The Cuckoo Waltz

The Cuckoo Waltz
Format	Comedy
Created by	Geoffrey Lancashire
Starring	David Roper Diane Keen Lewis Collins
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer(s)	Granada Television
Running time	26 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original airing	First run: 27 October 1975 – 14 March 1977 Second run: 3 July – 14 August 1980

The Cuckoo Waltz was a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for the ITV network between 1975 and 1977 and in 1980.

The series which was set in 1970s and (early 1980s) Manchester, written by Geoffrey Lancashire, produced and directed by Bill Gilmour, dealt with the comic complications that ensue when impoverished newlyweds Chris and Fliss Hawthorne (David Roper and Diane Keen) take in a lodger, Gavin Rumsey (Lewis Collins), to ease their financial problems. Collins left after 3 series and was replaced by Ian Saynor as Adrian Lockett in the fourth series.

The series was re-screened by now defunct Satellite TV channel, Granada Plus, in the late 1990s and early-mid 2000s.

Cast

• Diane Keen as Fliss Hawthorne
• David Roper as Chris Hawthorne
• Lewis Collins as Gavin Rumsey (series 1-3)
• Clare Kelly as Connie Wagstaffe
• Ian Saynor as Adrian Lockett (from series 4)
• John McKelvey as Austen Tweedale

Episodes

Series 1 (1975)

• Cuckoo in the Nest (27 Oct 75)
• One Week Later (3 Nov 75)
• Paying Your Way (10 Nov 75)
• The Anniversary (17 Nov 75)
• A Day Of (24 Nov 75)
• Fleet Street (1 Dec 75)
• House for Sale (8 Dec 75)

Series 2 (1976)

• Babysitter (8 Jul 76)
• Financial Difficulties (15 Jul 76)
• The Armchair (22 Jul 76)
• Connie (29 Jul 76)
• The Model (5 Aug 76)
• The Letter (12 Aug 76)

Series 3 (1977)

• It's All Greek to Me (7 Feb 77)
• The Treat (14 Feb 77)
• The Air Hostesses (21 Feb 77)
• The Policeman (28 Feb 77)
• Perspectives (7 Mar 77)
• Alterations (14 Mar 77)

Series 4 (1980)

• The New Lodger (3 Jul 80)
• The Neighbour (10 Jul 80)
• Leather (17 Jul 80)
• A Love That Does Not Dim (24 Jul 80)
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (31 Jul 80)
• The Press Ball (7 Aug 80)
• An Ideal Home (14 Aug 80)

DVD release

All four series of The Cuckoo Waltz have been released on DVD in 2009 and 2011, and a box set with the complete series to follow.

DVD	Release date
The Complete Series 1	4 May 2009
The Complete Series 2	10 August 2009
The Complete Series 3	21 March 2011
The Complete Series 4	22 August 2011
The Complete Series 1 to 4 Box Set	TBA

External links

• The Cuckoo Waltz at the British Comedy Guide
• The Cuckoo Waltz at the Internet Movie Database
• The Cuckoo Waltz at TV.com
• The Unofficial Lewis Collins website