{{Short description|1983–1984 British comedy television series}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox television | image = Dear Ladies.jpg | caption = | alt_name = | genre = Sitcom | creator = | developer = | based_on = | writer = {{plainlist|*Gyles Brandreth *Patrick Fyffe *George Logan}} | director = Mike Stephens | creative_director = | presenter = | starring = {{plainlist|*Patrick Fyffe *George Logan}} | judges = | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = John Golland | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_series = 3 | num_episodes = 20 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = Peter Ridsdale Scott | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 30 minutes | company = BBC | channel = BBC Two | first_aired = {{start date|1983|3|15|df=y}} | last_aired = {{end date|1984|12|16|df=y}} | related = }} '''''Dear Ladies''''' is a British comedy television series which aired on the BBC in 21 episodes between 1983 and 1984. It featured the comic characters Hinge and Bracket, played by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe.<ref>Pringle p.112</ref>
The comedy is set in and around the house the ladies shared in the fictional village of Stackton Tressel in Suffolk and gives viewers "A glimpse behind the scenes of village life in Stackton Tressel."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141016230955/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctwo/england/1983-03-15 BBC Genome Project BBC2 listings 15 March 1983]</ref>
==Premise== Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket are a pair of elderly spinsters who live in the fictional English village of Stackton Tressel. They share a large house named ''Utopia Ltd'', owned by Dame Hilda, the east wing of which is occupied by Evadne. Each episode is based around their musical activities at home and in the village community.{{sfn|Tennant|2022|p=173}}
==Production== [[File:Gyles Brandreth - Waffle TV (cropped to square).jpg|thumb|''Dear Ladies'' was co-written with Gyles Brandreth]] [[File:50, Church Street, Great Budworth 02.jpg|thumb|Locations such as Great Budworth evoked the genteel world of Stackton Tressel for ''Dear Ladies'']] Hinge and Bracket were conceived by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe as a pair of old ladies who had spent their lives performing classical music. Their comic female impersonation act had grown in popularity in the 1970s, and after appearing on BBC Radio, a Hinge and Bracket situation comedy was developed. The scripts were written by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe, who played the starring roles, in collaboration with the writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth. Brandreth described Hinge and Bracket as "a drag act with a difference. They offered character and comedy instead of glamour and sex appeal."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brandreth |first1=Gyles |title=Odd Boy Out: The 'hilarious, eye-popping, unforgettable' Sunday Times bestseller 2021 |date=16 September 2021 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-241-48373-2 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szASEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT69 |access-date=8 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
Exterior scenes were filmed on location in the Cheshire towns of Knutsford, Great Budworth and Nantwich.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hinge & Bracket: a Celebration. |url=http://www.hingeandbracketofficial.co.uk/AboutHingeAndBracket.html#_Toc353210428 |website=www.hingeandbracketofficial.co.uk |access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref>
Incidental music is by John Golland. A special episode was broadcast after the 1984 series, the "Dear Ladies Masterclass", in which Hinge and Bracket are invited to deliver a music masterclass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The episode features students of the college, who perform under the tutelage of the two Ladies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Guide |first1=British Comedy |title=Dear Ladies Dear Ladies Masterclass |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/dear_ladies/episodes/1984/1/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=9 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==Cast== ''Dear Ladies'' cast members included:<ref>{{cite web |title=Dear Ladies Episodes |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/dear_ladies/episodes/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=9 March 2022}}</ref>
*George Logan as Dr Evadne Hinge *Patrick Fyffe as Dame Hilda Bracket *Richard Aylen as Courtney Pines *Geoffrey Banks as Rev. Donald Smollit *Frances Cox as Miss Grace Pullet (Librarian) *Terry Gilligan as various roles *Hope Johnstone as Party Organiser *Madeleine Newbury as Joan Shanks *Paula Tilbrook as Party Organiser *Rosalie Williams as Dodie Bantock
==Episode list== {{div col|colwidth=30em}}
===Series 1=== {{Episode table |background= |EpisodeNumber= |Title= |OriginalAirDate= |dontclose = y }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title= Look After The Pennies |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|03|15|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title= Sale Or Return |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|03|22|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title= Bowled Over |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|03|29|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title= Alarms & Excursions |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|04|05|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title= Doctor's Orders |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|04|12|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title= Don't Ring Us |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1983|04|19|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode table end}}
===Series 2=== {{Episode table |background= |EpisodeNumber= |Title= |OriginalAirDate= |dontclose = y }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title= The Time Of Our Lives |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|02|16|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title= Song & Dance |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|02|23|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title= In Sickness & In Health |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|03|01|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title= Gala Girls |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|03|08|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title= A Fete Worse Than... |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|03|15|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title= Mystery Weekend |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|03|22|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode table end}}
===Series 3=== {{Episode table |background= |EpisodeNumber= |Title= |OriginalAirDate= |dontclose = y }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title= Be Prepared |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|09|26|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title= Where There's A Will |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|10|03|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title= Midsummer Madness |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|10|10|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title= The Gypsy In My Sole |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|10|17|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title= Match Of The Day |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|10|31|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title= The Agony & The Ecstasy |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|11|07|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title= Friends & Neighbours |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|12|09|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title= Oh! Mr Mayor |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1984|12|16|df=y}} |LineColor=3D549A}} {{Episode table end}} {{div col end}}
== References == ===Citations=== <references />
===Sources=== * David Pringle. ''Imaginary People: A Who's who of Fictional Characters from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day''. Scolar Press, 1996. *{{cite book |last1=Tennant |first1=Janet |title=It's a Drag: Cross-Dressing in Performance |date=15 August 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4930-5906-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-VhEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22dear+ladies%22+hinge+bracket&pg=PA172 |access-date=3 April 2023 |language=en}}
==External links== * {{cite web |title=BBC Programme Index: Dear Ladies |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=Dear+Ladies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129105448/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=Dear+Ladies |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 January 2022 |website=BBC Genome Project |access-date=7 March 2022}} * {{IMDb title|id=0085004}}
Category:BBC television comedy Category:1983 British television series debuts Category:1984 British television series endings Category:1980s British comedy television series Category:English-language British television shows Category:Hinge and Bracket Category:Television shows set in Suffolk Category:Television shows filmed in England Category:British drag (entertainment) television shows Category:BBC television sitcoms