Review Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? (1973)

michaellevenson

Moderator
Staff member
Jeez!! I must have been really ill , maybe suffering from amnesia, why haven't I mentioned this before ...er I forgot.
This is is true masterpiece of comedy. A sequel to the 60's series The Likely Lads which is mostly wiped from the archives.
James Bolam and Rodney Bewes in this Northern England comedy about two friends from teenage years ,now in their thirties, one still a drifter, and the other settled with a wife, both unhappy with their dreary existence reliving past glories.
 
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chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I haven't checked that out yet. I'm getting ready to sit down tonight and watch the CW superhero four episode crossover. I shall be checking it out, though. I'm appreciating the shows you're introducing me to.
 

johnnybear

Member: Rank 6
Sad to know that the lads fell out about forty odd years ago and maybe that was what prevented a Likely Lads get together in the nineties! Rodney Bewes passed away last week I believe too! RIP
JB
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
This just got posted a couple of minutes ago on PLANET MONDAS.....


Ok some good news, Paul V is intimating that two missing Likely Lads episodes are back or are on the way back, announcement to follow, just thought I'd try & cheer you up
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Entente Cordiale

Geordie mates Bob Ferris and Terry Collier return from a Spanish holiday where Bob was smitten by French girl Louise though he never got to speak to her. Terry however has given her his own address and when it turns out that she is visiting the area a double date is arranged. However Louise is not exactly the person the lads thought she was.

S1, Ep2
23 Dec. 1964
Double Date

When Bob is upset following another failed romance Terry decides to cheer him up by asking the two girls who have just walked into the cafe to go on a double date with them. Bob is initially pleased though it turns out to be an expensive occasion for him.


S1, Ep3
30 Dec. 1964
Older Women Are More Experienced


Other Side of the Fence

Terry feels that Bob has betrayed his class by accepting promotion from the factory floor to the drawing office. However when Terry is refused admission to the works social because he is not employed in the office Bob shows his loyalty by resigning. Added to which the pair score with two attractive girls who have turned down office staff for them.


S1, Ep5
13 Jan. 1965
Chance of a Lifetime

Drowning their sorrows in the pub one rainy night after being stood up, Terry and Bob fall into conversation with Wally, an Australian from Adelaide who is visiting the area and is very critical of it, painting a picture of opportunity Down Under to the likely lads. They are tempted but it is inevitable that they will not go.


S1, Ep6
20 Jan. 1965
The Suitor

Terry's sister Audrey is dating an 'Italian' hair-dresser called Mario (real name Ernie) and Terry is disapproving. Knowing that Audrey dislikes drunken men he takes Mario to the pub to get him legless before his date whilst Bob is to divert Audrey. But Audrey is wise to the subterfuge and plays along by throwing herself at Bob.


S2, Ep1
16 Jun. 1965
Baby It's Cold Outside

Terry and Bob have a double date with two nurses but have nowhere to take them so they offer to baby-sit for workmate Jack whilst he takes his wife out. They try to persuade the girls that the baby belongs to them but are so hopeless at pacifying it when it wakes up and cries that the lie soon becomes apparent.


S2, Ep2
23 Jun. 1965
A Star Is Born

After being less than complimentary about Jack's singing abilities the likely lads are more or less coerced into taking part in a talent contest night at the pub with a cash prize. Bob is in it for the glory but Terry has an ulterior motive,to try and impress Rhona the barmaid,who put him up to it.


S2, Ep3
30 Jun. 1965
Talk of the Town

After attending an engagement party Bob wakes up with a hang-over and no recollection of the events of the night before. Then people start to congratulate him because it seems that he proposed to a girl called Helen and everybody assumed that she was pregnant as a result. Now all he has to do is break off the engagement.


S2, Ep4
7 Jul. 1965
Last of the Big Spenders

The lads are attracted to Angela and Lynn,two girls who work in a department store and,in order to stand a chance of pulling them,they pretend to be well off,spending a great deal of money in the store. Unfortunately this means that,come the double date,the girls assume they are wealthy - which,thanks to their throwing their cash around,they are anything but.


S2, Ep5
14 Jul. 1965
Far Away Places

Terry and Bob are now feeling the disastrous aftermath of living beyond their means with the girls from the department store and are well and truly skint. With a foreign holiday on the horizon and no cash to finance it looks as if it will have to be called off - unless they can get down to the Labour Exchange and get themselves part time jobs.


S2, Ep6
21 Jul. 1965
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

The lads are guests at a wedding,where they seem to be the only unmarried men in attendance and uncles and aunts keep asking them when it will be their turn to tie the knot. Can it be that even the perpetual bachelor Terry believes that it might be time for him to settle down. After all,he and Bob seem to be the oldest male singletons there.
Freda Windsor,the new canteen manageress,is turning heads despite being older than the likely lads and Terry bets Bob he can pull her. When she asks him home he thinks he has scored but is in for a surprise. Bob,on the other hand,gets off with the younger Sandra.



S3, Ep1
4 Jun. 1966
Outward Bound

The lads are planning on a holiday weekend at a location where apparently free love reigns among the hippies who stay there. However,when they eventually make it to their destination,Terry complaining as his feet are blistered,they discover that the site has been demolished. Fortunately the two girls camping in the adjacent field may be able to offer consolation.


S3, Ep2
11 Jun. 1966
Friends and Neighbours

Bob is dating the middle class Lorna and things are going well as her parents see him as a pleasant upwardly mobile young man with prospects. Unfortunately Terry's disgusting old grandfather is house sitting in the property next door and makes it clear to Bob that he is a traitor to his class by trying to marry beyond his station.


S3, Ep3
18 Jun. 1966
Rocker

Bob buys a moped in the hopes that it will give him a cool image and enable him to get pretty young girls as pillion passengers. Terry offers to help him with lessons to enable him to pass his driving test on it. Unfortunately an accident with the emergency stop ends up with Terry being admitted to hospital.


S3, Ep4
25 Jun. 1966
Brief Encounter

At the local dance the likely lads agree to split up in order to improve their chances of pulling and Bob ends up with the delightful Ursula. Next day they go on a date but any further meetings are somewhat ruined when she explains that she is already seeing somebody else - Terry, who also picked her up at the same dance.


S3, Ep5
2 Jul. 1966
The Razor's Edge

Bob has chicken pox,keeping him off work for three weeks and effectively putting him in quarantine. When he recovers and Terry sees him for the first time he has grown a beard but when he returns to work he is ordered to shave it off. Terry calls a strike in defence of his friend's civil liberties and right to sport facial hair.


S3, Ep6
9 Jul. 1966
Anchors Aweigh

Bob persuades Terry to go on a boating holiday with him on the Norfolk Broads,explaining to him that it would be a great way to meet women and impress them with his boating skills. However ,when Terry meets and hits it off with Sally from the boatyard Bob ruins his plans by casting the boat off early. Terry is determined to have his revenge.


S3, Ep7
16 Jul. 1966
Love and Marriage

The likely lads have been invited to a friend's stag night and arrive at the pub before everybody else. They meet Duggie,an old friend who is now married with a child,a fact which is restricting his social life. Bob and Terry decide to show him a good time,in short what he has missed and they,so far.have been lucky enough to maintain.


S3, Ep8
23 Jul. 1966
Goodbye to All That

Bob seems to have found his ideal woman in Thelma Chambers but when she drops him he is despondent and decides to join the Army. Not wishing to be parted from his best friend Terry decides to join up with him. However,in the event it is Bob who is turned down whilst Terry finds that he has signed on for the duration.
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Although 20 episodes were filmed in total, only 8 survive today. The rest were wiped by the BBC during the 1970s.

Surviving Episodes Broadcast Notes
1 1 Entente Cordiale 16/12/64
2 Double Date 23/12/64
3 Older Women Are More Experienced 30/12/64
4 The Other Side of the Fence 06/01/65
6 The Suitor 20/01/65
2 4 The Last of the Big Spenders 07/07/65 Previously lost, found in 2001
3 3 The Rocker 18/06/66
8 Goodbye to All That



Lost Episodes Broadcast Notes
2 1 Baby, It’s Cold Outside 16/06/65
2 A Star is Born 23/06/65
3 The Talk of the Town 30/06/65
5 Faraway Places 14/07/65
6 Where Have All the Flowers Gone? 21/07/65
3 1 Outward Bound 04/06/66 Audio exists
2 Friends and Neighbours 11/06/66
4 Brief Encounter 25/06/66 Audio exists
5 The Razor’s Edge 02/07/66 Audio exists
6 Anchors Aweigh 09/07/66 Audio exists
7 Love and Marriage
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Just found this on PLANET MONDAS forum.....



I notice Kaleidoscope are reporting on their FB page that Network have sent an email with a preorder for their release of The Likely Lads movie.
In a bit of a blunder the cover image indicates that the release will contain two previously missing episodes (probably the ones Paul Vanezis mentioned late last year).
It seems the “official” cover doesn’t say that.
All very interesting.
 

johnnybear

Member: Rank 6
That's typical as I've just recently rebought the WB Likely Lads movie! But that was faulty so I went for the Optimum edition and now you're telling me there's another version coming out and this one has the two newly recovered episodes to boot? And it's got Anulka Dubinska in her undies too!!!
JB
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I am not sure why they accidentally show that revealing cover about the two bonus missing episodes, then change the cover to hide the fact. Unless they have changed their mind about having them as an extra on the movie and are now planning to sell them as a separate release, much like the AVENGERS: Tunnel of Fear thing? Much more profit that way I would have thought?
 

johnnybear

Member: Rank 6
I doubt anyone is going to shell out for another release of The Likely Lads unless there is something akin to a big set of extras or a few unseen for forty years episodes to reel us all in!
JB
 

johnnybear

Member: Rank 6
At present I have three versions of that film in my house! A giveaway one from a newspaper a few years back, the WB flat DVD and the Optimum disc which I haven't opened at present! And all three have Anulka Dubinska in them!!! :emoji_grinning:
JB
 
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