''Terry and Julian'' 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 ...

that aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 1992. Starring

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has also acted in films, on television and in stage productions, including n ...

, it was written by Clary,

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known by the stage name Paul Merton, is an English comedian who is best known as one of the two regular panellists on the television show '' Have I Got News for You''. Known for his improvisation skill, M ...

and John Henderson. The title of the series spoofs the name of the long-running

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

sitcom ''

Terry and June ''Terry and June'' is a BBC television sitcom, broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of '' Happy Ever After'', and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, Terry and J ...

'', whose stars

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television and film actress. Whitfield's big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme ...

and Reginald Marsh made a guest appearance in episode five, "Terry's Safe Deposit", playing characters named George and Mildred (in homage to the

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

sitcom '' George and Mildred)''.

Cast

– Julian * Lee Simpson – Terry Biggins *

Kate Lonergan Helen Catherine "Kate" Lonergan (born 4 January 1962) is an English former actress, best known for playing the role of Maid Marian in the 1989–94 BBC1 children's television series '' Maid Marian and her Merry Men''. Prior to being cast a ...

– Rene ;Guest stars *

- Vicar *

- Mildred Wilson * Reginald Marsh - George Wilson *

Gordon Honeycombe Ronald Gordon Honeycombe (27 September 1936 – 9 October 2015) was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor. Honeycombe was born in Karachi, in British India. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and read English at Univer ...

- News Reader

Plot

Terry Biggins, an average,

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

man, advertises for a lodger for his flat in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

and Julian, a flamboyant

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

celebrity moves in. Julian soon disrupts Terry's mundane life, turns the flat into something similar to an 18th-century Turkish

boudoir A (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk or pout ...

and disrupts Terry's relationship with his girlfriend, policewoman Rene. Unusually for a sitcom, ''Terry and Julian'' breaks the "

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

" by recognising the studio audience and viewers, and employs use of audience participation.

Episodes

#"Enter Julian" (11 September 1992) #"Get Thee Behind Me" (18 September 1992) #"Julian Slips Out" (25 September 1992) #"The Other Side of Julian" (2 October 1992) #"Julian's Safe Deposit" (9 October 1992) #"Spain" (16 October 1992)

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
''Terry and Julian''
at British TV Comedy

External links

*

at British TV Comedy * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry and Julian 1990s British sitcoms 1992 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1990s British LGBTQ-related comedy television series Channel 4 sitcoms British English-language television shows Television shows set in London