The Likely Lads fall out over money, 35 years on - Telegraph UK News The Likely Lads fall out over money, 35 years on Rodney Bewes has accused his fellow 'Likely Lad' James Bolam of consigning cast members on the hit 1960s comedy to poverty by refusing to allow it to be repeated on television. Rodney Bewes and James Bolam played best friends 'The Likely Lads' Photo: BBC Follow While the pair played best friends Bob Ferris and Terry Collier in the series, about two Geordies who work in a factory, in real life they fell out and have not spoken since 1976. Now Bewes, 72, has launched a bitter attack on his former friend, 74, accusing him of being selfish and taking himself too seriously. Of Bolam's refusal to allow the show to be repeated, he said: "Jimmy Bolam's killed it, which is such a pity." He went on: "I'm very poor so I have to tour one-man shows because Jimmy has buried The Likely Lads. "You have to sign a waiver for them to repeat it and he stopped it while he did New Tricks.

Well, New Tricks has been on so long, and is so well repeated, that he must be very wealthy; me, I've just got an overdraft and a mortgage," he said. Related Articles The Likely Lads fall out as Bolam refuses to sanction TV repeats | The Independent The Likely Lads fall out as Bolam refuses to sanction TV repeats Former co-stars' simmering 35-year feud boils over Sunday 14 February 2010 00:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online They were the best of friends – on screen at least. But now a feud that has simmered between the estranged stars of the BBC sitcom The Likely Lads for almost 35 years has erupted. Rodney Bewes, who played Bob Ferris in the series, has accused his former co-star James Bolam of condemning fellow cast members to poverty through his refusal to grant permission for the series to be repeated on network television. "Jimmy Bolam's killed it, which is such a pity," he said: "I'm very poor so I have to tour one-man shows because Jimmy has buried The Likely Lads. You have to sign a waiver for them to repeat it and he stopped it while he did New Tricks.

Well, New Tricks has been on so long, and is so repeated, that he must be very wealthy; me, I've just got an overdraft and a mortgage." Bewes added: "He should let it be repeated on BBC2 or BBC1; to stop other people earning money is cruel." Watched by some 27 million people – half the population of Britain at the time – the 1960s sitcom made the pair household names, giving them a level of success they have not matched since. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, The Likely Lads was about two best mates from the North-east. It spawned a second series in the 1970s and even a feature film. But its stars have not spoken since they made the film in 1976. It was not always that way, according to Bewes: "We were great friends. When my babies were born, his was the first house I went to. I had a daughter first, Daisy, and then we had three boys who were triplets." When asked why the pair haven't spoken since 1976, he said: "It's this actor's ego thing: he thinks he is important.

Actors aren't important. I'm not important; I have fun. I think Jimmy takes himself very seriously as an 'actor'." Bolam did not respond to requests to comment on his former colleague's remarks. However, in an interview to promote a children's TV series called Grandpa in My Pocket, he said: "It's irksome that people like you bang on about it as if it's the only thing I've ever done in my life.... When the series is over it's over and you move on to other things. You see, because one played great friends it doesn't mean that you are great friends." What happened next? James Bolam went from playing Terry Collier to a series of top TV roles, from When the Boat Comes In to New Tricks. He is an MBE. Sheila Fearn played Terry's sister, Audrey. Also in George and Mildred, Sorry! on TV and Terry Gilliam's film Time Bandits. Rodney Bewes had his own sitcom Dear Mother... Love Albert. Now, 72, he still takes his acclaimed one-man shows on tour. Brigit Forsyth played Bob's wife, Thelma.

TV roles span Boon and The Bill to Dr Who and Calendar Girls on stage. She is 69. More about: BBC Inside Out - Likely Lads RODNEY BEWES Q&A It's 40 years since The Likely Lads first hit our TV screens. Inside Out pays tribute to this comedy classic which is as fresh and funny today as it was when it was first screened. The Likely Lads is one of the most enduring shows in television history. Frequently repeated and often hailed as a classic, it gave the North East a voice for the first time when it was originally screened in 1964. Over the course of 20 episodes, our folk heroes and Geordie partners in crime, Bob Ferris and Terry Collier, extolled the rights and wrongs of everything from beer and birds to Newcastle United and nightlife. Bob and Terry became Geordie icons, as well known as Andy Capp and as revered as football heroes like Malcolm McDonald and Bobby Moncur. Goodbye to all that The enduring success of The Likely Lads owes much to its timeless humour, its nostalgia for the past, and the camaraderie between its two Geordie characters.

The Likely Lads compare the price of a pint "The only thing to look forward to is the past", goes the lyric of the title song of the TV series. The song and the sitcom spoke volumes about the social and economic revolution of the Sixties and Seventies when Tyneside was undergoing a huge transformation. Tyneside was grappling with massive slum clearance, the loss of its manufacturing industries, and a cultural revolution. The times they are a' changing In Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads Terry returns from a stint in the army and tries to find work in a North East that has changed dramatically since he's been away.

The Facts There were three series of The Likely Lads between 1964 and 1966 A Likely Lads film was made in 1976 with the story focusing on a disastrous camping holiday Two series of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads were made between 1970 and 1973 plus a Christmas Special Many of the show's master recordings were 'lost' when the master recordings were wiped at the end of the 1960s There were 16 radio episodes of The Likely Lads in the late 1960s His attempts to find a new role is a tale of the times, and is as powerful a piece of social commentary as a groundbreaking drama like The Boys from the Blackstuff. In the film of The Likely Lads Terry and Bob visit a demolition site - it's where their favourite pub used to stand, and they moan about the changing times. The theme of nostalgia for the past recurs throughout the TV series. In the follow-up Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads we revisit Bob and Terry seven years on, and the social references become more marked.

