Take a Letter, Mr. Jones
| Take A Letter, Mr. Jones | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Chesney and Wolfe |
| Starring |
John Inman Rula Lenska Miriam Margolyes Gina Maher Joan Blackham Christine Ozanne Claudine Bowyer Allan Mitchell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Southern Television |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 5 September – 10 October 1981 |
Take a Letter, Mr. Jones was a short-lived British sitcom starring John Inman and Rula Lenska which aired in 1981. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe and produced by Southern Television for the ITV Network.
Plot
Take a Letter, Mr. Jones is a role-reversal comedy wherein Graham Jones (John Inman) works as a personal secretary to female executive Joan Warner (Rula Lenska), within a London-based multinational corporation called 8-Star. Although he ably assists her in their busy office, Graham often helps Joan with her equally hectic domestic arrangements as she is a single mother to seven-year-old daughter, Lucy. Miriam Margolyes plays Joan's excitable Italian housekeeper, Maria.
Episode list
| # | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Interview"[1] | Bryan Izzard[1] | Chesney and Wolfe[1] | 5 September 1981[1] |
| 2 | "The Protector"[2] | Bryan Izzard[2] | Chesney and Wolfe[2] | 12 September 1981[2] |
| 3 | "The Holiday"[3] | Bryan Izzard[3] | Chesney and Wolfe[3] | 19 September 1981[3] |
| 4 | "The Japanese Contract"[4] | Bryan Izzard[4] | Chesney and Wolfe[4] | 26 September 1981[4] |
| 5 | "The Trade Fair"[5] | Bryan Izzard[5] | Chesney and Wolfe[5] | 3 October 1981[5] |
| 6 | "Business Before Pleasure"[6] | Bryan Izzard[6] | Chesney and Wolfe[6] | 10 October 1981[6] |
Context and afterlife
John Inman starred in Take A Letter, Mr. Jones between seasons of the BBC comedy Are You Being Served? Take A Letter, Mr. Jones was never a ratings success (only running for six episodes), but in recent years it has been resurrected by many American PBS stations, where Are You Being Served? is also a hit. A UK repeat of the series was shown on Film24[7] in 2010.
In 2015 UK channel Talking Pictures TV reshowed the series.
A US VHS set of the series was released by Questar in 1995. A UK DVD of the series was released in 2009 by Simply Home Entertainment.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "The Interview". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Protector". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Holiday". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Japanese Contract". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Trade Fair". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "Business Before Pleasure". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ↑
External links
- Take a Letter, Mr. Jones at the Internet Movie Database
- Take a Letter, Mr. Jones at the British Comedy Guide
| ||||||||||