Watching (TV series)
| Watching | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy, Sitcom |
| Created by | Jim Hitchmough |
| Starring | Paul Bown Emma Wray Liza Tarbuck Patsy Byrne Perry Fenwick |
| No. of episodes | 56 (including 4 specials) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Granada Television |
| Running time | 30mins x 54 60mins x 2 |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 5 July 1987 – 4 April 1993 |
Watching is a British television sitcom, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network and broadcast for seven series and four specials between 1987 and 1993.
The series was written by Jim Hitchmough and starred Paul Bown and Emma Wray as mismatched couple Malcolm Stoneway and Brenda Wilson.
Plot
Watching was set in Merseyside, with Brenda from Liverpool and Malcolm from Meols on the Wirral, the "posh" part of Merseyside on the other side of the River Mersey. The title refers to Brenda and her sister Pamela's hobby of 'people watching', and to Malcolm's hobby of birdwatching, which initially Brenda endures rather than enjoys, but later comes to appreciate.
Quiet biker Malcolm, who lived with his domineering mother (played by Patsy Byrne - Nursie from Blackadder), was accompanied on his birdwatching trips by loud scouser Brenda, who was forced to ride in the sidecar of his Norton motorbike. The series followed their on/off relationship, during which Malcolm married Lucinda (played by Elizabeth Morton).
Brenda and Malcolm married each other in the final episode, "Knotting", broadcast on 4 April 1993.
Episode List
Series One
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meeting | 5 July 1987 |
| 2 | Wrestling | 12 July 1987 |
| 3 | Outing | 19 July 1987 |
| 4 | Confusing | 26 July 1987 |
| 5 | Leaving | 2 August 1987 |
| 6 | Repenting | 9 August 1987 |
| 7 | Hiding | 16 August 1987 |
| 8 | Special Episode Seasoning |
27 December 1987 |
Series Two
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Falling | 19 February 1988 |
| 10 | Dancing | 26 February 1988 |
| 11 | Visiting | 4 March 1988 |
| 12 | Visiting II | 11 March 1988 |
| 13 | Missing | 18 March 1988 |
| 14 | Dining | 25 March 1988 |
| 15 | Moving | 1 April 1988 |
| 16 | Special Episode Twitching 60 minute episode |
24 December 1988 |
Series Three
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Losing | 3 March 1989 |
| 18 | Deceiving | 10 March 1989 |
| 19 | Requiting | 17 March 1989 |
| 20 | Breeding | 24 March 1989 |
| 21 | Wrenching | 31 March 1989 |
| 22 | Wedding | 7 April 1989 |
Series Four
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Joking | 1 December 1989 |
| 24 | Pairing | 8 December 1989 |
| 25 | Faultering | 15 December 1989 |
| 26 | Exploding | 29 December 1989 |
| 27 | Repairing | 5 January 1990 |
| 28 | Petting | 12 January 1990 |
| 29 | Floating | 19 January 1990 |
| 30 | Proposing | 26 January 1990 |
| 31 | Flitting | 2 February 1990 |
Series Five
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Listing | 14 December 1990 |
| 33 | Nesting | 21 December 1990 |
| 34 | Feeding | 4 January 1991 |
| 35 | Winning | 11 January 1991 |
| 36 | Fixing | 18 January 1991 |
| 37 | Straying | 25 January 1991 |
| 38 | Homing | 1 February 1991 |
| 39 | Suiting | 8 February 1991 |
| 40 | Bonding | 15 February 1991 |
| 41 | Presenting | 22 February 1991 |
| 42 | Special Episode Slipping 60 minute episode |
25 December 1991 |
Series Six
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Using | 3 January 1992 |
| 44 | Echoing | 10 January 1992 |
| 45 | Doctoring | 17 January 1992 |
| 46 | Christening | 24 January 1992 |
| 47 | Gulling | 31 January 1992 |
| 48 | Confessing | 7 February 1992 |
| 49 | Special Episode Reverting |
1 January 1993 |
Series Seven
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Migrating | 21 February 1993 |
| 51 | Uncoupling | 28 February 1993 |
| 52 | Helping | 7 March 1993 |
| 53 | Engaging | 14 March 1993 |
| 54 | Wandering One | 21 March 1993 |
| 55 | Wandering Too | 28 March 1993 |
| 56 | Knotting | 4 April 1993 |
Production notes
Watching was originally conceived as a comedy sketch about a shy birdwatcher and a lively girl, written by Hitchmough during a drama workshop at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. He submitted the sketch for the BBC satirical series Not the Nine O'Clock News but it was rejected. Undeterred by this, Hitchmough developed the sketch into a hit stage play and later won a commission from Granada Television to produce a seven-part series for broadcast on Sunday nights at 10:00 pm (a timeslot which was usually reserved for satirical comedy such as Yorkshire TV's The New Statesman and Central TV's Spitting Image). After a successful first series and subsequent Christmas special, Watching was recommissioned and moved to an earlier timeslot of 8:00 pm on Friday nights. Up until the end of its final run (broadcast at 7 pm on Sunday), the series would win audiences of over 17 million viewers.
