As Time Goes by

Plot synopsis:
Second Lieutenant Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer) and Middlesex Hospital nurse Jean Pargetter (Judi Dench) met in the summer of 1953 and fell head over heels in love, calling her "Pooh", but then Lionel was posted to Korea. He wrote, but Jean didn't receive his letter (it becomes a topic in a later episode). Because of this mix-up, each assumed the other had lost interest. After his war service Lionel emigrated to Kenya, became a coffee planter, and married Margaret, whom he later divorced on grounds of "mutual boredom". Some time after his divorce he returned to England. Meanwhile, Jean had also married and bore one child, Judith (Moira Brooker). After her husband's death, Jean opened Type for You, a secretarial agency. Her daughter Judith, 32 years old during the series, is twice divorced (from Ken, who had "sad eyes", and Edward, who was "very clever") and, during most of the series, lives with her mother and also works at the secretarial agency.
Lionel, now writing his memoir, hires a typist through Type for You, unaware that Jean owns the agency. His and Jean's awareness of each other occurs as Lionel picks up Judith for a dinner date. Although Lionel's and Jean's reunion is full of missteps and miscues, their romance gradually rekindles. In the third season, Lionel moves into Jean's house in Holland Park, London; they marry during the following season.
In the first season Judith develops a crush on Lionel while Lionel's publisher, Alistair Deacon (Philip Bretherton), who likes to call her "Lovely Lady", takes a similar interest in Jean. Both crushes are brief; eventually Judith and Alistair fall for each other and, in the final season, marry. Other story arcs feature Lionel being asked to write an American TV mini-series, Just Two People, based on his early romance with Jean. The mini-series fails after much rewriting and network interference. Jean eventually retires from Type for You and later volunteers at a charity shop.
Jean's very efficient secretary, and Judith's best friend, is Sandy (Jenny Funnell), who eventually moves in with the Hardcastles after splitting with her boyfriend Nick. After Jean's retirement, Judy and Sandy become co-managers of Type for You. Sandy dates Harry (David Michaels, later replaced by Daniel Ryan), a policeman and rugby player, whom she marries at the end of the series.
Other notable characters include Lionel's irrepressible father Rocky, whose favourite saying is "Rock On"(Frank Middlemass) and who owns a large country house in Hampshire which he later gives to Lionel; the housekeeper, Mrs. Bale (Janet Henfrey), who has an unusual interest in the Shipping Forecast and gives exact times that meals are ready, and the gardener, Lol Ferris (Tim Wylton), who says Jean is a "tender woman". In the early seasons of the show, Lionel received news from Rocky's physician that his father was dying and had less than a year to live, but this plotline was dropped and Rocky continued to appear throughout the show's later seasons, including the final "Reunion Special" in 2005.
Rocky marries Madge (Joan Sims), as much a character as Rocky is, when he is 85 and she is 78. They travel the world, listen to country music, tool about in Madge's classic convertible (with steer horns on the grille), and hang out at the local pub, where Madge sings. In Series Nine, Madge is mentioned as being on an archaeological dig in Egypt; in reality Joan Sims died before filming began. Jean's first husband's neurotic sister Penny (Moyra Fraser), who always calls Jean "poor Jean", and Penny's flaky dentist husband, Stephen (Paul Chapman), who once accidentally declined the OBE, also make many appearances.

Tags: cult, romantic

Review:
A forgotten classic in the low-budget S.F. genre. "As Time Goes By" is an interesting, memorable film that I think any fan of Science Fiction would enjoy.  I saw it in the late '80s at the Mill Valley Film Festival and I made a point to remember the name, because I suspected that this film might not get the publicity it deserved, and would become hard to find.Aside from the S.F. elements, I would classify this as a mystery/drama with comedic touches.  It's a low budget film and the director knows it, using this to keep the tone light and also to focus the audience on the characters and their story.I especially like the way the filmmaker plays with the time travel element, showing me a trick or two I have never seen before.  The alien is weird, wise and funny and even though I have read my fair share of S.F. I haven't encountered another one like him.  Sure, the film isn't  perfect, but it was easy to ignore the flaws because I like the spirit and intelligence of the people who made it.I hope this gets released on DVD so I can buy it.  "As Time Goes By" stands on my list as one of the top ten films of 1988.  That's right, I'm not kidding!  Top ten.. A missing classic. 'As Time Goes By' is a missing classic, about a policeman, a surfer and an alien in the Bush. Marked by a characteristically awesome poster, the surfer is seen sunbathing in the desert beside his surfboard. The policeman is haunted by the cricket match that killed his baby sun. The alien by the other past we used to live in - we lost the war, we were all eating sushi, and we didn't like it!It's all about jumping back in time to make important changes, to stop tragedy. Time loops? Paradoxes? The complications are attacked obliquely in the neon lit setting of Max Gillies' greasy spoon diner.It stuns me that we have no archived source of this movie. In spite of issues of copyright, the general public's interest has often acted as a kind of 'casual backup' that prevents the loss of good shows from memory.I'm trying to teach a friend about what was good in '80s SF, and plan on showing her Repo Man, The Quiet Earth and As Time Goes By. ATGB stands up well in that company - they all have a certain feel - and will be missed if I can't find it.. entertaining but too self-conscious cult film wannabe. The idea of a sci-fi western parody probably wouldn't make sense anywhere else but in the remote Australian outback, maybe the perfect setting for this contrived madcap spoof. Among the cast of eccentrics are, in no particular order: a slightly goony surfer who's been waiting a quarter century to keep an appointment in the back of beyond; a bitter outback cop who once accidentally killed his own son during a cricket game; a scientist who dresses like Pee Wee Herman and hopes to capture a Nobel Prize and a genuine extraterrestrial; a cattle tycoon with plans to make the desert bloom using the Earth's ozone layer; his two sheep-hating henchmen; a shopkeeper with a passionate fear of dust; a spaceship that sells Budweiser beer; a cocktail shaker time machine; and a radioactive alien named Joe Bogart, played by Max Gillies, who behaves as if he wants to be known (fat chance) as Australia's answer to Robin Williams. With characters like this, who needs a plot?