Up the Garden Path
| Up the Garden Path | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Written by | Sue Limb |
| Directed by | David Askey |
| Starring |
Imelda Staunton Mike Grady Tessa Peake-Jones Tom Mannion Nicholas Le Prevost Susan Kyd René Zagger David Robb Neil McCaul Adrienne O'Sullivan Siobhan Hayes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Humphrey Barclay |
| Running time | 25 mins |
| Production company(s) |
Humphrey Barclay Productions Granada Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 2 May 1990 – 1 July 1993 |
Up the Garden Path is a 1984 novel by Sue Limb, which was adapted into a radio series by BBC Radio 4, and later into a television sitcom by Granada TV for ITV. Both the radio and television series comprised three seasons, with the radio series originally broadcast in 1987, 1988, and 1993, and the television seasons broadcast in 1990, 1991, and 1993.
The television series has been repeated on the United Kingdom digital channel ITV3. The radio series is regularly repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Cast
- Isabelle 'Izzy' Comyn (Imelda Staunton)
- Dick Barnes (Mike Grady)
- Maria Shadwell (Tessa Peake-Jones, television; Marty Cruickshank, radio)
- Gwyn Jenkins (Tom Mannion, television; Sion Probert and Dafydd Hywel, radio)
- Michael Tristram (Nicholas Le Prevost)
- Louise Tristram (Susan Kyd, television; Phyllida Nash, radio)
- Roger 'Razors' Razebrook (René Zagger)
- Charles Armstrong (David Robb) appeared in Series 2
- Bill Bailey (Neil McCaul) appeared in Series 2, 3
- Linda (Adrienne O'Sullivan) appeared in Series 3
- 5C pupil (Siobhan Hayes) appeared in Series 2, 3
Reception
Critical reception was mixed. Writing in The Daily Mirror, television editor Tony Pratt called the first series 'one of the best [sitcoms] ITV has produced for ages. It's lively, adult and funny'.[1]
However, The Guardian felt 'sorry for Imelda Staunton...who deserves a better script'[2] with Hugh Hebert labelling the series 'dire' and referring to the character of Izzy as a 'caricature witless teacher who was God's promo for Baker MacGregor Re-Education Inc.'[3]
References
- ↑ "Mirror TV". ukpressonline.co.uk. 1990-05-16. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
- ↑ 'A Case of Dad Housekeeping', The Guardian, 10 May 1990, p26
- ↑ Hebert, Hugh, 'The Loyal and the Unloved', The Guardian, 2 August 1990, p28
External links
- Up the Garden Path at BBC Online
- Up the Garden Path at the Internet Movie Database
- Up the Garden Path at TV.com