Tom, Dick and Harriet
Encyclopedia
Tom, Dick and Harriet is a British
sitcom that aired for two seasons from 1982 to 1983. It was created by the sitcom writing team of Johnnie Mortimer
and Brian Cooke
, and it starred veteran actor Lionel Jeffries
in one of his very few television roles, only seven months after his previous TV sitcom role in Father Charlie, Ian Ogilvy
(who had a few years before been cast as Simon Templar a.k.a. The Saint
in Return of the Saint
), and Brigit Forsyth
(best known for her role as Thelma Ferris in The Likely Lads
/Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
).
It was made by Thames Television
for the ITV
network.
countryside, and hen-pecked at that, his late wife banning him from smoking, drinking, and even casually looking at other women. With him becoming a widower, Maddison, unable to wait to break free from the shackles that had bound him for so long, heads off to the bright lights of London
, where his son Richard (Dick) (played by Ogilvy) lives with his wife Harriet (played by Forsyth). Suffice to say, his rather primitive manners, his disgusting habits, and his womanising creates havoc for his son and his daughter-in-law, both of them being well-manicured executives; him in advertising, her in magazine publishing. However, in the second series, Harriet conceives and (in a rather speedy nine months) delivers Richard a son and Thomas a grandson.
, through the US TV producer and executive Don L. Taffner, who distributed Thames material to US TV in both format and syndication. It was sold to CBS
in the same year that the original series finished in the UK, and the US version was named Foot at the Door. D.L. Taffner's production company managed to make 6 episodes of it after which it was cancelled. In the US version, the widower was named Jonah Foot, and he was played by Harold Gould
. Foot had lived in New Hampshire
, and following his wife's death he moved to New York City
, living in the Manhattan
apartment of his son Jim, played by Kenneth Gilman, and his wife Harriet, played by Diana Canova, best known for her roles in Soap (TV series)
and later in Throb
.
However, in 1992, 9 years after the second and last series of Tom, Dick and Harriet aired on ITV, its format was sold to the Netherlands
. The Dutch version was called Het Zonnetje in Huis, and went down very well with Dutch audiences, while success-wise the British original had failed to reach the dizzy heights of many of Cooke and Mortimer's previous projects. The Dutch version actually ran for 9 series in over a period of 12 years, from 1992 to 2004. It originally began on the Netherlands Public Broadcasting, and it was made by one of its main constituent members VARA
. VARA made the first 2 series of it in 1992 and 1993, after which later in the latter year it moved to the commercial station RTL 4
, who made it until the end. In the Dutch version, the widower was named Piet Bovenkerk, played by John Kraaijkamp, Sr.
, who moved to the Amsterdam
apartment of his son Erik, played by Kraaijkamp, Sr.'s son Johnny Kraaijkamp, Jr., and his wife Catharina, played by Martine Bijl.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sitcom that aired for two seasons from 1982 to 1983. It was created by the sitcom writing team of Johnnie Mortimer
Johnnie Mortimer
Johnnie Mortimer was a British scriptwriter for television.He started out as a cartoonist, which brought him into contact with his writing partner Brian Cooke...
and Brian Cooke
Brian Cooke
Brian Cooke is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer wrote scripts for and devised many of the top TV sitcoms of the 1970s, including Man About the House, George and Mildred and Robin's Nest...
, and it starred veteran actor Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, screenwriter and film director.-Early life and career:Jeffries attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wimborne Minster, Dorset. In 1945, he received a commission in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry...
in one of his very few television roles, only seven months after his previous TV sitcom role in Father Charlie, Ian Ogilvy
Ian Ogilvy
Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English film and television actor.-Early life:He was born in Woking, Surrey, England, the son of advertising executive Francis Ogilvy and actress Aileen Raymond .He was educated at Sunningdale School, Eton College and at the Royal Academy of...
(who had a few years before been cast as Simon Templar a.k.a. The Saint
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
in Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States...
), and Brigit Forsyth
Brigit Forsyth
Brigit Forsyth is a British actress, who is best known for her roles as Thelma Ferris in the BBC comedy Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Helen Yeldham in the hit ITV drama/modern-day western Boon....
