Both Ends Meet (ITV 1972, Dora Bryan, Ivor Dean)

Comedy stalwart Dora Bryan headlined typical ITV sitcom Both Ends Meet as middle aged single mum Dora Page. Dora worked at the Cannon’s Family Sausages factory where her boss was Julius Cannon. Dora also had a son Ronnie.

After a run of 7 episodes, the series returned the following September with the same format but a title change to Dora. David Howe played Ronnie in the first season but Peter Clarke took over the role for the Dora episodes. Interestingly it was billed as a completely new series in the TV Times and newspaper listings.

In some regions (including Southern and Anglia) the show aired on Friday nights and premiered on Friday 18 February rather than the following evening. London Weekend Television who actually made the series aired it at the no one’s watching time of 5.10pm on early Saturday evening. Dates listed below are for the ATV region.

In real life Dora famously owned her own hotel in Brighton, there was a two page TV Times feature for the show’s premiere on both of her worlds. Her current Hotel at the time, Clarges, which she ran with husband Bill Lawton, was the fourth such venture they had been involved with. Dora wasn’t overly hands on with the day to day running though.

production details
UK / ITV – London Weekend Television / 13×30 minute episodes / Broadcast 19 February – 1 April 1972  and 29 September – 10 November 1972

Executive Producer: Mark Stuart

cast
Dora Bryan as Dora Page
Ivor Dean as Julius Cannon
Wendy Richard as Maudie
David Howe as Ronnie Page (Season 1)
Peter Vaughan Clarke as Ronnie Page (Season 2)
Pat Ashton as Glad
Deddie Davies as Flo
Timothy Bateson as George Rogers
Fanny Carby as Hilda Rogers
Joan Benham as Mrs Templeton-Smythe (Season 1)
Meadows White as Mr Page

In this scene Dora is trying to organise a package holiday to Spain.

THE EPISODES
SEASON ONE 19 February – 1 April 1972
1. FIRM FOUNDATIONS (19 Feb 1972)
2. RANDOM SAMPLE (26 Feb 1972)
3. THE LAMP STILL BURNS (4 Mar 1972)
4. PARTY PIECE (11 Mar 1972)
5. THE SPRING COLLECTION (18 Mar 1972)
6. COME FLY WITH ME (25 Mar 1972)
7. FANCY MEETING YOU HERE (1 Apr 1972)

SEASON TWO 29 September – 10 November 1972
1. CONVERSATION PIECE (29 Sep 1972)
2. DEAR LITTLE AGATHA JANE (6 Oct 1972)
3. GET ME TO THE PUB ON TIME (20 Oct 1972)
4. A MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE (27 Oct 1972)
5. THE JET SETTERS (3 Nov 1972)
6. DINNER AT EIGHT (10 Nov 1972)

Dinner at Eight was originally scheduled for 13 October 1972 and featured in listings for that date, it wasn’t shown. It could possibly have been pre-empted by news – there were two plane crashes on that day including the infamous Uruguay to Chile flight (Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571) that crashed in the Andes where the survivors had to survive for two months by eating one another. This was made into a movie in 1993 called Alive. There was also a major crash with an Aeroflot flight in Moscow.

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• Chance In A Million (Channel 4 1984-1986, Simon Callow, Brenda Blethyn)

• Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC 1964, Christopher Plummer, Robert Shaw)

• A Handful of Thieves (BBC One 1969, Helen Worth, Martin Ratcliffe)

• Hands Across the Sea (BBC, 1938, Nadine March, Nicholas Phipps)

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• The Franchise Affair (BBC 1962, Rosalie Crutchley, Michael Aldridge)

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