Archetypal middle class sitcom Fresh Fields starred Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers as archetypal middle class couple Hester and William Fields. Although happily married to William and well provided for, Hester can’t help feeling that there’s something missing in her life.
She embarks on a seemingly endless quest for self-improvement which rapidly begins to wear William down. Other regular characters included daughter Emma, next door neighbour Sonia, who made a regular habit of entering the Fields house with a cry of “only Sonia”. Hester’s mother also had a granny flat at the bottom of the Field’s garden.
John Chapman, who wrote the series, had previously worked on the very similar BBC sitcom Happy Ever After.
The show ended in 1986 but in 1989 a new version called French Fields aired.
production details
UK / ITV – Thames / 26×25 minute episodes 1×45 minute episode / Broadcast 7 March 1984 – 23 October 1986
Creator: John Chapman / Producer: Peter Frazer-Jones
cast
Julia McKenzie as Hester Fields
Anton Rodgers as William Fields
Ann Beach as Sonia Barratt
Fanny Rowe as Nancy Penrose
Debby Cumming as Emma
Ballard Berkeley as Guy
Daphne Oxenford as Miss Denham
