23 October 1972 (1972-10-23)– 19 October 1976 (1976-10-19)
Spring & Autumn is a British television sitcom that was first broadcast on ITV from 23 October 1972 to 19 October 1976. It was written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, and starred Jimmy Jewel, Charlie Hawkins, June Barry, Larry Martyn and Jo Warne. The series was one of the last written by Powell and Driver as a writing duo, before Driver's death in 1973.
Tommy Butler, a retired Northerner widower, moves in with his daughter, Vera, and her husband, Brian, into their high-rise apartment down south. Brian is opposed to the idea of Tommy moving in, and the pair soon argue, while Vera attempts to placate the two. Meanwhile, Charlie Hawkins, a twelve-year-old boy new to the area, strikes up a friendship with Tommy. Charlie is unwanted by his family, and Tommy soon finds himself serving as a father figure to the boy as their friendship develops.
The series was originally titled Spring and Autumn onscreen for the pilot episode, but was altered to Spring & Autumn for subsequent episodes.[4] The title refers to the life seasons of the two principal characters, Charlie Hawkins (Spring, relative to childhood) and Tommy Butler (Autumn, relative to adulthood).[5] The pilot episode featured different actors and character names from those that appeared in the series. The character of Charlie Harris was named Colin Harris, and was played by Gary Williams. The character of Brain Reid was named Joe Dickinson, while the character of Betty Harris was named Betty Dickinson, married to Joe instead of being Colin Harris's mother, and was portrayed by Gaye Brown.[2] The first episode of the first series was broadcast ten months after the pilot and was a remake of that episode, with the new cast members and character names being included.[2][6]
The series, alongside Love Thy Neighbour (1972–1976), was the last written together by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, before Driver's death on 25 November 1973.[2][7]Jimmy Jewel had previously appeared in the television sitcom Nearest and Dearest (1968–1973), created by Powell and Driver.[2][6] The writers had enjoyed working with Jewel on that series and had promised to write another sitcom for him.[6] The theme tune, "Autumn Love", was composed by Paul Lewis.[8]
Release
Broadcast
All episodes of the series were broadcast on ITV. The pilot episode was broadcast on Monday, 23 October 1972 at 8:30 pm. The first series aired on Mondays at 8:00 pm, from 16 July to 20 August 1973. A sketch was included in the 1973 edition of All Star Comedy Carnival, which aired on Tuesday, 25 December at 6:30 pm. The second series aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm from 24 July to 28 August 1974, while the third series aired on Thursdays at the same time, from 20 May to 24 June 1976. The fourth and final series aired from 31 August to 19 October 1976, mostly at 8:30 pm.[2]
Home media releases
All four series have been released in Region 2 on DVD by Network Distributing. The first series release included the 1972 pilot episode.[9] The 1973 All Star Comedy Carnival sketch was released by Network on 5 December 2016, in a DVD release containing the 1972 and 1973 editions of All Star Comedy Carnival.[10]
Nancy Banks-Smith, writing for The Guardian, reviewed the series several times throughout its run. In 1973, following the airing of the first episode of the first series, Banks-Smith called the series "a surprisingly good egg", praising the director and the performances of Jimmy Jewel and Charlie Hawkins.[14] However, her review for the second series' premiere episode in 1974 was less positive, stating that, while the series began as a "pleasantly sentimental story" that had a "kind of charm", the new series instead "had a lot of plot".[14] Banks-Smith was further critical of the series in her review for the first episode of the third series in 1976, stating that the series "looks as if it were made without love or money".[14]
Mark Lewisohn, writing in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy (2003), called the series "a pleasingly gentle, if predictable, comedy", that was notable for its writers "deviating from their usual race/religion topics".[2] In Raising Laughter (2021), Robert Sellers described the series as a "pleasingly gentle comedy".[6] Brian Slade, writing for Television Heaven, stated that "there is nothing particularly earth shattering" about the series, but wrote that "it’s hard not to warm to the two lead characters".[5] Although Slade noted that the comedy is "dated" and that the supporting cast is "largely forgettable", noting that Martyn's "constant outrage can be a little grating", he praised the chemistry between Jewel and Hawkins, stating that their onscreen relationship was "hugely believable", and that "the two make the gentle comedy of Spring and Autumn [sic] a likeable treat seemingly long forgotten to the archives".[5] In a 2025 article published on the British Comedy Guide, Graham McCann described the sitcom as a "slow-moving and rather downbeat comedy", praising the chemistry between Jewel and Martyn, noting that "each competed to steal the scene from the other" and commenting that "their dialogue, focussing on familial strife, could just as easily have been played for dramatic instead of comic effect".[15]
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