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Barbara (TV series)

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Barbara
GenreSitcom
StarringGwen Taylor
Sam Kelly
Benedict Sandiford
Sherrie Hewson
Elizabeth Carling
Mark Benton
Madge Hindle
John Arthur
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes29
Production
Running time30 minutes
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, and three series were then televised from 1999 to 2003. It was made by Central Television, and filmed at their Lenton Lane 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. Despite winning awards and respectable viewing figures, it was axed by ITV in 2003. The series is regularly repeated on ITV3.

Background

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 a British sitcom, Barbara was written by a team of writers; Mark Bussell, Rob Clark, Ramsay Gilderdale, Graham Mark Walker and Justin Sbresni.

Cast

Plot

Barbara Liversidge (spelt Liversage in the pilot) is a no-nonsense, outspoken, nosey, middle-aged doctor's receptionist with a sharp tongue. She has been married to her husband Ted, a taxi driver, for 40 years; they live in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire. Their twenty-something lovelorn son Neil does very little. Their daughter, the long-suffering Linda is married to Martin Pond (Benson in the pilot). Martin is a chef in the pilot, while in the three series is a TV presenter who has his own show Pond Life on a local TV channel. Jean is her preening sister who is married to the simpering Phil. Barbara's colleague at the doctor's surgery is Doreen. Benedict Sandiford did not appear in the pilot. John Arthur did not appear in the pilot.

Episodes

Pilot (1995)

  • "Job" (10 July 1995)

Series One (1999)

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

  1. "Birthday" (27 June 1999) Ratings: 9.8m
  2. "Rivals" (4 July 1999) Ratings 8.21m
  3. "Amour" (11 July 1999) Ratings: 7.44m
  4. "Friends" (18 July 1999) Ratings: 6.4m
  5. "Coffee" (25 July 1999) Ratings: 7.18m
  6. "Scattering" (1 August 1999) Ratings: 5.02m

Series Two (2000-01)

  1. "Kids" (24 November 2000) Ratings: 7.55m
  2. "Massage" (1 December 2000) Ratings: N/A
  3. "Mum" (8 December 2000) Ratings: 8.70m
  4. "Christening" (15 December 2000) Ratings: 7.56m
  5. "Tyres" (22 December 2000) Ratings: 6.89m
  6. "Fox" (24 December 2000) Ratings: 7.59m
  7. "Sisters" (23 March 2001) Ratings: 5.80m
  8. "Mate" (30 March 2001) Ratings: N/A
  9. "Wedding" (6 April 2001) Ratings: 5.97m
  10. "Sheep" (24 June 2001) Ratings: N/A

Series Three (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 ITN coverage of the Gulf war. The Series Three DVD release contains the full twelve episodes.[1]

  1. "Queenie" (23 April 2002) Ratings: 6.97m
  2. "Flood" (7 May 2002) Ratings: 5.4m
  3. "Valentine" (11 May 2002) Ratings: 4.8m
  4. "Crime" (14 May 2002) Ratings: 6.74m
  5. "Weekend" (21 May 2002) Ratings: 4.7m
  6. "Baby" (28 May 2002) Ratings: 4.97m
  7. "Honeymoon" (23 February 2003) Ratings: 5.34m
  8. "Neighbours" (2 March 2003) Ratings: 5.42m
  9. "Guy Fawkes" (9 March 2003) Ratings: 5.94m
  10. "Kirsty" (16 March 2003) Ratings: 5.02m
  11. "Cottage" (28 March 2003)
  12. "Who Shot Barbara?" (4 April 2003)

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.

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'.[2] 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',[3] 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?'.[4] 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[5]

DVD Releases

DVD Release date
The Complete Series 1 13 September 2010
The Complete Series 2 17 January 2011
The Complete Series 3 23 May 2011
The Complete Series 1 - 3 Box Set 24 October 2011

References

  1. ^ BBFC Entry for Series Three DVD Release
  2. ^ The Guardian; 8 July 1995, page B70
  3. ^ The Guardian; 24 November 2000, page 20
  4. ^ Catchpole, Charlie. 'Lonely at the Top for Babs', The Mirror; 28 November 2000, page 13
  5. ^ The Guardian; 29 April 2002, page 9
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