No, Honestly - Set 2

Real-life spouses John Alderton and Pauline Collins return as C.D. and Clara, the Burns and Allen of Hampstead, in the final six episodes of this beloved, albeit a tad dated, 1975 British comedy. The first seven episodes, collected in the first set, recalled the comically confused courtship of this mismatched but star-crossed couple. In these episodes, C.D., an actor, and Clara, a children's book writer, flash back on their first year of marriage. Not to worry: unlike, say, Mad About You, this is no parsing of the minutiae of husband-wife relations. Clara is even more daft a wife than she was a girlfriend. In the episode "Everything in the Garden," Clara recalls the newlywed couple's first "sage and sorrel" over her insistence on painting everything in the house--and, improbably, the garden--white (except for the ground, which she leaves brown "for contrast"). And while the other episodes don't win any awards for originality (the couple host a disastrous dinner party, Clara is cast in C.D.'s avant-garde film, the couple suffer a series of surprises on their first anniversary), Alderton and Collins have a winning chemistry that gives even the less-inspired episodes a lift. Still, when Clara tearfully bids farewell at the end of the series, it's apparent that they got out while the going was good. At 13 episodes in all, No, Honestly never wears out its welcome. --Donald Liebenson Amazon.com

Fabulous vintage British TV comedy at its best!

'No-Honestly' was definitely one of the best comedy series of the 1970s starring one of the most popular married couples in TV at the time - Pauline Collins and John Alderton - fresh from the award-winning success of 'Upstairs, Downstairs'

'No Honestly' was done in a most entertaining format - both would introduce the show each week with reminiscing about when they first met and eventually married - ten years earlier. The stories were witty, entertaining and extremely funny - Pauline particularly being very adept at comedy. These shows were written by another famous and well-loved married couple who were great Writers; Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham.

Unfortunately, despite its tremendous success and popularity, this would be the only series of 'No-Honestly' ever to be made. It is unsure as to whether any more were ever intended, since the couple were notorious for always moving on to something new rather than sticking at what was successful for them at the time and this was probably due more to the fact that back then, whatever they did worked. Having said all that, if one takes particular notice of the final episode, there are some hints that the series perhaps would not be coming back for a second season, when Pauline Collins attempts to avoid saying 'goodnight' for the very last time, but ends up saying 'goodbye' in several different languages instead, and then goes on to sing along to the popular theme song - which at the time had also become one of the most popular TV themes, and was currently riding high in the top ten as a big hit for the popular Singer; Lindsey de Paul who had written and composed the theme.

Surprisingly, this series has never been released in the United Kingdom - on either Video or DVD in its entirety, but only three episodes ever appeared on Video from the thirteen shows that were done back in the early 90s for a very limited period. The whole series was however released in the USA where surprisingly the couple had also become household names - but these were only available on Video, and to date, have never been re-issued on DVD.

This series was strangely issued in two 'halves' - seven episodes in the first box set, and the remaining six on the second. For some reason, the company 'Acorn Media' removed the Ad. Bumpers on the first set, but oddly these were retained in the second set.

This show also includes one or two familiar faces - including a surprise guest appearance of the great film star Vladek Sheybal.

Classic vintage TV comedy encapsulating the 1970s in all its glory and at its best.

Fabulous stuff! August 18, 2008

Gets off to slow start, then back in the groove

Many of us recall a fine young actress named Pauline Collins, who played the rebellious maid on the very first American telecasts of "Upstairs, Downstairs"; even more will recall her superb acting in the film "Shirley Valentine." Her husband John Alderton may be less recognizable, except for those Happy Few who might remember him playing with Collins in a less flamboyant role in "Upstairs, Downstairs" and in a PBS series called "Wodehouse Playhouse," in which he played several members of the Mulliner family.

Well, a very funny Britcom appeared in 1974 on the telly called "No, Honestly," starring Alderton as C.D. (a usually out of work actor) and Collins as a young flighty thing named Clara. The first season has already been released by Acorn Media and my review is on that webpage. Now is available and shows 6 incidents in their lives as a married couple.

I found the first episode, "Everything in the Garden," somewhat off-putting, silly rather than funny. Clara has been turned into a total nincompoop, enough so to have her paint the garden in white paint to provide a punchline for the plot. "Having Them Back" fares much better, when they invite a couple they cannot stand (the husband being Patrick Newell, "Mother" of the last "Avengers" series), a crashing bore, and a stoned, sex-driven sixth for dinner. The other four episodes are quite funny for the most part--and the Alderton/Collins team does work wonderfully. (Compare them to another real life married couple, Judi Dench and Michael Williams in "A Fine Romance," also released by Acorn, for another lesson in team acting.)

The opening and closing dialogues, a direct steal from Burns and Allen, are still very good, so I can recommend this set with 5 stars only because 4 1/2 cannot be given on this website. Nevertheless, you will enjoy it immensely. ("A Fine Romance" is even more enjoyable, because it is more believable.) December 18, 2000

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