Happy Since I Met You

British TV series or programme

Happy Since I Met You
VHS cover
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Victoria Wood
Directed by	Baz Taylor
Starring	Julie Walters Duncan Preston
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	1
Production
Producer	Peter Eckersley
Running time	52 min.
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	9 August 1981 (1981-08-09)

Happy Since I Met You is a television play written by Victoria Wood, and broadcast on ITV on 9 August 1981.^[1]

It stars Julie Walters and Duncan Preston and was directed by Baz Taylor as part of ITV's Screenplay series.^[2] In Happy Since I Met You, Duncan Preston, who would later become one of her regular co-stars, worked with Victoria Wood for the first time.^[1] It was the last full-length drama by Wood to be televised for some years, the next being Pat and Margaret (1994).^[3] The film was notable for early TV appearances in minor roles by rising stars Maggie Steed, Tracey Ullman and George Costigan.^[4] Although Wood does not appear in the film, she sings several of her compositions including the opening song and other songs performed over the on-screen action.

Plot

The story takes place over three consecutive Christmases. At the first, drama teacher Frances is defiantly single and enjoying living alone, but shortly after spending Christmas with her family, she meets an actor, Jim and they begin dating. By the next Christmas, they have moved in together and seem to be settling with their relationship, but Frances becomes frustrated with losing her independence and by the third Christmas, their cohabitation has driven her to anger and she leaves Jim after an explosive argument. Jim tracks her down at the train station as Frances attempts to get away to find solitude, but she realises she does love Jim and the film ends with them agreeing to try again.

Cast

Julie Walters as Frances
Duncan Preston as Jim
Kathryn Apanowicz as Judith
Christine Moore as Marie
Sue Wallace as Olwen
Louise Cullinan as Gemma
Tracey Ullman as Karen
Barbara New as Mum
Jim Bowen as Dad
Marjorie Sudell as Auntie
Carol Leader as Mary
Alison Skilbeck as Elaine
Sidney Livingstone as Dennis
Lottie Ward as Moira
Norman Mills as Alec
Nellie Hanham as Margot
Maggie Steed as Ginny
George Costigan as Ted
Judy Lloyd as Beverly
Sandra Voe as Headmistress
Fidelis Morgan as Nun
Eileen Mayers as Neighbour
Maggie Lane as Cashier
Monica Lewis as Customer
Meretta Elliot as Girl
Phil Kernott as Attendant
Alison Stirrup as Woman
June Dixon, Rebecca Leach and Alison Attenborough as Schoolgirls

Production

Costume: Diane Holmes
Make-up: Sarah Horseman
Casting Director: Priscilla John
Film Editor: Bob Morton
Designer: Colin Rees
Producer: Peter Eckersley
Director: Baz Taylor

Music & Lyrics by Victoria Wood, arranged and conducted by Jim Parker.

Critical reception

Reviews were mixed, with Mary Kenny in the Daily Mail full of praise for dialogue which combined the idiomatic drollness of Les Dawson with the refinement of Jean Anouilh; whereas The Guardian's Stanley Reynolds thought it "padded out with vulgar speeches...Lines delivered as if they were heroic truths, as if they were not only great gems of wit but also terribly socially significant."^[5] More recently, Screenonline called the play "a slight but touching romance that was as much about the downs as the ups of young love."^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Nearly A Happy Ending (1981)(TV)". IMDb. 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
^ "Screenplay (1979)(Episode list)". IMDb. 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
^ Duguid, Mark. "Screenonline – Pat & Margaret (1994)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
^ "Happy since I Met You (1981)". BFI. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017.
^ Brandwood, Neil (31 March 2011). Victoria Wood: The Biography. Random House. ISBN 9780753546574 – via Google Books.
^ "BFI Screenonline: Wood, Victoria (1953-) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk.