The life and times of the villagers of Bentley, Hampshire

Bentley, Hampshire

Bentley is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The parish has an acreage of . The village is located just off the A31 road between Farnham in Surrey and Alton, being about five miles west of Farnham and six miles east of Alton...

, a typical English village from 1993 to 2001.

Initially broadcast as a radio programme on BBC Radio 4, Christmas 1990 and continued 1991, 1992 and 1993 - a total of 50 radio broadcasts. A book was also written by Nigel Farrell, covering the original Radio 4 episodes: The Village: The Early Years, ISBN 978-0563383116

Due to success of the radio broadcast, the TV series started filming in summer 1993 and was broadcast on 3rd October 1993 by Meridian TV, later to be shown on BBC 2 and Sky. It was also exported to Australian and Norwegian TV.

Production Company: Tiger Aspect Productions

Tiger Aspect Productions

Tiger Aspect Productions is a British television production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Co-founded by producer Peter Bennett-Jones, its productions have included popular hits such as The Vicar of Dibley and Mr. Bean...

Producer: Paul Sommers
Director/Narrator: Nigel Farrell (Also responsible for and appearing in A Place in France).

Total number of episodes: 102 (Oct 1993 – Nov 2001)

The Top 10 Cast (in order of appearance)

Name	Description	Episodes
Simmi Riall	Swiss Beautician	76
Tony Holmes	Farmer	74
Pinkie Salmon	Policeman	34
Mary Thomson	Captain Thomson's wife	62
Captain Andrew Thomson	Submarine Captain	62
Terry Cox	Bentley Stores delivery man	46
Joan Cox	Terry Cox's wife	35
Jumbo Fuller	Tony Holmes' brother in law	45
Dave	The Plumber / Elvis	39
Les Player	Software developer and entrepreneur	63

Episodes

The date shown is the date first broadcast on Meridian TV. The events in the series had occurred in the previous 6–12 months prior to broadcast.