Newcastle has become a symbol of the times and a backdrop against which the likely lads live their lives. "The area became important. It became a character," says writer Dick Clement. Geordie stereotypes? Bob and Terry are sometimes accused of being Geordie stereotypes, but there is a warmth and restless edge to the characters which cuts through the stereotypical image of the macho male. The lads chat up a couple of girls. A young Wendy Richard is pictured to the left Terry is renowned for his bigoted views and old-fashioned attitudes, but he's also a moaner and a cynic, criticising all and everything around him. Bob is struggling to shake off the shackles of the Geordie macho image and is trying to become a 'new man' with middle class aspirations, always trying to better himself. They both have one foot in the past, but they are constantly battling to makes sense of the changing world around them. Friends and neighbours The Likely Lads struck a chord with audiences around the country, with 27 million viewers at its peak. Bob and Terry were like real people, the sort of lads you might meet down the pub on a night out in Newcastle.

Inside Out Quiz Are you a likely lad or lass? Take our quiz and test your knowledge of the Likely Lads... TAKE THE TEST Geordie heroes Ant and Dec are big fans and they can remember watching the programme when they were kids. They were inspired by watching the first 'Geordie' actors to make it big on TV. Ant explains, "When Dec and I first moved to London and shared a flat, we had likely lads nights. We've been fans all our lives." It comes as no surprise that the Geordie duo chose to make A Tribute to the Likely Lads based on the famous football episode of the original in 2002. Rodney Bewes even made a cameo appearance. Faraway places The Likely Lads was a revolution in television - there were no other programmes set on Tyneside when it was first broadcast. Writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais explain how difficult it was to break the mould. Fancy coming back to my place love? "You couldn't have cast anything on Tyneside - there weren't enough Geordie actors then," they recall. In fact none of the main actors in The Likely Lads was a Geordie.

Rodney Bewes was born and bred in Yorkshire, James Bolam was a Sunderland lad, and Brigit Forsyth came from Edinburgh. The North East setting was also new to television, and it paved the way for Geordie dramas and comedies such as When The Boat Comes In, Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Spender. The series launched the careers of writing team, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who went on to make Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen Pet. New era, Newcastle? Today's Newcastle is vastly different from Tyneside in 1964, but what would Terry make of the city 40 years on? "He'd find plenty to moan about, but he'd see what the city had achieved architecturally and culturally, and he'd be proud," says his creator Ian La Frenais. La Frenais believes that Bob and Thelma with their aspirations and attempts at self-improvement would also have embraced the new North East. Looking back Rodney Bewes thinks that The Likely Lads gave Tyneside a sense of pride in itself. "We gave it a bit of Newcastle pride perhaps.

I think when you see the bridges, the art galleries, the coffee bars and the social life and the quays, I think it's progressed a bit - and I hope we all have." Don't quote me - Famous banter... Terry "I'd offer you a beer but I've only got six cans". Bob "In the chocolate box of life, the top layer's already gone and someone's pinched the orange cream from the bottom". Terry "This town might have a new Civic Centre mate, but it doesn't disguise the fact that it's a dead end". Terry "I don't just hate Chelsea. I hate Arsenal, Spurs, Crystal Palace, West Ham In fact I hate all London clubs". At the hairdressers ... Hairdresser "Do you want the beer, egg or herbal tonic?" Terry "Nothing to drink for me, thanks". Bob "They're shampoos you fool!". On people Terry "I haven't got much time for the Irish or the Welsh, and the Scots are worse than the Koreans". Bob "And you never could stand southerners". Terry "To tell you the truth I don't much like anyone outside this town.

And there aren't many families down our street that I can stand". On the Civic Centre ... What did happen to the Likely Lads? (From The Northern Echo) Jobs Business Directory Local Info Dating Buy Sell Book an Ad What did happen to the Likely Lads? As Rodney Bewes' autobiography is published, Viv Hardwick looks at the Likely Lad's split with co-star James Bolam and why the pair haven't spoken for 30 years. For the past 30 years, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam haven't spoke a word to each other since the The Likely Lads film came out in 1976. In his recently published autobiography, 67-year-old Bewes admits lying to journalists, including myself, about regularly having meals with the man he calls Jimmy and discussing the Sunderland-born actor's passion for horse racing. Bolam, 68, couldn't call him a liar because he refuses to discuss one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms and left Bewes to do the press conferences when the BBC show was in its heyday.

