''Solo'' 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 ...

that aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 1981 to 1982. Starring

Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her ...

, ''Solo'' was written by

Carla Lane Romana Barrack (5 August 1928 – 31 May 2016), known professionally as Carla Lane, was an English television writer responsible for several successful British sitcoms, including '' The Liver Birds'' (co-creator, 1969–1979), ''Butterflies'' (1 ...

, a writer well known for having previously written the sitcom ''

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

''. Kendal plays Gemma Palmer, a woman who changes her life after discovering her live-in boyfriend has had an affair.

Production

Following the success of the BBC sitcom The Good Life, each of its four main stars were given their own programme with them as the lead, and ''Solo'' was Kendal's. Similar to Carla Lane's sitcom ''Butterflies'', ''Solo'' has serious themes and plots but still has humour. The programme was produced by

Gareth Gwenlan Gareth Gwenlan (26 April 1937 – 8 May 2016) was a Welsh television producer, director and executive, best known for his work on shows such as ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', ''Butterflies'', ''To the Manor Born'', ''Only Fools and Ho ...

. The theme music was the theme from Op. 107 no. 7 by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, a set of flute and piano variations on the Ukrainian folk song ''Minka''.

Cast

– Gemma Palmer *

Elspet Gray Elspet Jean Gray, Baroness Rix (née Gray; 12 April 1929 – 18 February 2013) was a Scottish actress, who first became known for her partnership with her husband, Brian Rix, and later was cast in many television roles in the 1970s and 1980s. S ...

– Mrs. Elizabeth Palmer *Sarah Bullen – Julia * Stephen Moore – Danny Tyrrell ''(series 1)'' *Debbie Wheeler – Josie ''(series 1)'' *Stella Goodier – Bernadette ''(series 1)'' *Michael Howe – Sebastian Bale ''(series 2)'' * Belinda Mayne – Rosie ''(series 2)'' * David Rintoul – Rex Collins ''(series 2)'' * Peter Howitt – Raif

Plot

Series One

When thirty-year-old Gemma Palmer discovers that her live-in boyfriend Danny Tyrrell has been having an affair with her best friend Gloria, she chucks him out of her flat and quits her office job. The incident makes Gemma realise that she was being treated as a doormat by her friends and colleagues, and gets rid of all her old friends. She then tries to change herself into a stronger person, but she is unable to change her core beliefs and remains very emotional. Despite splitting from Danny, they remain friends, and he wants them to get back together. Danny and Gemma briefly live together towards the end of the series, but after one week she asks him to leave, saying she wants to be single again. Gemma's traditional-thinking mother is the widowed 55-year-old Mrs. Palmer, whose husband Arnold died after 30 years of marriage and three children. She would like Gemma to settle down, marry and have children, like she did, but Gemma wants more out of life. During the series, she starts a relationship with a 35-year-old man, the unseen Howard. The flat above Gemma's is occupied by two flat-sharing twenty-somethings;

blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color ...

e Josie, a petrol pump attendant, and Bernadette, a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

. Josie is constantly worrying and talking about her current boyfriend, and later becomes pregnant by the unseen Geoffrey. Bernadette meanwhile has little luck with men. At the end of the series, Josie and Geoffrey get a

bedsit A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...

together.

Series Two

The second series begins six months after Gemma told Danny to leave and she is now 31 years old. Happily living alone, she has a brief relationship with 19-year-old Raif before meeting Sebastian Bale, a philanderer who lives in the flat above her. The night they meet, they sleep together but after that, they become good friends and breakfasting together most mornings. Towards the end of the series, Sebastian begins to grow ever closer to Rosie, whom he met a party. Rosie soon separates from her partner,

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Rex Collins, and he and Gemma then start seeing each other. The series ends with Sebastian and Rosie engaged, with he having to reluctantly end the daily breakfast he enjoyed with Gemma. Gemma meanwhile appears to separate from Rex after arguing about her future domestic role if they got married. Gemma's mother Mrs. Palmer, whose first name is revealed as Elizabeth, continues her relationship with the younger Howard. She continues to wish that Gemma would settle down, and after one argument she and Gemma meet less often to give Gemma her own space. As the series ends, Mrs. Palmer goes through the

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...

but Howard sticks by her, despite her worries.

Episodes

''Solo'' aired for two series from 11 January 1981 to 17 October 1982, and each of the thirteen episodes is thirty minutes long. When originally aired, the episodes were broadcast on Sunday evenings on

. On 10 March 1989, seven years after the last episode aired, a

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

special short episode, "The Last Waltz", aired on BBC1. Written especially by Carla Lane, it features characters from four of Lane's sitcoms; ''Solo'', ''Butterflies'', ''

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

'' and ''

The Liver Birds ''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to January 1979, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had met ...

''.

Series One (1981)

Series Two (1982)

Comic Relief Special (1989)

DVD releases

The two series of ''Solo'' were released in a boxset in Region 2 (UK) on 17 March 2003.

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solo 1981 British television series debuts 1982 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Television shows set in London