''Three Up, Two Down'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Michael Elphick Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series '' Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated fo ...

and Angela Thorne which ran from 15 April 1985 to 18 June 1989. It was written by Richard Ommanney. The plot revolves around a stuck-up widow and a down-to-earth widower who share a flat and a grandchild, but have little in common.''The Penguin TV Companion'' by Jeff Evans, page 598

Cast

as Sam Tyler * Angela Thorne as Daphne Trenchard * Lysette Anthony as Angie Tyler (née Trenchard) * Ray Burdis as Nick Tyler * John Grillo as Wilf * Neil Stacy as Major Giles Bradshaw * Vicki Woolf as Rhonda ''(series 3 and 4)''

Plot

Nick and Angie have just had a baby, and to help them financially they decide to rent out the basement. Both Nick's father, Sam Tyler, and Angie's mother, Daphne Trenchard, want the basement apartment and the only solution is to share. Sam is a

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

, while Daphne is

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

-bred and has not forgiven her daughter for marrying Nick, a 'common' photographer. Both Sam and Daphne are widowed, and stubborn. There is mutual contempt between Nick and Daphne: however, Angie is fond of Sam and is forever trying, against all the odds, to keep the peace between him and Daphne. The situation is exacerbated, from Series Two onwards, by the presence of Sam's gloomy and pessimistic zoo-keeper friend Wilf Perkins, who, after being thrown out by his mother, ends up having to share Sam's room, much to Daphne's icy displeasure. Further complications arise through Daphne's brief and disastrous romance with a neighbour, the suave and crooked Major Giles Bradshaw, who is eventually sent to prison for acts of theft and fraud. The comedy came from the clashes between Sam and Daphne, and the eventual romance that develops between them. The next-door neighbour, Rhonda, was a catalyst for bringing them together.

Episodes

Series 1 (1985)

Series 2 (1986)

Series 3 (1987)

Series 4 (1989)

American adaptation

The pilot for an American adaptation of ''Three Up, Two Down'', titled ''5 Up, 2 Down'', aired on 5 June 1991 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, but was not picked up as a series. Nick and Angie were played by Jeffrey D. Sams and Jackie Mari Roberts, and Angie had given birth to triplets. Sam and Daphne were played by

Cleavon Little Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of '' Purlie'', for which he earned both ...

and Emily Yancy.

Home video

VHS and DVD box sets of the first two series were released on Universal Pictures' Playback imprint in the UK on 17 May 2004. As of 2024, Series 3 and 4 still remain unreleased.

References

* ''The Penguin TV Companion'' by Jeff Evans 2001 *

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
''Three Up, Two Down''
at British TV Comedy

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Up, Two Down 1980s British sitcoms 1985 British television series debuts 1989 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms Television series about dysfunctional families British English-language television shows Television shows set in Gloucestershire