Sorry! (1981–1988) User Reviews

The Prisoner re-imagined as a British suburban sitcom

[ubercommando-591-650498 · 7/10 · 1 April 2016]

The premise of Sorry shares a lot of ground with The Prisoner: A man is kept, against his will, by forces who want to monitor and control his every move and all aspects of his life. Except that instead of a British government agent, it's a downtrodden librarian and instead of a cabal of shadowy extra-government forces, it's his mum.

In one episode,the bars crashing shut motif from The Prisoner is referenced in Sorry so the writers definitely drew a lot of inspiration from the Sixties show. Overall, an amusing sitcom that benefits from terrific central performances and not a creepy weather balloon in sight.

Would you believe that this program ran for SEVEN years?

[khunkrumark · 7/10 · 24 August 2017]

I passed on this little gem the first time around but now I'm older, I am really enjoying it.

Another reviewer put it best for me... "Not too keen at the time, but looking back, a little masterpiece."

And that's exactly how I feel about this. Mind you, I still hate the opening credits and theme song. Just awful, both then and now!

As a youngster, I loved listening to Ronnie Corbett's monologues in 'The Two Ronnies'. This for me was the best bit of the show. He'd be telling an anecdote or a joke and get endlessly sidetracked into other areas of conversation. It was a hilarious and masterful comedy routine. It looked ad-libbed but every utterance was very carefully written and rehearsed.

This series is almost like those monologues as a youthful Ronnie Corbett gets the lions share of the lines and the rest of the cast show up with the intention of sidetracking him from what he wants to do!

The main character is a 41-year-old man still living at home with his domineering mum and submissive father. Although his life hasn't turned out the way he thought it would, he's pretty upbeat about his lot and stumbles onwards and upwards through a series of unoriginal challenges. There's nothing inspirational or groundbreaking about this British comedy... just lots of gentle humor.

If you like Ronnie Corbett or nostalgic British comedy, you could do a lot worse than re-visit this charming program. Would you believe that this program ran for SEVEN years?

Deja vu

[ygwerin1 · 7/10 · 24 April 2022]

This is a television comedy programme that I missed seeing when it was originally broadcast and, I somehow managed to catch up with occasional episodes very much in retrospect, my son got me Series 1 and 2 on DVD and I am dipping into now rather like pot luck.

The curious thing for about this show above all others on the box is the conversation I had with my brother Murray in relation to British comedy shows, as he lives in Australia and I had no idea which ones he may have seen. The funny thing is that he happened to watch an episode of it with our mum, and he remarked to her that Timothy Lumsden's mother reminded him of her. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to see her reaction and I just had to ask what she had replied, according to Murray she simply smiled, she must have been absolutely mortified at his cheek in mentioning this.

I would not describe Timothy's dad as merely henpecked no the way I prefer to describe home as more akin to someone who has, somehow miraculously survived the First World War and has finally returned from the front line trenches. No what he suffers from is shell shock that is why he appears to exist in a permanent daze, because he is in perpetual survival mode as the only way of, hoping to cope with his lot in life.

Timothy has been effectively lobotomised by his overbearing mother such that, he feels the perpetual need to apologise to her even when, she has outdone her own mean spirited endeavours to control his every waking moment.

Re-watching the first episode it's rather like deja vu with my mum in comparing her with Timothy's mother, mum was not a bit like that when I was a kid happily enough I rather enjoyed my childhood. No the transformation somehow occurred much later in her life, when both Murray and I had long since flown the nest. What made me make any comparison between my mum and Timothy's, was the way mum insisted on cooking meals. Such that Murray seemed content to survive purely on a diet of confectionary, from the local cake shop rather than suffer her dinners.

Not too keen at the time, but looking back, a little masterpiece.

[world_of_weird · 30 November 2005]

Ronnie Corbett's oft-criticised solo project SORRY! was never one of my favourite comedies as a youngster, but in retrospect it's quirky, quietly charming, nicely acted and often amusing. It's not laugh-out-loud stuff but neither is it the 'cosy' comedy some people accuse it of being - in fact, some episodes, like the one where Timothy (Corbett) wishes he'd never been born (and, courtesy of an extended dream sequence, sees what his world would be like had that been the case) or the intricate spoof on Patrick McGoohan's sixties psychedelic drama THE PRISONER in the episode where Timothy plans to get married, indicate that SORRY! was in fact a lone outpost of eccentric British surrealism that just happened to be shown during prime-time on BBC1. Almost everyone remembers the infectious theme tune and the wine bar neon graphics that went with it, it's just a shame the same level of respect has not yet been afforded to the series as a whole.

ageless classic

[david-hockney1 · 10/10 · 9 January 2012]

A great show back then and seems even better today, nice to watch humour and fun without all the vulgarity and swearing that seems to be required these days.A great cast and a simple but great plot, takes you out of the stresses of modern life for half an hour and puts a big smile on your face.This show has stood the test of time even my kids love it. Surely there's life still left in sorry! even more so today with kids staying at home well into their 30's. Although the rest of the cast were brilliant and now sadly incomplete i still think Ronnie Corbett could carry on from where he left off, what a great thought! Would love to know were it was filmed.

Hilarious sitcom

[alanlamont-34154 · 9/10 · 2 May 2019]

Comic gem by the saddly missed Ronnie Corbett. Sharply observed situation comedy based on the adult son Timothy still living at home with the overbearing mother and hen pecked father who frequently retreats to the garden shed . We all know these characters or if we don't , we know someone who does lol .

