THE LATE, great RALPH BATES was the eponymous hero, dumped via mantlepiece-mounted letter by his wife and forced to take solace in a lonely hearts-style encounter group which turns out to be nutter haven. Group leader is bizarre, rotund woman with no clue whatsoever, other members included a slightly dippy woman for developing love interest with Bates, Ralph, a wooly-hatted loser (“Would you like a ride in my motorcycle combination”) played by PETER “PLEASE, SIR” DENYER and Kirk St. Moritz, medallion chauvinist who turned out to be shy mummy’s boy in real life.
Matthew Rudd
August 2, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Sullivan’s best work.
Richard Davies
October 25, 2010 at 5:57 pm
My Dad really liked this, was it’s short run due to Ralph Bates’ ill health or John Sullivan being too busy with Just Good Friends, & Only Fools & Horses.
Anatole
April 25, 2011 at 11:53 pm
This was a lovely show. The characters grew on you over time, and only Kirk’s bizarre action-hero turn in the last episode, completely dismantling his quite poignant alter-ego, left a sour note. Proof that traditional sitcoms could create room for likeable characters. John Sullivan RIP.
Ben Hammy
April 26, 2011 at 11:50 am
“Any…………*sexual* problems..??” is a line that will stay with me forever.
As an easily-embarrassed youngster, my mum loved to repeat this line, followed by a huge cackle of laughter.
And still does.
THX 1139
December 2, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Sometimes depress-o-coms are just, well, depressing, but this was one downbeat comedy that had some real laughs because John Sullivan obviously had great affection for his characters. If a lot of them could have been grotesques, the excellent cast made them more human but still made them funny.
I wonder if they had made more the quality might have gone downhill? Maybe it’s better as a two season gem. Also, the last episode ended on a bittersweet note that summed up the whole thing very nicely.