Just Good Friends

Just Good Friends is a British sitcom written by John Sullivan. It starred Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the alta

Writer John Sullivan had previously written two successful sitcoms for the BBC, Citizen Smith and Only Fools and Horses. However until this point, these had only featured strong male lead roles, and he felt he should base his new sitcom around a woman. His source of inspiration was a letter in a magazine being read by his wife, written by a woman who had been jilted by her fiancé on the day of her wedding.^[1]

According to a 2007 Comedy Connections documentary on Just Good Friends, Sullivan was originally motivated to create the character by Cheryl Hall, the co-star of Citizen Smith. Hall complained that Sullivan was incapable of writing comedy for women, focusing instead on giving the best of his material to the male characters. Sullivan was stung by the remark because, in his words, "she was absolutely right", and deliberately set out to create a strong (and funny) female lead.

Jan Francis, who had played Lisa Colbert in Secret Army, was cast as Penny, and established theatre actor Paul Nicholas was chosen to play Vincent, although this was his first major television role. Being a notable singer, Nicholas also performed the title theme song, written by John Sullivan and arranged by Ronnie Hazlehurst. For the end title music, Hazlehurst arranged the theme for flugelhorn.^[2]

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[edit] Plot

The series followed the wavering relationship between two ex-lovers, Penny Warrender, a female advertising executive, and Vincent Pinner, the son of a wealthy scrap merchant. The couple has split-up following Vincent’s decision not to marry Penny on their wedding day, leaving her at the altar. In the pilot episode, five years since their intended wedding day, the pair meet again by chance in a pub while out on individual dates. The pair decide to forget the past and become friends, although the rekindling of their relationship is not welcomed by Penny’s snobbish parents, particularly her mother, Daphne, played by Sylvia Kay.

The 1984 90 minute Christmas special was intended to be the final episode, with Penny leaving for a job in Paris. However, the cast reunited in 1986 for a final seven episodes.