Just Good Friends – Complete Series 1-3 (1983)
Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis are outstanding in their roles as Vince – the cockney, unreliable, Jack-the-lad with a witty one-liner for every occasion – and Penny – the posh, prim and proper lady. When Vince got cold feet and left Penny standing at the altar, Penny got on with her life and tried to forget Vince once and for all. Five years, and a chance meeting later, Penny’s feelings are rekindled, feelings that she thought were gone forever. Insisting that they would remain ‘just good friends’ but with emotions resurfacing a classic love-hate, on-off relationship is (once again) established.
Exacerbating Vince and Penny’s predicament are both sets of parents, Vince’s – Les and Rita – are all leopard print and Brylcreem, whilst Penny’s – Daphne and Norman – are quite the opposite, wine tasting and twin set types. Written by John Sullivan (Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith), this is a classic story of love, lost and found, where the question on everyone’s lips is will Vince and Penny remain ‘just good friends’?
Newly restored by the BBC and available for the first time in its entirety – including the long unseen 1984 Christmas special – John Sullivan’s classic sit-com is still as endearing and enjoyable as when it first aired.
