In Loving Memory (TV series)

In Loving Memory
Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny
Format	Comedy
Created by	Dick Sharples
Starring	Thora Hird Christopher Beeny Colin Farrell Avis Bunnage Sherrie Hewson Rose Power Joan Sims Veronica Doran
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	37
Production
Producer(s)	Thames Television (TV pilot), Yorkshire Television (TV series)
Running time	25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	4 November 1969 21 May 1979 – 3 April 1986

In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television in 1979 where it further ran for five series between until 1986.

Plot

The year is 1929 and in the opening episode Jeremiah Unsworth (Freddie Jones), the proprietor of the undertakers, dies. This leaves his widow Ivy (Thora Hird) and gormless nephew Billy (Christopher Beeny) to take over the business.
As might be expected, the accident-prone Ivy and Billy have numerous mishaps, and hardly a funeral goes by without something untoward occurring.

The setting for the show is the fictional Yorkshire town of Oldshaw during the 1930s. The writer Dick Sharples chose this period as this was the time when undertakers were switching from horse drawn hearses to mechanical ones.

Trivia

• The pilot for the show aired on 4 November 1969 as part of a series of six one-off situation-comedies. The producers, Thames Television elected not to take the series any further. It was almost ten years later when fellow ITV company Yorkshire Television commissioned a series.
• Both Bramham and Luddenden, West Yorkshire was where the location shooting took place.
• The theme music, entitled 'Comedy Close Up No.2' by Herbert Chappell, was supplied by De Wolfe Music film and television music library.
• Syd Little, in one episode, played a doubting neighbour character who once heard a sheep say, "hello".
• That's Your Funeral was a BBC Television sitcom based on a similar premise, but it only lasted for one series.
• Dame Thora Hird and Dick Sharples worked together on another ITV comedy series, Hallelujah!, which was also produced by Yorkshire Television and ran from 1981 to 1984 concurrently with In Loving Memory.
• RIP, a 1992 TV show produced by the Belgian BRT, borrowed many of its early screenplays directly from In Loving Memory.
• Dick Sharples followed In Loving Memory with another sitcom (also produced by Yorkshire Television): Farrington of the F.O.. It starred Angela Thorne and Joan Sims (the latter of whom had appeared in several episodes of In Loving Memory in various roles, including that of a rival undertaker.
• Richard Wilson, famous for his role as Victor Meldrew in the sitcom One Foot in the Grave, appeared in two episodes of the programme as the rival undertaker, Percy Openshaw. This was the same year he began his role as Dr Thorpe in Only When I Laugh.

Theme tune

The theme tune is 'Comedy Close-Up No.2' by Herbert Chappell.

Transmission dates

Pilot (B&W)
(1 x 25 min) 4 Nov 1969 · Tues 8.30pm
Series One
(7 x 25 min) 21 May - 2 Jul 1979 · Mon mostly 8pm
Series Two
(7 x 25 min) 3 Nov - 15 Dec 1980 · Mon 8pm
Series Three
(7 x 25 min) 12 Oct - 23 Nov 1982 · Tue 8.30pm
Special
(1 x 25 Min) 24 Dec 1982 · Fri 8pm
Series Four
(7 x 25 min) 16 Jan - 27 Feb 1984 · Mon 8pm
Series Five
(7 x 25 min) 20 Feb - 3 Apr 1986 · Thu 9pm

DVD release

All five series (including the 1982 Christmas special) of In Loving Memory have now been released on DVD by Network. A 5-disc set of the complete series has also been released.

DVD	Year(s)	Release date
The Complete Series 1	1979	18 February 2009
The Complete Series 2	1980	6 July 2009
The Complete Series 3 Plus Special	1982	5 October 2009
The Complete Series 4	1984	19 April 2010
The Complete Series 5	1986	23 August 2010
The Complete Series 1 to 5 Box Set	1979- 1986	18 October 2010

External links

• In Loving Memory at the Internet Movie Database
• In Loving Memory at the British Comedy Guide
• In Loving Memory at TV.com