After finding student chef Robin Tripp (Richard O’Sullivan) asleep in their bath, flatmates Chrissy Plummer (Paula Wilcox) and Jo (Sally Thomsett) agree to let him move in. Their unconventional living arrangement doesn’t sit well with their landlords, the henpecked George Roper (Brian Murphy) and his socially ambitious wife Mildred (Yootha Joyce), who live downstairs.
The premise of an unmarried man sharing a flat with two women was a perfect vehicle for the social anxieties of 1970s Britain. Written by the veteran duo Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke, the series generated its comedy from the clash between the younger generation’s casual attitudes and the older generation’s suspicion.
While built on the classic foundations of bedroom farce and misunderstanding, the programme’s true engine was the character comedy, particularly the fractious marriage of the Ropers. Its phenomenal success for Thames Television established a powerful franchise: it spawned a 1974 feature film, two equally popular spin-off series, George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest, and was successfully remade in America as Three’s Company.
Broadcast: ITV – Thames, 39 Episodes, 15 August 1973 – 7 April 1976
Written by: Johnnie Mortimer, Brian Cooke
Producer and Director: Peter Frazer-Jones
Main Cast: Richard O’Sullivan (Robin Tripp), Paula Wilcox (Chrissy Plummer), Sally Thomsett (Jo), Brian Murphy (George Roper), Yootha Joyce (Mildred Roper)
