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Shelley

  • TV Series
  • 1979–1983
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
303
YOUR RATING
Shelley (1979)
Comedy

James Shelley, an educated, sardonic, permanently unemployed "professional freelance layabout," has many battles with authority, the tax-man, his landlady, and his girlfriend Fran.James Shelley, an educated, sardonic, permanently unemployed "professional freelance layabout," has many battles with authority, the tax-man, his landlady, and his girlfriend Fran.James Shelley, an educated, sardonic, permanently unemployed "professional freelance layabout," has many battles with authority, the tax-man, his landlady, and his girlfriend Fran.

  • Creator
    • Peter Tilbury
  • Stars
    • Hywel Bennett
    • Belinda Sinclair
    • Josephine Tewson
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    303
    YOUR RATING
    • Creator
      • Peter Tilbury
    • Stars
      • Hywel Bennett
      • Belinda Sinclair
      • Josephine Tewson
    • 8User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Episodes39

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    Photos46

    Hywel Bennett and Belinda Sinclair in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Sylvia Kay, and Belinda Sinclair in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Vanessa Knox-Mawer, and Garfield Morgan in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Marsha Fitzalan, Garfield Morgan, and Rebecca Saire in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett and Bruce Bould in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett and Garfield Morgan in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett and Belinda Sinclair in Shelley (1979)
    Leslie Ash, Hywel Bennett, and Ian Redford in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Allan Cuthbertson, Gordon Gostelow, Sabu Kimura, and Eiji Kusuhara in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett and Garfield Morgan in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Belinda Sinclair, and Josephine Tewson in Shelley (1979)
    Hywel Bennett, Bruce Bould, and Kate Kendall in Shelley (1979)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hywel Bennett
    Hywel Bennett
    • James Shelley
    Belinda Sinclair
    • Fran
    Josephine Tewson
    Josephine Tewson
    • Mrs. Hawkins
    Garfield Morgan
    Garfield Morgan
    • Desmond
    Warren Clarke
    Warren Clarke
    • Paul England
    Madoline Thomas
    • Mrs. Ratcliffe
    Rowena Roberts
    • Maggie
    Sylvia Kay
    Sylvia Kay
    • Isobel…
    John Cunningham
    • Laurence
    Michael Stainton
    • 2nd Railway Steward…
    Gordon Salkilld
    • Clerk…
    Bruce Bould
    • Malcolm
    Leslie Ash
    Leslie Ash
    • Girl With Baby…
    Sheila Mathews
    • Mrs. Nash
    John Barron
    John Barron
    • Cyril
    Kenneth Cope
    Kenneth Cope
    • Alan Forsyth
    Christopher Driscoll
    • Croft…
    Frederick Jaeger
    Frederick Jaeger
    • Gordon Smith
    • Creator
      • Peter Tilbury
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first series, broadcast in Summer 1979, comprised just four episodes although seven were made. The final three episodes were not shown due to an ITV technician's strike and instead were shown at the beginning of series two in 1980.
    • Connections
      Featured in 40 Years of Laughter: The Sitcoms (1995)

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Lay about with Shelley
    Despite their protestations ITV are not known for their sit-coms. It is usually a mirth fee zone but every now and then a gem is discovered and Shelly is a bona fide, premium grade comedy classic.

    Hywel Bennett plays the over educated professional layabout Shelley whose mission in life is to avoid work and muse about life. It was anti establishment and anti Tory which gave it a political edge.

    It had sharp writing and funny without resorting to knockabout comedy. In Hywel Bennett they found the perfect actor.

    Bennett was someone who was a rising star in the late 1960s but problems in his personal life meant he hit skid row in the early 70s and was out of the limelight until the late 1970s.

    Shelley established him back to the forefront, he might had looked older and less baby faced than before but still attractive enough to make Shelley appealing enough to women and an everyman philosopher without turning to bombast.

    Later series had to deal with issues when his screen wife left the show and had him musing to a tape recorder to his daughter now relocated to Canada. Some years later Shelly returned in new episodes, more wiser, more cynical but still funny as ever.

    A lasting tribute to the talents of Hywel Bennett.
    helpful•19
    1
    • Prismark10
    • Jul 31, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 12, 1979 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • Thames Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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