Loading article content According to Bewes, Bolam's obsession about not discussing his private life led to the man the TV audiences loved as waster Terry Collier putting the phone down on him while he tried to apologise about a newspaper feature. It was an amusing little story linked to the birth of Bewes's triplet sons. While driving the car, Bolam's wife Sue (Jameson) told him: "Er, you know Daphne's (Bewes's wife) had three, well I'm just having the one'. Bolam drove up the pavement and narrowly missed a lamppost before recovering his composure. "Was it that bad?" questions the Bingley-born lad who became loveable Bob Ferris for 12 glorious years. Then he adds: "It was to someone like Bolam. I rang him back and he didn't answer the phone and I never spoke to him again. He never spoke to me again. It's been nearly 30 years. We have never met, never bumped into each other in the theatre or voiceover studio in Soho. I've always thought how funny it would be to see him walking down a corridor towards me at the Television Centre or at Granada or Yorkshire Television...

but it hasn't happened... yet." The most hurtful side of the break-up of this acting partnership was Bolam's refusal to come on Bewes's This Is Your Life in 1980 and Thames Television had to find TV clips from the show which didn't include scenes of the two together. Bolam also had reservations about repeat showings of the series until 1990. Bewes claims that the lies stop here and, in future, he'll tell the truth about the unlikely end to the pair's incredibly successful career. Sadly, for the reader, he adds to the mystery by quoting at length from Whitley Bay's Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement's classic scripts but gives little away about Bolam. He reflects that his co-star might have been needled about Bewes gaining top billing for the film. Forthright Bolam declined a percentage cut saying: "No, thank you, who wants five per cent of f*** all!". Bewes has never made a penny from profits. He defends Bolam over his love-hate relationship with the North-East.

Journalists were told at the film's Newcastle premiere: "Look, I took the last train in and I shall catch the first train out". Bewes indicates that the Wearsider's blunt response was understandable given a question about it being "great to be back". The newspaper headlines were 'Likely Lad shuns homeland!' and perhaps the final nail in the coffin of the Tyneside-based show. It was also unlikely for the lads to last when the characters of Terry and Bob had become so much like the actors themselves. Bewes is twittering and a bundle of nervous energy when interviewed while Bolam hides that inner charm behind a cautious and sometimes hostile exterior. The autobiography itself is a difficult read. Bewes has written it almost with one eye on adapting it as a TV script. He includes all the errs, ums and ... unfinished sentences pauses, in the hope that his reader will, perhaps, fill in the blanks. Despite the stop-start nature of presentation, Bewes has a fascinating tale to tell of surviving a sickly childhood to become a teenage actor on TV.

Despite being thrown out by Rada, having worked through drama school financed by lowly hotel kitchen duties, he finally broke into acting thanks to twice-nightly rep in Stockton. Tom Courtenay became a friend during the making of the film Billy Liar and Bewes trots through a series of showbiz anecdotes about the greats like Eric Morecambe and Robert Mitchum, interspersed with his failed first marriage, troubled family affairs and meeting Daphne. He recalls meeting Clement and La Frenais in 1964 with the Lads script originally based in Liverpool before being shifted to the North-East. The early shows were shot in Willesden Junction and became BBC2's first sitcom. That year's A Christmas Night With The Stars had Bolam and Bewes in a five-minute sketch which put The Likely Lads on a par with The Beatles in terms of popularity. Bewes gave up his own comedy series, Dear Mother... Love Albert, on ITV to star in BBC's Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads in 1973. In the years of silence, Bolam has gone on to great things with The National Theatre and starring roles on BBC in New Tricks.

Bewes has slipped into one-man touring shows presented with great cheerfulness and the delights of being a financially-strapped well-known father of four. Back in the 1960s he remembers that Bolam told Lynda Lee-Potter in a rare interview: "I'm having some new track rods fitted on my car. I don't want to know anything about the man who's doing it. Why should he want to know about me?" That makes it unlikely that Bolam has an autobiography up his sleeve to tell the other half of the story, but we'd love to think it was likely. * A Likely Story by Rodney Bewes (Arrow, £7.99) His new one man show, The Diary Of A Nobody, plays Harrogate Theatre, Sept 12; Customs House, South Shields, 27; Darlington Arts Centre, 28; Middlesbrough Hexagon, 29 and Durham Gala, Oct 7. Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? | The Likely Lads Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia The Likely Lads Wiki Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?

72pages on The show followed the friendship, resumed after five years apart, of two working-class young men, Bob Ferris ( Rodney Bewes ) and Terry Collier ( James Bolam ). Set in Northeast England , humour was based on the tension between Terry's firmly working-class outlook and Bob's aspirations to join the middle class , through his new white-collar job, suburban home, and impending marriage to prissy librarian Thelma Chambers ( Brigit Forsyth ). Since the ending of the original series, in 1966, Bob has left factory life behind for an office job with his future father-in-law's building firm (something which leaves Bob even more desperate to retain favour with Thelma and her family). But what Bob does for a living is not a major factor in the show; more important is the fact that he is now a white-collar worker, and (at Thelma's urging) is joining badminton clubs, attending dinner parties, and — in all sorts of ways — appearing to Terry as aspiring to join the middle class. Terry thus sees his own army experience and solid working class ethos as giving him moral superiority over Bob.

But he finds it hard to adjust to all the changes which have occurred in the five years he's been away. As implied in the lyrics to the programme's theme song, the 1970s series plays on both lads' feelings of nostalgia for the lost days of their innocent and reckless youth. Both characters are depressed by the demolition being carried out on the landmarks of their youth, but Bob, who works for a development agency, puts forward that it can be seen as progress. Bob also lives in his own semi-detached house on a recently-built estate, whereas Terry lives with his mother in a 19th century house, which he claims has far more charm than the one owned by Bob, where "The only thing that tells you apart from your neighbours is the colour of your curtains." Indeed, in the opening credits shots of Terry show him along with the older and more industrial buildings of the city, with Bob displayed along with modern, less attractive development.