A solid and entertaining comedy

[studioAT · 3/10 · 15 February 2017]

Ronnie Corbett was one of the many stars we sadly lost in 2016, and this sitcom was his main real solo project away from 'The Two Ronnies'.

A charming sitcom, with a simple premise, it sadly never features on any 'Best Sitcom ever' polls, partly because in the UK we're spoilt for choice, but also because it was never overly ground-breaking.

It is a solid sitcom though, with some lovely moments, and a good central character in Timothy, which Corbett plays with effortless charm and boyish appeal.

I think it's high time the BBC repeated it actually, as a tribute to Corbett and to help it find a new audience.

Language Timothy!

[jimjamjonny39 · 9/10 · 4 February 2023]

This was one of my favourite sitcoms during the 1980s.

Timothy Lumsden is played by the irrefutible Ronnie Corbett. Is a man in his early 40s living at home with his parents.

I know it's hard to believe but poor old Tim can't leave the qualities of home his inescapable mind isconstantly under the influence of his mother, played by Barbara Lott who plays the part so brilliantly. She was made for the part. I Loved her character immenseley.

William Moore plays the father, who is also under her spell. He's number three in the show and often helps the hilarity of the show.

As the series progressed I always rooted for Timothy to find true love as he did try but somehow couldn't get away.

Pathetic!

[peter_hyde · 1/10 · 23 March 2009]

I'm surprised that anyone involved with the production of this series would actually admit responsibility. The script is so unfunny it must have been written by someone who failed the entrance exam for the Canadian Comedy Writers' Union (and that's saying something!). Get out your binoculars if you want, but there's nothing resembling a joke in sight. Ronnie Corbett must have been flat broke to demean himself with this rubbish. The rest of the cast are so lacking in any kind of acting or comedic ability I'm amazed it lasted past the first episode - correction, past the auditions. All I can say to those who are amused by it is that they must be very easily entertained. And it's obvious that the production costs must have been all of ₤100 per episode. And just in case anyone thinks I'm commenting as a foreigner who is unfamiliar with English humour, I must add that I am indeed English.

Wonderful to see it again!

[bunny_hopgirl · 9 January 2004]

Sorry! was one of the best comedies of the 80`s! I dont think a lot of 41 year old men could play Timothy Lumsden as well as Ronnie Corbett! Just when you think Timothy is finally getting away from his mother...she`s there! The best thing is that Barbara Lott who played Timothy`s Mother was trying so hard to stop laughing in some episodes!!! Usually 80`s comedies wear a little thin now. I only watched Sorry! today and I was in fits of laughter! I now have the complete set of Sorry! and now my children love it as much as me!!!

Mother knows best

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 1 July 2023]

Ronnie Barker's run of sitcoms includes 'Porridge' and 'Open All Hours', two of the all-time greats. Poor Ronnie Corbett was not quite so lucky with his shows, which include 'No, That's Me Over Here', its prequel 'Now Look Here' and the spin-off, 'The Prince Of Denmark'. However, in 1981, fortune smiled on him as he began a long-run in the BBC sitcom 'Sorry!'. Ronnie played 'Timothy Lumsden', a 41 year old librarian who lives at home with his antiquated parents, played by Barbara Lott and William Moore ( Mollie Sugden's husband ). Timothy wanted very much to leave home and find romance, but somehow Mother was all too ready to keep him shackled to her apron. Written by Peter Vincent and Ian Davidson, the show mixed humour and pathos in equal measure. It was a great success, and had the good fortune to end just before the cull of old school comedy in the 90's.

As well as Corbett, Lott and Moore, there was Roy Holder as 'Frank', Timothy's pal, and the lovely Marguerite Hardiman as 'Muriel', Tim's sister. Muriel had successfully escaped Mother's clutches, and started a family. A flaw in the premise was spotted by a viewer at the time - if Timothy was being treated like a child, surely he would have a mind like one? Yes, but then the show would not have been so funny. A bigger problem I think was Ronnie's tendency to shout a great deal. He did not need to do this.

A special mention for the distinctive theme tune by Gaynor Colbourn and Hugh Wisdom. It was intended for a different series, but fitted 'Sorry!' so perfectly. The show ended happily with Timothy escaping to a new life with his girlfriend Bridget Brice. So, not a show for everyone then, but good fun all the same.

"Language, Timothy!"

[lordwoodbine · 19 July 2002]

The theme tune to 'Sorry!' is quite exceptional. It was originally written for a soap opera about 'Sloane Rangers', the trust funded and upwardly mobile sect of London society that saw fit to dress country style in town and vice-versa. This series didn't make it to our screens but the signature music suited the premise of 'Sorry!' very well as the cyclical nature of the melody is a wonderful illustration of Timothy Lumsden's frustrating life. A slightly reggae influenced rhythm section chugs and pumps away as the melody is played on a sophisticatedly urban sounding electric piano with punctuation from what is either a wah-wah guitar or a synthesizer. The horns are obviously performed by the same musicians that did 'Pigeon Street' and the first 'Only Fools and Horses' theme tune. Ronnie Hazlehurst's typically classy arrangement is a good example of this man's devotion to his work although I don't know if he actually wrote the thing, I expect he did.

The show it's self was a very popular vehicle for Ronnie Corbett and it's interesting mixture of pathos and comedy was typical of the output of the BBC which, at this time, was the greatest television production company that has ever been known.