''Chance in a Million'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. The series was co-written by

Andrew Norriss Andrew Norriss (born 1947) is a British children's author and a writer for television. Background Andrew Norriss was born in 1947. He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead followed by University at Trinity College Dublin (1966–70) ...

and Richard Fegen and starred

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

and Brenda Blethyn. The producer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the series was Michael Mills.

Plot

The premise of the show is that the main character, Tom Chance, is frequently the victim of unlikely circumstances, although he cares little about this and is, in fact, largely oblivious to much of what happens around him. He meets his long-suffering girlfriend, Alison Little, by chance. This happens when Tom Chance goes to the same

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

on a blind date to meet a girl (who is also called Alison), that Alison Little has arranged to meet her cousin Tom (for the first time since they were young children). Tom is shy towards Alison. However, Alison has fallen in love with Tom at first sight and she is keen for their friendship to develop into something more intimate. Tom has a tendency to get into trouble as a result of unlikely coincidences. This leads to Tom being arrested for crimes he did not commit – which happens so often that police Sergeant Gough eventually gives orders for Tom not to be arrested, no matter how suspicious the circumstances. Tom accepts the unintentional incidents which continuously occur in his life with great stoicism. Tom has an amusing ability to drink an entire pint of

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storag ...

in one gulp whilst in the middle of speaking a sentence. (According to Callow in a DVD commentary, a trick glass containing a fraction of a

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British impe ...

was actually used.) Tom's style of speaking is a key component of his comic nature. He speaks only in short staccato sentences similar to a telegram: "Can’t talk Alison. Car being towed. Problem with lawn furniture." He also has a fascination with Surrey and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

Alec Bedser Sir Alec Victor Bedser (4 July 1918 – 4 April 2010) was a professional English cricketer, primarily a medium-fast bowler. He is widely regarded as one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century. Bedser played first-class cricket fo ...

, and a cricket bat, which has been autographed by the cricketer, is one of Tom's most treasured possessions. (Or at least was, before it was chewed up by next door's alsatian.) And in the penultimate episode, Alison presents her husband-to-be with a book containing a signed dedication by Bedser, to Tom's great delight.

Cast

as Tom Chance * Brenda Blethyn as Alison Little * Ronnie Stevens (series 1), Hugh Walters (series 2 and 3) as Mr. Little *

Deddie Davies Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh character actress. Biography Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales. She trained at RADA and is most familiar to television viewers for comedy roles in a hos ...

as Mrs. Little *

Bill Pertwee William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom '' Dad's Army''. Early life Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 192 ...

as Sergeant Gough * Angus MacKay as Terrence Wingent *Geraldine Gardner aka Trudi Van Doorn as Barbara Wingent – (series 2 & 3) * Peter Corey as Cousin Thomas * Rosemary Smith as "Janet" – (series 3)

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (1984)

Series 2 (1986)

Series 3 (1986)

Home releases

Notes

Speaking about the series following its release on DVD Simon Callow said: "I loved doing it and it's one of the most popular things I ever did. The central character, Tom Chance, was a guy who was plagued by coincidence that was the basic formula of the series. The charming thing about him was that he seemed to belong to another world completely. He spoke in the most extraordinary way, which I think was derived from Mr. Jingle in ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

'' – he never used the personal pronouns ... He'd say, "... went to bank ... had problem ... sat down ... couldn't get out ... killed a woman ... very sad...". Brenda Blethyn, she's absolutely superb in it. Brenda and I and the writers are desperately keen to do a series, 25 years later on ... same couple ... I think it would be wonderful."Simon Callow speaking on ''The

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

Show'', Radio 5 Live, 22 May 2010. Brenda Blethyn, in her 2006 autobiography ''Mixed Fancies'', speaks of the series at length with clear affection and happy memories of the project.

References

* ''The Penguin TV Companion'' (2nd Edition) – Jeff Evans, Penguin Books Ltd., London, 2003

External links

* *
''Chance in a Million''
– BBC Comedy Guide

– British TV Comedy

– British TV Comedy {{DEFAULTSORT:Chance in a Million 1980s British sitcoms 1984 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings Channel 4 sitcoms Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows produced by Thames Television English-language television shows Television shows shot at Teddington Studios