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''United!'' 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 which was produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
between 1965 and 1967, and was broadcast twice-weekly on
BBC1
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, ...
.
The series followed the fortunes of a fictional second division
football team, Brentwich United. The football scenes were filmed on the grounds of
Stoke City with
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...
acting as a technical advisor, and the efforts to achieve authenticity saw the show being criticised by the then management of
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, who complained that the series was based on their team.
''United!'' was not a success, and was cancelled after two series. The programme was generally considered to be too soft to appeal to male viewers, and too male-oriented for the female
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
audience. As was common television practice of the time, the series' videotapes were
wiped
Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect.
Common reasons for loss
A significant prop ...
for reuse. As a result, none of its 147 episodes are believed to have survived.
[
Martin Kelner]
Spot the intellectual – he's the one wearijng the glasses
13 January 2003. The Guardian.
Created by Anthony Cornish, other writers on the programme included
Gerry Davis,
Brian Hayles
Brian Leonard Hayles (7 March 1931 – 30 October 1978) was an English television and film writer, most notably for the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''.
Doctor Who
Hayles wrote six stories for ''Doctor Who'' and is best known for his ...
,
Malcolm Hulke
Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...
and
John Lucarotti
John Vincent Lucarotti (20 May 1926 – 20 November 1994) was a British-Canadian screenwriter and author who worked on '' The Avengers'', ''The Troubleshooters'' and '' Doctor Who'' in the 1960s.
Early life
Born into an Army family in Ald ...
. The
directors
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
included
Innes Lloyd
George Innes Llewelyn Lloyd (24 December 1925 – 23 August 1991) was a Welsh television producer. He had a long career in BBC drama, which included producing series such as ''Doctor Who'' and ''Talking Heads''.
Early life and career
Fo ...
and
Derek Martinus
Derek Martinus (born Derek Buitenhuis; 4 April 1931 – 27 March 2014)Michael Billington and Toby HadokObituary: Derek Martinus ''The Guardian'', 1 April 2014 was a British television and theatre director. Originally an actor, he directed episode ...
. Aside from Cornish, all of these individuals also worked on ''
Doctor Who'' concurrent with their involvement in ''United!''. Another Doctor Who connection was
Derrick Sherwin
Derrick George Sherwin (16 April 1936 – 17 October 2018) was an English television producer, writer, story editor and actor. After beginning his career in the theatre, Sherwin became an actor in television before moving into writing. He becam ...
, who featured briefly as a fiery Welsh striker and went on to write and produce extensively for the sci-fi series.
Cast
*
David Lodge, as Gerry Barford (manager)
*
Ursula O'Leary
Ursula O'Leary (Birmingham, 10 March 1926 – 17 May 1993) was an English stage, radio and television actressDeaths, The Times, 19 May 1993 She graduated in stage management from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1948 and her stag ...
, as Mary Barford (his wife)
*
Ben Howard
Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...
as Curly Parker (136 episodes, 1965–1967)
*
Mark Kingston
Mark Kingston (18 April 1934 – 9 October 2011) was an English actor who made many television and stage appearances over his 50-year career.
Biography
Kingston's father was a blacksmith and he attended Greenwich Central School and traine ...
as Danny South (133 episodes, 1965–1967)
*
Robin Wentworth as Ted Dawson (116 episodes, 1965–1967)
*
Beverley Jones as Deirdre Gosling (105 episodes, 1965–1967)
*
Graham Weston
Graham and Graeme may refer to:
People
* Graham (given name), an English-language given name
* Graham (surname), an English-language surname
* Graeme (surname), an English-language surname
* Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer
* Clan Gr ...
as Gregg Harris (89 episodes, 1965–1967)
*
John Breslin
John Breslin ( ga, Seán Ó Breisleáin; born 1973 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish engineer and full professor at the University of Galway. He is co-founder of the Irish websites boards.ie and adverts.ie. He co-authored the Irish bestselling b ...
as Bob McIver (88 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
George Layton
George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series '' Doctor in the House'' and its sequels '' Doctor at Large'', '' ...
as Jimmy Stokes (85 episodes, 1965–1966)
*
Marigold Sharman as Fiona Nixon (78 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Jill Meers
Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian.
People with the given name
* Jill Astbury, Australian re ...
as Amanda Holly (74 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Harold Goodwin as Horace Martin (73 episodes, 1965–1966)
*
John Lyons as Alan Murdoch (70 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Warwick Sims as Vic Clay (69 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Michael Redfern
Michael Ian Redfern (30 March 1943 – 29 July 2022) was an English actor, known for his appearances on television and stage.
Early years
Redfern was born on 30 March 1943 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England.
Career
Redfern is perhaps best kno ...
as Chris Wood (59 episodes, 1965–1966)
*
Tony Caunter
Anthony Patrick Caunter (born 22 September 1937) is a Retired British actor best known for his role as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire TV sitcom ''Queenie's Castle'' and also his portrayal of Roy Evans in ''EastEnders'' from 1994 to 2003.
The s ...
as Dick Mitchell (57 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Stephen Yardley as Kenny Craig (55 episodes, 1965–1966)
*
Arthur Pentelow
Arthur William Pentelow (14 February 1924 – 6 August 1991) was an English actor who was best known for playing Henry Wilks in ''Emmerdale Farm'' (later renamed ''Emmerdale''), appearing from the first episode in 1972 until 1991.
Early career ...
as Dan Davis (53 episodes, 1965–1966)
*
Ronald Allen
Ronald John Allen (16 December 1930 – 18 June 1991) was an English actor. He is most well known for playing David Hunter in the long-running ITV soap opera '' Crossroads'', a role he played from 1969 to 1985.
Biography
Allen was born in R ...
as Mark Wilson (53 episodes, 1966–1967)
*
Ballard Berkeley as Dr. Newkes (53 episodes, 1966)
References
External links
*
Action TV''Nostalgia Central'' article
BBC television dramas
Lost BBC episodes
Lost television shows
1960s British television soap operas
1965 British television series debuts
1967 British television series endings
Fictional association football television series
British sports television series
British television soap operas
English-language television shows
Black-and-white British television shows
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