Jason Manford and Catherine Tyldesley play Mike and Karen, exes in their late 30s who rekindle their romance after Mike abandons life on the cabaret circuit for a crab stall on the seafront. Every Friday the couple and their mates pile into The Good Ship pub to belt out karaoke, while around them small-town crises unfold: a salon owner hides mounting debts, a neighbour’s handbag goes missing and the police take an interest. Stephanie Cole’s acid-tongued Marion and Claire Sweeney’s leopard-print man-eater Hayley steal the quieter moments, trading barbed one-liners over warm lager and hairspray fumes.
Creator Derren Litten wrote, directed and even cameos as jack-of-all-trades Jack, shooting on location in Scarborough’s Luna Park and Peasholm Park before decamping to Greater Manchester studios for interiors. The Newcastle Packet pub was rechristened The Good Ship, while Geraldine’s hairdressing salon was built in a Stockport parade. Filming wrapped in six weeks during spring 2019.
Critics were lukewarm: the Daily Mirror dismissed it as “soap opera-style comedy” and The i lamented a “complete lack of laughs”, though The Telegraph praised Sweeney’s Dynasty-style vamp and The Guardian enjoyed her “powerful energy”. Viewers dipped below four million, and Litten announced in November 2019 that BBC One would not recommission the single season. Six half-hour episodes remain, soundtracked by The Beautiful South’s “Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)” over sun-faded promenade credits.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2019 - Present
Created by: Derren Litten
Writer(s): Derren Litten
Producer(s): Gill Isles
Main Cast
Catherine Tyldesley as Karen
Jason Manford as Mike
Maggie Ollerenshaw as Geraldine
Stephanie Cole as Marion
Steve Edge as Bigsy
Harriet Webb as Lisa-Marie
