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added Barbara Pilot Episode Job based on the grounds of Bless This House Ted Rogers Elton John Sidney James Desmond Lynam Richard Whiteley Nicholas Hewer Jeffrey Stelling
added Barbara Series 1 based on the grounds of Bless This House Surgical Spirit MacDonald and Dodds Lewis A Touch of Frost Kavanagh QC Midsomer Murders The Good Life The Bay Vera Grantchester Keeping up Appearances Sweeney! Commando Strategic Air Command Nuns on the Run Catch Me If You Can Born and Bred Rosemary and Thyme Home to Roost The Jeremy Kyle Show UK The X Factor USA University Challenge Tournament with Jeremy Paxman Wipeout with Paul Daniels Blockbusters with Bob Holness
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| Viewers = 9.80
| Viewers = 9.80
| ShortSummary = Abrasive doctor's receptionist Barbara is preparing for her sister Jean's birthday when daughter Linda rings to say she is ill. Barbara takes over her job as a market researcher but gets so many complaints she has to take drastic action to prevent Linda from getting the sack. Fellow receptionist Doreen decides that, at fifty-eight, she wants a baby but is put off after a traumatic experience, whilst Barbara's husband Ted is relieved to discover he was not responsible for killing the man next door and Linda's journalist husband Martin's job as an investigative reporter for Sky TV is short-lived. However everything comes together for the birthday karaoke.
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 2
| EpisodeNumber2 = 2
| Viewers = 8.21
| Viewers = 8.21
| ShortSummary = Barbara and Doreen find themselves competing for the attention of handsome young Dr. Brown but when he clearly prefers to spend time with pretty computer operator Sandra they gang up on him. Martin, who now has his own TV spot Pondlife, finds himself an unwilling love object due to besotted weather girl Karen's obsession with his thumbs whilst Jean, though humiliated when boyfriend Phil gets into a public fight with a rival lollipop man, relents when he proposes to her. Taxi driver Ted gets his vehicle stolen by a Mr. Spock impersonator but picks him out at the identity parade from his false ears.
| ShortSummary =
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 3
| EpisodeNumber2 = 3
| Viewers = 7.44
| Viewers = 7.44
| ShortSummary = Having been sacked as a hospital visitor for failing to notice when a patient passed out, Barbara is not in the best of moods, especially as Ted is out clubbing with his new young friends, so she is ready to take on the builders across the road who have been waking her up at unearthly hours. Meanwhile Doreen and her husband are cautioned for dogging, Martin gets stripped and tied to a parking meter on a friend's stag night and Jean's romance with Phil continues to run anything but smoothly.
| ShortSummary =
| LineColor = F28500
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 4
| EpisodeNumber2 = 4
| Viewers = 6.40
| Viewers = 6.40
| ShortSummary = Ted finds a salmon left in his cab so Barbara cooks it for tea but when the irate owner arrives demanding its return Ted buys another and pushes it through the letter box. Martin uses his TV spot to criticize Barbara after she insults him and Linda snubs her. However when Barbara learns that Linda is expecting she has to swallow her pride and apologize. Doreen's husband gets involved in a neighbourhood war over hose-pipe bans whilst Jean leaves Phil for a muffins entrepreneur.
| ShortSummary =
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 5
| EpisodeNumber2 = 5
| Viewers = 7.18
| Viewers = 7.18
| ShortSummary = Jean returns to Phil but her obsession with his baldness leads Linda and Neil to believe that she is also bald and they try to prove it. A mix-up over an anorak wrongly picked up in the pub leads to Ted being arrested whilst Barbara regrets going for coffee with a lonely patient who falls in love with her. Meanwhile Martin gets stuck with his director's surly son on work experience and dumps the annoying boy by the roadside. However a bizarre coincidence solves both Barbara and Martin's problems.
| ShortSummary =
| LineColor = F28500
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| EpisodeNumber2 = 6
| EpisodeNumber2 = 6
| Viewers = 5.02
| Viewers = 5.02
| ShortSummary = Barbara drags the rest of the family to the Yorkshire moors to scatter her mother's ashes but no sooner has she begun the ritual than Linda's waters break. Everybody piles into the car to get her home but, as Martin has changed the locks, the baby is born at Barbara's - with Barbara already planning her grandson's life. Martin rushes to be with his wife, taking lifts from a taxi driver who loses his way and a woman said to be the worst driver in Britain.
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Revision as of 15:43, 18 September 2023

Barbara
GenreSitcom
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes29
Production
Production locationCarlton Studios[1]
Running time25 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkITV
Release10 July 1995 (1995-07-10) –
4 April 2003 (2003-04-04)

Barbara is a British sitcom starring Gwen Taylor in the title role. A pilot was broadcast in 1995 by Central Television, and three series were then televised on ITV from 1999 to 2003 by Carlton Television. It was filmed at Carlton Studios in Nottingham in front of a live studio audience. The majority of location scenes for the series were filmed in various suburbs of Nottingham, including Mapperley and West Bridgford, with other scenes filmed around Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Plot

Barbara Liversidge is a no-nonsense, outspoken, nosey, middle-aged doctor's receptionist with a sharp tongue. She has been married to her husband Ted, a mild-mannered taxi driver, for 40 years. Barbara is by far the dominant figure in the relationship, but Ted does occasionally stand up to her. The pair live in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire with their twenty-something son Neil, who drifts between jobs and a succession of short-term relationships. Their daughter, the long-suffering Linda, is married to Martin Pond, a TV presenter who has his own slot on the local news, Pond Life, which generally involves him making a fool of himself. Jean is Barbara's appearance-obsessed sister (Barbara once claims she's had so much plastic surgery that "she literally doesn't know her arse from her elbow") who marries the simpering Phil. Barbara's colleague at the doctor's surgery, Doreen, often regales Barbara with tales of the bizarre situations she and her never-seen husband Clive find themselves in.

Much of the humour revolves around Barbara's tactlessness and her family's fear of getting on the wrong side of her. While the family often complain about her, they usually find they struggle to manage when Barbara doesn't take charge. Although the show initially appears to have a very traditional sitcom setting, surreal humour is frequently used, such as Barbara baking a cake that looks like Judi Dench and a taxidermist friend of Ted's stuffing and mounting his dead wife. There were also some more drama-based plots, such as Linda's discovery she can't have any more children after the birth of her son George. In a particularly dark development, the final episode ("Who Shot Barbara?") ends with an unseen assailant shooting Barbara from behind - a cliffhanger which is never resolved.

Cast

Series overview

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
Pilot10 July 1995 (1995-07-10)
1627 June 1999 (1999-06-27)1 August 1999 (1999-08-01)
21024 November 2000 (2000-11-24)24 June 2001 (2001-06-24)
31223 April 2002 (2002-04-23)4 April 2003 (2003-04-04)

Episodes

Pilot (1995)

No.
overall		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Job"Les ChatfieldMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale10 July 1995 (1995-07-10)
Pushy Barbara Liversage - to be spelled Liversidge in later episodes - is a receptionist at a Leeds doctors' surgery,married to the mild-mannered taxi driver Ted. Barbara's daughter Linda is married to Martin Benson,a chef,who annoys Barbara when he announces that he and his wife and baby are relocating to Wales,causing Barbara to intervene. Note: In the subsequent series Martin's surname was Pond and he was a reporter for a local television show.

