''Roll Over Beethoven'' is a British television sitcom produced by

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the ITV (TV network), Independent Television franchisee in Midlands, the English Midlands ...

and transmitted on the ITV network in 1985. Written by the duo Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the series starred

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom '' Filthy Rich & Catflap'', as well as narrating th ...

as millionaire pop star Nigel Cochrane, who turns life in a sleepy Surrey village upside down when he purchases the manor house, installing a recording studio in his new home and planning to record his first solo album there. He enlists the help of local piano teacher Belinda Purcell ( Liza Goddard) to help him master the keyboard. An unlikely friendship – then romance – develops between the two as they collaborate on the album, much to the disapproval of Belinda's father, retired schoolmaster Oliver ( Richard Vernon). As the series progresses, Nigel briefly leaves to go on a promotional tour of the album, while Belinda develops her talent for composing by working on an album of her own. ITV screened all thirteen episodes in one go with a week's break in April 1985, but ''Roll Over Beethoven'' was in fact recorded in two separate production blocks. The first six episodes were directed by Derrick Goodwin, whilst Nic Phillips took over for episodes 7–13. I
The Confessional
with Stephen Mangan broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, Nigel Planer revealed that he chose to go on tour rather than doing a second series of Roll Over Beethoven, bringing an abrupt end to the programme.

Cast

* Liza Goddard – Belinda Purcell *

– Nigel Cochrane (eps. 1–8 & 12) * Richard Vernon – Oliver Purcell * Desmond McNamara – Lem *Emlyn Price – Marvin Sertleman (eps. 9–13)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roll Over Beethoven (Tv Series) 1980s British sitcoms 1985 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings British English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Central Independent Television Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in Surrey