437:) — Ken is John's teaching colleague and he and his wife Maggie have a strained marriage. Despite using a variety of contraceptives, he and Maggie have still managed to produce five children, whose upkeep and company he finds a constant burden. In contrast to John's simple desire to have a simple, loving relationship, Ken wants to spread his oats and has nothing but envy for what he imagines is John's new life of sexual freedom. This is due to John 'beefing up' the image of the 1-2-1 Club with ridiculous accounts of members such as "the Filipino twins", and his exploits in "the hot tub", in order to make his dull life sound much more exciting. Even though John attempts to convince Ken that the tales are pure fantasy, Ken refuses to accept this and joins the 1-2-1 Club looking for adventure. In order to validate his reasons for joining, he gives a woeful tale to the rest of the group that he and Maggie have been divorced for some time, that they are childless and he'd always wanted children. He starts to become romantically involved with Kate who sees him as a kindred spirit but the affair is discovered by Maggie after Kirk gives her an anonymous telephone tip-off. Ken never discovers the identity of the real informer and blames John. Later in the second series, Ken and Maggie seem to be working on their differences and Ken agrees to have a
358:, he retreats into the pub toilet and (after the Superman theme is played), emerges as Kirk, who swiftly dispatches the gang. Eric has an ongoing fascination with Kate, who (as Kirk) he nicknames 'Tiger'. Although in his Kirk persona they enjoy a combative relationship with insults and barbs regularly flying between them, he claims to John, and later Kate herself, that under the surface he is "kind of fond of her". In reality, he is smitten with her and tries to get John to organise a date for him. Apart from John, the rest of the group only ever meet the Kirk alter ego.
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231:, usually written by women to their partners as a means of ending a relationship. John discovers in the opening episode that his wife is leaving him for a friend. He is kicked out of his home, while still being expected to pay the mortgage, and forced to find lodgings. In desperation, he joins the 1-2-1 Singles Club and meets other people who have fared equally unfortunately in their romantic lives. The outside shots of houses were filmed in Melthorne Drive,
394:. She is held as a figure of fun by Louise who often persuades her to share her experiences in front of the whole group. When Sylvia is moved from her Wednesday night meeting to John's Friday night meeting, she makes an attempt to invite him to her house for a romantic meal. John does not feel the same way and the two never become involved any further than friendship.
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persona that he presents to his mother, just as Kirk is the persona he presents to the 1-2-1 Club. Kirk explains Eric in public as an undercover version of Kirk with his mother being his (male) operations controller in disguise. In the series' final episode, Eric is returning with Kirk's dry-cleaned outfit when he sees his friends about to be beaten up by a group of
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Mrs Arnott (Jean
Challis) — quiet, hat-wearing Mrs Arnott (who suffers from depression) generally sits at the back dressed in dowdy clothing, occasionally chipping in with unexpected comments, such as that her husband used to make her play hoopla with ring doughnuts. Eventually, she leaves the group
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woman with three failed marriages. She continually spars with Kirk, whose growing lust for her becomes a running theme. At one point, she shares a bed with John, although it is suggested that nothing more than sleeping happened, as they were both drunk at the time. Eventually, she goes to Greece and
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and John can be considered the wronged party, he admits in retrospect that he may have neglected her emotionally. He feels cut off from his son, to whom he has access only on
Sundays. They end up at the zoo because it is the only place open. John's problems come from an inability, or unwillingness,
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created by Eric Morris who, though he is in his mid-thirties, lives in shabby circumstances with an overbearing mother who calls him "Big Ears". Eric claims to John in private that Kirk represents all the qualities he aspires to, and that he has other personae, suggesting Eric has simply become a
316:, was smuggled out of Poland by her brother by "hiding in the bottom of a Polish Army mobile field kitchen" and deserted Ralph on their wedding day. He develops a genuine friendship with Kirk, even though Kirk holds his boring demeanour in some disdain. He often gives Kirk a lift home on his
455:) — John's neighbour. She is a Polish woman of advancing years, who frequently encounters John in embarrassing circumstances, such as hitting his head on the wall in frustration. She refers to him as "you loony person" or "fruitcake person". She was widowed in the
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John has been exaggerating the tales of his adventures as a single man to his fellow teacher, Ken. Despite his family at home, Ken joins the 1-2-1 club hoping for some action and gets on well with Kate, putting John in a moral dilemma. Ralph becomes a mobile disc
426:) — Wendy's rugby-playing partner and one of the causes of John's marriage breakdown. John's ex-best friend, Mike was helped by John when he went through a bad patch in his life. Whenever John mentions Mike, he adopts an ape-like stance and likens him to the
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It is Sunday and John has access to his son. With nothing else to do, they go to the zoo again. When he drops him off at home, his ex-wife is unusually welcoming. The 1-2-1 club attend a party hosted by a woman with an unfortunate
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After his wife leaves him for his best friend, teacher John Lacey finds himself living in a bedsit and isolated from his old friends. He joins a support group for divorcees where he finds a collection of unusual
996:. And, at the end, when John and Kate discuss whether they will return the following week, Beatles music can be heard and silhouettes seen in an upper window of the centre. This scene has been totally removed.
