Birds on the Wing

1 9 7 1 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes

This short-lived summer comedy series for BBC2 was written by Peter Yeldham, who adapted his own West End stage play of the same name.

Samantha (Julia Lockwood) and Elizabeth (Anne Rogers) – described as a pair of charming, innocent, lying cows – set out to swindle gullible businessman Charles Jackson (Richard Briers) in the promising surroundings of the Italian capital.

Unfortunately for the ladies, their intended victim turned out to be a conman and blackmailer himself, which inevitably led to the formation of a three-person team and, in subsequent episodes, Charlie and the girls went into action against more genuinely unsuspecting prospects, hatching complicated plots to separate Achmed, Abdul and Uskudar from their money.

But the three couldn’t help constantly trying to swindle each other . . .

In the final episode, Charlie went looking for the girls in Geneva (where the trio kept their numbered bank accounts), but they had scarpered to Tokyo.

Charles Jackson
Richard Briers
Samantha
Julia Lockwood
Elizabeth
Anne Rogers