1 9 9 2 – 1 9 9 3 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
Irrepressible 41-year-old Annie Briggs (Diane Bull) – who prefers to be called “Annabel” but rarely is, and was once known as “the Jackie Onassis of Bethnal Green” – had been a good-time girl of the Swinging Sixties – seen in trendy nightclubs escorted by a succession of pop stars, footballers and playboys.
Various men paid the rent and the school fees for her illegitimate daughter Tiffany (Alison Lomas) – by a fashion photographer called Justin (George Irving).
Then she married a millionaire businessman called Boris, who provided a mock Tudor home in the stockbroker belt, complete with a swimming pool, jacuzzi and silver Mercedes sports car.
When he died suddenly, Annie (whose favourite word was “phenomenal!”) was left penniless and forced to move back in with her working-class Mum, Kitty (Vilma Hollingbery) and dad, George (John Cater) and twin sister, Sylvie (Heather Tobias), on their “Colonel Sanders Starter-Kit” chicken farm.
After her life of luxury, this came as something of a jolt.
This BBC comedy series was written by John Sullivan – the man responsible for Citizen Smith, Only Fools and Horses and Dear John.
Annie Briggs
Diane Bull
Kitty
Vilma Hollingbery
Sylvie
Heather Tobias
Tiffany
Alison Lomas
George
John Cater
Justin
George Irving
Gordon
David Ashford
Philip
Nicky Henson
Boris
John Challis