''Duty Free'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

written by

Eric Chappell Eric George Chappell (25 September 1933 – 21 April 2022) was an English television comedy writer and playwright who wrote or co-wrote some of the UK's biggest sitcom hits over a more than quarter-century career, first gaining significant noti ...

and Jean Warr that aired on ITV from 13 February 1984 to 25 December 1986. It was made 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 ...

Cast

Keith Barron Keith Barron (8 August 1934 – 15 November 2017) was an English actor and television presenter who appeared in films and on television from 1961 until 2017. His television roles included the police drama '' The Odd Man'', the sitcom '' Duty Fr ...

as David Pearce *

Gwen Taylor Gwen Taylor (born 19 February 1939) is an English actress who has appeared in many British television programmes. She is known for her roles as Amy Pearce in the sitcom '' Duty Free'' (1984–1986); Barbara Liversidge in the sitcom '' Barbara' ...

as Amy Pearce * Joanna Van Gyseghem as Linda Cochran * Neil Stacy as Robert Cochran *Carlos Douglas as Carlos the Waiter *Bunny May as Hotel manager ''(series 1)'' *George Camiller as Hotel manager ''(series 2 and 3)'' * Ray Mort as George ''(series 1 and 2)'' *Hugo Bower as Zimmerman ''(series 1)'' *Joseph Fazal as Spanish Policeman ''(series 2)'' *

Roger Sloman Roger Sloman (born 19 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work in theatre, film and television. Early life and education He grew up and was educated in South East London. He trained to be a teacher and then went to East 15 acting scho ...

as Kev Wilson ''(series 2 episode Snap)''

Plot

''Duty Free'' is about two British couples, David and Amy Pearce and Robert and Linda Cochran, who meet while holidaying at the same

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

and the interruptive affair conducted by David Pearce and Linda Cochran during their break. Another recurring character is the hotel waiter Carlos. Although set in Spain, the show was recorded entirely in the Leeds Studios – only for the concluding Christmas special was the budget found to film some scenes in Spain at the Don Carlos Hotel and Spa. Like many British sitcoms, there was a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

-related tension between the two; with the Pearces

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

from

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and the Cochrans a more affluent,

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

couple from

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. The character of David Pearce, much to his wife's chagrin, became uncomfortable with his own status and politics after meeting the Cochrans and tried to change his outlook. Series 1 and 2 take place during the same two weeks long holiday, leading to the show famously being dubbed "the holiday that never ends". The first episode of Series 3 takes place back in the UK, a year later, but subsequently the story returns to Spain. The series was based on a one-off TV play by Chappell, ''We're Strangers Here'', first performed on TV with

Geraldine McEwan Geraldine McEwan (born Geraldine McKeown; 9 May 1932 – 30 January 2015) was an English actress, who had a long career in film, theatre and television. Michael Coveney described her, in a tribute article, as "a great comic stylist, with ...

and

Ian Hendry Ian Mackendrick Hendry (13 January 1931 – 24 December 1984) was an English actor. He worked on several British TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, including the lead in the first series of '' The Avengers'' and '' The Lotus Eaters.'' He was no ...

as a two-hander and subsequently on stage as a four-hander at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.

Episodes

Series 1 (1984)

Series 2 (1984)

Series 3 (1986)

Christmas Special (1986)

Trivia

The actor

Frazer Hines Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in ''A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in ''Doctor Who'', appearing i ...

, known for his former role in '' Emmerdale Farm'' as Joe Sugden, and television presenter

Judith Chalmers Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers (born 10 October 1935) is an English retired television presenter who is best known for presenting the travel programme '' Wish You Were Here...?'' from 1974 to 2003. Early life Chalmers was born in Gatley, Cheshi ...

made guest appearances in the series, playing themselves. The former was a hotel guest who tried to seduce Amy Pearce; the latter was filming an episode of '' Wish You Were Here...?'' from the hotel and interviewed the two couples. It set viewing records for a sitcom at the time, regularly topping the UK TV ratings, and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Series in 1986 alongside ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'', ''

Yes, Prime Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes f ...

'', ''

'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Frenc ...

'', ''

Ever Decreasing Circles ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' is a British sitcom which ran on BBC1 between 1984 and 1989, consisting of four series and one feature-length special. It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and it reunited them with Richard Briers, who ha ...

'', and lost out to the winner, '' Just Good Friends''. In May 2015, both Gwen Taylor and Keith Barron played a couple again in an episode of the daytime soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''.

Last of the Duty Free - Play

''Last of the Duty Free'' by Eric Chappell and Jean Warr is a theatrical sequel to the TV series. The scene is many years later in which, as before, deceptions, misunderstandings and preposterous situations abound. Gwen Taylor, Keith Barron and Neil Stacy returned to their previous roles when the play opened at The Royal Theatre, Windsor in April 2014. On tour, the play's title was shortened to ''Duty Free''.

References

External links

''Duty Free''
British TV Comedy * * * {{Eric Chappell 1980s British sitcoms 1984 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings British English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television series by Yorkshire Television Television shows set in Spain Television series by ITV Studios Television series about vacationing