Were There Any Sexual Problems?

Life Goes On

The BBC Series Dear John is something of a forgotten classic that is quite underrated and doesn’t get repeated a great deal, although there have been several DVD releases. It ran for just two series from 1986-1987 plus a Christmas special.

It was written by John Sullivan, a prolific screenwriter during the 80s and 90s best known of course for Only Fools and Horses.

He got his big break while working in the BBC props department – he wrote a pilot script that became Citizen Smith and showed it to acclaimed comedy producer, Dennis Main Wilson.

Bolt From the Blue

In the show, John Lacey (Ralph Bates) is a languages teacher at a West London comprehensive school, married with a 9 year old boy. One day he comes home to find a note from his wife – she is leaving him for his best friend.

He gets cleaned out at the divorce court losing his house and car to her and is forced to move into a grotty bedsit, and only seeing his son at weekends when they invariably end up at the zoo.

OK, Yah?

Now single and a social outcast he joins the 1-2-1 club, a local group for divorced and separated people.

The group is run by Louise (Rachel Bell), a Sloane Ranger type who divorced her husband due to his fetishist tendencies, but is nonetheless fixated with the relationships of others and will often enquire “were there any sexual problems?” even on a first meeting.

Meet the Misfits

The other members of the group are a mixed bunch. Kate is an attractive woman whose three failed marriages has left her somewhat cynical, and apprehensive against men. She left halfway through Series 2 to go to Greece but makes a return in the Christmas special.

Kirk St Moritz (Peter Blake), a larger than life ‘Fonz’ type character with some tall stories and an ego to match. In reality, he is Eric Morris, a bespectacled, mousey recluse who lives at home with his mother.

Only John knows the truth when he makes a surprise visit to Kirk’s home one day. Kirk is always verbally abusing Kate, although he fancies her. She in fact, quite despises him.

Don’t Give Me That Jive, Clive

Ralph Dring (Peter Denyer) is a terrapin loving geeky loner who rides a motorcycle (and sidecar ‘combination’) and was married to a Polish welder for all of five hours – before she disappeared during the wedding reception.

In an attempt to appear more dynamic he later invests in some mobile disco gear but only has one record – Green Door by Shakin’ Stevens. He brands himself ‘Dazzling Darren’ a suggestion from Kirk along with an assortment of inane catchphrases, but unfortunately is dazzling in name only.

Highly Strung? She Should Be

Sylvia is a tall and slim blonde who divorced her cross dressing husband – a fact that of course absolutely fascinates Louise. She often comes across as rather annoying, so much so that she moves from the Wednesday night class to John’s Friday night one.

She finds John attractive but John also finds her annoying and doesn’t want to get involved.

The final group member is Mrs Arnott, a quiet behatted plump woman who doesn’t say very much but when she does make comment they are often quite unexpected in nature. She leaves the show at the start of Series 2.

When Life Gives You Lemenski’s

Another regular character outside of the group is Mrs Lemenski an elderly Polish neighbour of John. She always seems to catch him at the wrong time, such as when he is banging his head against the wall in exasperation after a difficult phone call.

As a consequence she thinks he is a bit loopy and always calls him “You Loony Person” or similar, but I do somehow think she has some deep-down pity for him.

Ricky Fortune and the Fortunates

A new member appears in the club during series 2. Ricky Fortune is a faded 60’s rocker who headed up The Fortunates and had a number 1 hit (in Iceland) with Not On My Birthday.

Played by Kevin Lloyd (Tosh Lines in The Bill) he disappears after just 2 episodes following a mix-up involving Freddie and the Dreamers (who make a guest appearance).

Brutal Truth

The show follows John’s mostly unsuccessful attempts at trying to dig himself out of this hole he seems to have fallen into. Dating, making friends and generally trying to improve his miserable existence.

On the surface it seems like a gentle comedy but actually it can be quite brutal to see John being constantly knocked back and making social faux-pas, but of course that is a classic comedy device.

It is interesting that there are some occasional fourth wall breaks, with some voiceover by John usually describing his inner thoughts about a situation where he was too afraid to speak out.

Christmas Special, The Final Episode

Eric disowns his Kirk persona but makes one last appearance when Ralph is set upon by some Hells Angel types in the pub. He quickly disappears so nobody is any the wiser as to who this hero really is.

Kate returns to the UK, with her new Greek boyfriend (although we never see him) much to Kirk/Eric’s consternation.

Finally, A Successful US Transition?

An American remake with the same name starring Judd Hirsch (Taxi) as John ran for 4 seasons, making it one of the more successful US adaptations, although not a runaway success just like its UK counterpart.

The first episode is almost a word-for-word copy even down to the memorable theme, although it was sung by an American vocalist.

One of the show’s most memorable lines was of course Louise with her “were there any sexual problems?”, and it’s interesting that it was also kept in the US version and is also fondly remembered by Americans who watched it originally!