The word "likely" in the title referred, in the 1960s series, to those showing promise, but also those likely to get up to well-meaning mischief; but, as the 1970s title implied, the mischief days were (or at least, perhaps, should have been) behind them now. Yet, in reality, life was still seen by both Bob and Terry as something in which the only things that really mattered were beer, football and sex — though not necessarily in that order. As Terry says at one point, in disbelief, "After all, there are some people who don't like football!" The conflict between what Bob had become, and what he saw himself as, led him to be impulsively inclined to follow the lead set by the more headstrong Terry (especially after a heavy drinking session), who led them recklessly into one scrape after another. And Terry frequently behaved badly, his working class instincts dominating Bob's better judgement. But whatever the plan, they rarely got away with it. Nemesis, in the shape of Thelma (and, to a lesser extent, Terry's sister Audrey) was usually waiting just around the corner.

Indeed the battle of the sexes was a frequent theme of the series. Bob usually blamed his drinking, heavy smoking, poor diet and reckless behaviour on Terry: a view which Audrey and Thelma only too willingly agreed with. This may have been true in part, but actually Bob needed little persuasion to stay out drinking with Terry, or to behave accordingly. The show was firmly based in the tradition of Northern comedy, in that much of the humour arose from the fact that Bob and Terry were living in a strongly matriarchal society. They were, in point of fact, surrounded by a sea of women. Bob was henpecked alternately by Thelma and by Thelma's mother; and Terry was henpecked by his own mother and his sister Audrey, and by the various women he dated. There were no strong male influences in either Bob or Terry's life: neither Bob's father nor Terry's ever appeared, and on the few occasions that we saw Thelma's father he was usually being henpecked by either Thelma or her mother. The thirteen episodes of Series 1, aired in 1973, were all self-contained.

But nonetheless they were loosely linked together by two common threads: the earliest ones feature Terry's attempts to settle down again, following his discharge from the Army; and the subsequent episodes revolve around the preparations for the wedding of Bob and Thelma. In contrast, the Series 2 episodes the following year were not entirely self-contained: many of them formed parts of related storylines. For instance, the series opens with a two-part story concerning Terry's romance with Thelma's younger sister. There are several two-part stories; and in one instance a single storyline is developed over four episodes (beginning in "Affairs and Relations"). This is never taken so far that it's necessary to the comedy to have seen the previous episodes; but, if you have, there's a stronger unity to this series than in the previous one. [1] [2] Terry and Bob are arrested in One for the Road.The show's catchy theme song, "Whatever Happened to You", was written by Mike Hugg (of Manfred Mann ) and La Frenais, and performed by Hugg's session band under the name Highly Likely. It made the lower reaches of the UK Top 40 in 1973.

Mike Hugg also wrote the theme tune to the spin-off 1976 feature film, entitled "Remember When". The complete first and second series of the 1970s show (including the Christmas special) are now available in the UK on Region 2 DVD, as two BBC releases: "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?: Series 1" (Catalogue No. BBCDVD1957) and "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?: Series 2" (Cat. No. BBCDVD1991). The 2006 BBC release, The Likely Lads Collection (a 5 disc box set: cat. no. BBCDVD2110), contrary to certain reports, does include both the final episode of series 2, entitled "The Shape of Things to Come", and the 1974 Christmas Special (as an extra feature).

Contents Edit Cyril Collier (Terry and Audrey's dad) Leslie Ferris (Bob's dad) (Note: It was established in the 1960s series that Bob's father was in fact deceased) Linda Collier (Terry and Audrey's sister) Frank Clark (Bob's original choice for best man) Nigel "Little Hutch" Hutchinson (a sex-mad pal who always has a racing tip ready for Terry) Hugh and Janey (Bob and Thelma's new middle-class friends) Mr Clough (Cloughy to the Lads, played by Barlett Mullins; he was their workmate in the original 1960s series, and now runs a newsagents) Jutta Baumgarten (Terry's German wife, from whom he's separated) Maurice 'Memphis' Hardaker (a member of a skiffle group called Rob Ferris And The Wildcats, he was also mentioned in the original 60s series as work colleague Morrie Hardaker) Deirdre Birchwood, an ex-girlfriend of Bob's, frequent references to her became a running gag in the first series Wendy Thwaite, another ex-girlfriend of Bob's with whom he had his first sexual experience.

Radio series Edit The 13 episodes of Series 1 were adapted for radio, with the original television cast, and broadcast on Radio 4 in 1975, from 30 July to 22 October. This series is periodically re-broadcast in the "classic comedy" hour on digital radio channel BBC Radio 7 . Edit Before the Seventies series was made, the cast had already been re-united twice, in 1967 and 1968, to record sixteen of the original television scripts for two series (of eight episodes each) on BBC radio, the scripts for which were adapted for radio by James Bolam. To emphasise continuity, the opening section of the title credits at the start of each Seventies episode includes a short montage of black-and-white stills photos of Bob and Terry in scenes from the 1960s series, presented as if in a photograph album. The leather-bound photo album which Bob gives Terry before the wedding, in the episode "End Of An Era", is also the one seen in the opening credits.

