttock - Owen child *Lloyd Meikle - Owen child (series 1) *Romy Chasan - Owen child (series 1-2) *Alice May Wilkinson - Owen child (series 2) *Laura Elliott - Owen child (series 3) *Olivia Silver - Owen child (series 3)

References

*Taylor, Rod (1994) The Guinness book of Sitcoms - Guinness. . *TV times magazine, 1992 (feature on the first episode of the fourth series).

External links

*.
Guardian obituary of John Stroud.
{{Sarah Lawson ITV sitcoms 1988 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms 1990s British sitcoms Television shows produced by Television South (TVS) English-language television shows