Series 1 (1999)

All Sunday, 8 pm, ITV except Scattering, shown at 7 pm

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [2]
21"Birthday"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale27 June 1999 (1999-06-27)9.80
Abrasive doctor's receptionist Barbara is preparing for her sister Jean's birthday when daughter Linda rings to say she is ill. Barbara takes over her job as a market researcher but gets so many complaints she has to take drastic action to prevent Linda from getting the sack. Fellow receptionist Doreen decides that, at fifty-eight, she wants a baby but is put off after a traumatic experience, whilst Barbara's husband Ted is relieved to discover he was not responsible for killing the man next door and Linda's journalist husband Martin's job as an investigative reporter for Sky TV is short-lived. However everything comes together for the birthday karaoke.
32"Rivals"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale4 July 1999 (1999-07-04)8.21
Barbara and Doreen find themselves competing for the attention of handsome young Dr. Brown but when he clearly prefers to spend time with pretty computer operator Sandra they gang up on him. Martin, who now has his own TV spot Pondlife, finds himself an unwilling love object due to besotted weather girl Karen's obsession with his thumbs whilst Jean, though humiliated when boyfriend Phil gets into a public fight with a rival lollipop man, relents when he proposes to her. Taxi driver Ted gets his vehicle stolen by a Mr. Spock impersonator but picks him out at the identity parade from his false ears.
43"Armour"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale11 July 1999 (1999-07-11)7.44
Having been sacked as a hospital visitor for failing to notice when a patient passed out, Barbara is not in the best of moods, especially as Ted is out clubbing with his new young friends, so she is ready to take on the builders across the road who have been waking her up at unearthly hours. Meanwhile Doreen and her husband are cautioned for dogging, Martin gets stripped and tied to a parking meter on a friend's stag night and Jean's romance with Phil continues to run anything but smoothly.
54"Friends"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale18 July 1999 (1999-07-18)6.40
Ted finds a salmon left in his cab so Barbara cooks it for tea but when the irate owner arrives demanding its return Ted buys another and pushes it through the letter box. Martin uses his TV spot to criticize Barbara after she insults him and Linda snubs her. However when Barbara learns that Linda is expecting she has to swallow her pride and apologize. Doreen's husband gets involved in a neighbourhood war over hose-pipe bans whilst Jean leaves Phil for a muffins entrepreneur.
65"Coffee"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale25 July 1999 (1999-07-25)7.18
Jean returns to Phil but her obsession with his baldness leads Linda and Neil to believe that she is also bald and they try to prove it. A mix-up over an anorak wrongly picked up in the pub leads to Ted being arrested whilst Barbara regrets going for coffee with a lonely patient who falls in love with her. Meanwhile Martin gets stuck with his director's surly son on work experience and dumps the annoying boy by the roadside. However a bizarre coincidence solves both Barbara and Martin's problems.
76"Scattering"Richard BodenMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale1 August 1999 (1999-08-01)5.02
Barbara drags the rest of the family to the Yorkshire moors to scatter her mother's ashes but no sooner has she begun the ritual than Linda's waters break. Everybody piles into the car to get her home but, as Martin has changed the locks, the baby is born at Barbara's - with Barbara already planning her grandson's life. Martin rushes to be with his wife, taking lifts from a taxi driver who loses his way and a woman said to be the worst driver in Britain.

Series 2 (2000–01)

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [2]
81"Kids"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale24 November 2000 (2000-11-24)7.55
92"Massage"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale1 December 2000 (2000-12-01)<7.33
103"Mum"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale8 December 2000 (2000-12-08)8.70
114"Christening"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale15 December 2000 (2000-12-15)7.56
125"Tyres"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale22 December 2000 (2000-12-22)6.89
136"Fox"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale24 December 2000 (2000-12-24)7.59
147"Sisters"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale23 March 2001 (2001-03-23)5.80
158"Mate"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale30 March 2001 (2001-03-30)<5.43
169"Wedding"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale6 April 2001 (2001-04-06)5.97
1710"Sheep"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale24 June 2001 (2001-06-24)<4.34

Series 3 (2002–03)

The twelve episodes making up Series Three were recorded as a complete series in 2001, but were split into two separate series upon broadcast - six airing in 2002 and the remaining six airing in 2003. The 2002 episodes were shown Tuesdays at 8.30 pm, apart from "Flood" which was shown at 8.00 pm and "Valentine" which was shown on a Saturday at 7.45 pm. All 2003 episodes were shown Sundays at 7.00 pm; with the exception of the last 2 episodes on Fridays at 8.30 pm due to the ITV News coverage of the Iraq war. The Series Three DVD release contains the full twelve episodes.[3]

