Shelley (TV series)

Last updated

Shelley
Shelley (TV series).jpg
Created by Peter Tilbury
Directed byAnthony Parker
Starring Hywel Bennett
Warren Clarke
Garfield Morgan
Belinda Sinclair
Josephine Tewson
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series10
No. of episodes71
Production
ProducerAnthony Parker
Running time25 minutes per episode
Production company Thames Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release12 July 1979 (1979-07-12) 
12 January 1984 (1984-01-12)
Release11 October 1988 (1988-10-11) 
1 September 1992 (1992-09-01)

Shelley is a British sitcom made by Thames Television and originally broadcast on ITV from 12 July 1979 to 12 January 1984 and from 11 October 1988 to 1 September 1992. It stars Hywel Bennett as Dr James Shelley, 28 years old at the outset although 35 by the sixth series only four years later, and a sardonic, perpetually unemployed anti-establishment 'freelance layabout' with a doctoral degree. In the original run, Belinda Sinclair played Shelley's girlfriend Fran, and Josephine Tewson appeared regularly as his landlady, Edna Hawkins. The series was created by Peter Tilbury who also wrote the first three series. The scripts for subsequent episodes were by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, Colin Bostock-Smith, David Frith, Bernard McKenna and Barry Pilton. All 71 episodes were produced and directed by Anthony Parker.

Contents

Series seven was titled on screen The Return of Shelley, and was broadcast in 1988. This time around, Shelley is (still) separated from Fran, and lives on his own, doing his best to avoid obtaining gainful employment. The series begins with Shelley returning to the UK from Kuwait after teaching English for several years, only to find that his calls to his old friends are now screened by answering machines and that yuppieness has taken root in his old neighbourhood. The final three series returned to the on-screen title of Shelley.

In the final series, Shelley is a lodger with Ted Bishop (David Ryall). Ted's house is the only one left in his street, the other residences having been demolished to make way for a leisure centre. Shelley moves in as lodger to help Ted with his fight against the developers who want to demolish the house Ted has lived in his whole life.

Characters

Minor characters

List of episodes

Series 1 (1979-80)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
11"Moving In"12 July 1979 (1979-07-12)
22"The Nelson Touch"19 July 1979 (1979-07-19)
33"Gainfully Employed"26 July 1979 (1979-07-26)
44"The Distaff Side"2 August 1979 (1979-08-02)
55"Elders and Betters"17 April 1980 (1980-04-17) [1]
66"May the Best Man Win"24 April 1980 (1980-04-24) [2]
77"Nowt So Queer"1 May 1980 (1980-05-01) [3]

Series 2 (1980)

Preceded by three episodes delayed from Series 1.

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
81"Owner Occupiers"8 May 1980 (1980-05-08)
92"Expletive Deleted"15 May 1980 (1980-05-15)
103"Tea and Sympathy"22 May 1980 (1980-05-22)
114"Hearth and Home"29 May 1980 (1980-05-29)
125"Fully Furnished"5 June 1980 (1980-06-05)
136"Dearly Beloved"18 June 1980 (1980-06-18)

Christmas Special (1980)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
141"Christmas With Shelley"22 December 1980 (1980-12-22)

Series 3 (1980-81)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
151"Of Mice and Men"29 December 1980 (1980-12-29)
162"Signing On"5 January 1981 (1981-01-05)
173"Nor Iron Bars a Cage"12 January 1981 (1981-01-12)
184"Foreign Affairs"19 January 1981 (1981-01-19)
195"Universal Trust"26 January 1981 (1981-01-26)
206"Dry Rot"2 February 1981 (1981-02-02)
216"You Have to Laugh"9 February 1981 (1981-02-09)

Series 4 (1982)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
221"Unkindest Cuts"18 February 1982 (1982-02-18)
232"A Drop of the Pink Stuff"25 February 1982 (1982-02-25)
243"No News is Good"4 March 1982 (1982-03-04)
254"Credit Where Credit’s Due"11 March 1982 (1982-03-11)
265"Mortal Coils"18 March 1982 (1982-03-18)
276"Slaughterhouse Sling"25 March 1982 (1982-03-25)

