''Beryl's Lot'' is a British comedy drama about a woman approaching middle-age and embarking on a programme of personal development. It was written by

Kevin Laffan Kevin Barry Laffan (24 May 1922 – 11 March 2003) was a British playwright, screenwriter, author, actor and stage director. Laffan is best known for creating the 1972 ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale Farm'', titled since 1989 ''Emmerdale''. Raised ...

(who also created ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''), produced by

David Cunliffe David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to ...

and Peter Willes, and directed by Derek Bennett and David Reynolds for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

and broadcast on ITV between 1973 and 1977. ''Beryl's Lot'' ran for 3 series and 52 episodes in total before its cancellation. The first two series each consisted of 13 one-hour-long episodes, the third series of 26 episodes of 30 minutes.

Plot

The series focused on Beryl Humphries, a

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

milkman's wife and mother of three, who decided as her 40th birthday approached that she needed to broaden her horizons, which she accomplished by enrolling on a philosophy course at night school. The series dealt with how Beryl's new ideas, attitudes and outlook affected her family, friends and neighbours. ''Beryl's Lot'' was inspired by the story of Margaret Powell (1907–1984), a former

domestic servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or childcare, care for children and ...

who had undergone a similar journey of self-discovery and had written a series of bestselling books about her life experiences.

Cast

* Carmel McSharry as Beryl Humphries *

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 train ...

as Tom Humphries (series 1–2)
George Selway as Tom Humphries (series 3) * Barbara Mitchell as Vi Tonks *

Tony Caunter Anthony Patrick Caunter (born 22 September 1937) is a retired English actor best known for his roles as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire Television sitcom '' Queenie's Castle'' (1970–72), DCI Jim Logan in the first three seasons of ''Juliet Bra ...

as Trevor Tonks *Annie Leake as Wully Harris * Johnny Shannon as Wacky Waters * Robert Keegan as Horace Harris *

Robin Askwith Robin Mark Askwith (born 12 October 1950) is an English actor and singer who has appeared in a number of film, television and stage productions. Making his film debut as Keating in the film '' if....'' (1968), a role he would reprise in '' Brit ...

as Fred Pickering (series 1–2) * Queenie Watts as Freda Mills (series 1–2) * Brian Capron as Jack Humphries * Anita Carey as Babs Humphries *Verna Harvey as Rosie Humphries *

Norman Mitchell Norman Mitchell Driver (27 August 1918 – 19 March 2001), known professionally as Norman Mitchell, was an English television, stage and film actor. Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, his father was a mining engineer and his mother ...

as Charlie Mills

Episodes

Series 1 (1973–1974)

*Getting Up (1 Nov 73) *Quite a Reception (8 Nov 73) *Box and Cox (15 Nov 73) *Dancing Lessons (22 Nov 73) *Definitely Very Chilly (29 Nov 73) *Diamond Cut Diamond (6 Dec 73) *Entente Cordiale (13 Dec 73) *Sixes and Sevens (20 Dec 73) *It's a Rum World (3 Jan 74) *A Bit of Culture (10 Jan 74) *Backs to the Wall (17 Jan 74) *Naughty Boy, Naughty Girl (24 Jan 74) *Rosie All the Way (31 Jan 74)

Series 2 (1975)

*After the Wedding Was Over (26 Sep 75) *It's a Wise Child (3 Oct 75) *Finders Keepers (10 Oct 75) *Treble Chance (17 Oct 75) *Charlie Is My Darling (24 Oct 75) *Ignorance Is Bliss (31 Oct 75) *The Last Straw (7 Nov 75) *Easy Pickings (14 Nov 75) *Stool Pigeon (21 Nov 75) *Devil to Pay (28 Nov 75) *Safety First (5 Dec 75) *Home Again (12 Dec 75) *A Day at the Races (19 Dec 75)

Series 3 (1976–1977)

*Episode 1 (31 Dec 76) *Episode 2 (7 Jan 77) *Episode 3 (14 Jan 77) *Episode 4 (21 Jan 77) *Episode 5 (28 Jan 77) *Episode 6 (4 Feb 77) *Episode 7 (11 Feb 77) *Episode 8 (18 Feb 77) *Episode 9 (25 Feb 77) *Episode 10 (4 Mar 77) *Episode 11 (11 Mar 77) *Episode 12 (18 Mar 77) *Episode 13 (25 Mar 77) *Episode 14 (1 Apr 77) *Episode 15 (8 Apr 77) *Episode 16 (15 Apr 77) *Episode 17 (22 Apr 77) *Episode 18 (29 Apr 77) *Episode 19 (6 May 77) *Episode 20 (13 May 77) *Episode 21 (20 May 77) *Episode 22 (27 May 77) *Episode 23 (3 Jun 77) *Episode 24 (10 Jun 77) *Episode 25 (17 Jun 77) *Episode 26 (24 Jun 77)

References

External links

* *{{British Comedy Guide, tv, beryls_lot
The Real 1970s as ''Beryl's Lot'' information and pictures
1973 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1970s British comedy television series Television series by Yorkshire Television ITV (TV network) original programming British English-language television shows