To avoid bad feeling over billing, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam were alternated in the opening credits, so that one week Bewes was billed first and the following week Bolam was. In the closing credits the billing was reversed, with whoever had been billed second in the opening credits being billed first. At recordings of the show Bolam was clearly irritated at times by the fact that Bewes did not always know his lines, and he did not trouble to conceal this irritation from the studio audience. The problem may have arisen because the lads always drank real beer in the pub scenes. Frequent re-takes meant they would sometimes have downed eight pints by the end of a recording. Bewes maintained his connections with The Likely Lads, appearing in a cameo role as the old newspaper seller in a 2002 ITV re-make of the series' most popular episode, "No Hiding Place", starring Tyneside presenters/actors/entertainers Ant and Dec , which aired under the title "A Tribute to the Likely Lads". Bewes wrote an autobiography, "A Likely Story", which was published in 2005.

He is currently touring in his various one-man theatre shows, one of which is based upon the works of Jerome K Jerome. In 1995 and 1996 the series was repeated in its entirety on BBC 2 . It went on to become a short-term staple of cable channels, and was again shown on satellite and cable tv in 2008/9, but has not featured on terrestrial TV in the UK since 2000. It has, however, been released on DVD. And the movie spin-off usually appears at least once a year on TV, around Christmas. One of the most notable continuity points about the show is that Terry has been away in the Army for "five years". However, there was a real-life gap of seven years between the end of the original series in 1966 and the sequel in 1973. Also, there are numerous references in the Seventies show to the Lads' shared adventures in 1967, plus citations of that year as the time when Terry was last in town.

And, from the audience's point of view, Terry was last seen in the radio series which was broadcast during 1967 and 1968. Taken all together, it suggests Terry's army service lasted for the five years from 1968 (i.e. the end of the radio series) to 1973. Terry's full name is Terence Daniel Collier, born 29 February 1944. Bob's full name is Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris, born a week earlier. These dates can be worked out from dialogue in the episode "Birthday Boy". The 'Scarborough' in Bob's name comes from the fact that he was allegedly conceived there, but this is contradicted in the opening flashback sequence in the 1976 feature film. Terry's 'silver tankard' joke in his best man's speech at the end of Season 1 (in the episode "End Of An Era") also seems to imply that he, not Bob, turned 21 first. Terry is younger than his sisters Audrey ( Sheila Fearn ) and Linda (who is never seen). Their parents are Edith and Cyril Collier.

Terry's father is not featured in either series of this show; neither is Bob's father, Leslie. Bob's mother, Alice, occasionally appears. Bob's father had died 12 years previously (as established in the Sixties episode "Friends and Neighbours"), so wasn't around when Bob - an only child - was growing up. Terry's dad is neither dead nor absent: he is continually referred to in the Seventies series, and also in the feature film, but is never actually seen (although, in the opening flash-back in the film, a back view of him is briefly visible, which is clearly James Bolam; and Bolam also provides the voice-over dialogue in that scene). Thelma's full maiden name is Thelma Ingrid Chambers. Thelma's father, played by Bill Owen , is George Chambers. Her younger sister is Susan, who lives in Toronto, Canada with her accountant fiancé Peter. The lads attended Park Infants School, Park Junior School, and Park Secondary Modern. Thelma was with them for infants and juniors, but then went to the grammar school.

Notable school romances for the Lads included the revered (but sadly never seen) Deirdre Birchwood, who was the basis of a running joke in Series 1, where any mention of her (or of any other former girlfriend of Bob's) was guaranteed to upset Thelma. (A Deidre Birchwood actually appears in an episode of the Bewes vehicle, Dear Mother, Love Albert. She is referred to in many episodes of that programme. Her name derives from a real-life person Bewes knew - according to his memoir.) The lads also were in the Scouts together. Bob lost his virginity to Wendy Thwaite, according to the Series 1 episode "I'll Never Forget Whatshername", who scored 8 stars (out of 7!) on his scoring system. Terry's never-seen German wife is called Jutta (pronounced Uta) Baumgarten. They married in November 1969, but split up seven months later, in June 1970, when West Germany defeated England in the 1970 FIFA World Cup .

Confusingly, Terry later says they were married for two years "on and off", which further clouds the continuity issue of Terry's time away. She was due to appear in the episode "End Of An Era", played by April Walker, but the scenes featuring her were omitted from the broadcast version. Terry's address is given in the dialogue as 127 Inkerman Terrace ("No Hiding Place"); but external shots (in "The Ant and the Grasshopper") clearly show a different house number. Bob and Thelma live at Number 8 of an unspecified avenue on the Elm Lodge Housing Estate. Bob's immediate neighbours at his new house are the Lawsons and the Jeffcotes, again never actually seen in the show. A couple called the Nortons are also later referred to as living next door. It is revealed (in the episode "Storm in a Tea Chest") that the boys used to be in a skiffle group called Rob Ferris And The Wildcats. Other group members included Maurice 'Memphis' Hardaker, named after a real-life friend of the show's co-creator and co-writer Ian La Frenais .

