Sob Sisters

1 9 8 9 (UK)
7 x 30 minute episodes

Gwen Taylor – fresh from Duty Free and A Bit Of A Do – starred as Liz, a struggling single lady of 40-something who suddenly found her glamorous but frivolous and scatterbrained, newly widowed sister, Dorothy (Polly Adams) on the doorstep of her grotty little flat.

Jetsetting Dorothy was more familiar with five-star hotels than two-bedroom flats, although she was now penniless, homeless and jobless since the death of her businessman husband.

Liz agreed to take her in, and life was turned upside down as they tried to survive without driving each other around the twist.

Liz worked as a receptionist for an eccentric vet, played by veteran actor Freddie Jones in his first sitcom. The only other man in the regular cast was Liz’s gay neighbour and friend, Charlie (Philip Bird).

Sob Sisters was filmed at Central Television’s Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham and on location in the surrounding local area.

The production faced an expensive repair bill when a double-decker bus they were filming ran out of control. A stunt driver was supposed to stop the bus after it ploughed through the flower beds in the front garden of a house in Torvill Drive, Wollaton, but the vehicle skidded and demolished a bay window at the front of the house.

Sob Sisters was written by Andrew Marshall (who co-wrote Hot Metal, Whoops Apocalypse and the Alexei Sayle series) and was directed by Ray Butt, formerly at the helm of Only Fools and Horses.

Liz
Gwen Taylor
Dorothy
Polly Adams
Leo
Freddie Jones
Charlie
Philip Bird
Edna
Beryl Cook

Episodes

I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore | Close to the Edge | She Wore the Dress While I Stayed Home | Who Was That Gentleman I Saw You With Last Night? | Streetwise | A Night at the Opera | We Need a Little Christmas