The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds was a BBC television situation comedy which ran for nine series from 1969 to 1978. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. Carla wrote most of the episodes. Myra, only the very early ones
The series charted the ups and downs of two "dolly birds" sharing a flat on Huskisson Street, on Merseyside. The series concentrated on the problems encountered by the two young single women when dealing with boyfriends, work, parents and each other. Dressed in the best 1970s fashions, they desperately trawled parties, looking for romance, in a loose female equivalent of The Likely Lads.
The pilot and Series 1 starred Dawn (Pauline Collins) and Beryl Hennessey (Polly James). In Series 2, Sandra Hutchinson (Nerys Hughes) replaced Dawn for the rest of the programme's run. The Beryl and Sandra pairing is generally regarded as the programme's heyday. Beryl was the more common one, while Sandra was soft-spoken and refined. This was mainly due to the influence of her snobbish and overbearing mother played by Mollie Sugden. Carol Boswell (Elizabeth Estensen) replaced Beryl from Series 5 onwards.
The title originated in the name given to two sculpted birds perched atop the Royal Liver Building at Pier Head in the city of Liverpool. The title song for the series was sung by The Scaffold. The group included Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) and the poet Roger McGough.
The show was revived in 1996, with Beryl and Sandra now both coping with the aftermath of their failed marriages. As the BBC's own website admits, some liberties were taken with continuity: Carmel McSharry who had played Carol's mother in Seasons 5–9, returned as the same character but now transformed into Beryl's mother, and Carol's rabbit-obsessed brother Lucien, played by Michael Angelis, became Beryl's brother. The revival was not popular and only lasted one season.
External links
- BBC Comedy Guide
- Information from Carla Lane's website
- The Liver Birds at British TV Resources
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