End of Part One – The Complete Series DVD – Sue Holderness, David Simeon 

Every episode from the 1980 comedy series written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick. For Renwick, who would go on to create ‘One Foot in the Grave’ and ‘Jonathan Creek’, the programme offered an early opportunity to display his writing skills. Featuring a mixture of sketches and slapstick that often aimed close to home by mocking the culture of television itself, the programme also paved the way for later satirical shows such as ‘Not the Nine O’Clock News’. To the fore were the characters of Vera Straightman (Denise Coffey) and her husband, Norman (Tony Aitken), whose attempts to live a normal life are continually foiled by the appearance of various figures from television.

Bringing the Pythonesque humour of cult Radio 4 series The Burkiss Way to television this surreal satirical soap opera/sketch show was the first TV series from multi-award-winning screenwriters Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.