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My Wife Next Door

My Wife Next Door

1972 - United Kingdom

When George Bassett (John Alderton) divorced his wife, Suzy (Hannah Gordon), he decided to make a new life for himself outside of London. So George moved to an idyllic cottage in the countryside at number 1 Copse Cottages, near Stoke Poges. Suzy also decided to move to the countryside. Unfortunately she had purchased the property at number 2 Copse Cottages! 

Thus was the premise for Brian Clemens' and Richard Waring's award winning sitcom about a divorced couple who despised the fact that they were living next to each other, in spite of the overriding fact (that soon became clear to the audience)...that they were still in love with each other. 

For thirteen episodes George tried to win Suzy back, but in the end the situation remained unresolved, for in spite of the fact that the series received the Society of Film and Television Award for the year's best sitcom, writer Waring felt as though he'd explored the couples relationship as far as he could and the series never returned for a second outing. Two unsuccessful attempts were made to adapt the series for US television. The first starred James Farentino and Julie Somers in 1975 and the second starred Granville Van Dusen and Lee Purcell. The latter was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

Published on January 9th, 2019. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.

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