Mick Goonahan (Hywel Bennett) is a marketing manager for a bra manufacturer. He is also a devout Catholic.
Unfortunately for his wife, Kate (Nanette Newman), that means he disapproves of contraception, and as a result, the couple have had six children in eight years. Kate wants no more.
Consequently, she has “withdrawn her favours” and imposed a “love ban” on Mick, who now sleeps in the spare room – and after ten months without sex, he is missing his conjugal rights and beginning to experience sexual fantasies (Including full-frontal nude netball).
Meanwhile, their Irish au pair Jackie (Angharad Rees) is having sex with a Jack-the-Lad type called Baker (Nicky Henson), and Mick – feeling responsible for her moral welfare – decides to intervene. He is abetted in his endeavours by his friend, wily old Roman Catholic priest Father Andrew (Milo O’Shea).
This leads to a rather heavy showdown with Kate asserting a woman’s “right to choose” her fertility and some well-aimed barbed comments at the Church. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Mick and Kate make up.
Despite the presence in the cast of experienced comic players such as John Cleese and Nicky Henson, the film remains resolutely unfunny. Special mention must go to Georgina Hale (playing her usual delightfully minxy type) and a foxy breathy-voiced Madeline Smith.
The film was based on the hit comedy play It’s a 2’6” Above the Ground World by Kevin Laffan.
Mick Goonahan
Hywel Bennett Kate Goonahan
Nanette Newman Jonathan Goonahan
Russell Lewis Sean Goonahan
Simon Henderson Susan Goonahan
Sally-Ann Ferber Lucy Goonahan
Claire McLellan Father Andrew
Milo O’Shea Baker
Nicky Henson Jackie
Angharad Rees Joyce
Georgina Hale Mrs Hale
Pauline Delaney Miss Partridge
Madeline Smith Bra Factory Director
Peter Barkworth Bra Factory Designer
Michael Sharvell-Martin Bra Model
Antonia Ellis Contraceptive Lecturer
John Cleese Mick’s Secretary
Angela Pleasence Pregnant Girl
Jacki Piper Pregnant Girl at Lecture
Cheryl Hall Skyline Waitress
Nina Baden-Semper
Director Ralph Thomas
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