In Loving Memory (TV series)

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In Loving Memory
Inlovingmemory.jpg
Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny
Created by Dick Sharples
Starring Thora Hird
Christopher Beeny
Colin Farrell
Avis Bunnage
Sherrie Hewson
Rose Power
Joan Sims
Veronica Doran
Paul Luty
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series5
No. of episodes37
Production
ProducerRonnie Baxter
Running time25 minutes
Production companies Thames Television (TV pilot), Yorkshire Television (TV series)
Release
Original network ITV
Original release4 November 1969 (1969-11-04) 
27 March 1986 (1986-03-27)

In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot with Marjorie Rhodes in the Thora Hird role was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television, who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television nearly 10 years later, where it ran for a further five series between 21 May 1979 and 27 March 1986.

Contents

Plot

The year is 1929 and in the opening episode Jeremiah Unsworth (Freddie Jones), the proprietor of the undertakers, dies. This leaves his widow Ivy (Thora Hird) and gormless nephew Billy (Christopher Beeny) to take over the business. As might be expected, the accident-prone Ivy and Billy have numerous mishaps, and hardly a funeral goes by without something untoward occurring. A running subplot is Billy's pursuit of romance, often at the encouragement of Ernie Hadfield; this later ends with Billy's marriage to old schoolfriend Mary Braithwaite - who had originally been set to marry Ernie.

Cast list

ActorCharacterSeries
Thora Hird Ivy Unsworth1 to 5
Christopher Beeny Billy Henshaw1 to 5
Sherrie Hewson Doreen Nesbitt (1979–1980)
Mary Henshaw (née Braithwaite) (1984–1986)
1 to 2
4 to 5
Colin FarrellErnie Hadfield1 to 5
Avis Bunnage Amy Jenkinson1 to 3

Production

The setting for the show is the fictional Yorkshire town of Oldshaw during the 1920s and 1930s. The writer, Dick Sharples, chose this period as this was the time when undertakers were switching from horse-drawn to mechanical hearses. Location shooting took place in both Bramham and Luddenden, West Yorkshire. [1]

The pilot for the show aired on 4 November 1969 as part of a series of six one-off situation-comedies. The producers (Thames Television) elected not to take the series any further. It was almost ten years later when another ITV company Yorkshire Television commissioned a series. The theme music, entitled 'Comedy Close Up No.2' by Herbert Chappell, was supplied by De Wolfe Music film and television music library.

Adaptations

Transmission dates

DVD release

All five series (including the 1982 Christmas special) of In Loving Memory have now been released on DVD by Network. A 5-disc set of the complete series has also been released.

DVDYear(s)Release date
The Complete Series 1197918 February 2009
The Complete Series 219806 July 2009
The Complete Series 3 plus Special19825 October 2009
The Complete Series 4198419 April 2010
The Complete Series 5198623 August 2010
The Complete Series 1 to 5 box set1979-
1986
18 October 2010

Notes

The series was re-broadcast on ITV3 from 21 July 2015 onwards.

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References

  1. Ledger, John (26 January 2016). "Dad's Army and 25 other glorious Yorkshire screen gems". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 14 February 2016.