Keeping Mum (TV series)

Keeping Mum
Genre	Sitcom
Written by	Geoffrey Atherden
Starring	Stephanie Cole Martin Ball David Haig Meera Syal
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Geoffrey Perkins
Producer	Stephen McCrum
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	17 April 1997 (1997-04-17) – 16 June 1998 (1998-06-16)

Keeping Mum is a British sitcom, written by Geoffrey Atherden and broadcast on BBC1 for two series between 1997 and 1998.

It starred Stephanie Cole as the main character, Peggy Beare, Martin Ball and David Haig as her sons and Meera Syal as her daughter-in-law.

Main cast

Character	Actor
Peggy Beare	Stephanie Cole
Andrew Beare	Martin Ball
Richard Beare	David Haig
Tina Beare	Meera Syal

Episodes

Series one

No.	Episode No.	Title	Original airdate
1	1	"The Promotion"	17 April 1997 (17 April 1997)
Andrew has an interview for a job in London
2	2	"The Funeral"	24 April 1997 (24 April 1997)
The family attend the funeral of Uncle William, and Peggy takes a fancy to some oranges
3	3	"The Babysitter"	1 May 1997 (1 May 1997)
Andrew hires Richard's babysitter to be company for Peggy
4	4	"The Accident"	8 May 1997 (8 May 1997)
Peggy tries to nurse Andrew after he injures his foot at work
5	5	"The Dog"	15 May 1997 (15 May 1997)
Richard presents his mother with a puppy, much to Andrew's chagrin
6	6	"The Last Will"	22 May 1997 (22 May 1997)
Andrew is dismayed to discover that his inheritance is conditional on him living with his mother until her death
7	7	"The Oysters"	29 May 1997 (29 May 1997)
Peggy is charged with shoplifting
8	8	"The Nursing Home"	5 June 1997 (5 June 1997)
Andrew takes the difficult decision that his mother needs professional care

Series two

No.	Episode No.	Title	Original airdate
9	1	"The Picnic"	16 April 1998 (16 April 1998)
The family go for a day out, during which Peggy goes missing
10	2	"The Card Game"	23 April 1998 (23 April 1998)
Andrew invites some friends round to play poker
11	3	"The Budgie"	30 April 1998 (30 April 1998)
Peggy is given the responsibility of looking after a talking budgie for a few days
12	4	"The Aunt"	14 May 1998 (14 May 1998)
Andrew arranges for Peggy's estranged sister Marjorie (Prunella Scales) to visit, while he spends some time with Wendy
13	5	"The Sign"	21 May 1998 (21 May 1998)
Peggy decides to volunteer at the church
14	6	"The Thief"	28 May 1998 (28 May 1998)
Peggy steals a clock from a neighbour, convinced that it belongs to her
15	7	"The Surprise"	4 June 1998 (4 June 1998)
It is Richard's birthday. Peggy is full of party spirit, while Richard is clearly hiding something
16	8	"The Morning After"	16 June 1998 (16 June 1998)
Peggy goes into shock after Wendy spends the night with Andrew

Reception

In his review for The Independent, Thomas Sutcliffe said that "Cole's performance is never just clownish", concluding his review by saying: "The result is a programme that is only intermittently funny, to be honest, but at least has larger ambitions for what popular comedy can do."

External links

• Keeping Mum at IMDb