Dear John

'Dear John' was a very funny, if somewhat underrated, BBC sitcom of the 1980s. There were two half hour series, beginning on February 17th, 1986, and finishing with a 50 minute special on December 21st, 1987.

Written by John Sullivan, 'Dear John' revolves around a singles club, with Ralph Bates as John, who seems to have the fewest problems of the regular group who congregate there. Kate (Belinda Lang) is frigid, which is seized upon at every opportunity by the outlandishly named, flamboyantly dressed Kirk St. Moritz (Peter Blake). Kirk's real name is Derek Morris, and his life is really sad and dull. Peter Denyer almost reprises his role of Dunstable in 'Please, Sir!' as the nerdy Ralph, and he comes up with the funniest line of the series, when missing out an important comma, with "Careful with me Kirky". Rachel Bell plays group leader Louise, who is always keen to know of any sexual problems.

This series sadly ended when Ralph Bates died of cancer. There was, however, an American (NBC) version with the same title, which ran from 1988 to 1992, with Judd Hirsch in the lead role.

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.