In Loving Memory (TV series)

In Loving Memory

Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny
Created by Dick Sharples
Starring Thora Hird
Christopher Beeny
Colin Farrell
Avis Bunnage
Sherrie Hewson
Rose Power
Joan Sims
Veronica Doran
Paul Luty
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 5
No. of episodes 37
Production
Producer(s) Ronnie Baxter
Running time 25 minutes
Production company(s) Thames Television (TV pilot), Yorkshire Television (TV series)
Release
Original network ITV
Original release 4 November 1969
21 May 1979 – 27 March 1986

In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television, with Marjorie Rhodes in the Thora Hird role, who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television nearly 10 years later, where it further ran for five series between 21 May 1979 and 27 March 1986.

Plot

The year is 1929 and in the opening episode Jeremiah Unsworth (Freddie Jones), the proprietor of the undertakers, dies. This leaves his widow Ivy (Thora Hird) and gormless nephew Billy (Christopher Beeny) to take over the business.
As might be expected, the accident-prone Ivy and Billy have numerous mishaps, and hardly a funeral goes by without something untoward occurring.

The setting for the show is the fictional Yorkshire town of Oldshaw during the 1920s and 1930s. The writer Dick Sharples chose this period as this was the time when undertakers were switching from horse drawn hearses to mechanical ones.

Cast List

Actor Character
Thora Hird Ivy Unsworth
Christopher Beeny Billy Henshaw
Avis Bunnage Amy Jenkinson
Colin Farrell Ernie Hadfield
Sherrie Hewson Mary Braithwaite/Henshaw

Trivia

Transmission dates

Pilot (B&W)
(1 x 25 min) 4 November 1969 · Tues 8.30pm
Series One
(7 x 25 min) 21 May - 2 July 1979 · Mon mostly 8pm
Series Two
(7 x 25 min) 27 October - 8 December 1980 · Mon 8pm
Series Three
(7 x 25 min) 12 October - 23 November 1982 · Tue 8.30pm
Special
(1 x 25 Min) 24 December 1982 · Fri 8pm
Series Four
(7 x 25 min) 28 November 1983 – 6 February 1984 · Mon 8pm
Series Five
(7 x 25 min) 13 February - 27 March 1986 · Thu 9pm

DVD release

All five series (including the 1982 Christmas special) of In Loving Memory have now been released on DVD by Network. A 5-disc set of the complete series has also been released.

DVD Year(s) Release date
The Complete Series 1 1979 18 February 2009
The Complete Series 2 1980 6 July 2009
The Complete Series 3 plus Special 1982 5 October 2009
The Complete Series 4 1984 19 April 2010
The Complete Series 5 1986 23 August 2010
The Complete Series 1 to 5 box set 1979-
1986
18 October 2010

Notes

After several years of it not being broadcast on TV, the series is getting re-shown on ITV3 from 21 July 2015 onwards.

References

  1. Ledger, John (26 January 2016). "Dad’s Army and 25 other glorious Yorkshire screen gems". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 14 February 2016.

External links

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