Terry And June - Series 1 (DVD)

Terry and June Medford are a middle-aged couple whose daughter has left home. Now that Terry has been promoted, they move to Purley and settle down to a comfortable suburban existence. But with Terry and his hare-brained schemes, life is never quiet for long. And with neighbours like Tina and Brian, there isn't much hope of him staying out of trouble. Thankfully, June is a loyal wife and puts up with much of Terry's madness because she loves him. ...
...another go. At the time, Terry and June became synonymous with the happily married surburban lifestyle that everyone was supposedly aiming for, although in hindsight, it is sometimes a little bit hard to take - worrying about the carpet when others are struggling to survive does seem like a problem taken too far. However, I think it is important to try to remember that it isn't supposed to be insulting - it is just a reflection of society at the ... more

Terry and June Medford are a middle-aged couple whose daughter has left home. Now that Terry has been promoted, they move to Purley and settle down to a comfortable suburban existence. But with Terry and his hare-brained schemes, life is never quiet for long. And with neighbours like Tina and Brian, there isn't much hope of him staying out of trouble. Thankfully, June is a loyal wife and puts up with much of Terry's madness because she loves him. But will June ever get the peaceful life that she longs for?

I love my retro sitcoms, not all of which I remember when they were shown the first time round! This one I do remember though and although I wasn't a huge fan at the time, I thought it was worth giving it another go. At the time, Terry and June became synonymous with the happily married surburban lifestyle that everyone was supposedly aiming for, although in hindsight, it is sometimes a little bit hard to take - worrying about the carpet when others are struggling to survive does seem like a problem taken too far. However, I think it is important to try to remember that it isn't supposed to be insulting - it is just a reflection of society at the time.

Terry is played by Terry Scott; June by June Whitfield. I have to admit that I am not all that familiar with Terry Scott as an actor - he appeared in countless Carry On films but not in roles that particularly stood out for me. Unfortunately, having died in 1994 from cancer, we are not going to be able to see any more of his work. As Terry, he is, frankly, a bit of a twit. He is amusing, but I found I could only take him in small doses - although this is probably as much to do with the writing and the direction as it is to do with his acting. The best episode is one in which he plays poker (or at least tries to) with his boss, played by Reginald Marsh - together, they really brought out the best in each other, which made this episode my favourite.

Everyone in the UK knows who June Whitfield is, especially after her role in Absolutely Fabulous. As Mrs Medford, she is the more practical one of the couple, always trying to thwart Terry's madder schemes. She is a suburban housewife, but I do like the fact that she isn't portrayed as being under the thumb - again a sign of the times changing. I don't think she is as funny as her husband and she certainly doesn't have the comic timing, but then she isn't really supposed to be funny. Of the two though, I did prefer her more sensible approach - she is definitely much less annoying.

Two recurring characters in this series are Tina and Brian Pillbeam, the Medford's next door neighbours. Tina is played by Anita Graham, who makes Tina a rather dumb blonde who speaks in a monotone about nothing in particular. She is quite funny at times, but can over-do things, which makes her best in small doses. I did like her husband though, who is played by Roland Curram in this first series. He is a bit of a wide-boy, always dabbling in this and that, and reminded me a bit of Del Trotter. It is a shame that this couple don't appear in later series.

I think my real problem with Terry and June is that it came after George and Mildred, which is one of my all-time favourite sitcoms. There is something about the way that Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce work together which make them really funny - in my opinion at least - I know many don't agree! - and I found that this was missing with Terry and June. In comparison, they are just a touch boring and a bit too clean - I really liked the terrible sexual innuendo that was so apparent in George and Mildred, for all it wasn't very PC. Terry and June was clearly supposed to be the new George and Mildred, but in my opinion, it just didn't quite reach the same heights.

Terry and June was written by John Kane, who was also responsible for Dick Turpin and Never the Twain. Having recently caught a few episodes of Never the Twain on ITV3, I wasn't all that impressed, and much the same can be said for Terry and June. I think it is to do with the timing - this series was first shown in 1979, just when political correctness was beginning to make itself felt - and this reigned in the writers. That is not to say that it is all politically correct - there is one episode that could be seen as very racist - but it is certainly going that way.

On the whole, I was rather disappointed by this series. It wasn't terrible - it just didn't grab my attention in the way that other sitcoms from the seventies have. I will probably look out for another series to give it a second chance though, because it certainly wasn't all bad. I don't think I would recommend going to a lot of trouble to purchase a copy unless you can get it fairly cheaply - I paid £8.97 from Amazon, but it has recently gone up again, so it is worth shopping around for a cheaper copy.

Classification: PG

Running time: 177 minutes 

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