Perfect State, A

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

Deputy Mayor Laura Fitzgerald (Gwen Taylor) discovers that the (fictional) English coastal town of Flatby has never actually been conquered. The town isn’t even in the Domesday Book as the area was flooded when the King’s survey came to visit.

There has also never been any official incorporation of Flatby into any country so it follows that the town was never officially annexed into the United Kingdom.

Taking advantage of the situation, Laura and the Mayor, Winston (Rudolph Walker) decide that Flatby should secede from the UK and form their own independent state – primarily to defend its beleaguered fishing industry from destructive EU regulations and rulings – becoming free of both Whitehall and the “deranged ding-a-lings of Brussels”.

Laura runs everything – including the local pub, the Rose and Crown – and is a relentless crusader for every cause that comes along. Her daughter, Julie (Jacqueline Defferary) is as precise as her mother is chaotic, and forms a relationship with Malcolm Batley (Matthew Cottle), an idealistic teacher and local history bore who initiates Flatby’s brave stand against the government and the European Union.

The Home Office send a flunky called Simon (Richard Hope) down from London, which also provides the love interest for Deputy Laura.

Laura Fitzgerald
Gwen Taylor
Bert
Trevor Cooper
Deidre
Emma Amos
Johnny
Danny Webb
Malcolm Batley
Matthew Cottle
Winston
Rudolph Walker
Julie Fitzgerald
Jacqueline Defferary
Simon
Richard Hope
Gareth
Alan David