(best known for her role as Thelma Ferris in The Likely Lads
The Likely Lads
The Likely Lads was a black-and-white British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966...
/Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a 1970s British sitcom broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It is the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais...
).
It was made by Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
for the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network.
Plot
Thomas Maddison (played by Jeffries) had spent 40 years living in the deepest CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
countryside, and hen-pecked at that, his late wife banning him from smoking, drinking, and even casually looking at other women. With him becoming a widower, Maddison, unable to wait to break free from the shackles that had bound him for so long, heads off to the bright lights of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where his son Richard (Dick) (played by Ogilvy) lives with his wife Harriet (played by Forsyth). Suffice to say, his rather primitive manners, his disgusting habits, and his womanising creates havoc for his son and his daughter-in-law, both of them being well-manicured executives; him in advertising, her in magazine publishing. However, in the second series, Harriet conceives and (in a rather speedy nine months) delivers Richard a son and Thomas a grandson.
Series One (1982)
- 1.1. On The Town (13 September 1982)
- 1.2. Where There's A Will (20 September 1982)
- 1.3. Currying Favour (27 September 1982)
- 1.4. The Last Time I Saw Paris (4 October 1982)
- 1.5. Dog In The Manger (11 October 1982)
- 1.6. Paternal Triangle (18 October 1982)
Series Two (1983)
- 2.1. A Room With A View (13 January 1983)
- 2.2. Baby Blues (20 January 1983)
- 2.3. Country Life (27 January 1983)
- 2.4. From Here To Maternity (3 February 1983)
- 2.5. None Shall Sleep (10 February 1983)
- 2.6. Get Out And Get Under (17 February 1983)
Trivia
Like other Thames sitcoms of the 1980s, the format of Tom, Dick and Harriet was sold to the USUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, through the US TV producer and executive Don L. Taffner, who distributed Thames material to US TV in both format and syndication. It was sold to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in the same year that the original series finished in the UK, and the US version was named Foot at the Door. D.L. Taffner's production company managed to make 6 episodes of it after which it was cancelled. In the US version, the widower was named Jonah Foot, and he was played by Harold Gould
Harold Gould
Harold V. Goldstein , best known by his stage name Harold Gould, was an American actor best known for playing Martin Morgenstern in the 1970s sitcoms Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as Miles Webber in The Golden Girls...
. Foot had lived in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, and following his wife's death he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, living in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
apartment of his son Jim, played by Kenneth Gilman, and his wife Harriet, played by Diana Canova, best known for her roles in Soap (TV series)
Soap (TV series)
Soap is an American sitcom that originally ran on ABC from 1977 to 1981.The show was created as a parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial format and included melodramatic plot elements such...
and later in Throb
Throb
Throb was an American television sitcom broadcast in syndication from 1986 to 1988. It revolved around thirty-something divorcee Sandy Beatty who gets a job at a small New Wave record label, Throb. Beatty's boss is Zach Armstrong , who looks like Michael J. Fox but dresses like Don Johnson...
.
However, in 1992, 9 years after the second and last series of Tom, Dick and Harriet aired on ITV, its format was sold to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The Dutch version was called Het Zonnetje in Huis, and went down very well with Dutch audiences, while success-wise the British original had failed to reach the dizzy heights of many of Cooke and Mortimer's previous projects. The Dutch version actually ran for 9 series in over a period of 12 years, from 1992 to 2004. It originally began on the Netherlands Public Broadcasting, and it was made by one of its main constituent members VARA
VARA (broadcaster)
The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs...
. VARA made the first 2 series of it in 1992 and 1993, after which later in the latter year it moved to the commercial station RTL 4
RTL 4
RTL 4 is a commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. The station has three sister tv channels: RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8...
, who made it until the end. In the Dutch version, the widower was named Piet Bovenkerk, played by John Kraaijkamp, Sr.
John Kraaijkamp, Sr.
Jan Hendrik Kraaijkamp, Sr. was a Dutch Golden Calf and Louis d'Or winning actor, comedian and singer. For years, he formed a comedy team with Rijk de Gooyer...
, who moved to the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
apartment of his son Erik, played by Kraaijkamp, Sr.'s son Johnny Kraaijkamp, Jr., and his wife Catharina, played by Martine Bijl.