The Lads' workmate from the 1960s series, Cloughie (originally played by Bartlett Mullins), does not feature, other than a passing mention in the first episode that he now runs a newsagents. Two running jokes in the show are never fully explained: Terry's supposedly injured leg, which he claims to have injured in the Army ("I never talk about it"), and his aggressive preoccupation with being referred to as 'wiry' rather than as 'thin' or 'slim'. The latter is, in fact, a continuation of a running gag in the original 1960s series, in which Terry was paranoid about being thought weedy. The pubs frequented by the lads include The Black Horse (which is their most regular 'local', featuring buxom barmaid Gloria), The Fat Ox, The Drift Inn and The Wheatsheaf. Others mentioned in passing include The Swan, The Ship, and the Institute. Friends of the Lads who are regularly spoken of but never seen include Frank Clark (Bob's original choice for best man, who had the same name as a Newcastle United F.C.

player of the time), and Nigel "Little Hutch" Hutchinson (a sex-mad pal, who frequently has a racing tip for Terry). Bob's new middle-class friends who we hear of but don't meet include Hugh and Janey; but a new pal we do meet (in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "The Ant and the Grasshopper") is affable Londoner Alan Boyle, played by Julian Holloway . Christopher Biggins makes several appearances as Podge Rowley, a friend of the Lads, including in the episode "Birthday Boy" and as an usher at Bob's wedding in "End Of An Era". He would reappear in the next big television hit for Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Porridge, as would Brian Glover (Flint in "No Hiding Place"). The episodes "I'll Never Forget Whatshername" and "Storm in a Tea Chest" were based in part on elements in the 1960s episode "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" The titles for the 1974 Christmas Special call the show simply The Likely Lads. The opening scenes are set in late September, on the day of Terry's successful driving test.

Exterior shots were filmed on Tyneside and around the North East, while interiors were shot at the BBC Television Centre in London. The genuine affection held by Clement and LaFrenais for the golden age of Hollywood movies is reflected in the show. For instance, nearly all of the episode titles (from "Strangers on a Train" to "The Shape of Things to Come") are based on the titles of Hollywood films; and the script frequently features jokes about popular movies (such as Terry's dig at Bob, on learning that he's becoming middle-class, that his new friends include 'Bob and Carole, and Ted and Alice' - a reference to the 1969 film of that name). The BBC decided not to commission a third series of the show, partly because Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais had written a pilot script for another 1973 series, entitled Seven of One, in which Ronnie Barker appeared in seven different situations from different writers, each of which was a try-out for a possible series. The BBC decided they liked best the one by Clement and LaFrenais, who found themselves suddenly offered a new series, starring Ronnie Barker, which became the television comedy Porridge.

Writing and production for the new show, which debuted in the autumn of 1974 and ran for three series, made it impossible to schedule a further series of The Likely Lads. Instead, Clement and LaFrenais began to develop a one-off script, which became the Likely Lads feature film, which was eventually made in 1976. Edit Main article: The Likely Lads (film) In 1976 a feature-length movie was released, written by Clement and La Frenais, which was directed by Michael Tuchner. By this time both lads had moved house (Bob and Thelma to a detached house, and Terry to a high-rise); and Terry now had a Finnish girlfriend called Christina ("Chris"), played by Mary Tamm . The movie opened with the Lads lamenting the demolition of their favourite pub, The Fat Ox. It then did what so many film spin-offs in the Seventies did, taking the regulars out of their normal environment and sending them off on holiday. The result is a caravanning holiday for Bob and Terry, accompanied by Thelma and Chris.

The complications resulting from the trip lead to Terry and Chris splitting up, as a result of which Terry decides to go away, signing on as a crewman on a cargo ship. Bob and Terry sneak one last late-night drink together aboard Terry's ship, anchored in the docks; but Terry has second thoughts the morning after and elects to stay at home. Bob, however, awakes - hung over - aboard the ship, as it sails for Bahrain. This was an ironic reversal of the ending of the original Sixties show (where Terry, missing Bob - who had joined the Army - joined up too, only to discover that Bob had been discharged with flat feet ). Ian McDiarmid , who went on to play the Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in four Star Wars movies, made his film debut here, playing a vicar. Future 1980s sitcom icons Vicki Michelle and Linda Robson also made cameo appearances. Vicki Michelle had already appeared, as a different character, in the second series of the Seventies show (in the episode "The Ant and the Grasshopper").

Any future plans for the lads were never announced; but if they existed they were scuppered by Bewes and Bolam falling out. Edit In 2008, The Gala Theatre in Durham staged the world premiere of "The Likely Lads", adapted for the stage by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais and directed by Simon Stallworthy. The title roles of Bob and Terry were played by David Nellist and Scott Frazer respectively. In May 2011 The Tynemouth Priory Theatre, in Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, were granted the rights to become the first non professional company to stage the production. It became one of the theatres most attended productions selling out well in advance for all performances. Terry was played by Brendan Egan and Bob by Stu Bowman. now they back as Ant and Dec Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (TV Series 1973–1974) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 30min Terry and Bob from The Likely Lads (1964) continue their life after Terry arrives home from serving in the Army to discover that Bob is about to marry his girlfriend Thelma. Can Thelma lead... See full summary » Stars: England are playing Bulgaria at football and Flint, whom the lads meet in the hairdressers, bets the pair they cannot get through the day without learning the result. Despite Flint's efforts to pass ... 9.1 Terry is up in court for fighting in the pub with local lad Dougie Scaithe and is found guilty and is fined. Unaware that Terry and Dougie have patched it up, Bob confronts Dougie and also gets into ... 8.9 After Terry is winded playing football Bob accuses him of being out of shape and challenges him to a cycle race to Berwick. Needless to say both cheat, hitching lifts and sabotaging each other but ...

