All at No 20

All at No 20
GenreSitcom
Created byRichard Ommanney
Starring
Theme music composerDenis King
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes12
Production
ProducerThames Television
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkITV
Release10 February 1986 (1986-02-10) –
1 December 1987 (1987-12-01)

All at No 20 is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 10 February 1986 to 1 December 1987. Starring Maureen Lipman, it was written by Richard Ommanney, Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent and Alex Shearer. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television and ran for two series.[1]

Cast

  • Maureen Lipman as Sheila Haddon, a widow who decides to take in lodgers in order to keep her house. The series revolves around her attempts to cover her debts, her relationships.
  • Lisa Jacobs as Monica Haddon, Sheila's daughter, a 20 year old art student.
  • Martin Clunes as Henry, a medical student, who is one of Sheila's lodgers. Henry has difficulties with medical school, as he is quite squeamish.
  • Gary Waldhorn as Richard Beamish (series 1), an old friend of Sheila's, who is in love with her, and repeatedly proposes marriage. Beamish is heir to a fortune, and frequently offers to cover Sheila's debts. He was a Commander in the Royal Navy, and is currently seen to be writing a novel.
  • Gabrielle Glaister as Carol (series 1), Monica's best friend and fellow art student, who is one of Sheila's lodgers. Carol frequently flirts with Chris and Henry.
  • Gregory Doran as Chris Temple (series 1), one of Sheila's lodgers. Chris is an itinerant Disc Jockey, who shows up at Sheila's door looking for a place to stay after briefly meeting Monica at a party. Episodes often feature fallout from Chris's failures as a Disc Jockey; in one episode, he is attacked by Hell's Angels; in another, his van is destroyed.
  • David Bannerman as Hamish McAlpine (series 1), one of Sheila's lodgers. Hamish is a flight attendant who shares a room with Chris. Chris was initially under the impression that Hamish was gay, causing tension in their relationship.
  • Carol Hawkins as Candy (series 2)
  • Desmond McNamara as Frankie Lomax (series 2)

Plot

Maureen Lipman played Sheila Haddon, whose husband had died 18 months before the start of the first series. He died without any insurance, so on top of her grief she has to pay off the mortgage of her house (No 20). To do this, rather than ask for help, she decides to take in young lodgers. Monica, her twenty-year-old student daughter, is asked to help. She brings back her fellow art student Carol, a doctor called Henry, as well as Chris, Hamish, Candy and Frankie. Sheila also gets many part-time jobs, while her old friend Richard Beamish proposes marriage to her.

Episodes

Series One (1986)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"All at No. 20"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyFebruary 10, 1986 (1986-02-10)
Desperate to avoid bankruptcy, Sheila decides to sell her house. However, she cannot stand the potential buyers. When Chris, a recent arrival to London, arrives on her doorstep, needing a place to stay, Sheila decides to rent rooms to cover her overdraft. Meanwhile, Richard asks Sheila to read the latest volume of his memoirs, and Chris's van appears to have been stolen. Guest starring Chris Ellison as Mr Melchett and Sherrie Hewson as Mrs Melchett. Note: Martin Clunes does not appear in this episode.
22"Episode 2"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyFebruary 17, 1986 (1986-02-17)
Sheila presents her plan to rent rooms to her bank manager, but cannot stop laughing after she gets the advice to imagine him naked. When she exits the interview, she meets Henry, a medical student, who is looking for a room. Sheila takes him on as her third lodger. After two more potential lodgers take an interest in a room, Sheila decides to take Hamish in as a fourth, sharing with Chris. Chris puts together a flashy new suit to further his DJing career, but it is destroyed in a confrontation with Hell's Angels. Guest starring Terence Bayler as Mr Warren, and Marc Sinden as Mr Stokes.
33"Episode 3"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyFebruary 24, 1986 (1986-02-24)
Sheila loses her a part-time job as a secretary after destroying the quarterly accounts data in an attempt to learn how to use the word processor. To make ends meet, she asks Richard if she can type his latest manuscript, a potboiler. To improve Sheila’s productivity, Richard buys her a word processor. Chris dreads having to share his room with Hamish, whom he believes to be gay. Hamish, who is not gay, decides to prank Chris by playing along. Carol invites Henry on a date. Guest starring Delia Lindsay as Mrs Bagley, Jeremy Sinden as Mr Bagley, and Dorothea Phillips as Miss Godfrey.
44"Episode 4"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyMarch 3, 1986 (1986-03-03)
Sheila collects the first rent from her new boarders, but still struggles to pay the bills. Chris’s van is due to be repossessed, so he tries to sell it to the housemates, with no success. Sheila and Richard fight about the word processor: Sheila hates it, Richard loves it, and the situation is not helped by Richard’s toothache. After paying the electricity bill with the money from her lodgers, Sheila cannot cover the payment on her bank loan. After considering selling a jardiniere given to her by her late husband to get the money, she decides to sell a brooch instead. As Chris and Sheila pull up to the bank in his van, Sheila’s bank manager pulls out, colliding with it. Because his van was destroyed, Chris can collect the insurance money. Sheila makes the payment on her loan. Richard apologizes to Sheila, who stops using the word processor. Guest starring Terence Bayler as Mr Warren, Sam Graham as the bank clerk, Harold Innocent as the antique store owner, and Eiji Kusuhara as the customer.
55"Episode 5"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyMarch 10, 1986 (1986-03-10)
TBD
66"Episode 6"Peter Frazer-JonesRichard OmmanneyMarch 17, 1986 (1986-03-17)
TBD

Series Two (1987)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
71"Now We Are Four"Mark StuartIan Davidson and Peter VincentOctober 27, 1987 (1987-10-27)
Now down to just one lodger (Henry), Sheila must find another. Henry has a crush on Monica, much to her annoyance. To help, Sheila manages to talk him out of it, but Henry then falls for Sheila. Richard writes to say that he has proposed to another woman.
82"Three in a Bed"Mark StuartIan Davidson and Peter VincentNovember 3, 1987 (1987-11-03)
New lodger Candi moves in. Monica becomes jealous at the attention she gets from Sheila. In temper, Monica threatens to move out and to spend the night in a seedy bar. Sheila goes to rescue her but is arrested when the bar is raided by Police.
93"My Kitten, Right Or Wrong?"Mark StuartIan Davidson and Peter VincentNovember 10, 1987 (1987-11-10)
Monica is depressed that none of her art college paintings have sold. Sheila secretly buys one, but Monica finds out and is furious. Meanwhile, a cat the housemates have adopted has kittens.
104"Warts and All"Mark StuartIan Davidson and Peter VincentNovember 17, 1987 (1987-11-17)
Sheila is dreading an old schoolmate visiting as she has always been made feel inferior to her. On the day after a lot of panic, her husband shows up to say that she can't make it due to a migraine, but he tells her that she has always been jealous of Sheila.
115"The Tea Leaf"Mark StuartAlex ShearerNovember 24, 1987 (1987-11-24)
In search of another lodger, Sheila decides to take in an ex-convict, Frankie. The others are not so happy about this, but soon warm to him.
126"The Prowler"Mark StuartAlex ShearerDecember 1, 1987 (1987-12-01)
Alerted by a prowler outside, Sheila calls the Police. The Officer takes a shine to her and they go out on a date. Sheila finds him boring and tries to avoid him, but to her relief he tells her his estranged wife has returned. The prowler turns out to be a stray fox.

DVD release

The Complete Series of All at No 20 was released by Network in the UK (Region 2) on 15 June 2015.

References

  1. ^ "All At No. 20". British Comedy Guide. British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

External links