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Kirk asks John to put in a good word for him with Kate, so he takes her out for dinner. But things get carried away and they end up in bed together. John tries to visit Kirk at home but is surprised by what he
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John finds out his old girlfriend is back in town and tries to invite her to a party. He then sits by the phone desperately waiting for her to call back and tries to find anyone who might be his date.
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When Ralph does not turn up to the 1-2-1 disco and talks of suicide, the others rush to his home to make sure he is okay. Ralph believes he is cursed and that is why things keep going wrong for him.
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Realising he will be spending
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Despite a steamy weekend in
Torquay, Liz has a new man competing for her affections and John is unsure of his position. Ken is worrying about his upcoming vasectomy. Kirk laments the loss of Kate.
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Sylvia reveals how her marriage broke down after she found out that her husband is a transvestite. John's son is unhappy and he tries to work out how to help but is undermined by Kirk.
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The 1-2-1 club has a new member who claims to be an old pop star but no-one recognises him. John and his ex-wife have to pretend to be together to get their son into a
Catholic school.
276:) — a secondary-school teacher whose wife leaves him for his best friend, Mike. He is thrown out of his home but has to continue paying the mortgage on it, while living in a
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appeared on video in 1998, three cassettes with both series and the
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John has a hot date with Liz but Ken needs help to patch up his marriage. Kate announces she is leaving for Greece.
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John is in line for promotion to headmaster and he meets a lovely young woman who seems very interested in him.
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to confront people or from being "too nice" – giving rise to situations that can rebound in unexpected ways.
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finds a boyfriend (much to Kirk's dismay), but makes a surprise reappearance in the show's final episode.
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music during and at the end of the episode. The subtitles still show "
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1083:"A Forgotten Classic – Dear John – British Classic Comedy"
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200:
147:Running time
90:Peter Denyer
86:Belinda Lang
42:
33:
1313:(1998–2000)
1305:(1996–2003)
1302:Roger Roger
1263:(1981–2003)
1134:"Dear John"
990:Day Tripper
951:Title music
852:"Sanctuary"
652:"The Party"
593:characters.
530:August 2020
471:Kevin Lloyd
424:Roger Blake
385:fetishistic
377:upper class
367:facilitator
363:Rachel Bell
325:Peter Blake
274:Ralph Bates
256:Judd Hirsch
134:of episodes
98:Rachel Bell
94:Peter Blake
82:Ralph Bates
1370:Categories
1165:BBC Online
1000:References
934:1987-12-21
909:1987-10-12
884:1987-10-05
859:1987-09-28
834:1987-09-21
809:1987-09-14
784:1987-09-07
736:1986-03-31
710:1986-03-24
684:1986-03-17
659:1986-03-10
634:1986-03-03
609:1986-02-24
583:1986-02-17
477:entitled,
375:, with an
329:chauvinist
262:Characters
187:1987-12-21
177:1986-02-17
150:30 minutes
142:Production
68:Written by
1356:(2010–11)
1337:Over Here
1321:(2005–09)
1297:(1992–93)
1289:(1988–92)
1285:Dear John
1280:(1986–87)
1276:Dear John
1271:(1983–86)
1255:(1977–80)
1235:Works by
1195:Dear John
1184:Dear John
1176:Dear John
1160:Dear John
982:Dear John
972:Dear John
877:"Torquay"
439:vasectomy
347:alter ego
248:Paramount
244:Dear John
213:Dear John
202:Dear John
123:of series
43:Dear John
1345:Micawber
694:ailment.
494:Episodes
444:Maggie (
361:Louise (
356:Superman
310:defector
306:terrapin
250:for the
78:Starring
1244:Sitcoms
986:Beatles
932: (
907: (
882: (
857: (
832: (
807: (
782: (
734: (
720:jockey.
708: (
682: (
657: (
632: (
627:"Death"
607: (
581: (
522:add one
520:Please
483:Iceland
415:Wendy (
333:Porsche
195:Related
185: (
181: –
175: (
170:Release
160:Network
115:English
1348:(2001)
1340:(1996)
1140:11 May
1118:11 May
1093:11 May
1067:11 May
1023:11 May
746:finds.
677:"Toby"
294:frigid
288:Kate (
278:bedsit
205:(1988)
1329:Other
1136:. BBC
994:muzak
766:Title
565:Title
511:This
481:, in
433:Ken (
216:is a
58:Genre
1200:IMDb
1142:2017
1120:2017
1095:2017
1069:2017
1025:2017
381:will
164:BBC1
1198:at
1187:at
1163:at
762:No.
561:No.
407:VSO
339:in
252:NBC
242:of
132:No.
121:No.
1372::
1111:.
1085:.
1060:.
1016:.
924:14
899:13
874:12
849:11
824:10
235:.
137:14
1228:e
1221:t
1214:v
1144:.
1122:.
1097:.
1071:.
1027:.
936:)
911:)
886:)
861:)
836:)
811:)
799:9
786:)
774:8
738:)
726:7
712:)
700:6
686:)
674:5
661:)
649:4
636:)
624:3
611:)
599:2
585:)
573:1
543:)
537:(
532:)
528:(
517:.
459:.
430:.
189:)
179:)
126:2
31:.
20:)
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