''Just Good Friends'' 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 ...

written by John Sullivan. It stars

Paul Nicholas Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer. He started out with a pop career, but soon changed to musical theatre, playing the lead role in ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the West End’s Palace T ...

and

Jan Francis Janet Stephanie Francis (born 5 August 1947) is an English actress. She appeared as Penny Warrender in the 1980s romantic comedy ''Just Good Friends''. Early life Francis was born at the former Charing Cross Hospital London. She is the eldes ...

as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the altar. Three series and a 90-minute Christmas special were produced for the BBC by

Ray Butt Raymond William Butt (25 June 1935 – 12 July 2013) was a British television producer and director. He worked on several sitcoms for BBC television and became best known for '' Only Fools and Horses''. Early life Butt grew up in London as an on ...

. In 2004, it came 43rd in ''

Britain's Best Sitcom ''Britain's Best Sitcom'' was a BBC media campaign in which television viewers were asked to decide the best British situation comedy. Viewers could vote via telephone, SMS, or BBC Online. This first round of voting was conducted in 2003, aft ...

''.

Background

Writer John Sullivan had previously written two successful sitcoms for the BBC, ''

Citizen Smith ''Citizen Smith'' is a British television sitcom written by John Sullivan, first broadcast from 1977 to 1980. It starred Robert Lindsay as Walter Henry "Wolfie" Smith, a young Marxist "urban guerrilla" in Tooting, south London, who is attempti ...

'' and ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...

''. The lead roles in these series had all been male, and Sullivan felt he should base his new sitcom on a woman. His source of inspiration was a letter in a magazine read to him by his wife, written by a woman who had been jilted by her fiancé on the day of her wedding. According to a 2007 ''

Comedy Connections ''Comedy Connections'' is a BBC One documentary series produced by BBC Scotland that aired from 2003 to 2008. The show looked at the stories behind the production of some of Britain's comedy television programmes, showing how they tied in with ...

'' documentary on ''Just Good Friends'', Sullivan was originally motivated to create the character by Cheryl Hall, the co-star of ''Citizen Smith''. Hall complained that Sullivan was incapable of writing comedy for women, always giving the best of his material to the male characters. Sullivan was stung by the remark because, in his words, "she was absolutely right", and deliberately set out to create a strong and funny female lead. Jan Francis, who had played Lisa Colbert in '' Secret Army'', was cast as Penny, and established theatre actor

was chosen to play Vincent, although this was his first major television role. Being a notable singer, Nicholas also performed the title

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

, written by John Sullivan and arranged by

Ronnie Hazlehurst Ronald Hazlehurst (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director. Hazlehurst composed the theme tunes for many well-known Briti ...

. For the end title music, Hazlehurst arranged the theme for

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

Plot

The series follows the wavering relationship between two ex-lovers, Penny Warrender, a secretary for an advertising firm, and Vincent Pinner, an ex-ice cream salesman turned

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

who is the son of a wealthy scrap metal merchant. The couple (who first met in the summer of 1976 at a party hosted by an ex Roadie of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

) split up following Vincent's decision to jilt Penny on their wedding day in June 1978, leaving her at the altar. In the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

, five years since their intended wedding day, the pair meet again by chance in a pub while out on individual dates. The pair decide to forget the past and become friends, although the rekindling of their relationship is not welcomed by Penny's snobbish parents, particularly her mother, Daphne, played by

Sylvia Kay Sylvia Margaret Kay (16 May 1936 – 18 January 2019) was an English character actress who had many roles in British television programmes, most notably as Daphne Warrender in the BBC sitcom ''Just Good Friends''. Early life She attended Round ...

. The 1984 90-minute Christmas special is a prequel to the series showing how Penny and Vince first met, loved and how Penny was jilted and married Graham. The last episode of the second series was intended to be the final episode, with Penny leaving for a job in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The cast reunited in 1986 for a final seven episodes, in which Penny and Vince meet up in Paris two years after they split up. Penny is now divorced and Vince is married; the couple renew their relationship and Vince, now a successful businessman, gives up everything for a quick divorce to pay off his wife Gina so he can be with Penny. In the final episode, Vince is still recovering from his painful divorce when his father pays a visit. Vince is told that unless he calls the wedding off, a lucrative wine export contract cannot be signed: Gina's way of blackmailing the Pinners by hitting where it hurts. Similarly, Penny is told that unless she calls the wedding off, her father's new job may not happen and at work, she is offered a permanent basing in Paris, all because Gina Marshall (Vince's ex) is too important a client to turn down. Eventually, she accepts the new posting but uses it to her advantage by returning to Paris and marrying Vince at the town hall.

Cast

Main

as Vincent Pinner *

as Penny Warrender *

John Ringham John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was a British actor who appeared on both television and stage. Among his roles was that of Norman Warrender in the 1980s sitcom '' Just Good Friends''. Early life Ringham was born in Ch ...

as Norman Warrender *

as Daphne Warrender *

Shaun Curry Shaun Curry (5 June 1937 - 7 July 2009) was a British actor, best known for his appearances on television. His credits include: ''Z-Cars'', '' The Saint'', ''Warship'', ''The Sweeney'', '' The New Avengers'', '' Secret Army'', ''Poldark'', ''T ...

as Les Pinner *

Ann Lynn Elizabeth Ann Lynn (7 November 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a British actress, especially prominent during the British New Wave of the 1960s, appearing in many films that represented what is known as kitchen sink realism. Lynn's career spanne ...

as Rita Pinner * Adam French as Clifford Pinner

Recurring

* Charlotte Seely as Georgina "Gina" Marshall, Vince's wife (Series 3) * Colette Gleeson as Elaine, Penny's friend and co-worker * James Lister as Lennie, Vince's friend *

Bill Wallis William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre. Biography Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of A ...

as A.J. Styles, Penny's boss *

Sally Faulkner Sally Faulkner (born 1944) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her film appearances in movies such as ''The Body Stealers'' (1969), ''Layout for 5 Models'' (1972), '' Vampyres'' (1974), '' Feelings'' (1975), ''I'm Not Feelin ...

as Bev, Vince's secretary (Series 3) * Andrew Tourell as Graham Pratt, Penny's husband

Home releases

The first two series had been released in a joint boxset in the UK under the Universal Playback label. However, these were edited due to music clearance rights. The third series was not released. In 2008,

Cinema Club 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

bought the rights to the series and were to re-release series one and two in June 2009, with series three to follow. These were later cancelled. DVD company Eureka bought the rights to the series and released the complete collection on 25 October 2010 "containing all three series including the 1984 Christmas Special". Unfortunately copyright clearance could not be obtained for all the music included in the Christmas Special, and as Eureka "could not isolate and remove the music alone" they "had to replace that portion of the programme's soundtrack and feature the dialogue in subtitles" feeling this was "a better option than cutting out the scene in its entirety".

References

External links

* * * * (note:some of the cast information on this link is incorrect)
''Just Good Friends''
at phill.co.uk {{BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series) 1981–1999 1983 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings 1980s British romantic comedy television series 1980s British sitcoms BBC romance television shows BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Television series about couples Television series about families Works about divorce