''Three Up, Two Down'' 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 ne ...

starring

Michael Elphick Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series ''Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated for ...

and

Angela Thorne Angela Margaret Leslie Thorne (born 25 January 1939) is an English actress of stage, television and film who is best known for her roles in ''To the Manor Born'', as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton's best friend Marjory Frobisher, and as Margaret Thatch ...

that ran from 1985 to 1989. It was written by Richard Ommanney.

Cast

as Sam Tyler *

as Daphne Trenchard *

Lysette Anthony Lysette Anne Chodzko (born 26 September 1963), known professionally as Lysette Anthony, is an English actress and model. She is known for her roles in the film ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), as Princess Lysssa in the 1983 fantasy epic '' Krull ...

as Angie Tyler (née Trenchard) *

Ray Burdis Ray Burdis (born 23 August 1958 in London) is an English actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. Biography Burdis started acting at eleven years old when he attended drama school and trained at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, Great ...

as Nick Tyler *

John Grillo John Martin Grillo (born 29 November 1942, in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English actor. Biography Grillo was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and while there was actively involved in student theatre. H ...

as Wilf Perkins ''(series 2 onwards)'' *

Neil Stacy Neil Stacy (born 1941) is a British actor particularly known for his role in the 1980s television series ''Duty Free''.Vahimagi p.292 Selected television filmography * ''The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling'' (1964) * '' It's Dark Outside'' (1965 ...

as Major Giles Bradshaw ''(series 2 and 3)'' *Shaun Andrew Birrell as Baby Joe *Alexander Hill as Baby Joe *Kit Jackson as George *Vicki Woolf as Rhonda ''(series 3 and 4)'' *Thomas Bridgland as Baby Joe Tyler *

David Easter David Easter (born 11 November 1959) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Pete Callan in ''Family Affairs'', Gil Keane in ''Emmerdale'', Mac Nightingale in ''Hollyoaks'' and Frank Fisher in ''The Bill''. Early life Easter wa ...

as Rob *Samantha Gnest as Baby Joe *

Tim Bentinck Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck und Waldeck Limpurg, (born 1 June 1953), commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an English actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Archer in the BBC ...

as George *

Dulcie Gray Dulcie Winifred Catherine Savage Denison, (''née'' Bailey; 20 November 1915 – 15 November 2011), known professionally as Dulcie Gray, was a British actress, mystery writer and lepidopterist. While at drama school in the late 1930s she met ...

as Nanny *Jeremy Roberts as Doctor *Bobby Bragg as Commentator *

Shirley Cheriton Shirley Cheriton (born 28 June 1955) is an English actress and performer, best known for her roles as Debbie Wilkins in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and her portrayal of Miss Prescott in the ''Are You Being Served?'' follow up, ''Grace & Fav ...

as Debbie * Mark Gables as News vendor *

Tony O'Callaghan Tony O'Callaghan (born 16 June 1956) is an English television actor. His most notable role is that of Sergeant Matt Boyden on the British television series ''The Bill'' from 1991 to 2003. He had previously appeared as a villain in ''The Bill'' i ...

as Taxi Driver * John Clegg as Max *Simon Talbot as Eddy ''(series 3)'' * John Hoye as Camera Assistant ''(series 4)''

Plot

Nick and Angie have just had a baby, and to help them financially they decide to rent out the basement. Both Nick's father, Sam Tyler, and Angie's mother, Daphne Trenchard, want the

basement apartment A basement apartment is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure—usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business. Cities in North America are beginning to recognize these units as a vital source of ...

and the only solution is to share. Sam is a

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...

, while Daphne is

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

-bred and has not forgiven her daughter for marrying Nick, a 'common' photographer. Both Sam and Daphne are widowed, and stubborn. There is mutual contempt between Nick and Daphne: however, Angie is fond of Sam and is forever trying, against all the odds, to keep the peace between him and Daphne. The situation is exacerbated, from Series Two onwards, by the presence of Sam's gloomy and pessimistic zoo-keeper friend Wilf Perkins, who, after being thrown out by his mother, ends up having to share Sam's room, much to Daphne's icy displeasure. Further complications arise through Daphne's brief and disastrous romance with a neighbour, the suave and crooked Major Giles Bradshaw, who is eventually sent to prison for acts of theft and fraud. The comedy came from the clashes between Sam and Daphne, and the eventual romance that develops between them. The next-door neighbour, Rhonda, was a catalyst for bringing them together.

Episodes

Series One (1985)

#''Your Place Or Mine?'' (15 April 85) #''Widower's Mite'' (22 April 85) #''Ill Wind From Cheltenham'' (29 April 85) #''Epping's Not Far'' (6 May 85) #''Just Desserts'' (13 May 85) #''Two Down, One To Go'' (20 May 85)

Series Two (1986)

#''Major Inconvenience'' (7 April 86) #''Sweet And Sour'' (14 April 86) #''Arrivals And Departures'' (21 April 86) #''It's Only Rock 'n' Roll'' (28 April 86) #''Winner Takes All'' (5 May 86) #''Ill Met By Candlelight'' (12 May 86)

Series Three (1987)

#''Four's A Crowd'' (6 September 87) #''One Flew Over The Perimeter Fence'' (13 September 87) #''Truth And Consequences'' (20 September 87) #''Mirror Mirror On The Wall'' (27 September 87) #''Jailhouse Shock'' (4 October 87) #''Come Sail With Me ''(11 October 87) #''Life And Death'' (18 October 87)

Series Four (1989)

#''Passionfruit'' (14 May 89) #''On The Radio'' (21 May 89) #''Omelettes And Optimism'' (28 May 89) #''Golf'' (4 June 89) #''The Driving Test'' (11 June 89) #''Cheltenham'' (18 June 89)

American adaptation

The pilot for an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

adaptation of ''Three Up, Two Down'', titled ''5 Up, 2 Down'', aired on 5 June 1991 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, but was not picked up as a series. Nick and Angie were played by

Jeffrey D. Sams Jeffrey D. Sams is an actor known primarily for his television work. Sams has been a main cast member of several television series, few of which have made it past their first season. These include ''Medicine Ball'', '' Sleepwalkers'', Rob Thom ...

and Jackie Mari Roberts, and Angie had given birth to triplets. Sam and Daphne were played by

Cleavon Little Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of ''Purlie'', for which he earned both ...

and Emily Yancy.

Home video

VHS and DVD box sets of the first two series were released on Universal Pictures' Playback imprint in the UK on 17 May 2004. As of 2020, Series 3 and 4 still remain unreleased.

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
''Three Up, Two Down''
at British TV Comedy

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Up, Two Down 1980s British sitcoms 1985 British television series debuts 1989 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms Television series about dysfunctional families English-language television shows