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<div>{{Short description|1980s British sitcom}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=October 2021}}<br />
{{Infobox television<br />
| image = A Fine Romance Television Titles.jpg<br />
| caption = Series titles<br />
| genre = {{Hlist|[[Sitcom]]|[[Romantic love|romance]]}}<br />
| creator = [[Esmonde and Larbey|Bob Larbey]]<br />
| starring = {{Unbulleted list|[[Judi Dench]]|[[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]]|[[Susan Penhaligon]]|[[Richard Warwick]]}}<br />
| country = United Kingdom<br />
| num_series = 4<br />
| num_episodes = 26<br />
| theme_music_composer = [[Jerome Kern]] and [[Dorothy Fields]]<br />
| opentheme = "[[A Fine Romance (song)|A Fine Romance]]" performed by Judi Dench<br />
| runtime = 30 minutes<br />
| producer = {{Hlist|[[James Cellan Jones]]|[[Don Leaver]]|Graham Evans}}<br />
| company = [[London Weekend Television]]<br />
| network = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]<br />
| first_aired = {{Start date|1981|11|1|df=y}}<br />
| last_aired = {{End date|1984|2|17|df=y}}<br />
}}<br />
'''''A Fine Romance''''' is a British [[situation comedy]] starring husband-and-wife team [[Judi Dench]] and [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]]. The series was nominated for ten [[BAFTA]] [[British Academy Television Awards]] and was a winner of two for Dench's performances in 1982 and 1985.<br />
<br />
== Cast ==<br />
[[Judi Dench]] starred as the female lead, Laura,{{Efn|This was Dench's first television comedy series.{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"}}}} against [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] as the male lead, Mike. Laura's matchmaking sister and brother-in-law were played by [[Susan Penhaligon]] and [[Richard Warwick]], respectively.{{R|"Self 1984"}}<br />
<br />
== Creatives, production, and broadcast ==<br />
''A Fine Romance'' was written by [[Esmonde and Larbey|Bob Larbey]],{{R|"Self 1984"}} and took its name from the [[Jerome Kern]] song, "[[A Fine Romance (song)|A Fine Romance]]".{{R|"Punch 1981"}} Judi Dench recorded the song as the theme music of the production.{{R|"Evans 2003"}} It was produced for [[London Weekend Television]] by [[James Cellan Jones]] (series one and two), [[Don Leaver]] (series three and four), and Graham Evans (one episode in series four). It was first broadcast on 1{{Nbsp}}November 1981, and lasted for twenty{{Hyphen}}six episodes over four series. The final episode was broadcast on 17{{Nbsp}}February 1984.{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"}}<br />
<br />
== Plot ==<br />
The series follows the unlikely romance between Laura Dalton (Judi Dench), a translator, and Mike Selway (Michael Williams), a landscape [[gardener]].{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"|"VisionTV 2020"}} Both are approaching middle-age, shy, content with being single, but with their own insecurities and career struggles.{{R|"VisionTV 2020"}} Laura's younger sister, Helen (Susan Penhaligon), and her husband Phil (Richard Warwick), are incurable matchmakers,{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"}} and at one of their parties, they introduce her to Mike.{{R|"VisionTV 2020"}} Laura thinks Mike is nervous and boring but they agree to feign interest in one another so they can escape the party.{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"}} However, as the first series develops, they are drawn to each other and begin a relationship.{{R|"Lewisohn 1998"}}<br />
<br />
The series follows the development of their relationship, although bad luck dogs them, from a dinner in France that does not turn out as expected, to a failed romantic evening watching television.{{R|"British Classic Comedy 2017"}} They become estranged at the end of the third series, but find they cannot live without one another, and so get engaged in the last episode of the final series.{{R|"Self 1984"}}<br />
<br />
== Episodes ==<br />
The following are the titles of each of the episodes in the four series, with the date of original airing given in parentheses.<br />
<br />
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|<br />
'''Series one (1981)'''{{R|"TV Guide A Fine Romance S01 1981"}}<br />
{{Ordered list<br />
| First Meeting (1{{Nbsp}}November 1981)<br />
| Different Answers (8{{Nbsp}}November 1981)<br />
| The Restaurant (15{{Nbsp}}November 1981)<br />
| Unlucky In Love (22{{Nbsp}}November 1981)<br />
| How To Avoid Bankruptcy (29{{Nbsp}}November 1981)<br />
| Keep Them Apart (6{{Nbsp}}December 1981)<br />
| Playing Games (13{{Nbsp}}December 1981)<br />
}}<br />
'''Series two (1982)'''{{R|"TV Guide A Fine Romance S02 1982"}}<br />
{{Ordered list<br />
| A Helping Hand (17{{Nbsp}}January 1982)<br />
| A Trip To The Dentist (24{{Nbsp}}January 1982)<br />
| Was That A Proposal? (31{{Nbsp}}January 1982)<br />
| The New Secretary (7{{Nbsp}}February 1982)<br />
| Boulogne (14{{Nbsp}}February 1982)<br />
| Furniture (21{{Nbsp}}February 1982)<br />
}}<br />
{{Break}}<br />
'''Series three (1983)'''{{R|"TV Guide A Fine Romance S03 1983"}}<br />
{{Ordered list<br />
| Missing (4{{Nbsp}}November 1983)<br />
| The Hotel (11{{Nbsp}}November 1983)<br />
| The Dinner Party (18{{Nbsp}}November 1983)<br />
| Business Problems (25{{Nbsp}}November 1983)<br />
| Parenthood (2{{Nbsp}}December 1983)<br />
| Extreme Measures (9{{Nbsp}}December 1983)<br />
}}<br />
'''Series four (1984)'''{{R|"TV Guide A Fine Romance S04 1984"}}<br />
{{Ordered list<br />
