RIP Brigit Forsyth

[Barbara Fan]

A good character actress in so many roles.
Will remember her for the Likely Lads

BBC News - Brigit Forsyth: Still Open All Hours actress dies aged 83

Brigit Forsyth: Still Open All Hours actress dies aged 83

The star was best known for TV shows Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Still Open All Hours.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A very engaging actress. I remember her best from a medical drama called The Practice. Long forgotten now, but I used to look forward to new episodes.

While I was looking to check I hadn't imagined that series, her IMDb reminded me of another long-forgotten series I watched in which she starred: Sharon and Elsie.

 

[Angela Channing]

This is sad news. I too primarily remember her from Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? but she was one of those actors who always seemed to pop up in a wide range of shows over several decades. A talented and versatile performer.

 

[Julia's Gun]

While I was looking to check I hadn't imagined that series, her IMDb reminded me of another long-forgotten series I watched in which she starred: Sharon and Elsie.

Funny you should say that, but i also thought of that show - had to google it for the title. It's etched on my memory because i'm sure it aired the same night as Dallas, and I recall being very excited during one episode as the new season of Dallas was about to air afterwards - either the Ewing fire or after Bobby was shot? My 10 year old self was probably watching in my pajamas.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It's etched on my memory because i'm sure it aired the same night as Dallas, and I recall being very excited during one episode as the new season of Dallas was about to air afterwards - either the Ewing fire or after Bobby was shot? My 10 year old self was probably watching in my pajamas.

Ooh - now I think we're on to an intriguing mystery.

Looking at IMDb, Sharon and Elsie ran from January-March 1984 and June-July 1985 but I can't see a UK air-date for a new Dallas season that would correlate with any from that series. Bobby was shot in May '84 and the new Dallas season began in November (after being repeated daily on BBC2 through the summer. I'm fairly sure it was 3pm). The closest I could find was Swan Song airing 2 days after one S&E episode.

Even though they're both BBC1, I don't know how syndicated S&E was, so I wonder if it was a regional thing.

 

[Julia's Gun]

Maybe my memory is a bit shaky then, unless I saw it repeated later. But I do remember being very excited waiting for an episode to end - and only a Dallas new season would have done that back then, until I got into Knots...

 

[Englishboy]

It is also worth noting that she was married to the legendary television director, Brian Mills who is the only director to have directed episodes of Coronation Street in each of its first five decades.

William Roache is on record as saying that he was his favourite ever director on the show.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Maybe my memory is a bit shaky then, unless I saw it repeated later. But I do remember being very excited waiting for an episode to end - and only a Dallas new season would have done that back then, until I got into Knots...

Oh yes, I know that growing feeling of excitement from knowing when one programme is coming to and the next one is something I'm hugely anticipating. I have a number of childhood associations with one series because of its scheduling in proximity to another, even (of all things) a sports results programme that used to be on Saturday afternoons before Wonder Woman. Like you, I'm a bit fuzzy round specific episodes and whatnot, but I know that kids pay an incredible amount of attention to such details, so I've no doubt there's something Dallas-related with Sharon and Elsie.

 

[Englishboy]

Even though they're both BBC1, I don't know how syndicated S&E was, so I wonder if it was a regional thing.

I know that “Sharon and Elsie” was recorded at the (now demolished) BBC studios on oxford road in Manchester so it is entirely conceivable that it may have only aired in the north west rather than being fully networked.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I know that “Sharon and Elsie” was recorded at the (now demolished) BBC studios on oxford road in Manchester

Oh, that's an interesting titbit. I enjoy these details.

it is entirely conceivable that it may have only aired in the north west rather than being fully networked.

I might have been a bit misleading with my wording before. What I'd meant was that it could have aired in different BBC regions at different times. I can confirm it was transmitted in other British regions because I watched it and I wasn't in or near the North West, but what I I couldn't say is if the dates I watched it match those on IMDb. And yes, this could also mean there were regions that didn't show it at all.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

She also starred as Ruth Maxtible in the Doctor Who story Evil of the Daleks, a Patrick Troughton story. Only one episode of this serial survives and she can be seen briefly in it. The surviving episode is part of the animated DVD & Blu-ray release of the story by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide) a few years ago if anyone wants to buy it. May She Rest In Peace.