Not long after the launch of 'Terry & June', Terry Scott went on the Saturday morning kids' show 'Multi-Coloured Swap Swap'. As was the usual with guests, he fielded questions from callers. One girl asked what had happened to Aunt Lucy, played by Beryl Cooke. Scott then had to explain that the sudden disappearance of the dotty Aunt and her talking mynah bird was down to a change in script writers. Eric Merriman had grown weary of 'Happy Ever After' and decided to move on. The B.B.C. wanted the show to continue. A possible legal row was resolved by changing the title. There was also an alteration in the surnames of the lead characters - from 'Fletcher' to 'Medford'. The ploy worked. 'Terry & June' was as every bit as popular as its predecessor had been.
John Kane's 'Long Weekend' symbolically begins with Terry and June moving into a new house at Elm Tree Avenue, Purley. He tries to take down the sign, but it won't budge. An Indian gentleman ( Tariq Yunus ) demands to know how much Terry wants for the house. When Terry tries to explain that the property is no longer for sale, the man accuses him of racial prejudice. Terry's attempts at wall papering are disastrous - the paper falls off the walls before the paste can dry. But the ultimate horror comes when they meet their new neighbours - 'Brian Pilbeam' ( Roland Curram ) and his wife 'Tina' ( the sexy Anita Graham ), both of whom are unbelievably loud. Brian tells the Medfords that their new home is haunted...
'Terry & June', in my view, never reached the heights of 'Happy Ever After', mainly because of the quality of the scripts. It is nowhere near as bad as many would have you believe though. The chemistry of Scott and Whitfield was the show's main strength. 'Long Weekend' is a reasonable opener. The Pilbeams were dropped after a while, and Terry's colleague 'Malcolm' ( played variously by Terence Alexander, Tim Barrett, and John Quayle ) became a regular, along with Rosemary Frankau as his wife 'Beattie' and that old sitcom war-horse, Reginald Marsh, as 'Sir Dennis Hodge'.
Funniest moment - Terry being struck by a falling toilet cistern. The doctor who treats him in hospital is none other than the man who tried to buy the Medfords' house!
John Kane's 'Long Weekend' symbolically begins with Terry and June moving into a new house at Elm Tree Avenue, Purley. He tries to take down the sign, but it won't budge. An Indian gentleman ( Tariq Yunus ) demands to know how much Terry wants for the house. When Terry tries to explain that the property is no longer for sale, the man accuses him of racial prejudice. Terry's attempts at wall papering are disastrous - the paper falls off the walls before the paste can dry. But the ultimate horror comes when they meet their new neighbours - 'Brian Pilbeam' ( Roland Curram ) and his wife 'Tina' ( the sexy Anita Graham ), both of whom are unbelievably loud. Brian tells the Medfords that their new home is haunted...
'Terry & June', in my view, never reached the heights of 'Happy Ever After', mainly because of the quality of the scripts. It is nowhere near as bad as many would have you believe though. The chemistry of Scott and Whitfield was the show's main strength. 'Long Weekend' is a reasonable opener. The Pilbeams were dropped after a while, and Terry's colleague 'Malcolm' ( played variously by Terence Alexander, Tim Barrett, and John Quayle ) became a regular, along with Rosemary Frankau as his wife 'Beattie' and that old sitcom war-horse, Reginald Marsh, as 'Sir Dennis Hodge'.
Funniest moment - Terry being struck by a falling toilet cistern. The doctor who treats him in hospital is none other than the man who tried to buy the Medfords' house!
