''Two Up, Two Down'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Paul Nicholas Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer best known for starring as Vince Pinner in the BBC television sitcom '' Just Good Friends'' (1983—86). The show won a BAFTA and Nicholas was nominated ...

and

Su Pollard Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is a British actress, singer, songwriter and author whose career has spanned over 50 years. Pollard is most known for her role in the sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'' She also appeared in the sitcoms '' Y ...

. It aired for one series in 1979 and marked the television comedy debut of Su Pollard, later to become well known as Peggy in '' Hi-de-Hi!''. It was written by Janey Preger.

Cast

- Jimmy *

- Flo *Norman Tipton - Stan *Claire Faulconbridge - Sheila

Plot

When Stan and Sheila, both fairly strait-laced, move into their new house in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, they discover a pair of

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

s, Jimmy and Flo,

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in their bedroom. As the law will not remove them quickly, they decide to share the house. Stan and Sheila are soon fascinated by Jimmy's and Flo's relaxed lifestyle and philosophy.

Episodes

The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Fridays on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

at 8.30pm between 11 May 1979 and 15 June 1979.

Theme

The theme song, also called "Two Up, Two Down", was written by Dominic Bugatti and Frank Musker. It was sung by Paul Nicholas, and released as a single.

Reception

Hazel Holt, writing in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'', said it was "full of high spirits and innocent amusement. Perhaps Miss Preger's comedic view is too gentle and kind, a keener cutting edge might have sharpened the satire which, here, was inclined to collapse into a sort of woolly benevolence. Nevertheless, it is an original theme and has got off to a promising start." The ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' called it, "A yawn in the bedroom," and said, " tcould have been funny, but the script by Janey Preger, was far from that... he casttried very hard to make this trite offering as funny as possible, but it was the great bore of the evening". In 2013, Su Pollard said, "Shows stand or fall on whether the people who produce them can sell the idea properly or not. They billed it as a 'comedy drama', which was ludicrous".

Crew

* Writer: Janey Preger * Director: Roger Cheveley * Producer: Tara Prem * Costume designer: Gill Hardie * Set designer: Ian Rawnsley

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
British TV Comedy Guide for ''Two Up, Two Down''

External links

* {{Squatting 1979 British television series debuts 1979 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Films about squatting