Series 5 (1982)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
281"On the Road to Damascus"4 November 1982 (1982-11-04)
292"Brave New World"11 November 1982 (1982-11-11)
303"Shelley Versus Shelley"18 November 1982 (1982-11-18)
314"Noises Off"25 November 1982 (1982-11-25)
325"Tubes Help You Breed Less Easily"2 December 1982 (1982-12-02)
336"When the Chip Hits the Fan"9 December 1982 (1982-12-09)

Series 6 (1983-84)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
341"Dry Dreams"1 December 1983 (1983-12-01)
352"It Nearly Happens to Somebody Else"8 December 1983 (1983-12-08)
363"Of Cabbages and Kings"15 December 1983 (1983-12-15)
374"The Party"22 December 1983 (1983-12-22)
385"Owed to the Electrician"5 January 1984 (1984-01-05)
396"Brief Encounter"12 January 1984 (1984-01-12)

Series 7 (1988)

For this series only, it was retitled as ‘The Return of Shelley’.

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
401"The Return of Shelley"11 October 1988 (1988-10-11)
412"In God We Trust"18 October 1988 (1988-10-18)
423"Emergency Ward"25 October 1988 (1988-10-25)
434"One of Those Nights"1 November 1988 (1988-11-01)
445"Why Me?"8 November 1988 (1988-11-08)
456"The Big S"15 November 1988 (1988-11-15)

Series 8 (1989-90)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
461"The Artful Lodger"17 October 1989 (1989-10-17)
472"Shelley Washes Whiter"24 October 1989 (1989-10-24)
483"A Happy Event"31 October 1989 (1989-10-31)
494"Born Freeish"7 November 1989 (1989-11-07)
505"Day of the Reptile"14 November 1989 (1989-11-14)
516"For Whom the Bell Tolls"21 November 1989 (1989-11-21)
527"The Gospel According to Shelley"28 November 1989 (1989-11-28)
538"Wages of Virtue"5 December 1989 (1989-12-05)
549"It’s Only a Game"12 December 1989 (1989-12-12)
5510"Killer Driller"19 December 1989 (1989-12-19)
5611"Cold Turkey"26 December 1989 (1989-12-26)
5712"A Problem Aired"2 January 1990 (1990-01-02)
5813"Help!"9 January 1990 (1990-01-09)

Series 9 (1990)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
591"A Trial Period"24 September 1990 (1990-09-24)
602"A Question of Attitude"1 October 1990 (1990-10-01)
613"Golden Oldies"8 October 1990 (1990-10-08)
624"The Bug"15 October 1990 (1990-10-15)
635"Second Best Man"22 October 1990 (1990-10-22)
646"Brain Storm"29 October 1990 (1990-10-29)

New Year Special (1991)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
651"Forward to the Past"1 January 1991 (1991-01-01)

Series 10 (1992)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleOriginal air date
661"The Deep End"28 July 1992 (1992-07-28)
672"Come Fly With Me"4 August 1992 (1992-08-04)
683"Love Is…"11 August 1992 (1992-08-11)
694"A Little Learning"18 August 1992 (1992-08-18)
705"Happy Birthday - R.I.P."25 August 1992 (1992-08-25)
716"Accountants & Zulus"1 September 1992 (1992-09-01)

Book

The first series was rewritten as a novel, Shelley, by Colin Bostock-Smith and Peter Tilbury. New English Library, paperback, 1 April 1980. ISBN   0-450-04931-0. [4] [5]

DVD releases

The first six series were previously released through Network on Region 2 DVD-Video between 2007 and 2012. The series 2 DVD only contains six episodes from the second series as broadcast: three episodes held over from series one (due to transmission of that series being postponed by the ITV technicians' strike of 1979) appear on the DVD release of that series.

A six-disc set consisting the first six series, along with another set featuring series 7-10 were finally released on 20 November 2017.

DVD box setRelease date
The Complete Series 119 March 2007
The Complete Series 216 July 2007
The Complete Series 35 November 2007
The Complete Series 422 June 2009
The Complete Series 513 June 2011
The Complete Series 630 April 2012
The Complete Series 1 to 6
The Complete Series 7 to 10
20 November 2017

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References

  1. Originally scheduled for 16 August 1979 but delayed by strike action.
  2. Originally scheduled for 23 August 1979.
  3. Originally scheduled for 30 August 1979.
  4. "{title}". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  5. {title}. ASIN   0450049310.