| The Telephone Call (6{{Nbsp}}January 1984)<br />
| In Hiding (13{{Nbsp}}January 1984)<br />
| Mike's New Girlfriend (20{{Nbsp}}January 1984)<br />
| A Weekend Away (27{{Nbsp}}January 1984)<br />
| Problems (3{{Nbsp}}February 1984)<br />
| A Romantic Meal (10{{Nbsp}}February 1984)<br />
| Happily Ever After? (17{{Nbsp}}February 1984)<br />
}}}}<br />
<br />
== Home releases ==<br />
All four series of ''A Fine Romance'' have been released on DVD by Network, with release dates as follows.<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Series !! Release date !! {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}}<br />
|-<br />
| One || 23{{Nbsp}}January 2006 || {{R|"A Fine Romance S01 2006"}}<br />
|-<br />
| Two || 17{{Nbsp}}April 2006 || {{R|"A Fine Romance S02 2006"}}<br />
|-<br />
| Three || 14{{Nbsp}}August 2006 || {{R|"A Fine Romance S03 2006"}}<br />
|-<br />
| Four || 16{{Nbsp}}October 2006 || {{R|"A Fine Romance S04 2006"}}<br />
|-<br />
| One to four box set || 16{{Nbsp}}October 2006 || {{R|"A Fine Romance S01–S04 2006"}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Awards and recognition ==<br />
The series was nominated for ten [[BAFTA]] [[British Academy Television Awards]],{{R|"BAFTA 2021"}} winning twice for performances by Dench, in 1982 and 1985.{{R|"Dench 2014"}}<br />
<br />
== Footnotes ==<br />
{{Notes}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist|30em|refs=<br />
<!--Books--><br />
<!--Organised by author name and date--><br />
{{Refn|name="Dench 2014"|<br />
{{Cite book|last1=Dench |first1=Judi |others=John Miller |year=2014 |title=Behind The Scenes |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] |page=254|location=London |language=en |oclc=1083737485 |isbn=978-0-297-60884-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/behindscenes0000denc_a0l1/page/254 |url-access=registration |access-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="Evans 2003"|<br />
{{Cite book|last1=Evans |first1=Jeff |orig-year=2001 |year=2003 |author1-link=Jeff Evans |title=The Penguin TV Companion |section=A Fine Romance |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |edition=2nd |page=254 |location=London |language=en |oclc=936505601 |isbn=978-0-14-101221-6 |section-url=https://archive.org/details/penguintvcompani0000evan_p7x2/page/254 |section-url-access=registration |access-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="Self 1984"|<br />
{{Cite book|editor1-last=Self |editor1-first=David |year=1984 |title=Situation Comedy 2 |chapter=Introduction to the Scripts |publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]] |series=Studio Scripts |pages=14{{Ndash}}15 |location=London |language=en |oclc=12502861 |isbn=978-0-09-156481-0 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/situationcomedy20000unse/page/14 |chapter-url-access=registration |access-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="Lewisohn 1998"|<br />
{{Cite book|last1=Lewisohn |first1=Mark |author1-link=Mark Lewisohn |others=Foreword by [[Ronnie Barker]] |year=1998 |title=Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy |section=A Fine Romance |publisher=[[BBC Worldwide]] |page=245 |location=London |language=en |oclc=43091221 |isbn=978-0-563-36977-6 |section-url=https://archive.org/details/radiotimesguidet0000lewi/page/245 |section-url-access=registration |access-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
<!--Magazines--><br />
<!--Organised by reference name--><br />
{{Refn|name="Punch 1981"|<br />
{{Cite magazine|last1=Green |first1=Benny |author1-link=Benny Green (saxophonist) |editor1-last=Coren |editor1-first=Alan |editor1-link=Alan Coren |date=11 November 1981 |title=Television. French Leave |magazine=[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]] |publisher=Punch Publications |volume=281 |issue=7357 |page=865 |location=London |language=en |oclc=1714437 |issn=0033-4278 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_punch_1981-11-11_281_7357/page/n66 |url-access=registration |access-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
<!--Websites--><br />
<!--Organised by reference name--><br />
{{Refn|name="A Fine Romance S01 2006"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=23 January 2006 |title=A Fine Romance — The Complete First Series |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |location=Liphook |language=en |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/11/the_complete_first_series/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129054106/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/11/the_complete_first_series/ |archive-date=29 November 2020}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="A Fine Romance S02 2006"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=17 April 2006 |title=A Fine Romance — The Complete Second Series |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |location=Liphook |language=en |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/24/the_complete_second_series/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223024349/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/24/the_complete_second_series/ |archive-date=23 December 2017}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="A Fine Romance S03 2006"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=14 August 2006 |title=A Fine Romance — The Complete Third Series |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |location=Liphook |language=en |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/23/the_complete_third_series/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021133739/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/23/the_complete_third_series/ |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="A Fine Romance S04 2006"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=16 October 2006 |title=A Fine Romance — The Complete Fourth Series |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |location=Liphook |language=en |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/69/the_complete_fourth_series/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223040005/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/69/the_complete_fourth_series/ |archive-date=23 December 2017}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="A Fine Romance S01–S04 2006"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=16 October 2006 |title=A Fine Romance — The Complete Series |website=www.comedy.co.uk |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |location=Liphook |language=en |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/70/the_complete_series/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223044432/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/a_fine_romance/shop/70/the_complete_series/ |archive-date=23 December 2017}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="BAFTA 2021"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2021 |title=BAFTA Awards Search |website=awards.bafta.org |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |location=London |language=en |url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=A+Fine+Romance&f%5B0%5D=string_winner%3Afalse |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021135553/http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=A+Fine+Romance&f%5B0%5D=string_winner%3Afalse |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="British Classic Comedy 2017"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=5 June 2017 |title=A Fine Romance |website=www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk |location=Hartlepool |language=en |url=https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/a-fine-romance |url-status=live |access-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031163418/https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/a-fine-romance |archive-date=31 October 2020}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="TV Guide A Fine Romance S01 1981"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=1981 |title=A Fine Romance Season 1 Episodes |website=www.tvguide.com |publisher=[[TV Guide]] |location=New York |language=en |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-1/1000209214/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021143531/https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-1/1000209214/ |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="TV Guide A Fine Romance S02 1982"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=1982 |title=A Fine Romance Season 2 Episodes |website=www.tvguide.com |publisher=[[TV Guide]] |location=New York |language=en |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-2/1000209214/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021143914/https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-2/1000209214/ |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="TV Guide A Fine Romance S03 1983"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=1983 |title=A Fine Romance Season 3 Episodes |website=www.tvguide.com |publisher=[[TV Guide]] |location=New York |language=en |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-3/1000209214/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021145834/https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-3/1000209214/ |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="TV Guide A Fine Romance S04 1984"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=1984 |title=A Fine Romance Season 4 Episodes |website=www.tvguide.com |publisher=[[TV Guide]] |location=New York |language=en |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-4/1000209214/ |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021150032/https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/a-fine-romance/episodes-season-4/1000209214/ |archive-date=21 October 2021}}}}<br />
<br />
{{Refn|name="VisionTV 2020"|<br />
{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=22 September 2020 |title=Judi Dench looks back on the awkward magic of a Fine Romance |website=www.visiontv.ca |publisher=[[VisionTV]] |location=Toronto |language=en |url=https://www.visiontv.ca/2020/09/22/judi-dench-looks-back-on-the-awkward-magic-of-a-fine-romance/ |url-status=live |access-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209165920/https://www.visiontv.ca/2020/09/22/judi-dench-looks-back-on-the-awkward-magic-of-a-fine-romance/ |archive-date=9 December 2020}}}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* {{Screenonline TV title|id=495393|title=A Fine Romance}}<br />
* {{British Comedy Guide|tv|a_fine_romance|A Fine Romance}}<br />
* {{Epguides|FineRomance}}<br />
<br />
{{Esmonde Larbey}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine Romance}}<br />
[[Category:1981 British television series debuts]]<br />
[[Category:1984 British television series endings]]<br />
[[Category:1980s British sitcoms]]<br />
[[Category:English-language television shows]]<br />
[[Category:ITV sitcoms]]<br />
[[Category:London Weekend Television shows]]<br />
[[Category:1980s British romance television series]]</div>2A00:23C4:C38A:AD01:8BF4:30AB:77C:20AA