''The Hello Girls'' 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-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

that originally aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

for two series from 5 September 1996 to 13 August 1998. It was inspired by the novel ''Switchboard Operators'' written by Carol Lake. The series is set in and around the Derby telephone exchange during 1959 and 1961 respectively. ''The Hello Girls'' was launched with much promotion aimed around former ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' actress

Letitia Dean Letitia Jane Dean (born 14 November 1967) is an English actress. She is known for her portrayal of Sharon Watts in the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders''. An original cast member from 1985 to 1995, she reprised the role from 2001 to 2006, and again ...

, who played Chris Cross, one of the 'girls' who worked at the telephone exchange. It performed very well in the ratings for both series. The theme tune ''Busy Line'' is performed by the main cast (known as 'The Teletones' in the programme). Each episode is 30 minutes in duration.

Main cast

– Chris Cross *

Amy Marston Amy Jessica Marston (born 1972) is an English actress on screen and in theatre. She is known for her roles as Sylvia Sands in ''The Hello Girls'', as Deborah in ''Rome'', and as Jenny Rawlinson in ''EastEnders''. film and television career M ...

– Sylvia Sands *Helen Sheals – Ronnie Ferrari * Stephanie Turner – Miss Armitage *Maggie McCarthy – Miss Marriott *

Samantha Seager Samantha Seager (born 13 July 1974) is a British actress born in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, who played the role of Jodie Morton in the soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Since leaving ''Coronation Street'', Seager worked in television ...

- Val Pepper (Latimer in Series 2) *

Kate Lonergan Helen Catherine "Kate" Lonergan (born 4 January 1962 in Barton-upon-Irwell, Lancashire) is an English former actress, best known for playing the role of Maid Marian in the 1989–94 BBC1 children's television series ''Maid Marian and her Mer ...

– Pam Heath *Beverley Klein – Fanny Fanshaw *

Mark Aiken Mark Aiken is a Northern Irish actor. Biography Aiken was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has appeared in numerous UK and US TV drama series including ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigat ...

- Dave Curtis *Martin O'Brien - Johnny *

Colin Wells Colin Wells may refer to: *Colin Wells (actor) (born 1963), English actor in ''Titus'' *Colin Wells (cricketer) (born 1960), English cricketer *Colin Wells (historian) (1933–2010), English classicist *Colin Wells (Spooks), fictional character in ...

- Dick Mandeville

Episode guide

Series One *1. First Day (5 September 1996) *2. Saturday Shift (12 September 1996) *3. The Teletones (19 September 1996) *4. Listening In (26 September 1996) *5. Baslow 212 (3 October 1996) *6. The Occasion Cake (10 October 1996) *7. The Emergency Call (17 October 1996) *8. Miss GPO Personality 1959 (24 October 1996) Series Two *1. Work To Rule (25 June 1998) *2. The Pools (2 July 1998) (5.06m) *3. Down Under (9 July 1998) (6.01m) *4. Secret Admirer (16 July 1998) (5.37m) *5. Fever (23 July 1998) (6.16m) *6. Cupids Arrow (30 July 1998) (6.51m) *7. The Perfect Joy (6 August 1998) (5.90m) *8. Walking Back To Happiness (13 August 1998) (6.75m) The show was directed by both

Dermot Boyd Dermot Boyd is a Northern Irish-born television director. Programmes he has directed include: ''The Return'', ''Four Fathers'', '' Feather Boy'', ''Johnny and the Bomb'', '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', '' Rough Diamond'', '' Whistleblower'', ''Casualty ...

and

Richard Laxton Richard Laxton (born 5 July 1967 in London) is a British film director Career Richard Laxton started his career with the short film '' I Bet It Will Rain'' in 1992. Initially he mainly worked for TV production, and was nominated for British ...

References

External links

Viewing Figures information retrieved 12 August 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hello Girls, The 1990s British comedy-drama television series 1996 British television series debuts 1998 British television series endings BBC Television shows Television series set in the 1950s Television series set in the 1960s English-language television shows Hello Girls