Terry and Bob are close friends, although they frequently have their differences. Terry is out-going, good-looking and street smart, but doesn't have much of a brain. Bob is intelligent, but much shyer, and doesn't have quite as much success with the ladies. Together they get into all sorts of trouble, drinking and enjoying life to the max. But the time has come for them to start behaving more responsibly, get proper jobs and settle down. Will they manage this? Or will their innate sense of fun win through?
Several well-known sitcoms were produced in the seventies, one of the best known of which was Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, a series about Bob and Terry and their life after Bob's engagement to Thelma and Terry's retirement from the Army. Perhaps not so well known was its predecessor, The Likely Lads, a series shown on television between 1964 and 1966, which featured Bob and Terry in their younger and freer days, although still set in the same area, somewhere in the northeast of England. There were three series of The Likely Lads; unfortunately, most of the episodes went missing. The seven that still exist are shown on this DVD.
James Bolam is truly amazing as Terry. Cynical and sarcastic, Terry is the leader of the two lads - it is his one-liners that get all the laughs - often not because what he says is funny, but because of the way that he says it, managing to keep at straight face at the same time. Of course, the writers deserve some credit, but I really think it is James Bolam's comic abilities that helped make this show the success that it was. Having got used to seeing him in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, I was amazed at how young he looks in this series, although he must have been nearly thirty at the time.
Rodney Bewes plays Bob. As the more sensible of the pair, he isn't anywhere near as funny as Terry, but he still manages to have his moments - usually when he has, for once, got the better of Terry. Plus he manages to win the audience over with his kindness. We do get to see his bare buttocks in the last episode, which I can imagine was very risque for the time! Bewes has more recently had a lot of success on the stage rather than TV, unlike James Bolam, who has hardly ever been off our TV screens. This comes as no great surprise to me - Bewes works really well with Bolam, but it is obviously Bolam that has the talent to make an audience laugh.
I was delighted to see that Terry's sister, Audrey, is played by the same actress, Sheila Fearn, who played her in Whatever Happened to... I've never felt that Fearn quite managed to pull off the northern accent, but as she is quite a minor character, it doesn't matter too much. A very young looking Wendy Richard appeared in one of the episodes as a mop salesgirl from London - it was great fun to see her too.
Although the existing episodes are taken from three series, it isn't that difficult to follow the thread of what is going on. Bob and Terry's friendship always remains true, although their girlfriends change - at least until the last episode, when the subject of Thelma comes up - Thelma is Bob's fiancee in Whatever Happened to... I do think it is a great shame that so many episodes were lost though. Apart from the brilliance of the acting and writing, they show a world that does not exist any more - a part of our history.
Like Whatever Happened to..., The Likely Lads was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who were also responsible for Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Although I doubt it would have been anything like as funny without James Bolam, there is no doubt that the screenplay is brilliant. All too often these days, I find I barely even raise a smile when watching comedies - with this one, I laughed out loud a lot. The setting is rough and ready and a far cry from today's polished efforts, but it doesn't matter - this is a brilliantly written comedy that has stood the test of time.
The episodes are all in black and white, as can be expected for a series shown in the mid-sixties. There has been no attempt to clean up any of the episodes - they are grainy at best - but I didn't find it too off-putting. Frankly, I'm just relieved that they still exist. I'm sure some will be put off by this, but I think it is worth persevering; it is the humour that stands out rather than the quality of the picture, after all. As can be expected for a show from this period, there are no extras.
I really enjoyed watching this. Having watched all of the Whatever Happened to...series, I was aware of the history of Bob and Terry's friendship and it was a real pleasure to be able to view it first hand. Of course, if you don't remember Whatever Happened to..., it will not mean as much, but I still think it is worth watching, particularly if you enjoy quality comedies of the type that are rarely made any more. Highly recommended.
