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Just Good Friends

"Who would believe that we could be in love again?"“C’MON, PEN!” Quintessential romanticom out of the Beeb’s (and John Sullivan’s) top drawer, with a sparkling JAN FRANCIS falling in and out and into love with PAUL NICHOLAS. Cross-class chicanery a-plenty thanks to protagonists’ respective families, foibles and fiercely textbook-80s obsessions with sharp suits, curries, wine bars and share options. On-off business went on and on then off seemingly for good, before Michael Grade insisted there be happiness ever after on Christmas Day 1986.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. gman

    April 17, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    Wonderful show, but spoiled by daytime repeats on GOLD where they have to bleep out every “bloody” and “bastard”. Would love to see an update on the lives of Vince and Pen, al la “To the Manor Born”, although knowing Sullivan, he’d probably bugger it up, al la “Only Fools”.

  2. David Pascoe

    April 30, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    A really enjoyable show, brilliantly acted and with so many sparkling lines. Always loved the way that most episodes ended on a poignant note, leading into Ronnie Hazlehurst’s trumpet led theme tune and then finishing off with the sting in the tale joke: “Red Lion? Which Red Lion? There’s bloody hundreds of them! PEN!!” or Penny cutting up what she thought were Vince clothes, only to discover that they were someon else’s.

  3. gman

    April 11, 2012 at 1:19 am

    I realise now just how much of a twat I sounded in my last comment, with all the “a la” malarky. To be honest, I would have given anything to see any new JGF, but sadly it is never to be.

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