It's astounding that this show has declined almost to the point of being forgotten, whereas "Only Fools and Horses" gets repeated ad nauseam on BBC... and winds up as the UK's most-loved Sitcom. The key is, "Only Fools" was a BBC creation (and the BBC don't mind repeating their successes) whereas Turtle was an ITV show (and ITV only seem to repeat 90-minute Detective-shows like "Morse", "Frost" and "Midsomer Murders")Ignore ill-informed claims that this show "only ran for one season" - it ran for TWO, one of seven episodes, one of five. And as a "crime-based comedy set in the East End of London", it broke the ground for "Minder", "Only Fools and Horses", and other similar shows. It's little short of criminal that such a groundbreaking show has been allowed to sink into such obscurity. (The production company got taken over, the company which took them over got taken over in turn... rights lapsed...) The only hope is that the 13 episodes may eventually see the light of day yet again as an inexpensive way to fill the growing demand for stuff to air on the ever-increasing number of "Freeview" channels.
Review of Turtle's Progress
Turtle's Progress
(1979–1980)
Groudbreaking show that led the way for the Trotters, Arthur Daley...
22 October 2006