Series	Episode	Date	Content
1	1	3 Oct 1993	The Village Fete 1993. Simmi joins a dating agency. A new village bobby appears in the village.
1	2	10 Oct 1993	Simmi goes on first date at agency. Pam Holmes plans parachute jump
1	3	17 Oct 1993	Terry Cox planning to win cup at Fete. Preparations for the fete start
1	4	24 Oct 1993	Pam Holmes makes parachute jump. Bentley Fete opens. Cow Pat lottery with Claire the Coe. Simmi does face painting at fete.
1	5	31 Oct 1993	Hop pickers arrive. Simmi meets John on second data at fete - but it's the last. Alan Wheatley has doubts about future of the village stores.
1	6	7 Nov 1993	Alan Wheatley plans to cut the stores in half. Simmi searches the dating agency again. The by-pass work starts.
2	1	20 Apr 1994	The Star pub changes gets a new landlord. Elvis (Dave the Plumber) looks at Pinkie's plumbing.
2	2	4 May 1994	Pinkie lies in wait for burglars at Bentley stores. The threat to local business by the new bypass. Pinkie shops for baby clothes.
2	3	11 May 1994	Debbie Salmon is pregnant. The pheasant shoot.
2	4	18 May 1994	Tony wants to dig gravel from his land to build a by-pass, but neighbour and brother-in-law, Jumbo objects.
2	5	25 Apr 1994	The Balloon flight. Chris Holmes plans his marriage – but to Sarah a 'townie'
2	6	01 Jun 1994
3	1	30 Oct 1994	Dave the Plumber announces marriage to Dee. Jumbo plans action against gravel extraction to build by-pass.
3	2	06 Nov 1994	The girl with no belly button.
3	3	13 Nov 1994	Simmi's new boyfriend has a surprise for Simmi. Les moving from Germany to Bentley to set up new business. Elvis (Dave the Plumber) sings.
3	4	20 Nov 1994	Will Les propose? Simmi's mum arrives from Switzerland to meet Les. Simmi and Les view new offices on Bentley Industrial Estate. New police woman arrives in Bentley.
3	5	27 Nov 1994	WPC Woodcock arrives. Les and Simmi's software arrives and move into new offices. Chris Holmes's stag night
3	6	04 Dec 1994	Preparations for Froyle pantomime – with WPC Sue Woodcock as Mother Goose
4	1	15 Mar 1995	Simmi and Les employ new staff, but no money to pay wages. Tony Holmes goes on fox hunt. Mary at The Bull pub needs staff. Chris Holmes's wedding preparations in Wales.
4	2	22 Mar 1995	Chris and Sarah's wedding in Wales. Simmi and Les prepare for computer fair at Olympia, London.
4	3	29 Mar 1995	Simmi and Les finally sell software at Olympia. Final rehearsal for Mother Goose. WPC Sue Woodcock gets bad news from Australia.
4	4	12 Apr 1995	WPC Sue Woodcock mother has heart attack in Australia. Mother Goose performs. Farmer Colin Meatyard announces end of his marriage. James Campbell the new vicar announced.
4	5	19 Apr 1995	Simmi and Les discuss the effects of contraception – and vasectomy. Colin Meatyard to sell dairy herd to settle his divorce. Will the bypass mean the end of Bentley stores?
4	6	26 Apr 1995	Les decides to have vasectomy. Bentley Bypass opens.
5	1	05 Nov 1995	Les has the vasectomy. Campaigns for local election candidates starts. Preparations for 100th villager fete starts.
5	2	12 Nov 1995	Simmi rushes to Switzerland to see her ill father. Local elections. Colin finds Lorraine in 'lonely hearts' in Farmers Weekly.
5	3	19 Nov 1995	Election results. Simmi returns from Switzerland after her father dies. Marion explains about dyslexic children.
5	4	26 Nov 1995	Nicholas Parsons opens 100th Bentley fete. Marion to go to House of Lords to appeal against dyslexia laws. Thefts from allotments.
5	5	03 Dec 1995	Marion wins appeal at House of Lords re dyslexia laws and celebrates. Simmi's mum comes to stay. Tony wins election.
5	6	10 Dec 1995	WPC Sue Woodcock can't raise air fare to Australia. Simmi and Les expand office. Does Colin need to sell farm to pay ex-wife?
6	1	06 Oct 1996	Sue arrives in Australia to visit dying mother. Peter Blackman is new taxi driver in village. Simmi and Les take staff to Chequers pub. CSA chases Les.
6	2	13 Oct 1996	Letter from CSA for Les upsets Simmi. Sue asks why did her mother abandon her and move to Australia. Sarah announces that she will not give up Jon in London.
6	3	20 Oct 1996	Mark Christmas, on morale high due to Lords judgement gets new girlfriend. Star landlord to leave.
6	4	27 Oct 2006	Sue returns from Australia Nicky wants to be new landlord of Star pub. Marion meets Marks new girlfriend. Les divorce delayed. Tony Holmes has a weight problem.
6	5	03 Nov 1996	Bob Wilson and Nicky Meatyard are new landlord of the Star. Will Adrian the PI sponsor the Bentley football team. Bentley loses 6-2 leaving sponsorship is in doubt.
6	6	10 Nov 1996	Tony Holmes is diabetic. Sue investigates local signs being stolen. Star opens with Nicky and Bob as landlords.
6	7	17 Nov 1996	Les has problems collecting from bad debtors. Simmi has car crash and has to wear neck brace. Chequers get new French chef. Lorraine plans party for Colin.
6	8	24 Nov 1996	Les gets response from CSA. Colin has birthday party. Bentley cook book launched.
6	9	01 Dec 1996	Great crested newt found in the pond - but this is a problem for the ducks.
6	10	08 Dec 1996	Duck & Newt story gets into national press. Cook book content continues to grow.
6	11	15 Dec 1996	Is the Chequers haunted? Ducks get a reprieve. Les arranges printing of the Bentley cook book Tony Holmes's Sarah is pregnant
6	12	22 Dec 1996	Cook book sales go well. Medium arrives at the Chequers.
7	1	05 Oct 1997	Simmi and Les decide to renovate their cottage, but wants ex husband to do the work. Dave the Plumber has an accident.
7	2	12 Oct 1997	Simmi's ex Dick starts work on the cottage. Dave the Plumber goes to police station to explain what happened on stage.
7	3	19 Oct 1997	Les is critical about work by Dick at the cottage. Dave visits his solicitor about assault incident. Terry persuades Joan to go to the races. Dave sings at village show.
7	4	26 Oct 1997	Sue sings at village show. Andrew narrates at show.
