It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling

By the early 1970s, the flat-sharing sitcom had become something of a television staple. From The Liver Birds to Take Three Girls, British viewers were no strangers to young women navigating independence in urban environments, usually with varying degrees of chaos and charm. Into this landscape arrived It’s Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling, a one-series wonder that made a modest splash before sinking into near-total obscurity — and perhaps not entirely without reason.

The series originated from an episode of Comedy Playhouse — the BBC's tried-and-tested breeding ground for new comedy. It marked the first foray into television writing for Jilly Cooper, better known today as the doyenne of romantic fiction. Drawing on her own experience of sharing a scruffy London flat with fellow secretaries-turned-socialites, Cooper created a world of cocktails, clutter and complex entanglements with men. She was joined in the writing duties by Christopher Bond, an experienced hand who would later bring his editorial polish to the likes of To the Manor Born and Keeping Up Appearances.

The show centred on four well-heeled young women (although there were only three in the pilot) — Samantha (Joanna Lumley), Gillian aka 'Pudding' (Jane Carr), Virginia (originally Anna Palk, replaced for the series by Jennifer Croxton) and series addition Clover (Elizabeth Knight). Each played into a recognisable archetype: the sultry posh one was Samantha who would often be found walking around the flat in only her underwear, the sensible one was Pudding, the ditzy one was  Clover, and the impeccably upper-class one was Virginia. Where The Liver Birds thrived on working-class wit and Merseyside charm, It’s Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling went in the opposite direction, mining comedy from the entitled ennui of upper-crust Chelsea girls.

The flat they shared was as much a character as any of the girls — an untidy, cluttered backdrop that underscored the series' atmosphere of perpetual disarray. Plotlines, such as they were, revolved around romantic mishaps, meddling parents, and the occasional career wobble, with Jeremy Lloyd (then Lumley’s real-life husband) appearing as Samantha’s would-be actor boyfriend, Bobby Dutton. Virginia’s suitor Dominic (Jonathan Cecil) also made regular appearances. Despite the promise of glamour, the series never quite found its comic rhythm or originality. Compared to its contemporaries, it lacked the working-class authenticity of The Liver Birds and the sharper dramatic edge of Take Three Girls.

Critics were underwhelmed, dismissing it as derivative and lightweight. The fact that the series was never repeated speaks volumes — and today, sadly or mercifully depending on your point of view, only the pilot episode “A New Lease” survives in the archives (and can be viewed on YouTube at the time of writing). The rest are now lost, victims of the BBC’s then-standard tape-wiping practices.

Still, the show is not without its historical significance. It offered a glimpse into the early careers of several notable talents: Lumley had the chance to hone the comedy skills that would go on to win her plaudits in Absolutely Fabulous; Cooper, whose literary career would later eclipse her brief television stint; and Jeremy Lloyd, who met producer David Croft on set — a meeting that would lead to the creation of Are You Being Served? the following year, and eventually to the enduring success of ‘Allo ‘Allo! in the 1980s.

In hindsight, It’s Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling was a curious footnote in sitcom history — more interesting for what it led to than for what it actually achieved. Glossy, posh and a touch shallow, it failed to carve out a lasting identity in a crowded genre. Still, as a time capsule of early ’70s television and a launching pad for some major British talents, it remains worth a mention — if not exactly a rewatch.

^{Review: Laurence Marcus}