Judi Dench and Susan Penhaligon revisit '80s sitcom A Fine Romance
The fondly remembered sitcom will be available to revisit on Rewind TV.
Readers who enjoy reliving their favourite old shows on Talking Pictures TV have a new channel to bookmark – Rewind TV, which arrives on Sky on Thursday 23rd May, with a blend of dramas and comedies alongside factual series such as Whicker’s World.
One of the evergreen sitcoms you’ll find is A Fine Romance, which ran on ITV from 1981 to '84 and starred Judi Dench as translator Laura with her late husband Michael Williams as gardener Mike. The laughs come from the differences between this unlikely-seeming couple, who are introduced by Laura’s sister Helen (Susan Penhaligon) and her husband Phil (Richard Warwick). It’s anything but love at first sight.
On a three-way phone call with Dame Judi, 89, and Penhaligon, 74, I reveal that I recently watched A Fine Romance for the first time, as I wasn’t around when it was first broadcast. “Are you saying you weren’t born, Laura? That’s put us right in our place,” Dench replies with her distinctly gravelly voice and a mischievous laugh, but then wonders, sincerely, “Do you think it’s going to appear old-fashioned?”
It’s stood the test of time, the jokes hold up, the attitudes aren’t particularly dated, and even the '80s fashion isn’t distracting. The two main characters are happily single, without children, and approaching middle age, and that feels very modern.
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Dench and Penhaligon affectionately call each other Susie and Jude, often asking each other questions that start, “Do you remember..?” Their shared memories include Dench singing the theme song, A Fine Romance (“I can’t think how I got through it”); working with Michael, to whom she was married for 30 years until his death in 2001 (“It was a treat — we laughed at exactly the same things”); and director James Cellan Jones’s unusual footwear. “He used to arrive in the middle of winter in sandals – we were transfixed by his toes,” recalls Penhaligon.
In the series, Dench’s Laura is the brains and Penhaligon’s Helen the beauty. “I’ve never felt beautiful,” says Penhaligon, who was called the “British Bardot” in the 1970s. Dench chimes in, “And I’ve never felt brainy!” Penhaligon adds, “I look at myself now and think, ‘My goodness, if I’d only known how I looked then!’” Dench responds, “Oh God, I know, it’s best to not look in a mirror, Susie. It’s rather blessed I can’t see any more [Dench was diagnosed with macular degeneration in 2012] – I can ignore the bits I don’t want to look at.”
Both women come from theatre backgrounds, and A Fine Romance was their first TV sitcom. Though it was recorded in front of a studio audience, they had to learn to play to the cameras, not the crowd.
Many things have changed in the industry since they started out – actors using mics on stage, which Dench says “puts you at a distance... it takes you further away from the audience”, and self-taping auditions. “The way we communicate seems to be getting more and more remote.”
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What does she think about the inclusion of pre-performance trigger warnings at the theatre? These inform audiences about potentially distressing content, including abuse, violence, loud noises... “Do they do that?” Dench is shocked. “My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before King Lear or Titus Andronicus! I can see why they exist, but if you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?”
A Fine Romance requires no trigger warning, as some TV shows from the past do for such red flags as “discriminatory language”. Its enduring appeal, Dench and Penhaligon agree, is its “innocent” humour. After sharing many laughs on the call, Penhaligon thanks Dench – “I learnt so much about comedy, watching you and Michael bring that script to life so brilliantly.” And they promise to meet up soon.
This article was originally published in the 18th-24th May edition of Radio Times magazine, on sale now.
Rewind TV launches on Sky channel 190 on Thursday 23rd May and A Fine Romance is showing on that Thursday at 11am and 6pm.
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