The Likely Lads (1976)

Terry is divorced from his German wife and has a Finnish girlfriend Christina. At Thelma's suggestion they join her and Bob on a caravan holiday but due to a mishap the men get separated ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Tuchner

Writers:

Dick Clement (concept), Ian La Frenais (concept)

Stars:

Rodney Bewes, James Bolam, Brigit Forsyth

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rodney Bewes	...	Bob Ferris
James Bolam	...	Terry Collier
Brigit Forsyth	...	Thelma Ferris
Mary Tamm	...	Christina
Sheila Fearn	...	Audrey Collier
Zena Walker	...	Laura Windsor
Anulka Dziubinska	...	Dawn Windsor (as Anulka Dubinska)
Alun Armstrong	...	Tommy - Milkman
Judy Buxton	...	Iris
Vicki Michelle	...	Glenys
Penny Irving	...	Sandy
Michelle Newell	...	Alice
Susan Tracy	...	Edith Collier
Gordon Griffin	...	Cyril Collier
Edward Wilson	...	Les Ferris

Storyline

Terry is divorced from his German wife and has a Finnish girlfriend Christina. At Thelma's suggestion they join her and Bob on a caravan holiday but due to a mishap the men get separated from the women. Thelma mistakenly accuses Bob of infidelity and their row is heard publicly as they are in a van with the P.A. still switched on. Bob and Terry then holiday without the girls and,in a hotel at Whitley Bay,score with both the landlady and her daughter but have to make a hurried,trouserless,exit. Terry decides to emigrate and Bob joins him for a farewell drink on board his ship. However Terry changes his mind at the last minute and disembarks, realising too late that Bob is still on board and heading for Bahrain.

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Plot Keywords:

spinoff from tv | newcastle upon tyne | old friends | married man | bachelor | 

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Taglines:

Emotion blazes across the big screen as Bob and Terry knock down the frontiers of human knowledge and Newcastle ale.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Rodney Bewes stated that during the filming of this movie, James Bolam made personal remarks against him, and they have not spoken since. The true version of events is that Rodney Bewes spoke to the press and inadvertently mentioned that James Bolam was to be a father. Bolam was not happy and never spoke to Bewes again.

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Goofs

The Boys take the girls to a holiday caravan camp at Whitley Bay, just North of Newcastle but go through the village of Rothbury which is some 40 miles further North.

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Quotes

Terry Collier: Oh Chris, I can't stand saying goodbye like this.
Christina: You really mean that?
Terry Collier: Yeah - you finish packing, I'm going to the pub.

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating. All cuts were waived in 1987 when the film was re-rated with a 'PG' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Spun-off from Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973)

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Soundtracks

Remember When
Lyrics by Ian La Frenais
Music by Mike Hugg

User Reviews

Pointless and Disappointing

Recently I've watched both seasons of Whatever Happened to Likely Lads followed by this feature film. Although the antics of Bob and Terry did seem to start losing their edge after the first half of S2 (not unusual for long TV series), overall it was a very enjoyable and a refreshing experience. The movie, however, turned out to be a disappointment.

First, the scenario itself was quite weak - it lacked direction, there was no central storyline and as a result, the film didn't have a build-up and a climax - the two things that made the majority of TV episodes work so well.

Secondly the humour was by and large recycled - the jokes, innuendos and the typical Bob/Thelma tug o' war were all just the twitched versions of various TV scenes. And given the movie goes on for longer than a TV episode, watching the same thing over again, coupled with the absence of a coherent plot, made me feel bored halfway through.

Onto the characters. Brigit Forsyth's Thelma got a bigger part to play in the film than she would've had in a typical TV episode. But given that in the show the character was (deliberately) kept one-dimensional, being "your stereotypical suburban wife", the enhancement of her role in the movie just made the scenes more dull and cliched. James Bolam's character, on the other hand, for some reason seemed to have lost a lot of the natural wit and charm that in the past would stir up the setting and enthrall in the viewer. Here we see Terry being somewhat lost both in his love life, as well as in his housing estate.

The film also portrays a great deal of philosophical midlife-crisis-dialogues between the main characters, (reckoning in places where the pub banter would have normally been instead). As for me those scenes not only fail to blend in with the usual light-hearted manner of Bob and Terry's adventures, but also, they contributed little to the storyline, if not distracted from it. Perhaps it was just unexpected, (and hence, quite odd), to observe the "lads" from this angle, not least because the characters have never been developed in that direction in the first place.

Overall, the film felt like an enmeshment of several of the less successful TV episodes and didn't add anything new to the story and the relationship of Bob and Terry as we know it.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1976 (UK)

Also Known As:

Más que amigos

Filming Locations:

Tarset Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglo-EMI Film Distributors

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)