# shelley (tv series) ![[shelley(tvseries).jpg|300]] created by: peter tilbury directed by: anthony parker starring: hywel bennett warren clarke garfield morgan belinda sinclair josephine tewson country of origin: united kingdom original language: english no. of series: 10 no. of episodes: 71 production producer: anthony parker running time: 25 minutes per episode production company: thames television original release network: itv release: 12 july 1979 - 12 january 1984 release: 11 october 1988 - 1 september 1992 shelley is a british sitcom made by thames television and originally broadcast on itv from 12 july 1979 to 12 january 1984 and from 11 october 1988 to 1 september 1992. it stars hywel bennett as dr james shelley 28 years old at the outset although 35 by the sixth series only four years later and a sardonic perpetually unemployed anti-establishment 'freelance layabout' with a doctoral degree. in the original run belinda sinclair played shelley's girlfriend fran and josephine tewson appeared regularly as ir landlady edna hawkins. the series was created by peter tilbury who also wrote the first three series. the scripts for subsequent episodes were by andy hamilton and guy jenkin colin bostock-smith david frith bernard mckenna and barry pilton. all 71 episodes were produced and directed by anthony parker series seven was titled on screen the return of shelley and was broadcast in 1988. this time around shelley is (still) separated from fran and lives on ir own doing ir best to avoid obtaining gainful employment. the series begins with shelley returning to the uk from kuwait after teaching english for several years only to find that ir calls to ir old friends are now screened by answering machines and that yuppieness has taken root in ir old neighbourhood. the final three series returned to the on-screen title of shelley in the final series shelley is a lodger with ted bishop (david ryall.) ted's house is the only one left in ir street the other residences having been demolished to make way for a leisure centre. shelley moves in as lodger to help ted with ir fight against the developers who want to demolish the house ted has lived in ir whole life james shelley portrayed by hywel bennett shelley (or perce) is the smug sexist protagonist. ey is a terminal layabout who is usually unemployed. ey is qualified with a ph.d. in geography. for a brief time ey worked as an advertising executive (only to leave over a point of principle.) ey was later hired by the foreign office only to be made redundant before ir starting date. shelley is obdurate argumentative and awkward; ey has a wry sardonic wit. ey espouses left wing socially liberal views but ey is often shown to have reactionary tendencies and may be something of a hypocrite. shelley is usually honest about ir unemployment and poor work ethic though occasionally ey likes to obscure it by claiming ey is 'paid by the government' or is 'in leisure'. ey once described ir occupation as 'a government artist' because 'i draw the dole' frances shelley (nee smith) portrayed by belinda sinclair fran is shelley's longsuffering girlfriend and later wife. they is an aspiring writer. like shelley they is educated but unemployed. they is one of the few people who can counter shelley's more fanciful and obtuse arguments. in the first series they becomes pregnant with shelley's child; in the second they publishes a book and marries shelley; in the third they gives birth to a daughter emma. the beginning of the fifth series reveals that they has left shelley; they appears in only one episode and ceases to be a central character edna hawkins (mrs h) portrayed by josephine tewson mrs h. is a somewhat waspish and prim landlady who lets a west hampstead bedsit to shelley and fran in series one and two. they has a son named colin and they refers often to willy an unseen husband whom they has apparently coerced into working days and nights. they is suspicious of shelley and they disapproves of ir languid lifestyle. they shows little restraint in verbally attacking ir even though they may be left browbeaten by ir eloquence. ir attitude toward shelley softens over time however paul england portrayed by warren clarke shelley's closest friend and best man (after being let down by the alcoholic ned.) paul is a loyal friend to shelley. unlike shelley ey is an industrious man with a successful career. even so some of ir lifestyle choices betray moral failings (for instance evidently ey solicits prostitutes.) although coarser than shelley ey doesn't attract the disdain from establishment figures that shelley does owing to ir charm and self-restraint. ey lets ir flat to shelley in series five mrs radcliffe portrayed by madoline thomas an elderly widow who rents a bedsit downstairs from shelley and fran. they seems to enjoy a cordial relationship with shelley but they believes fran to be a 'doxy' and landlady mrs h. to be a murderess who killed ir first husband. they appears only in series two and three desmond portrayed by garfield morgan a pompous warden in the flats to which shelley moves in series five. ey is envious of the educated shelley believing ir to be typical of a privileged generation which has grown up in a society where education is attainable by the masses. ey has an unrealistic appraisal of ir own intelligence and ey fancies himself an amateur poet. ey believes that ir abilities could have been recognised had ey enjoyed the educational privileges of shelley isobel shelley portrayed by sylvia kay shelley's mother who is only 16 years older than ir son. like ir isobel is outspoken and argumentative. ir political views border on communism and they lives a fairly nonconformist lifestyle. they smokes cannabis which they grows for herself throughout ir flat (which makes shelley worry that they'll be discovered and imprisoned.) they berates shelley as an 'evil little capitalist'. despite ir sharp tongue they has a kinder side: re-mortgages ir flat so that shelley and fran can buy a house cyril portrayed by john barron shelley's pompous and ineffectual boss at the advertising firm harper mackintosh. cyril is an old-fashioned self-important. ey is detached from the realities of both the company ey runs and of contemporary life. (compare the character cj whom barron previously portrayed in the fall and rise of reginald perrin) ramond "ned" kelly portrayed by david pugh ned is shelley's first choice for best man even though fran dislikes ir intensely. ned is an irresponsible alcoholic who is often involved in pub brawls. ey is aware that ey is slowly drinking himself to death. although ey only appears in one episode ey is mentioned several times thereafter and is addressed on the telephone the itv technicians' strike of 1979 delayed transmission of the last three episodes of series one (episodes 5-7.) because of the delay itv instead transmitted the three episodes eight months later immediately before series two for the three weeks leading up to the premiere of series two itv transmitted the three episodes from series one whose release had been delayed by the technician strike # # christmas special (1980) for this series only it was titled the return of shelley # # new year special (1991) network distributing released the first six series on region 2 dvd-video between 2007 and 2012. although a technician strike in 1979 delayed the transmission of three episodes of series one by several months the complete series 1 dvd set contains all seven of the series one episodes including the three that were delayed. similarly the complete series 2 set contains only the six episodes that belong to series two - even though itv transmitted the delayed episodes directly before the series two episodes on 20 november 2017 network released a six-disc set comprising the first six series and a second dvd set comprising series 7-10 // republic of bob