Dear John (1986–1987)

John Lacey comes home one evening to discover a letter from his wife (starting with "Dear John" - hence the title) telling him that she is leaving him. Lonely and now divorced, the series ... See full summary »

Stars:

Ralph Bates, Peter Blake, Peter Denyer

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ralph Bates	...	John Lacey (14 episodes, 1986-1987)
Peter Blake	...	Kirk (14 episodes, 1986-1987)
Peter Denyer	...	Ralph (14 episodes, 1986-1987)
Rachel Bell	...	Louise (14 episodes, 1986-1987)
Belinda Lang	...	Kate (12 episodes, 1986-1987)
Lucinda Curtis	...	Sylvia (9 episodes, 1986-1987)
Jean Challis	...	Mrs. Arnott (9 episodes, 1986-1987)
Irene Prador	...	Mrs. Lemenski (7 episodes, 1986-1987)

Storyline

John Lacey comes home one evening to discover a letter from his wife (starting with "Dear John" - hence the title) telling him that she is leaving him. Lonely and now divorced, the series tells of his adventures as John joins a divorcee club (where lonely divorced people can meet) and meets the strange members within...

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Plot Keywords:

club | dear john letter | divorced man | character name in title

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 February 1986 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 30 min (13 episodes) 45 min (1 Episode)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

As the opening titles showed, the group's newspaper ad ran: "Divorced/separated? Come and join us! 1-2-1 Club. Encounter group. Phone [phone]".

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Quotes

Ralph: Anyway, a few days ago I went out and bought a book all about existentialism.
Louise: That's very good, Rafe.
Kirk: Ralphie, Ralphie. Why didn't you phone me? I know a builder.

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Connections

Remade as Dear John USA (1988)

User Reviews

'evening tiger!

A fantastic show from the late, great writer John Sullivan. Somewhat darker than "Only Fools and Horses", it still had the knack of popping up with the well scripted comedy situation.

By many standards, the show is far more basic then OFAH but I feel that it was also far better. I love OFAH and DJ has that sympathetic, endearing quality that is only touched upon in OFAH.

John is a recent divorcée who decides to meet new friends in the 1-2-1 club. Run by Louise whose interests seem more to do with digging up the dirt than allowing people to open up and share experiences.

Regulars include Kirk who tells tall stories and is full of swagger, dressed like a 1978 disco diva and brimming with confidence. The main question being, "Why is he at a singles club?" with such obvious confidence? Pretty Kate, who is self confessed frigid and gets mercilessly abused about it by Kirk (who secretly has the hots for her). Ralph who is the victim of a marriage for repatriation scam, which is obvious for all to see but himself, who he still holds a torch for. Also, Louise who is your typical middle class housewife type who wants to run the club for people to get their love lives on track but is far more interested in the juicy gossip their stories bring.

Although the show was a little slow in getting going, it warms up after a couple of episodes and we follow the life of John, whose wife has shacked up with John's best friend, has the house, car and custody of Toby while John lives in a one room flat.

In summary, 14 episodes of enjoyable sitcom. It doesn't feel like enough but, upon review, is just about right.