Executive Stress | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | George Layton |
Directed by | David Askey (series 3) John Howard Davies (series 1–2) |
Starring | Penelope Keith Geoffrey Palmer Peter Bowles Harry Ditson Elizabeth Counsell Mark Caven |
Theme music composer | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Opening theme | "Why We Fell in Love" |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 19 |
Production | |
Producers | James Gilbert John Howard Davies |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Thames Television |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 20 October 1986 – 27 December 1988 |
Executive Stress is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1986 to 1988. Produced by Thames Television, it first aired on 20 October 1986. [1] After three series, the last episode aired on 27 December 1988.
Written by George Layton, Executive Stress stars Penelope Keith as Caroline Fairchild, a middle-aged woman who decides to go back to work. Her husband, Donald, is played by Geoffrey Palmer in the first series. Palmer was unable to return for the second series, so Peter Bowles played Donald in the remaining two series. [1] Keith and Bowles had previously appeared together in the BBC comedy series To the Manor Born . [2]
The programme was set in the world of publishing as it was one of the few industries of the era dominated by women, meaning Donald and Caroline could realistically be on an equal footing at work. Producer John Howard Davies commissioned a second series before the first series had even aired.[ citation needed ]
The opening theme, "Why We Fell in Love", was performed by Julie Covington. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice with the instrumentals composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. [3]
After 25 years of marriage, mother-of-five Caroline Fairchild decides to go back to work. [2] Her husband Donald would like her to work part-time in their home town of Amersham in Buckinghamshire. [2] Instead she gets a job in London as an Editorial Director for a company called Oasis Publishing. [1] [2] At the company she is reunited with her former secretary, Anthea Duxbury, who is a sales export director. [2]
Oasis Publishing is owned by the American Frankland Corporation, which is run by Edgar Frankland, Jr., the son of the corporation's boss. [2] On Caroline's first day at work, The Frankland Corporation takes over Ginsberg Publishing, the company that Donald works for. Donald is moved to Oasis, and Caroline and he find themselves working together. [2] However, an unwritten rule at Frankland states that married couples cannot work together, so they have to pretend not to know each other, so Caroline uses her maiden name of Fielding. [1] [2] In Series Two, Edgar finds out they are married, but does not sack them and makes them joint managing directors of Oasis. [1] [2]
Three series of Executive Stress were broadcast from 1986 to 1988. The first series, made of seven episodes, aired on Mondays at 20:00 following Coronation Street , as did the six-episode second series. [2] The third series, also of six episodes, aired on Tuesdays at 20.30 following The Bill . [2]
Series | Episodes | Year | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | 1986 | |
2 | 6 | 1987 | |
3 | 6 | 1988 | |
# | Title | Original Airdate [4] |
---|---|---|
1 | "Episode One" | 20 October 1986 |
2 | "Episode Two" | 27 October 1986 |
3 | "Episode Three" | 3 November 1986 |
4 | "Episode Four" | 10 November 1986 |
5 | "Episode Five" | 17 November 1986 |
6 | "Episode Six" | 24 November 1986 |
7 | "Episode Seven" | 1 December 1986 |
# | Title | Original Airdate [4] |
---|---|---|
1 | "Episode One" | 21 September 1987 |
2 | "Episode Two" | 28 September 1987 |
3 | "Episode Three" | 5 October 1987 |
4 | "Episode Four" | 12 October 1987 |
5 | "Episode Five" | 19 October 1987 |
6 | "Episode Six" | 26 October 1987 |
# | Title | Original Airdate [4] |
---|---|---|
1 | "Episode One" | 22 November 1988 |
2 | "Episode Two" | 29 November 1988 |
3 | "Episode Three" | 6 December 1988 |
4 | "Episode Four" | 13 December 1988 |
5 | "Episode Five" | 20 December 1988 |
6 | "Episode Six" | 27 December 1988 |
In the United States, many PBS member stations aired at least the first series in the 1980s and 1990s.
The series was broadcast in Australia around the time it was made with reruns of the series also airing in 2009 on ABC Television. [5]
The complete first and second series were released on 26 April 2010 and 24 January 2011, by Network, The third (and final) series was finally released on 20 May 2013, followed by a complete series set (consisting all three series) on 13 August 2018.
