''The Mistress'' 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 ...

that first aired on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

from 1985 to 1987. Starring

Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her ...

and

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)The International Who's Who of Women, 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and has worked extensively in f ...

, it was written by

Carla Lane Romana Barrack (5 August 1928 – 31 May 2016), known professionally as Carla Lane, was an English television writer responsible for several successful British sitcoms, including '' The Liver Birds'' (co-creator, 1969–1979), ''Butterflies'' (1 ...

. ''The Mistress'' features Kendal playing Maxine, a young florist, who is having an

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

with a married man. It was disliked by some viewers, who were unhappy at seeing Felicity Kendal (best known as Barbara Good in '' The Good Life'') playing a woman having an affair with someone else's husband.

Plot

Maxine is the owner of a florist shop and is having an affair with married man Luke. His wife Helen is unaware of the affair. While Maxine occasionally feels guilty and insecure about the affair, she is a generally optimistic and happy person.

Cast

– Maxine Mansel (Maxine – series 2) *Jack Galloway – Luke Carpenter ''(series 1)'' (called Luke Mansel in Series 2) *

Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. Hi ...

– Luke ''(series 2)'' (Luke Mansel in Series 2) *

– Helen Carpenter (called Helen Mansel in Series 2) *

Tony Aitken Tony Aitken (born 20 June 1946) is an English actor, known for playing a variety of parts in popular television programmes. He attended Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire, Belmont Abbey School, Hereford, 1959–64. He was active in the amateur dramati ...

– Simon *Jenny McCracken – Jenny ''(series 1)'' *

Paul Copley Paul Mackriell Copley (born 25 November 1944) is an English actor and voiceover artist. From 2011 to 2015 he appeared as Mr. Mason, father of William Mason, in 16 episodes of ''Downton Abbey'', and from 2020 to 2021, he appeared in the ITV so ...

– Jamie ''(series 2)'' *Peggy Sirr – Jo

Production

Similar to Carla Lane's other sitcoms, including ''

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

'' and ''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

'' (which also starred Felicity Kendal), ''The Mistress'' has a serious theme – here, that of an affair. The series was produced and

directed 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 ...

Gareth Gwenlan Gareth Gwenlan (26 April 1937 – 8 May 2016) was a Welsh television producer, director and executive, best known for his work on shows such as ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', ''Butterflies'', ''To the Manor Born'', ''Only Fools and Ho ...

. ''The Mistress'' was filmed in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, the florist shop being in Abbey Green, Bath and Maxine's house location at 26 St Mark's Road, Bath. After the lukewarm response to Series 1 over the subject matter, Series 2 was an attempt, while still retaining the thread of an adulterous affair, to be more of a more general comedy. This attempt proved unsuccessful, however, and the series was axed after Series 2. The sitcom, which had never been reshown previously, was aired on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in January/February 2023.

Episodes

''The Mistress'' aired for two series, each of six 30 minute episodes, from 17 January 1985 to 26 February 1987. The episodes were originally shown at 9.00pm on Thursdays on BBC2.

Series One (1985)

Series Two (1987)

DVD releases

The two series of ''The Mistress'' were released in a boxset in Region 2 (UK) on 10 March 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mistress, The 1985 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows