1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 3 (UK)
12 x 60 minute episodes
This ITV anthology drama series from Granada Television premiered on Sunday 25 July 1982 with ‘A Dedicated Man’ starring Alec McCowen as Mr Silcox, a workaholic head waiter, who persuades lonely unmarried waitress Edith (Joan Plowright) to pose as his wife in order to secure a better post at a select residential hotel.
The pair concoct a fictitious teenage son named ‘Julian’ and slowly, Edith’s maternal affection for the fictional Julian threatens the perfect world of Silcox.
Stars of subsequent episodes included Frank Finlay, Maggie Smith (pictured in ‘Mrs Silly’), Jean Simmons, Geraldine McEwan, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Nigel Havers, Lionel Jeffries, Ian Carmichael, John Junkin, and Joan Sanderson.
The series, adapted from short stories by popular English writers, stretched for two series over two years. All episodes were produced by Roy Roberts.
Episodes
A Dedicated Man | Mona | L’Elegance | A Different Kind of Love | A Bit of Singing and Dancing | Lovers of Their Time || Down at the Hydro | Miss A and Miss M | Mrs Silly | Letting the Birds Go Free | Fireworks for Elspeth | To the Camp and Back