8.8 a list of 30 titles created 23 May 2011 a list of 38 titles created 11 Feb 2012 a list of 36 titles created 21 Dec 2013 a list of 34 titles created 10 Aug 2015 a list of 49 titles created 6 months ago Title: Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–1974) 7.7/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards » Photos The adventures of two "likely lads" ostensibly set in the North East of England (but filmed in Willesden Junction, London). Terry and Bob have been friends since childhood. Bob is the ... See full summary » Stars: James Bolam, Rodney Bewes, Don McKillop Terry is divorced from his German wife and has a Finnish girlfriend Christina. At Thelma's suggestion they join her and Bob on a caravan holiday but due to a mishap the men get separated ...

See full summary » Director: Michael Tuchner Alf and Elsie are getting old, Rita's left home, Elsie's confined to a wheelchair. Alf must now do battle with the Social Security system. Stars: Warren Mitchell, Carmel McSharry, Arthur English BBC Television comedy detailing the fortunes of Reginald Iolanthe Perrin. Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own ... See full summary » Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron Popular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly landlord Rigsby. In each episode, his conceits are debunked by his long suffering tenants. Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington, Frances de la Tour Bless This House centres on life in Birch Avenue, Putney, where travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott (Sidney James) and his wife Jean (Diana Coupland) live with their teenagers: Mike (...

See full summary » Stars: Sidney James, Diana Coupland, Sally Geeson A working-class Cockney bigot with a biased and expirienced opinion of everything shares them bluntly and almost carelessly. Stars: Warren Mitchell, Anthony Booth, Una Stubbs Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are junk dealers, complete with horse and cart to tour the neighbourhood. They also live amicably together at the junk yard. But Harold, who likes the ... See full summary » Director: Cliff Owen Classic 1960s British comedy series about a middle aged man and his elderly father who run an unsuccessful 'rag and bone' business (collecting and selling junk). Harold (the son) wants to ... See full summary » Stars: Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett, Frank Thornton Now a qualified chef, Robin from "Man About the House" (1973) sets up home with his girlfriend, and a business with his girlfriend's father.

Stars: Richard O'Sullivan, Tessa Wyatt, Tony Britton George and Mildred Roper are forced to leave their home in South Kensington (as the landlords in Man About the House (1973)) when they receive a compulsory purchase order from the council. ... See full summary » Stars: Yootha Joyce, Brian Murphy, Norman Eshley Going Straight (TV Series 1978) Comedy Following his release from Slade prison, Fletcher tries to stick to the straight and narrow, but it isn't easy! Stars: Ronnie Barker, Patricia Brake, Richard Beckinsale Edit Storyline Terry and Bob from The Likely Lads (1964) continue their life after Terry arrives home from serving in the Army to discover that Bob is about to marry his girlfriend Thelma. Can Thelma lead Bob onto the straight and narrow path or will Terry divert things once again ? Written by Steve Crook <steve@brainstorm.co.uk> 9 January 1973 (UK) See more » Filming Locations: James Bolam was a decade older than his character.

See more » Connections (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews This is most probably the best comedy sequel of all time in the British comedy field, it certainly tops the original which was one of the runaway classics of the sixties. At the helm once again is the writing talents of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and this time they really surpass themselves. It's 1973 and we see the social and industrial changes taking place in the North East of England through the eyes of long-time friends Bob Ferris and Terry Collier. Terry, just out of a five year stint in the army, and non the better for it, has to adjust to the aforementioned social changes with a little help from his best friend-the long suffering Bob. One of the major aspects that Terry has to get used to, but never does, is the fact that it isn't just him and Bob anymore-there's Thelma as well, Bob's fiancée and soon to be Mrs.Ferris. All this unfolds superbly with great comic timing and a great continuing storyline throughout the 26 episodes and 1 Christmas special.

The stand-out episodes include: 'Strangers On A Train', 'No Hiding Place', 'Boy's Night In', 'End Of An Era', 'One For The Road', 'The Great Race', 'Conduct Unbecoming'. Rodney Bewes and James Bolam have both matured superbly into the lead roles and it's with age that this comedy series in my opinion has certainly come into itself. A fine supporting cast with hilarious consequences to be had in each and every episode, make this one of my personal favourite comedies along with 'Fawlty Towers' and 'Only Fools & Horses'. Another bonus is the catchy hit theme song by 'Highly Likely'-check it all out! UPDATE: May 2006 - The Complete Series 1 is now finally available in crystal quality at long last - Hoorraayyy!!! Since the release of 'The Very Best of' on DVD four years ago it was thought that the six episodes on this compilation were the only surviving episodes - criminal! However, this is not the case and we finally have the first 13 episodes available to enjoy forever. I do believe that Series 2 will be available to buy in August 2006!

All we need then is the 1974 Christmas Special - watch this space... UPDATE: August 7th 2006 - And finally, the Complete Series 2 arrives to our DVD screens with a special feature bonus of the Christmas Special 1974! Series 2 continues in fine style the story of Bob and Terry...and now Thelma, in one of the Best British TV Comedies of all time. There are some more wonderfully classic moments to cherish in this nicely designed 2-Disc package from the BBC which includes such great episodes as "Absent Friends", "One For The Road", "The Great Race", the brilliant "In Harms Way", "Conduct Unbecoming" and "The Shape Of Things To Come". Thank you Messrs. Clement & La Frenais! Once you have completed a run of the second series then check out the Christmas Special on this package where Terry is learning to drive and reminds Bob that he hasn't forgotten his hand signals! Timeless. 25 of 29 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Sitcom quiz Sitcom quiz Sitcom quiz Taking a shameless cue from that fine television institution, University Challenge, here is the Magazine's midweek quiz. Students on the BBC quiz were asked to identify characters from British sitcoms. Can you do any better? 1.) Sitcom quiz Where would you have found Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby? Renting a room in Rising Damp Staying at Fawlty Towers Cats in Bless This House 2.) Sitcom quiz In Sorry! Timothy Lumsden was still tied to his mother's apron strings despite being in his 40s. He eventually found love, but what was his girlfriend's name? Pippa Where did Terry and June live? Purley Hampton Wick 4.) Sitcom quiz What was the surname of Bob (on the left) in the 1960s hit, The Likely Lads? Scarborough Ferris 5.) Sitcom quiz James Bolam also played long-term NHS hospital bed occupant Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh. Who was the doctor he dreaded seeing? Dr Michael Upton In One Foot in the Grave, what had been Victor Meldrew's job before retirement?