7	5	02 Nov 1997	Lorraine wants to join the police force. Huge ugly surgery sign appears. Les and Simmi plan to expand the software business
7	6	9 Nov 1997	Lorraine takes police exam. Joan taken to hospital. Petition to remove ugly village road sign.
7	7	16 Nov 1997	Lorraine fails police entrance exam. Alan makes plans for the shop. Bentley road sign is removed.
7	8	23 Nov 1997	PC Sue Woodcock plans her retirement from police force. Simmi and Les announce their wedding plans. Les proposes on holiday in Turkey.
7	9	30 Nov 1997	Penny makes her will. Bentley fete opens. Les converting part of his office in the industrial estate for Simmi new salon. Sue in the stocks. Simmi and Les prepare their wedding list. Penny goes gliding.
7	10	7 Dec 1997	Tony in hospital. Andrew inspects sea cadets. Simmi and Les in-laws meet. Sue and Lorraine discuss strange lights in the sky. UFO in Hampshire?
7	11	14 Dec 1997	Sue believes lights are a UFO. Simmi's mum has doubts about wedding. Peter Blackman want to run the pub. Simmi and Les design their engagement ring. More UFOs.
7	12	21 Dec 1997	Peter Blackman is the new landlord of The Star. Sue plans her farewell party. Simmi listens to an old clairvoyants tape recording. Les picks up engagement ring. Sue has her party at The Star.
8	1	04 Oct 1998	Simmi and Les disagree about wedding. Sue moves out. WPC Sarah Wilcox comes to village. Dave wants to go to Gracelands.
8	2	11 Oct 1998	WPC Wilcox arrests someone for slashing tyres in village. Peter plans B&B in Bentley at The Star. Lorraine inherits some money and wants to invest in The Star pub.
8	3	18 Oct 1998	Dave is scared of flying to USA. Les and Simmi have their engagement dinner. Simmi plans to expand her salon.
8	4	25 Oct 1998	Dave books tickets for fear of flying Fear of flying A fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane , or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also sometimes referred to as aerophobia, aviatophobia, aviophobia or pteromerhanophobia.... course. Sarah and Phil move into the police house. Simmi plans her radio broadcasting career. Peter cleans up the B&B in The Star.
8	5	01 Nov 1998	Catherine passes her driving test. The Star gets its first B&B customer. Dave goes on his fear of flying course at Heathrow.
8	6	08 Nov 1998	Simmi records her pilot radio show - but it can't be edited. WPC Sarah issues speeding tickets in Bentley.
8	7	15 Nov 1998	Simmi's radio show gets rejected. Sue Woodcock opens the village fete. Simmi hears her mum has cancer and returns home to Switzerland. Tony and Jumbo go to paint ball range.
8	8	22 Nov 1998	Sarah gets married. Andrew gets upset about plan to build 100 homes in Bentley. Peter starts to receive nuisance calls. Simmi returns home to Bentley after her mum has operation.
8	9	29 Nov 1998	Hilda is upset by careless dogs and their owners fouling the footbaths. Campaign against new development continues. WPC Kedge identifies the nuisance calls to Peter.
8	10	06 Dec 1998	Will Tony sell land for development? Village pond needs cleaning, but there are no volunteers.
8	11	13 Dec 1998	The dog fouling officer starts fining offenders. Dee needs a hysterectomy. Community service offenders clean pond. Les plans Simmi 40th birthday to.....
8	12	20 Dec 1998	Tony collects his restored Morris Minor. Dee's operation is a success. Simmi and Les set off on surprise trip - 1st class.
9	1	13 Oct 1999	Les takes Simmi to Paris for 40th birthday, but Simmi just wast to go shopping. Les has problems with his French. Les proposes to Simmi. Colin sells his dairy herd.
9	2	20 Oct 1999	Colins language puts off buyers. Alan seeks loan from bank to improve the village stores. Tony and Jumbo have a car race.
9	3	27 Oct 1999	Alan has meeting with bank manager and gets loan. The great car race continues.
9	4	02 Nov 1999	Tony wins the great car race. Alans starts to split his shop into two – but there are delays. Simmi and Les argue about details of their marriage plans.
9	5	10 Nov 1999	Les and Simmi choose outfit for the wedding - but Les must lose weight. Terry and Joan have their 50th wedding anniversary party.
9	6	17 Nov 1999	Les continues his diet and takes up exercising. Peter starts clamping non patrons in the pub car park. Dave fails to get on Stars in their Eyes. Mary works on Simmi's wedding dress
9	7	24 Nov 1999	Les loses enough weight to get married. Jumbo discovers a strange plant in garden - is it legal? Dave performs as Elvis at The Star pub. Colin parks his tractor in pub car park.
9	8	01 Dec 1999	Les and Simmi check out wedding venues and then collects Simmi's mum from airport. As Simmi invites her ex husband, Les invites his ex wife Melanie to Wedding. WPC Sarah announces she is pregnant.
9	9	08 Dec 1999	The Star loses customers to The Chequers. Andrew and Mary prepare surprise for Hilda's 80th. Les goes to his quiet stag night while Simmi has a wild hen night.
9	10	15 Dec 1999	Simmi has a hangover from the hen night. Hilda's surprise party with a This is Your Life presentation.
9	11	22 Dec 1999	Simmi is nervous prior to the wedding, while Les has to work late. Peter upgrades the facilities at The Star.
9	12	29 Dec 1999
10	1	19 Oct 2000
10	2	26 Oc6 2000
10	3	02 Nov 2000
10	4	09 Nov 2000
10	5	16 Nov 2000
10	6	23 Nov 2000
10	7	30 Dec 2000
10	8	07 Dec 2000
10	9	14 Dec 2000
10	10	21 Dec 2000
10	11	28 Dec 2000
10	12	04 Jan 2001
11	1	16 Aug 2001
11	2	23 Aug 2001
11	3	30 Aug 2001
11	4	06 Sep 2001
11	5	13 Sep 2001
11	6	20 Sep 2001
11	7	27 Sep 2001
11	8	04 Oct 2001
11	9	11 Oct 2001
11	10	18 Oct 2001
11	11	15 Nov 2001	Hop picking. Captain Thompson and Mary continue to edit their Bentley book. Pinkie the Star pub landlord receives hate mail. Simmi and Les decide on future of the software business.
11	12	22 Nov 2001	Les gets overwhelming interest at exhibition. Pinkie suspects everyone as source of poison pen letter. Captain Thompson completes his "Official History of Bentley" book. Mary remembers times past.