Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973)

Genre

sitcom

Country

United Kingdom

Length

2 seasons, 26 episodes

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 22 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two working class friends navigate adulthood in 1970s Britain. One is settled and married while the other is still chasing a freewheeling life, and their contrasting choices create comedy and tension.

nostalgicwrybittersweetwarmunderstatedobservationalcheekygrounded

What happens

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. Like its predecessor, it was created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starred Rodney Bewes and James Bolam. There were 26 television episodes over two series, and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The show won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Situation Comedy in 1974. The cast was reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. A feature film spin-off was made in 1976. Around the time of its release, Bewes and Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press, and never spoke again. This long-suspected feud was recounted by Bewes in his autobiography in 2005. Bolam was consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and vetoed any attempt to revive his character. Following Bewes's death in November 2017, Bolam maintained there was never any rift. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Last of the Summer Wine (1973)
• Man About the House (1973)
• Porridge (1973)
• Open All Hours (1973)
• The Likely Lads (1964)
• Marriage Lines (1963)
• Alcock and Gander (1972)
• Birds in the Bush (1972)