''Home to Roost'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

produced by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

between 19 April 1985 and 19 January 1990. Written by Eric Chappell, it stars

John Thaw John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series '' Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...

as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his teenaged son Matthew. The premise is that Henry Willows, a 40-something who has been divorced from his wife for seven years and is perfectly happy living alone in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

until his oldest child, Matthew arrives to live with him after being thrown out by his mother. The episodes generally revolve around Henry's annoyance at having his solitude disturbed and the age gap between father and son. Henry employs two cleaners during the show's life; first Enid Thompson and in the third series, Fiona Fennell. The show's theme tune is

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...

's "''

Consider Yourself "Consider Yourself" is a song from the 1960 original West End and Broadway musical '' Oliver!'' and the 1968 film of the same name. It was introduced on Broadway by Davy Jones and the ensemble. In the 1968 film version, it is performed in the ma ...

''" from ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age Musical theatre, stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre ...

'', arranged in a jazz style by Peter Knight. The series was later repeated on

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 ...

ITV3 ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel ...

and Forces TV. All 29 episodes have now been released on DVD by the Network imprint.

Main cast

as Henry Willows - Henry is a divorced middle-aged man who lives by himself, but when his son, Matthew, turns up on his door step, expecting to be waited on hand and foot, his life is turned upside down. * Reece Dinsdale as Matthew Willows - Matthew is a teenager who gets himself into trouble, and is obsessed with girls and money. * Elizabeth Bennett as Enid Thompson - Enid is Henry's first cleaner. She is nosey and appears to be attracted to Henry. *

Joan Blackham Joan Blackham (15 May 1946 – 6 September 2020) was a British actress with a long stage, film and television career. Education Blackham attended The Alice Ottley School, Worcester and was head of Carroll house. Career Blackham was a profes ...

as Fiona Fennell - Fiona is Henry's second cleaner. *

Rebecca Lacey Rebecca Jane Lacey (born 20 April 1965) is an English actress.Internet Movie DatabasRebecca Lacey/ref> Early life She was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, the daughter of actor Ronald Lacey and actress Mela White. Career Lacey is best kn ...

as Julie Willows - Julie is Henry's daughter and Matthew's sister. Despite living with her mother after her parents' divorce she appears to be a daddy's girl. *

Sheila Hancock Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and music ...

- Sue Willows - Henry's ex-wife. She only appears in one episode.

Series Overview

*Series 1: 19 April 1985 to 31 May 1985 (7 Episodes) *Series 2: 5 September 1986 to 17 October 1986 (7 Episodes) *Series 3: 24 October 1987 to 5 December 1987 (7 Episodes) *Christmas Special: 27 December 1987 (1 Episode) *Series 4: 1 December 1989 to 19 January 1990 (7 Episodes)

Episode list

Series 1 (1985)

Series 2 (1986)

Series 3 (1987)

1987 Christmas Special

Series 4 (1989-1990)

Foreign versions

*The US version, ''

You Again? ''You Again?'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for two seasons on NBC from February 27, 1986, to January 7, 1987. It was based on the British show ''Home to Roost''. Synopsis Jack Klugman stars as Henry Willows, a man still em ...

'' was less successful and lasted two seasons, totalling 26 episodes. Elizabeth Bennett reprised the role of Enid in the show. *The Dutch version, ''Ha, die Pa!'' (''Hello, Dad!'') ran from 1990 to 1993 and was broadcast by NCRV. Luc Lutz (1924-2001) and his son Joris starred as Norbert and Matthijs Hoogendijk. Keeping it in the family, Pieter Lutz (1927-2009) guested as the homeless old man in the adaptation of the 'Getting on?!' episode. Matthijs' sister Freddie was played by Bettina Berger.

External links

*. *. {{Eric Chappell 1985 British television series debuts 1990 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms 1990s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms Television series by Yorkshire Television Television shows set in London Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows