| The Green Green Grass | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 DVD cover | |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC |
| Original release | 9 September – 25 December 2005 |
| Series chronology | |
The first series of The Green Green Grass originally aired between 9 September 2005 and 14 October 2005, beginning with the episode "Keep On Running". A Christmas special aired on 25 December 2005.
The series introduced the seven main characters that would appear in further series. These were:
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Challis | Boycie |
| Sue Holderness | Marlene |
| Jack Doolan | Tyler |
| David Ross | Elgin |
| Ivan Kaye | Bryan |
| Peter Heppelthwaite | Jed |
| Ella Kenion | Imelda |
Lisa Diveney's character, Beth, who was Tyler's girlfriend, became a regular from the episode "Pillow Talk".
| No. | Title | Produced by | Directed by | Running time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Keep On Running" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 9 September 2005 | 8.88[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| Boycie receives word from an old friend that the Driscoll brothers have found it was him that got them put in prison. So Boycie sells his business and the house whilst his wife is at a health spa and his son is in France. He then confronts them upon their arrival home by simply stating that they are moving. He initially tries to hide the reason for their sudden departure from Peckham, but Marlene gets it out of him by threatening to strip naked. The family arrive at their new home to find the locals worrying and the history of the farm disturbing. | ||||||||||||
| 2 | "A Rocky Start" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 16 September 2005 | 6.34[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| Boycie decides he needs to show the people of Oakham that he is not just an ordinary farmer, but a Gentleman farmer. To prove his point, he buys a prize-winning bull called Rocky. However, Boycie and his staff later find out that the bull has problems. Boycie discovers that Rocky is a gay bull and he won prizes via artificial insemination, something which the seller failed to mention to Boycie. Meanwhile, Tyler can't seem to find a place to ride his skateboard as there is nothing but grass everywhere; even the hills are covered. | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "The Country Wife" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 23 September 2005 | 5.86[ citation needed ] | ||||||
Marlene tries her hand at country cooking, despite the warnings from her husband and her son. She demands Boycie goes and picks some berries of the many bushes in their fields even though he is reluctant to do so Boycie takes the basket and leaves. Whilst Boycie is picking berries he meets their next door neighbor – the mad Welsh man, Llewellyn who holds a shotgun to his head whilst giving a lecture about Wales. Llewellyn latter holds Rocky for ransom when he wanders onto his land. Boycie then seeks legal advice and is told that he has to pay the mad Welsh man. | ||||||||||||
| 4 | "Hay Fever" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 30 September 2005 | 6.33[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| As Boycie and Marlene are only just dealing with the fact they have a gay bull and a miserable next door neighbour, they can't be doing with Tyler around the house all day and all night either, so they think it's time he started at his new school to Tyler's dismay. Meanwhile, Elgin orders a herd of cows as Farmer Boyce instructed, but Marlene insists they buy only six cows and she is extremely annoyed when she arrives home to find a herd of three hundred cows on the farm. Either Boycie's gone behind her back or he can't count. | ||||||||||||
| 5 | "Pillow Talk" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 7 October 2005 | 6.63[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| Marlene is having sleeping problems due to the unbearable quiet that comes with farm life. Not even the bloody Owl outside is helping her sleeping pattern, but one thing might – and only Boycie can provide that. That is until Boycie decides that Jed could do something different to help her but will she appreciate it? Meanwhile, Jed looks forward to his trip to London to attend the farmers' convention with his free ticket and Tyler attends his first day at his new school, however he takes more interest in his teacher than perhaps he should. | ||||||||||||
| 6 | "Sex and the Country" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 30 minutes | 14 October 2005 | 6.40[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| Tyler approaches his English teacher and asks for a date but she declines, however this doesn't stop Tyler buying her a box of make up. In the end, Tyler gives in to Marlene's nagging and reveals that he has feelings for his teacher. So Boycie goes to see her and she makes it clear that she is not interested in Tyler, she only likes older men – but as things start to heat up, Llewellyn stumbles in. Meanwhile, Elgin, Bryan, Jed and Mrs Cakeworthy concoct a potion for the bull, to make him attracted to the cows however Boycie drinks it. | ||||||||||||
| Special | ||||||||||||
| 7 | "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" | Tony Dow | John Sullivan | 50 minutes | 25 December 2005 | 4.59[ citation needed ] | ||||||
| Boycie is invited to a country club ball for Christmas, along with royalty and other high up persons. Boycie meets two men who run a polo club, and tell Boycie that for a few million he could be a joint partner and within a year he would become a[ citation needed ]aire and be knighted as 'Sir Aubrey'. So they agree to spend Christmas together in Switzerland, but on Christmas Eve Boycie and Marlene can't make it to the airport as they are snowed in. So, they are forced to spend Christmas with Mrs Cakeworthy, Bryan, Jed and Llewellyn – as he is filling in for Elgin as farm manager because Elgin has gone into hospital. The TV shows a crime show revealing that the two men that were inviting Boycie to join their polo club were con men and the Driscoll brothers had followed them to Switzerland looking for Boycie because they saw his picture in a country magazine which mentioned where they would be that Christmas. So, Boycie insists that God looked after him and made it snow on purpose. So the Boyces are safe and sound, for now, and continue to celebrate Christmas Driscoll-brothers free... | ||||||||||||
The series was produced by Shazam Production, [1] a company that produces comedies by John Sullivan. [2] The series was filmed at Teddington Studios, with a live audience. All episodes in the first series were directed by Tony Dow, director of Only Fools and Horses .