DVD | Release date |
---|---|
The Complete Series 1 | 26 April 2010 |
The Complete Series 2 | 24 January 2011 |
The Complete Series 3 | 20 May 2013 |
The Complete Series 1 to 3 Box Set | 13 August 2018 |
Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity.
Billy Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popular songs.
To the Manor Born is a BBC television sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special one-off episode was produced in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the final episode in 1981 was written by script associate Christopher Bond. The title is a play on the phrase "to the manner born," from Shakespeare's Hamlet
Halifax f.p. is an Australian television crime series produced by Nine Network from 1994 to 2002. The series stars Rebecca Gibney as Doctor Jane Halifax, a forensic psychiatrist (f.p.) investigating cases involving the mental state of suspects or victims. The series is set in Melbourne.
Peter John Bowles was an English screen and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as Callan: A Magnum for Schneider and I, Claudius. He is best remembered for his roles in sitcoms and television comedy dramas, including: Rumpole of the Bailey, Only When I Laugh, To the Manor Born, The Bounder, The Irish R.M., Lytton's Diary, Executive Stress and Perfect Scoundrels.
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was an English actor. His roles in British television sitcoms include Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1992–2005).
Sons and Daughters is an Australian Logie Award-winning soap opera/drama serial, broadcast by the Seven Network between January 1982 and December 1987 and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation. It was created by executive Reg Watson, and is distributed by Fremantle.
George Layton is a British 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, Doctor in Chargeand Doctor at the Top, Bombardier 'Solly' Solomons in the first two series of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and Des the mechanic in early episodes of Minder. He also appeared in two episodes of The Sweeney and played Norman Simmonds in EastEnders as well as a few early appearances as himself on the light entertainment BBC1 consumer show That's Life!.
Timothy Oliver Woodward was an English actor.
The fifth season of the American drama/adventure television series Highlander began airing 23 September 1996 and finished on 19 May 1997. The series continues to follow the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who, just as the Immortals of the movies, can only die if he is beheaded. MacLeod is involved in the Game, an ongoing battle during which all Immortals have to behead each other until only one is left.
The following is the 1957–58 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1957 through March 1958. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1956–57 season.
The Savages is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 2001. Starring Geoffrey Palmer and comedian Marcus Brigstocke, it was written by Simon Nye, the writer of Men Behaving Badly.
Bless Me, Father is a British sitcom starring Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Daye, Patrick McAlinney, David Ryall, and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Duddleswell (Lowe) and his young curate (Abineri) in the fictional parish of St. Jude's in suburban London. Twenty-one episodes, written by Peter De Rosa, were aired. De Rosa wrote the books on which the series was based using the pseudonym of Neil Boyd which was also the name of the young curate character; Boyd also served as the narrator in the series of novels upon which the series was based. It was made for the ITV network by London Weekend Television.
Ghost Squad, known as GS5 for its third series, was a crime drama series that ran between 1961 and 1964, about an elite division of Scotland Yard. In each episode the Ghost Squad would investigate cases that fell outside the scope of normal police work. Despite the show and characters being fictional, an actual division did exist within the Metropolitan Police at the time.
"Dance with Death" is the twelfth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee and guest starring Caroline Blakiston, Angela Douglas and Geoffrey Palmer. It was first broadcast by ABC on 15 April 1961. The episode is considered to be lost. The episode was directed by Don Leaver, designed by James Goddard, and written by Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward.
"Dark Shadows" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series Mad Men and the 61st episode of the series overall. It was written by Erin Levy and directed by Scott Hornbacher and originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on May 13, 2012.
Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's... is a British comedy television show that ran from 26 January 1996 to 21 October 1997. It stars Paul Merton, re-performing a number of classic comedy scripts written by the duo Galton and Simpson, including some originally written for Tony Hancock. The programme was produced by Central Independent Television for ITV, and aired for 15 episodes in two series.
The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim is a British television sitcom which first aired on BBC 2 in 1982. It is inspired by the 1954 novel Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, updated to the Swinging Sixties. It was intended as a sequel to the 1967 series Further Adventures of Lucky Jim also written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, which had starred Keith Barron in the title role.
Eden is an Australian television drama series from Stan. The eight part series was released on 11 June 2021.