Agony (TV series)

Last updated

Agony
Agony title screen.jpg
Agony main title screen featuring Maureen Lipman as Jane Lucas
Genre Sitcom
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes20
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production company London Weekend Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release11 March 1979 (1979-03-11) 
1 March 1981 (1981-03-01)

Agony is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1979 to 1981. Made by London Weekend Television, it stars Maureen Lipman as Jane Lucas who has a successful career as an agony aunt but whose own personal life is a shambles. It was created by Len Richmond and real-life agony aunt Anna Raeburn, both of whom wrote all of the first series. The second and third series were written by Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds.

Contents

Agony was the first British sitcom to portray a gay couple as non-camp, witty, intelligent and happy people. [1]

Cast

Premise

Jane Lucas is an agony aunt, who is highly successful in her career working at radio call-in show (for Happening Radio 242) in London and writing the "Dear Jane" advice column for Person magazine, but whose own marriage and personal life is a complete disaster. Her Jewish mother, Bea, interferes in all aspects of her life, and her gentile psychiatrist husband Laurence is unreliable and emotionally inept during the course of their on/off relationship. Jane's friends and colleagues include her assistant Val, her boss Diana, and her gay neighbours Rob and Michael, all of whom come to her with problems of their own. Meanwhile, Jane has to contend with the constant advances of oversexed, smarmy radio disc jockey Andy Evol and the equally libidinous Vincent Fish.

Although a sitcom, Agony often included subjects in its storylines that were considered taboo at the time such as drug use, racism, and homosexuality, and often included darker, more dramatic storylines such as Jane being held hostage by a crazed maniac, the suicide of one of her friends, and the abduction of her newborn baby.

Reception

Writing in The Guardian , television critic Nancy Banks-Smith praised the series, describing it as "a wide-awake, wise-cracking comedy with a cracking good comedienne in Maureen Lipman" and that "the one-liners are one a second, fast and fresh and funny." [2]

Episodes

Series One (1979)

  1. "Help" (11 March 1979)
  2. "An Unmarried Couple" (18 March 1979)
  3. "Conjugal Wrongs" (25 March 1979)
  4. "Wedlock, Deadlock" (8 April 1979)
  5. "Forever and Never" (15 April 1979)
  6. "Too Much Agony, Too Little Ecstasy" (29 April 1979)

Series Two (1980)

  1. "Back to Reality" (13 April 1980)
  2. "Working Girls" (20 April 1980)
  3. "Coming Out... and Going In Again?" (27 April 1980)
  4. "Television Can Damage Your Health" (4 May 1980)
  5. "Problem Parents" (11 May 1980)
  6. "Second Time Around" (18 May 1980)
  7. "A Woman Alone" (25 May 1980)

Series Three (1981)

  1. "From Here to Maternity" (18 January 1981)
  2. "Arrivals and Departures" (25 January 1981)
  3. "Hospital Romances" (1 February 1981)
  4. "Communications Breakdown" (8 February 1981)
  5. "Holy Wars" (15 February 1981)
  6. "Lucas v Lucas" (22 February 1981)
  7. "Rings Off Their Fingers" (1 March 1981)

Agony Again

Agony was revived in 1995, this time on the BBC as Agony Again; produced by the BBC after ITV turned it down; the revived version had originally been pitched to Radio 4, but was felt to have enough potential to again be a television production. In addition, Agony was remade for American television under the name The Lucie Arnaz Show , with Len Richmond as the writer. This ran for six episodes on CBS in 1985 and starred Lucie Arnaz.

DVD releases

All three series of Agony, including a 3-disc set of the complete series, have been released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) by Network DVD.

DVDRelease date
The Complete Series 15 November 2007
The Complete Series 225 April 2008
The Complete Series 317 August 2009
The Complete Series 1 to 3 Box set5 October 2009

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Lipman</span> British actress, writer and comedian

Dame Maureen Diane Lipman is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.

