©2000 BBC
As Time Goes By
Sundays at 7pm
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When Jean puts on the kettle, don't you want to pull up a chair to the kitchen table and join her for a cup? And when Lionel fixes a drink at that great little bar in the living room, don't you know he always mixes just the right balance between scotch and soda? But let's not forget Mrs. Bale's dinner, ready in two and a half minutes: Surely it's a nice roast, with potatoes and minted peas -- maybe even Yorkshire pudding -- and trifle for dessert. Add in a few prickly comments at bedtime, and it's the perfect As Time Goes By evening.
As Time Goes By, which aired from 1992 to 2002 in Britain, is a classic in the British sitcom genre, and American viewers have joined the Brits in cheering on the best ever resolution to the one-that-got-away heartbreak: the poignant love story of tart-but-vulnerable Jean and curmudgeonly-but-tender Lionel, Korean war sweethearts broken up by a faulty postal service who are lucky enough to stumble across each other later in life.
Certainly part of the charm of the series is the amazing chemistry and comedic timing of stars Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer -- it's clear the two have as much fun together off-camera as they do on -- but surely the show's immense popularity must have something to do with its affectionate portrayal of middle-aged love, complete with jowls, thick ankles, and one suspects, hemorrhoids and Metamucil). Friends this is not: Both characters age over the course of the 64 episodes in the series, with Jean starting off as a redhead and going elegantly grey, and Lionel's jowls drooping ever so slightly more with every year.
Learn more about Dench and Palmer's off-screen friendship in this interview with both stars, conducted at the series' sunset. Then, on NPR, check out Susan Stamberg reporting on how Judi Dench prepares for her roles, particularly her regal ones, and the trials of wearing a ruff. (Plus, who knew that Dench stands a mere 5'1"? And that she's a Quaker?) Also at NPR, check out trailers of various Judi Dench films, including Shakespeare in Love and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Little known facts about As Time Goes By, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database:
- The man and woman shown in the photographs in the opening credits -- by implication the young Jean and Lionel -- are in fact Dench's daughter and Palmer's son.
- The show was originally called "Winter Flowers" but the cast protested, and the name was changed.
- Moira Booker, who plays quick-witted Jean's adult daughter, admitted that at times she was so stunned by Dench's performance that she'd forget her own lines.
What else have the cast members done? Find out on the Internet Movie Database:
- Dame Judi Dench has a lot of Shakespeare up her sleeve: She's played Lady Macbeth, Mistress Quickly, and Hecuba. Not to mention and that nasty Lady Catherine de Bourg in Pride and Prejudice and Queens Victoria and Elizabeth I.
- Geoffrey Palmer has played William Makepeace Thackeray in a docudrama about Charles Dickens and been in countless BBC productions -- even Blackadder and Doctor Who.
- Plucky Moira Booker (Judith) has been on Footballers' Wives.
- Philip Bretherton (Alistair) has been on Footballers' Wives even more.
- Jenny Funnell (Sandy), uh, hasn't done too much else. (Maybe she's still in Canada with that guy who is as boring as she is. Sandy, I mean.)
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