Originally, the series was produced by David Liddiment (later to become Director of Programming at ITV) and directed by Les Chatfield, a senior director at Granada. Chatfield directed all 56 episodes and took over producing duties from series 3 onwards. Liddiment became the series' executive producer.
Emma Wray sang the theme song, "What Does He See in Me?", which was written by Charles Hart. Incidental music was written and composed by Richie Close.
Book and Video releases
A novel based around the first series of Watching and written by Jim Hitchmough was published in 1990 by Bantam Books.
A video featuring the first two episodes, "Meeting" and "Wrestling" was released by CastleVision in August 1993.
DVD Releases
All seven series and four specials have been released on DVD, The complete first series, including the 1987 Christmas special ("Seasoning"), was released on DVD in February 2006, also released was Watching:Series 1-Selected Episodes, which comprised three first season episodes "Meeting", "Outing" and "Hiding". The complete second series was released in March 2008; The complete third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh series including the 1988, 1991 and 1993 Christmas and New Year specials ("Twitching"), ("Slipping") and ("Reverting"), Especially a nine-disc set of the complete series, were released in April, May, July, October and November 2009. All releases are distributed by Network.
| DVD | Year(s) | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series 1 | 1987 | 27 February 2006 |
| The Complete Series 2 | 1988 | 17 March 2008 |
| The Complete Series 3 | 1989 | 6 April 2009 |
| The Complete Series 4 | 1989- 1990 |
25 May 2009 |
| The Complete Series 5 | 1990- 1991 |
13 July 2009 |
| The Complete Series 6 | 1992 | 5 October 2009 |
| The Complete Series 7 | 1993 | 9 November 2009 |
| The Complete Series 1 to 7 Box Set | 1987- 1993 |
9 November 2009 |
Cast
- Emma Wray - Brenda Wilson
- Paul Bown - Malcolm Stoneway
- Liza Tarbuck - Pamela Wilson
- Patsy Byrne - Mrs Marjorie Stoneway, Malcolm's Mum
- Perry Fenwick - Terry Milton
- Philip Fox - Sydney Clough (series 1 only)
- John Bowler - David Lynch (series 2 on)
- Elizabeth Spriggs - Aunt Peggy (from series 2 on)
- Liz Crowther - Susan Roberts (series 2 and 3 only)
- Ken Jones - Uncle Bernard (series 3)
- Russell Boulter - Chris Cameron (series 4 only)
- Noreen Kershaw - Joyce Wilson, Brenda's Mum (series 6 on)
- Andrew Hilton - Gerald Wilson, Brenda's young brother (series 6 on)
- Elizabeth Morton - Lucinda Davis/Stoneway
- Richard Good- Jonathan MacMillan
- Ally Vuli - Roz, the Nanny
- Al T. Kossy - Harold, landlord of the Grapes
- Dave Dutton - Oswald the cafe owner
- Bill Moores - 'Cedric', regular at the Grapes
- Anita Petrof - 'Mary', regular at the Grapes
Note:'Cedric' and 'Mary' are the names given to the characters by Brenda during her people watching days, their 'real' names are unknown.
External links
- Watching at IMDb
- Template:Tv.com
- Watching at British Comedy Guide
- Watching at British TV Comedy
- Programme fansite
- wHom - Watching
- Tributes to Watching: Add Yours