BBC's first colour drama follows three young women sharing a West Kensington flat in 1969.","overview":"Liza Goddard plays Victoria, a cellist navigating London's bedsit-land with single mother Kate (Susan Jameson) and Cockney art student Avril (Angela Down) in the first series. The second series swaps Kate and Avril for journalist Jenny (Carolyn Seymour) and American psychology graduate Lulie (Barra Grant) as the flat at 17 Glazbury Road continues housing young women making their way through "Swinging London". Only ten episodes survive from the original 24, with fourteen now lost to the BBC's wiping policy of the period.
The folk-rock group Pentangle composed the theme music "Light Flight", which became a British chart hit in February 1970. Each episode focused on one character's story, with titles like "Kate: Stop Acting" and "Victoria: Requiem for Cello in SW3" signalling whose perspective would dominate. Season one, episode ten stands out as the only instalment shot entirely on 35mm film rather than colour videotape.
A four-part sequel, Take Three Women, aired on BBC2 in 1982, catching up with the original characters thirteen years later. Victoria appears as a widowed mother, Avril runs an art gallery, and Kate lives with her grown son and his teacher. The same writers and Pentangle returned for the sequel, which maintained the original's focus on women's lives in changing Britain.
Production Details
BBC One / 2 Seasons / 24 Episodes / 1969
Created by: Charlotte Bingham, Terence Brady
Writer(s): Charlotte Bingham, Terence Brady, Hugo Charteris, Julia Jones, Carey Harrison (s2), Robert Muller (s2)
Producer(s): Michael Hayes
Main Cast
Liza Goddard as Victoria
Barra Grant as Lulie
Angela Down as Avril
Susan Jameson as Kate
Carolyn Seymour as Jenny
Robin Tolhurst as Party Girl