Librarian Security guard 7.) Sitcom quiz And on a similar note, what did Tom do in the Good Life before turning his back on the rat race? Fridge fitter Where do George and Anthea appear together? Vicar of Dibley Who was bus driver Stan Butler's lecherous sidekick in On The Buses? Jack Harper Many sitcoms feature an annoying neighbour, but which had the particularly irritating Jeffrey Fourmile? Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps George and Mildred Keeping Up Appearances Answers It's staying at Fawlty Towers. The hard-of-hearing old ladies, played by Gilly Flower and Renee Robert, were permanent residents of the hotel and often the subject of Basil Fawlty's sarcasm. It was Pippa. Timothy Lumsden, played by Ronnie Corbett, left home in the last episode to be with her. Muriel was his sister and Annette a former love interest. They lived in Purley's Popular Avenue, on the outskirts of south London. Surbiton was where Tom and Barbara lived in The Good Life and Hampton Wick was George and Mildred's hometown. It's Ferris.

His full name, which was not revealed until Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads in the 1970s, was Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris. Collier was the surname of his co-star Terry, played by James Bolam. It's Dr Gordon Thorpe, who was played by Richard Wilson. Michael Upton was a junior doctor in the sitcom Doctor in the House and Geoffrey Loftus an ill-tempered surgeon. He was a security guard. In the first episode, he lost the job and was replaced by an automated machine. He was a draughtsman for a company that makes plastic toys for cereal packets, but he packed in his job on his 40th birthday for a self-sufficient life. It's in Men Behaving Badly. George and Anthea work for Gary and drive him mad with their old-fashioned approach to life. It was bus conductor Jack Harper. Arthur Rudge was his brother-in-law. It's George and Mildred. Jeffrey is an estate agent who turns his nose up at George.

Your Score BBC - Tyne - Entertainment - The Likely Lads The show had 27m viewers at its height The Likely Lads The Likely Lads was one of the classic British TV sitcoms. Take a trip back in time and meet the original men behaving badly. Sit on the couch with Bob and Terry and recall the days when two Geordie lads ruled the screens. From the 1960s through to the 1970s it was essential viewing across the nation. The Likely Lads was the first major TV show to be set on Tyneside. Successful writing team Dick Clement and Newcastle-born Ian La Frenais were behind the show. It was a slice-of-life comedy Terry Collier (Sunderland-born James Bolam) and Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes) had the whole country in stitches with their down-to-earth Geordie humour. At its height the show boasted 27m listeners. Different characters The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads ran between 1964 and 1973. Lifelong friends Bob Ferris and Terry Collier worked together and spent their nights boozing down the local pub.

Bob was the sensible one who tried to better himself. Terry was the irresponsible one who was always getting the lads into trouble. Bob was always open to new things from his new semi and his Vauxhall Viva to the latest fashions and fads. Terry hated anything new or trendy. He knew his class and his place and his only ambition was to get what he could out of any situation. Ant and Dec starrred in an episode remake Ant and Dec tribute In 2002, popular Geordie duo Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, aka Ant and Dec, starred in a remake of a classic episode of The Likely Lads. The pair were huge fans of the original series and In A Tribute to the Likely Lads, Ant played Terry while Dec took on the role of Bob. For their tribute, they remade a 1973 episode of the show called No Hiding Place, which is the most repeated original Likely Lads show on TV. The tribute saw Terry and Bob trying to avoid hearing the result of an England v Bulgaria World Cup game. Rodney Bewes appeared in a cameo role in the Ant and Dec tribute.

Speaking at the time he said: "I couldn't miss this - it's a very clever idea." Ant and Dec loved The Likely Lads as kids. "They were an inspiration for us," said Dec. The Likely Lads has retained its appeal The Geordie pair claimed that the success of the show gave them hope that they could become successful. The Likely Lads - some of the best bits "I'd offer you a beer but I've only got six cans." Terry to Bob. Hairdresser - "Do you want the beer, egg or herbal tonic?" Terry - "Nothing to drink for me, thanks." Bob - "They're shampoos, you fool." "In the chocolate box of life, the top layer's already gone...and someone's pinched the orange cream from the bottom" - Bob to Terry. Terry - "I haven't got much time for the Irish or the Welsh, and the Scots are worse..." Bob - "And you never could stand southerners." Terry - "To tell you the truth, I don't much like anyone outside this town.

And they're aren't many families down our street I can stand." last updated: 02/06/2008 at 10:39 created: 02/06/2008

Question: What is the surname of Terry, played by James Bolam, in the UK 1960’s television series ‘The Likely lads’?
Answer: Collier