An Actors Life For Me

1991 - United Kingdom

Robert Neilson (John Gordon-Sinclair) is an actor who dreams of being a star - alas, the best he has achieved so far is the face of Doberman Aftershave in a TV commercial. Nevertheless, Robert is convinced that stardom is only an audition away. Keeping his feet on the ground is girlfriend Sue (Gina McKee) and his dependently unreliable agent Desmond (Victor Spinetti). Even so, Robert dreams of starring alongside the likes of Hollywood's rich and famous.

This six episode series was developed for television by Paul Mayhew-Archer from his own BBC Radio 2 series. Gordon-Sinclair reprised the role he played on radio (although the character's name was Robert Wilson) but Sue was originally played by Caroline Quentin and Desmond by Gary Waldhorn. After the single series finished it returned to radio.

Published on November 27th, 2018. Noel Onely.

Filter

Alphabetically

Air date

Air location

Play and Single Dramas

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976)

December 11th, 2018

Sitcom about a man falling headlong into the calamity of mid-life-crisis who fakes his own suicide.

Ghosts (2019)

October 8th, 2020

Alison and Mike think their cash troubles are over when a distant relative bequeaths them a sprawling country estate. There's one catch: The old house is haunted by the ghosts of its former inhabitants.

The Eric Barker Half Hour (1951)

December 10th, 2018

"He was a pioneer", wrote Nicholas Parsons, "the first person to do 'topical satire' on television, but as the phrase had not yet been coined, and as the sketches were part of conventional variety shows, he never received the credit he deserved for originality."

The Fossett Saga (1969)

December 13th, 2018

Victorian comedy series starring Jimmy Edwards as James Fossett, a writer of "penny dreadfuls"

Alcock and Gander (1972)

October 31st, 2019

Beryl Reid and Richard O'Sullivan in a typical early 70s sitcom. Upon her husband's death, Marigold Alcock inherits his businesses.

And Mother Makes Three (1971)

November 27th, 2018

Almost a direct follow on from the BBC's hugely popular Not In Front Of The Children starring Wendy Craig who was in an almost constant state of domestic discord...

TVH

Television Heaven Magazine

Interviews

Read Next...

After Life

Struggling to come to terms with his wife's death, a writer for a newspaper casts aside his nice-guy image and adopts a gruff new persona in an effort to push away those trying to help

Also tagged Situation Comedy

Curry and Chips

Poorly received sitcom by Johnny Speight who attempted (and many would say failed) to highlight the stupidity of racism.

Also tagged Britcom

Citizen James

Sid James in his first TV series after Hancock. Written by Galton and Simpson.

Also tagged Britcom

Ashenden

Four-part BBC drama about a writer recruited into espionage work by British Intelligence during the First World War

Also released in 1991

Room at the Bottom

From the corridors of power to the passages frequented by lower personnel. It's them against us. And both are guaranteed laughs

Also tagged Situation Comedy

Our Friends In The North

Critically acclaimed BBC drama series that tracks the lives of four friends from the sixties to the nineties.

Also starring Gina Mckee

The Dustbinmen

The Dustbinmen were led by their foreman, the foul-mouthed, beret-wearing Cheese and Egg, and accompanying him on the Corporation Cleansing Department dust cart were an equally obnoxious crew of work-shy, housewife-lusting individuals.

Also tagged Situation Comedy

Bottom

Eddie and Richie are two pathetic, misogynistic, slobby flatmates living in a filthy, damp flat. Perpetually bored and broke, they waste their days thinking about sex, money, and trying not kill one another

Also released in 1991

And Mother Makes Three

Almost a direct follow on from the BBC's hugely popular Not In Front Of The Children starring Wendy Craig who was in an almost constant state of domestic discord...

Also tagged Britcom