On Sunday 11 January 1981 BBC 1 started airing the new sitcom
Solo, written by Carla Lane and starring Felicity Kendall as Gemma Palmer, a newly single girl intent on making her own, independent way in the world, with varying degrees of success and failure.
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| pic. comedy.co.uk |
Kendall (b. 1946) had previously starred with Richard Briers in the highly successful BBC sitcom
The Good Life which had run from 1975 to 1978. She has made several television appearances during her career with roles as varied as Viola in the BBC production of Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night (shown January 1980) and more recently as "gardening detective" Rosemary Boxer in ITV's
Rosemary & Thyme which ran over three seasons from 2003-2007.
Solo writer Carla Lane was still enjoying success at the time with
Butterflies, another BBC sitcom centering on the hapless middle-class wife and mother Ria Parkinson, played by Wendy Craig.
The half-hour episode of
Solo was usually followed by Sunday night regular
That's Life!
sources:
BBC genome,
wikipedia
