Oh joy Butterflies is back

Started watching Butterflies and it looked so terribly dated and twee I just gave up. They seemed to be talking and arguing about absolutely nothing. The script wasn't funny, unlike The Good Life which had a brilliant script and wonderful characters.

This was one of the very best series Carla Lane wrote truly brilliant. At the time it was typical of the era innocent fun to watch unlike the rubbish that’s on tv now. A very down to earth lady often seen in a local village shopping with no airs or graces about her at all.

Oh,sorry, just seen the firestick suggestion.
I have heard of those - I got the people who lived in the home where I used to work, one.
Then couldn't set it up.
I shall put it on my possibly to do list, but I'm becoming less and less interested in watching things, really.

I always think I will, then lose interest.

A very down to earth lady

Not how I recall Ria. Seemed a total air head, couldn’t cook the simplest things, then just scraped the burnt offerings into the bin. Shopping with her little basket, just to pass the time. Cleaner employed but could have filled her empty days doing some of it herself. Mooning after Leonard, but didn’t really know him at all.

Should add, haven’t watched it since the original programmes, but this is how I recall it.

Beechnut

I’ll have a look in on Butterflies again and see what locations I can spot. DD used to live in Cheltenham.

I lived in Cheltenham all the time Butterflies was showing, and it used to really annoy me the way they messed with the geography of the town. They'd walk into Sandford park from one end and exit on to the far side of the town. Mind you , I did see the mini around the town at times.

I watched these yesterday tea time and enjoyed both.
I also discovered that they are on every day this week at tea-time.

I watched them both and loved them. Who cares that Ria is scatterbrained and has little to do? It's not real!

Precisely Kate1949. It's just a situation comedy, and great in my opinion. As is Ever Decreasing Circles.

Kim19

How I wish I had access to the Drama channel. I do have a smart tv but, unfortunately, it doesn't have an equally smart owner. I loved Butterflies. Their constant slick and sharply witty lines were a joy. Oh yesss.........

I think the Drama channel is available on the ordinary freeview channels. You don't need a subscription for it.

Not 100% sure though. Perhaps others would know. Gold (also freeview) also has some good programmes on it e.g. Dinnerladies.

There are some great old films on the Talking Pictures channel. I watched Penny Serenade the other day with Cary Grant. Made well before I was born but I love the old films

I loved Butterflies. I was a young teenager when it was on. I agree that Ria was a bit hopeless and didn't really help herself. Would be curious to watch it again

Just for info from the web

'Don't miss out on Britain's best-loved drama. Whether it's a series you enjoyed first time around or a TV drama you missed that you're keen to catch from the start in its entirety.

Drama brings you the nation's favourite series so you need never be stuck for programmes to enthral you. If you don't have Drama at Freeview channel 20 you may need to retune your Freeview TV or box.

What do I need to do?

On your remote, press the menu button.

Select the 'set up' or 'installation' option. If you see picture icons, select the tool box, satellite dish or spanner. If you are prompted for a code, try 0000 or 1234.

Select the full retune option. This may be called 'first time installation', 'factory reset', 'default settings' or 'shipping conditions'. Do not select 'channel update' or 'add channels'.

I watch it on the Drama channel. Freesat 158

P.S. Perhaps you might find some of these programmes on YouTube?

I wish they would show The Liver Birds again.

It would be terribly dated but interesting to see how we used to be before social media etc.

argymargy

Thank you Floradora! Can we name check Carla Lane, the writer? As a child I loved Butterflies and her other series, The Liver Birds and Bread. She was a brilliant writer for women.

Do you remember "Solo" with Felicity Kendall. I'm sure that was also Carla Lane.

In our house, we still shout "Butterflies" when the car at the front of the drive needs to get out, and is blocked in by one or two other cars

My favourite of all time was Man About The House with lovely Richard O'Sullivan. They repeated it recently. Oh the memories, the fashions. I was constantly saying 'Oo I had a dress/trousers/shoes like that'. I met Richard once back then. He was delightful.

Robin's Nest was also Richard O'Sullivan.

Yes indeed Chestnut. The poor man has been unwell for years.

Great series. Mr. S. bought me the complete series on DVD a couple of years ago; love it.

I like Wendy Craig ,but her character in Butterflies was so insipid .She drove me mad - having a cleaner ,being unable to cook and having such nice things ,but moaning all the time .

I liked her hubby -grumpy as he was .
Who wouldn't be living with an airhead ?

Ever Decreasing Circles is one of my all time favourites .

My old neighbour is just like him only rather aggressive .
And my father has a neighbour like him too.
His obsession with security means that he's videoing our section of the street 24/7 .
They both walk around with clip boards, write reports and phone up the council all the time !

On the recommendation from here I (re)watched the first episode of Butterflies and found it awful! Not funny at all ?

I've just upset my husband by saying he's a bit like Martin from Ever Decreasing Circles. But he is. Only a bit though!

HurdyGurdy I loved Solo.
I was only a little girl at the time, and Felicity Kendall’s character seemed so glamorous.
I remember she had a house rabbit.
Carla Laine must have had a thing about rabbits, as Lucien in The Liver Birds kept rabbits too.

I also loved Robin’s Nest; especially the one armed washer upper played by the brilliant actor David Kelly.
Kelly also played one of my favourite ever characters; the useless builder, Mr OReilly in Fawlty Towers.
The bain of Sybil’s life!

Calendargirl I was referring to Carla Laine herself a down to earth woman with no airs or graces. She lived about a mile away and was often seen at the local village shops.
The character played by Wendy Craig was a ditsy woman rather bored with everyday routine. I thought if she would have cooked and cleaned herself she wouldn’t have the time to be bored! I loved the series especially the character Geoffrey Palmer played with a very dry sense of humour. They don’t make programmes like that anymore it’s all reality rubbish.

Apologies Redhead, thought you were talking about Ria, I can see now that you meant Carla.

I watched Butterflies every week. I used to watch it while doing the ironing. I had 3 young children at the time and envied Ria her lifestyle but also thought she was very ungrateful.