British ITV sitcom 1982–83
The Bounder is a British sitcom which ran from 16 April 1982 to 28 October 1983, made by Yorkshire Television. The series starred Peter Bowles (of "To the Manor Born" fame) as Howard Booth, an ex-convict who served two years in jail. He lives with his brother-in-law, Trevor Mountjoy (George Cole), and his sister (Trevor's wife), Mary (Rosalind Ayres). The latter left after Series One in 1982. It also starred Isla Blair as the next door widowed neighbour, Laura Miles. This series was created by Eric Chappell.
Production.
In 1981, following the transmission of the third series of "Only When I Laugh", Peter Bowles informed Yorkshire Television, who produced the sitcom, that he would only sign on to do a fourth run if he was given his own series. "The Bounder" was specifically written by Eric Chappell for Bowles to play the lead role. The pair had first worked together on a 1977 episode of "Rising Damp" and then the four series of "Only When I Laugh" which aired between 1979 and 1982.
The series co-starred George Cole, then well known for playing Arthur Daley in the comedy-drama series "Minder", which was cocurrently in production at the time. This sitcom marked Cole's return to the format after a three-year gap, after previously starring as troubled writer Gordon Maple in Don't Forget to Write!
Chappell told the "Reading Evening Post" in 1982, "Peter played the part [in "Rising Damp"] with such flamboyancy and style. It was the first time I had seen him in situation comedy and he did it so beautifully. He was a natural choice to play Archie Glover [in] "Only When I Laugh". And, after watching his performance in the hospital comedy, I thought it would be marvellous to create a likeable rogue who had all the qualities we had seen conveyed by Peter."
Bowles aired his delight at the series to the "Reading Evening Post", "It's the first time I have had a series written for me, and I'm thrilled and very enthusiastic about it. I'm also delighted to be working with George Cole for the first time. He is a master of comedy character roles."
The series was cancelled after two series, however less than a year after its cancellation, in 1984 a US pilot was produced by CBS which starred Michael McKeown as Howard, Jeannette Arnette as his sister Bonnie, Richard Masur as her husband Charles and Francine Tacker as Laura. However, the pilot was not picked up and a full series was not commissioned.
Home media.
The first series only was released on VHS and DVD in the US on 16 September 2003 by BFS Entertainment. The complete series was subsequently released in the UK on DVD by Network on 20 August 2007. The series was also later distributed in Australia by Time Life where it was released in 2010.
References.
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