Peter Blake was a Scottish actor. Probably best known as the character Kirk St Moritz in the BBC sitcom Dear John, by John Sullivan, his other high-profile moments came through his playing of a 'Fonz'-type character in Pepsi-Cola commercials which led to a hit record in 1977 "Lipsmackin' Rock 'n' Rollin", Andy Evol the disc-jockey in Agony with Maureen Lipman for LWT and in an episode of Taggart as Sgt. Bill Kent. He also had a long association with The Rocky Horror Show playing Frank-N-Furter over a thousand times between 1975 and 1994.

Rebecca Louise Front is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for The Thick of It (2009–2012). She is also known for her work in numerous other British comedies, including the radio show On The Hour (1992), The Day Today (1994), Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge (1994), Time Gentlemen Please (2000–2002), sketch show Big Train (2002), and Nighty Night (2004–2005).

<i>Heres Lucy</i> Television series (1968-1974)

Here's Lucy is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third network sitcom, following I Love Lucy (1951–57) and The Lucy Show (1962–68).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucie Arnaz</span> American actress (born 1951)

Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry H. Corbett</span> English actor (1925–1982)

Harry H. Corbett was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son. His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advice column</span> Journalism genre

An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response.

<i>Terry and June</i> British TV sitcom (1979–1987)

Terry and June is a BBC television sitcom, broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of Happy Ever After, and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, Terry and June Medford, who lived in Purley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynda Baron</span> English actress and singer (1939–2022)

Lilian Ridgway, known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom Open All Hours (1976–1985) and its sequel, Still Open All Hours (2013–2016), Auntie Mabel in the award-winning children's series Come Outside (1993–1997), and the part of Linda Clarke in EastEnders in 2006 and from 2008 to 2009, with a brief return in 2016.

Anne Reid is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom dinnerladies (1998–2000); and her role as Celia Dawson in Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020) for which she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. She won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year and received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the film The Mother (2003).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Raeburn</span> British journalist

Anna Raeburn is a British broadcaster, author and journalist who is best known for her role as an "agony aunt", giving advice on relationships and more general life problems. As a broadcaster, she has worked for Capital Radio, LBC and the original Talk Radio. She has authored two books and currently writes her own weekly blog called, 'Annalog'.

Maria Zena Schneider, known professionally as Maria Charles, was an English film, television and stage actress, director and comedienne. She was probably best known for her performance as the overbearing mother Bea Fisher in the ITV sitcom Agony. Charles also appeared on the stage in original West End productions including musicals by Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse and Sandy Wilson.

About Face is a British sitcom consisting of twelve unconnected half-hour episodes starring Maureen Lipman. Each episode featured a guest cast of familiar personalities. The first set of six installments was broadcast in November–December 1989 and the second set in January–February 1991.

Agony Again is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 in 1995. Starring Maureen Lipman, it is the sequel to Agony, an ITV sitcom that aired from 1979 to 1981, produced by the BBC after ITV turned it down; It had originally been pitched as a radio version for Radio 4. Agony Again was written by Carl Gorham, Michael Hatt, and Amanda Swift.

<i>All at No 20</i> British TV series or programme

All at No 20 is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 10 February 1986 to 1 December 1987. Starring Maureen Lipman, it was written by Richard Ommanney, Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent and Alex Shearer. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television and ran for two series.

<i>This Is Your Life</i> (British TV series) British television series

This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American series. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987. Michael Aspel then took up the role of host until the show ended in 2003. It briefly returned in 2007 as a one-off special presented by Trevor McDonald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Ball</span> American actress (1911–1989)

Lucille Désirée Ball was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by Time in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for her work in all four of these areas. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aisling Bea</span> Irish comedian, actress, and screenwriter

Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan, known professionally as Aisling Bea, is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series This Way Up on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she won the So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, being only the second woman to win the award in its then-25-year history. She also appears regularly on light entertainment comedy panel shows such as QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats.

The Lucie Arnaz Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from April 2 until June 11, 1985. It was based on the British sitcom Agony.

<i>Bull</i> (2015 TV series) British TV series or programme

Bull is a British television sitcom created and written by Gareth Gwynn and John-Luke Roberts, who adapted it for television from their radio pilot, Antiquity.

References

  1. "Agony, LWT". Summary of the Series featuring the Episode. British Classic Comedy. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  2. Nancy Banks-Smith (12 March 1979). "Television: Agony". The Guardian.