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [2]
181"Queenie"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale23 April 2002 (2002-04-23)6.97
192"Flood"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale7 May 2002 (2002-05-07)5.40
203"Valentine"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale11 May 2002 (2002-05-11)4.80
214"Crime"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale14 May 2002 (2002-05-14)6.74
225"Weekend"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale21 May 2002 (2002-05-21)4.70
236"Baby"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale28 May 2002 (2002-05-28)4.97
247"Honeymoon"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale23 February 2003 (2003-02-23)5.34
258"Neighbours"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale2 March 2003 (2003-03-02)5.42
269"Guy Fawkes"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale9 March 2003 (2003-03-09)5.94
2710"Kirsty"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale16 March 2003 (2003-03-16)5.02
2811"Cottege"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale28 March 2003 (2003-03-28)<4.74
2912"Who Shot Barbara?"Nic PhillipsMark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale4 April 2003 (2003-04-04)<5.07

Filming locations

The majority of location scenes for the series were filmed in various suburbs of Nottingham, including Mapperley and West Bridgford. The exterior location for the Liversidge house is located on Sandford Road in Mapperley, whilst the exterior used for Barbara's workplace is the West Oak Surgery on nearby Westdale Lane.

Martin's news studio is the exterior of Carlton's Lenton Lane studios.

Release

Barbara was first shown as a pilot within the Comedy Firsts series on 10 July 1995. Four years later, on 27 June 1999 the first of three series was presented, with some of the cast and names of the characters being changed from when the programme first appeared. Unusually for an English sitcom, Barbara was written by a team of writers; Mark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale, Graham Mark Walker and Justin Sbresni.

Reception

Initial reactions to the pilot were lukewarm. While The Guardian described Taylor as 'ever-watchable', it felt there was too much focus on character at the expense of plot, summing up 'whether or not there's a series in here remains to be seen'.[4] Critics remained ambivalent as Barbara progressed to full series; previewing the second series opener in The Guardian, Jonathan Wright felt the show had become 'an enjoyable slice of mainstream sitcom',[5] but Charlie Catchpole in The Mirror felt Taylor and Kelly were both 'sadly wasted', remarking 'Carlton Television say Barbara is ITV's most popular comedy for five years. I believe them. It's not exactly a crowded field, is it?'.[6] However, every episode of the 1999 and 2002 series was in ITV's top 30 weekly ratings as compiled by BARB and audience figures frequently averaged around 5-7 million viewers, 17 of the episodes winning their slots, meaning they were the most watched shows at the time of broadcast.

The Independent Television Commission's annual report for 2001 labelled Barbara 'a rare exception' to the otherwise unimpressive 'commitment to comedy shown by ITV', as represented by shows such as Sam's Game and Babes in the Wood.[7]

DVD releases

DVD Release date No. of
discs		 BBFC
rating		 Ref.
The Complete Series 1 13 September 2010 1 PG [8][9]
The Complete Series 2 17 January 2011 2 PG [10][9]
The Complete Series 3 23 May 2011 2 12 [11][9]
The Complete Series 24 October 2011 5 12 [12]

References

  1. ^ "Ex-ITV Regional Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)". barb.co.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. ^ BBFC Entry for Series Three DVD Release
  4. ^ The Guardian; 8 July 1995, page B70
  5. ^ The Guardian; 24 November 2000, page 20
  6. ^ Catchpole, Charlie. 'Lonely at the Top for Babs', The Mirror; 28 November 2000, page 13
  7. ^ The Guardian; 29 April 2002, page 9
  8. ^ "BARBARA COMPLETE SERIES 1[DVD]". towerrecords.ie. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "Barbara". British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Barbara - The Complete Second Series [2000]". amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Barbara: The Complete Third Series [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Barbara: The Complete Series". hmv.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
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