The series began airing on Friday evenings, at 8:30pm. The series was an immediate hit with viewers, with the first episode, "Keep On Running" gaining 9.13 million viewers, which was in the top five of the highest rating for the week ending 11 September 2005. [3] Ratings then fell for the next two episodes before steadily rising again. The second half of the series performed much better than most other sitcoms, with episode four going back up above 6 million viewers. The following two episodes remained at the six million mark. The ratings were high enough for a new series, of seven episodes, to be commissioned. A 2005 Christmas special was also commissioned.
| Rank | Episode | Viewership | Audience Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Keep On Running" | 9.13 million | 41.7% |
| 2 | "Pillow Talk" | 6.63 million | |
| 3 | "Sex and the Country" | 6.40 million | |
| 4 | "A Rocky Start" | 6.34 million | 28.0% |
| 5 | "Hay Fever" | 6.33 million | 30.1% |
| 6 | "The Country Wife" | 5.86 million | 24.5% |
| 7 | "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" | 4.59 million | 19.7% |
Note: Viewership value taken from Barb.
Note: Audience Percentage value taken from Digital Spy.
The comedy has been criticised due to its spin-off roots. As a spin-off of the nation's favourite sitcom, The Green Green Grass was always going to have a difficult start. [4] The series received has always received negative reviews from critics and some fans of Only Fools and Horses alike. [5] The series has continued to run due to the bigger than usual audiences it attracts and the general thoughts towards it. Many have said that The Green Green Grass without Only Fools and Horses behind it is fantastic but the minute you put Only Fools and Horses back in the picture, The Green Green Grass loses its good points.
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Only Fools and Horses.... is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger half-brother Rodney Trotter, alongside a supporting cast. The series follows the Trotters' highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards, and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll.
John Richard Thomas Sullivan OBE was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.
The Green Green Grass is a BBC television sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, and produced by BBC Studios Comedy Productions and Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a sequel/spin-off of the long-running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness, and Jack Doolan. Four series and three Christmas specials were originally broadcast on BBC One between 2005 and 2009.
John Spurley Challis was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Herman Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) and its sequel/spin-off The Green Green Grass (2005–2009), as well as Monty Staines from the seventh series onwards in the ITV sitcom Benidorm (2015–2018). Challis was an established stage actor, making appearances for companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.
Susan Joan Holderness is an English actress on both stage and screen having had appearances in Bless This House (1974), The New Avengers (1977), Canned Laughter (1979), The Sandbaggers (1980), The Cleopatras and It Takes a Worried Man (1983), The Brief and Minder (1984), Doctors (2004-2014), Still Open All Hours (2018–2019) EastEnders and The Madame Blanc Mysteries (2021). However, she is best known for her role as Marlene Boyce in Only Fools and Horses from 1985 to 2003, and its spin-off The Green Green Grass from 2005 to 2009.
Derren Ronald Litten is an English comedy writer and actor, best known as the creator and writer of the sitcom Benidorm. Litten also co-wrote The Catherine Tate Show, for which he both wrote and appeared as several different characters in the first two series and the 2005 Christmas Special. He has also acted in many comedy and drama series including Perfect World, French and Saunders, Spaced, EastEnders, Coronation Street, and Pie in the Sky with Richard Griffiths. Litten's first sitcom was Benidorm, which began airing on ITV in 2007. The series follows various groups of holiday makers and staff in the all-inclusive Solana resort located in Benidorm. The series received strong ratings and later extended its runtime, running for 10 series ending in 2018.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 25 December 2005, as the 2005 Christmas Special.
"A Rocky Start" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 16 September 2005, as the second episode of series one.
"The Country Wife" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 23 September 2005, as the third episode of series one.
"Hay Fever" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 30 September 2005, as the fourth episode of series one.
"Pillow Talk" is an episode of the BBC sitcom The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 7 October 2005, as the fifth episode of the first season of the series.
"Sex and the Country" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 14 October 2005, as the sixth episode of series one.
"The Path of True Love" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was screened on 8 January 2009, as the first episode of the fourth series.
The second series of The Green Green Grass originally aired between 15 September 2006 and 27 October 2006, beginning with the episode "Testing Times". A Christmas special aired on 25 December 2006.
The third series of The Green Green Grass originally aired between 2 November 2007 and 21 December 2007, beginning with the episode "But is it Art?". A Christmas special aired on 30 December 2007.
The fourth and final series of The Green Green Grass originally aired between 8 January 2009 and 5 March 2009, beginning with the episode "The Path of True Love".
Rock & Chips is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddie Robdal and Joan and Reg Trotter. Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played Rodney in Only Fools and Horses, plays Robdal alongside James Buckley, Kellie Bright (Joan), Shaun Dingwall (Reg) and Phil Daniels (Grandad). The Shazam and BBC Studios Comedy Drama co-production was written by Only Fools and Horses creator John Sullivan, directed by Dewi Humphreys and produced by Gareth Gwenlan.
"Keep On Running" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 9 September 2005.
