A Fine Romance (1981 TV series)

A Fine Romance is a British situation comedy starring husband-and-wife team Judi Dench and Michael Williams. The series was nominated for ten BAFTA British Academy Television Awards and was a winner of two for Dench's performances in 1982 and 1985.

A Fine Romance
Series titles
Genre
Created byBob Larbey
Starring
Theme music composerJerome Kern and Dorothy Fields
Opening theme"A Fine Romance" performed by Judi Dench
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series4
No. of episodes26
Production
Producers
Running time30 minutes
Production companyLondon Weekend Television
Release
Original networkITV
Original release1 November 1981 (1981-11-01) –
17 February 1984 (1984-02-17)

Cast

Judi Dench starred as the female lead, Laura,[lower-alpha 1] against Michael Williams as the male lead, Mike. Laura's matchmaking sister and brother-in-law were played by Susan Penhaligon and Richard Warwick, respectively.[2]

Creatives, production, and broadcast

A Fine Romance was written by Bob Larbey,[2] and took its name from the Jerome Kern song, "A Fine Romance".[3] Judi Dench recorded the song as the theme music of the production.[4] It was produced for London Weekend Television by James Cellan Jones (series one and two), Don Leaver (series three and four), and Graham Evans (one episode in series four). It was first broadcast on 1 November 1981, and lasted for twenty-six episodes over four series. The final episode was broadcast on 17 February 1984.[1]

Plot

The series follows the unlikely romance between Laura Dalton (Judi Dench), a translator, and Mike Selway (Michael Williams), a landscape gardener.[1][5] Both are approaching middle-age, shy, content with being single, but with their own insecurities and career struggles.[5] Laura's younger sister, Helen (Susan Penhaligon), and her husband Phil (Richard Warwick), are incurable matchmakers,[1] and at one of their parties, they introduce her to Mike.[5] Laura thinks Mike is nervous and boring but they agree to feign interest in one another so they can escape the party.[1] However, as the first series develops, they are drawn to each other and begin a relationship.[1]

The series follows the development of their relationship, although bad luck dogs them, from a dinner in France that does not turn out as expected, to a failed romantic evening watching television.[6] They become estranged at the end of the third series, but find they cannot live without one another, and so get engaged in the last episode of the final series.[2]

Episodes

The following are the titles of each of the episodes in the four series, with the date of original airing given in parentheses.

Series one (1981)[7]
  1. First Meeting (1 November 1981)
  2. Different Answers (8 November 1981)
  3. The Restaurant (15 November 1981)
  4. Unlucky in Love (22 November 1981)
  5. How to Avoid Bankruptcy (29 November 1981)
  6. Keep Them Apart (6 December 1981)
  7. Playing Games (13 December 1981)

Series two (1982)[8]

  1. A Helping Hand (17 January 1982)
  2. A Trip to the Dentist (24 January 1982)
  3. Was That a Proposal? (31 January 1982)
  4. The New Secretary (7 February 1982)
  5. Boulogne (14 February 1982)
  6. Furniture (21 February 1982)


Series three (1983)[9]

  1. Missing (4 November 1983)
  2. The Hotel (11 November 1983)
  3. The Dinner Party (18 November 1983)
  4. Business Problems (25 November 1983)
  5. Parenthood (2 December 1983)
  6. Extreme Measures (9 December 1983)

Series four (1984)[10]

  1. The Telephone Call (6 January 1984)
  2. In Hiding (13 January 1984)
  3. Mike's New Girlfriend (20 January 1984)
  4. A Weekend Away (27 January 1984)
  5. Problems (3 February 1984)
  6. A Romantic Meal (10 February 1984)
  7. Happily Ever After? (17 February 1984)

Home releases

All four series of A Fine Romance have been released on DVD by Network, with release dates as follows.

SeriesRelease dateRef.
One23 January 2006[11]
Two17 April 2006[12]
Three14 August 2006[13]
Four16 October 2006[14]
One to four box set16 October 2006[15]

Awards and recognition

The series was nominated for ten BAFTA British Academy Television Awards,[16] including four nominations for Best Comedy Series. It won twice for performances by Dench, in 1982 and 1985.[17]

Footnotes
  1. This was Dench's first television comedy series.[1]

References
  1. Lewisohn, Mark (1998). "A Fine Romance". Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy. Foreword by Ronnie Barker. London: BBC Worldwide. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-563-36977-6. OCLC 43091221. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  2. Self, David, ed. (1984). "Introduction to the Scripts". Situation Comedy 2. Studio Scripts. London: Hutchinson. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-09-156481-0. OCLC 12502861. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  3. Green, Benny (11 November 1981). Coren, Alan (ed.). "Television. French Leave". Punch. Vol. 281, no. 7357. London: Punch Publications. p. 865. ISSN 0033-4278. OCLC 1714437. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  4. Evans, Jeff (2003) [2001]. "A Fine Romance". The Penguin TV Companion (2nd ed.). London: Penguin. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-14-101221-6. OCLC 936505601. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. "Judi Dench looks back on the awkward magic of a Fine Romance". www.visiontv.ca. Toronto: VisionTV. 22 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. "A Fine Romance". www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk. Hartlepool. 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  7. "A Fine Romance Season 1 Episodes". www.tvguide.com. New York: TV Guide. 1981. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  8. "A Fine Romance Season 2 Episodes". www.tvguide.com. New York: TV Guide. 1982. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. "A Fine Romance Season 3 Episodes". www.tvguide.com. New York: TV Guide. 1983. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  10. "A Fine Romance Season 4 Episodes". www.tvguide.com. New York: TV Guide. 1984. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  11. "A Fine Romance — The Complete First Series". www.comedy.co.uk. Liphook: British Comedy Guide. 23 January 2006. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  12. "A Fine Romance — The Complete Second Series". www.comedy.co.uk. Liphook: British Comedy Guide. 17 April 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  13. "A Fine Romance — The Complete Third Series". www.comedy.co.uk. Liphook: British Comedy Guide. 14 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  14. "A Fine Romance — The Complete Fourth Series". www.comedy.co.uk. Liphook: British Comedy Guide. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  15. "A Fine Romance — The Complete Series". www.comedy.co.uk. Liphook: British Comedy Guide. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  16. "BAFTA Awards Search". awards.bafta.org. London: British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2021. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  17. Dench, Judi (2014). Behind The Scenes. John Miller. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-297-60884-4. OCLC 1083737485. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
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