British TV sitcom (1958–1964)
For the 2021 TV series of the same name, see The Larkins (2021 TV series).
| The Larkins | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Fred Robinson |
| Starring | David Kossoff Peggy Mount Shaun O'Riordan Ruth Trouncer Ronan O'Casey Barbara Mitchell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Producer | ATV |
| Running time | 26 minutes per episode |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 19 September 1958 (1958-09-19) – 15 October 1960 (1960-10-15) |
| Release | 9 November 1963 (1963-11-09) – 22 August 1964 (1964-08-22) |
The Larkins is a British television sitcom which was produced by ATV and aired on ITV.[1] It aired for four series between 1958 and 1960. An additional two series (with format changes) aired from 1963 to 1964.
In the first four series, the family, consisting of Ada Larkin (Peggy Mount), her henpecked husband Alf (David Kossoff), their son Eddie (Shaun O'Riordan), daughter Joyce (Ruth Trouncer) and her ex-GI husband Jeff (Ronan O'Casey), all lived together at 66 Sycamore Street, next door to inquisitive neighbour Hetty Prout (Barbara Mitchell), her husband Sam (George Roderick), and their daughter Myrtle (Hillary Bamberger), who had an occasional fling with Eddie.
In the final two series, it is revealed by Alf to an old mate of his called Charlie, that Sycamore Street has been pulled down. Alf also reveals that Jeff and Joyce are now in America and Eddie has a Government job, "abroad somewhere in one of them far flung outposts". Alf says that he has been retired (or made redundant), by his firm, but received a superannuation, together with a golden handshake and "a bit extra in lieu of notice" and as such he and Ada have pooled their resources and now run a café, where they now also live. They employ Hetty (no mention is made of her husband or daughter, nor is it mentioned where Hetty now lives as she used to be Ada and Alf's neighbour at Sycamore Street and she does not live with them at the cafe). Ada and Alf also had a lodger, Major Osbert Rigby-Soames (retired) (Hugh Paddick), who always tried to avoid paying his rent.
The Larkins was adapted into a gag-a-day comic in 1960 by Dutch comics artist Alfred Mazure, published in the Sunday Graphic.[3]
The series was adapted into a film, Inn for Trouble (1960) directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards.[4]
Unlike many other British sitcoms of the era, all episodes still exist.[5]
All six series have been released on DVD, and were included in a boxset by Network, released on 1 October 2012.[6]
| Title | Release date (Region 2) | No. of discs | BBFC rating | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Series | 27 July 2009 | 1 | PG | [7] |
| The Complete Second Series | 12 April 2010 | 1 | PG | [8] |
| The Complete Third Series | 4 October 2010 | 1 | U | [9] |
| The Complete Fourth Series | 21 February 2011 | 1 | U | [10] |
| The Complete Fifth Series | 2 April 2012 | 2 | PG | [11] |
| The Complete Sixth Series | 24 September 2012 | 1 | PG | [12] |
| Family Album (complete series) | 1 October 2012 | 7 | PG | [13] |
Note: three episodes have been re-rated 12 by the BBFC in 2021 and 2022; the episodes were series 1, episode 6 for "frequent obscured strong language", series 2, episode 2 for "domestic abuse", and series 2, episode 3 for "moderate violence, bloody images, brief threat".[14]
In 2023 the UK vintage film/nostalgia channel Talking Pictures TV announced that it would be broadcasting the series weekly from 26 March.[15]