''Forever Green'' is a television programme originally broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 26 February 1989 to 24 May 1992. It was made for LWT by Picture Partnership Productions, now named

Carnival Films Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Chann ...

Plot

Jack, a former racing driver, and Harriet Boult, a nurse, live in a London flat with their two children, Frederica (Freddy) and Tom. Freddy suffers from asthma, which Harriet believes could be due to the city pollution, and after a serious attack begins to think leaving the city could be the best treatment available. Soon after, a letter arrives advising Harriet of an inheritance from one of her old patients, a run-down house in the country. It only takes one visit to persuade them to move. The 18 episodes contain plots dealing with their adapting to life in the country and touches on environmental themes, alternative healing and alternative lifestyle choices.

Cast

Pauline Collins Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973) and its spin-off '' Thomas & Sarah'' (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography ' ...

- Harriet Boult *

John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', '' Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' ...

- Jack Boult * Daisy Bates - Freddy Boult *Nimer Rashed - Tom Boult *

Paola Dionisotti Paola Dionisotti (; born 1946 in Turin) is an Italian-British actress active on stage and British television since 1975. Early life Dionisotti is the daughter of Italian literary critic Carlo Dionisotti and Marisa Pinna Pintor. She has two sist ...

- Lady Patricia Broughall * Wendy van der Plank - Hilly * Alan Rowe - Geoff Bate *Ian Lindsay - Ted Hubbard

Episodes

Series 1 (1989)

Series 2 (1992)

Production

The Boult family's country home, Meadows Green Farm, is sometimes said to have been in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

, though place names mentioned in the series point to it being further south in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. For example, the fictional address of Geoff Bate's Handcross Garage is Handcross, Somerset, and Shepton is mentioned frequently, presumably a reference to

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, some southwest of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. ...

. The exact location of the house is at Tunley, two miles southeast of Bisley, near Sapperton, Gloucestershire. A scene in the first episode of series two was filmed at Furze Platt Senior School in Berkshire. Lady Patricia's house is Nether Winchendon House in Nether Winchendon,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

.IMDB locations
/ref> Also,

Wincanton Wincanton ( or ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. In the 2021 census the civil parish had a populatio ...

, in Somerset, is mentioned in the third episode. The horse rustlers were caught the other side of Wincanton, more evidence to suggest it was filmed in Somerset. Originally filmed as three series, broadcast of the second series was delayed by coverage of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and series 2 and 3 were shown as a continuous twelve-episode second series in 1992.British Film Institute
/ref> The series was originally conceived and written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham for LWTV and Picture Partnerships. Brady and Bingham then wrote the entire first series, but due to a serious dispute with the producers they then withdrew from the subsequent series and requested their names be removed from the credits. They did, however, retain format and copyright in the series and characters.

Home video and DVD

The first series of ''Forever Green'' was originally released on VHS via Castle Vision, in a set containing two video tapes, before receiving a DVD release in 2006 from

Granada Ventures ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is bas ...

. No further releases were made by these distribution companies. Network acquired the rights for home distribution and the first series again made available in 2009, with the addition of the first-ever release of the second series, and a complete series set in 2010.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0106001, title=Forever Green 1989 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1980s British drama television series 1990s British drama television series London Weekend Television shows ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios British English-language television shows Television shows set in England