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The 1960s gave British women the pill and, with the strict morality of the
1950s retreating, greater sexual freedoms and greater independence thanks to
better employment prospects. The 1970s would see women growing in confidence and
aspiring to true parity with men in their sexual and professional lives,
rejecting futures dominated by marriage, motherhood and domestic drudgery. At
least in theory. For Beryl Battersby, marriage and motherhood remain a cherished
dream, and sexual freedom an alarming nightmare. Which is bad news for boyfriend
Geoffrey Scrimshaw, who is more than ready for the permissive society and the
sexual bounty that seems to come so easily to his colleague Roland.
Created by Jack Rosenthal just before he settled on the single comic drama as
his preferred form for his wry, acute observations of life, The Lovers is a
fondly remembered, if slight, take on the battle-of-the-sexes theme, given a
freshness by its (almost) new-to-television leading duo. 20 year-old Paula
Wilcox was the sparkle-eyed, alternately endearing and infuriating Beryl,
besotted with her 'Geoffrey Bobbles Bon Bon', but repelled when his mind turns
to 'Percy Filth' (while entertaining private fantasies of 'Percy Filth' with
idol Paul McCartney). As Geoffrey, a sweet but commitment-phobic bank clerk,
still moping over England's recent world cup misfortunes, and desperate to cast
off his virginity, the mop-haired Richard Beckinsale debuted the trademark
nerviness and vulnerability that would make him one of the decade's biggest
stars.
The comedy arose from the pair's mismatched objectives ("Geoffrey, sex isn't
the only thing in life", insists Beryl; "It isn't even one of the things in
mine", sighs Geoffrey), and from Beryl's persistent attempts to change her beau
into perfect husband material (assuring him he'd look 'devilishly' attractive
with a pipe and a moustache). More unconventional was the regular appearance of
an unnamed young woman, wordlessly played by Alison King, who would materialise
just in time to be appalled by an out-of-context fragment of conversation and
retreat in horrified embarrassment.
The series made the inevitable leap to celluloid (The Lovers!, d. Herbert
Wise, 1972) with more success than most sitcoms, but after two series - by which
time Rosenthal had handed over to Geoffrey Lancashire and Geoffrey had finally
accepted defeat in his battle against marriage - it gracefully retired. Similar
themes were explored by the more enduring Man About the House (ITV, 1973-76),
with Wilcox as a more liberated but similarly forbidding object of thwarted
desire.
Mark Duguid
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1. 'N.O. spells no' (3:50)
