Ladies Of Letters
- TV comedy drama / sitcom
- ITV3
- 2009 - 2010
- 20 episodes (2 series)
Comedy drama about two warring widows. Based on the books and BBC Radio 4 series of the same name. Stars Maureen Lipman, Anne Reid, Morag Siller, Daniel Crowder, Paul Chahidi and more.
Streaming rank this week: 8,745
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 4
Further details
Vera discovers her unmarried daughter Karen is pregnant. Years of frustration lead to an embarrassing outburst by Karen in her hospital bed. Irene pays Vera a visit and finds that she gets on very well with Karen, who decides to spend a few days with her mum's pen pal. Karen tells Irene all about her brother Howard, and Irene immediately writes toVera saying how impressed she is by her tolerance. Vera is puzzled. So what if Howard likes feather boas and has moved in to a converted sheep-bothy with his friend Anthony? He may be a vegetarian but that's all the rage these days.
Meanwhile, Irene has joined a local committee to protest at the siting of a nuclear fuel dump under the local golf course. They plan a themed sit-in - green beach wear - and Vera helpfully suggests that Irene could wear the dayglo lurex tankini Irene (unwisely) bought the previous summer.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Tuesday 24th February 2009
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- ITV3
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Maureen Lipman | Irene Spencer |
| Anne Reid | Vera Small |
| Morag Siller | Karen |
| Daniel Crowder | Howard |
| Paul Chahidi | Anthony |
| Lou Wakefield | Writer |
| Carole Hayman | Writer |
| John Henderson | Director |
| Geoffrey Perkins | Producer |
| Matthew Francis (as Francis Matthews) | Producer |
| Sophie Clarke-Jervoise | Executive Producer |
| Carole Hayman | Associate Producer |
| Lou Wakefield | Associate Producer |
| Philippa Catt | Line Producer |
| David Yardley | Editor |
| Heather Gibson | Production Designer |
| Kate Day | Casting Director |
| Aideen Morgan | Costume Designer |
| John Ignatius | Director of Photography |
| Jane Walker | Make-up Designer |
| Mark Thomas | Composer |
| Robert Fabbri | 1st Assistant Director |
Press
Over on MasterChef, one of their recurrent themes is how you shouldn't chuck too many different flavours on the plate. So in TV terms, you could say that Ladies Of Letters is a masterclass in how to deliver the maximum amount of enjoyment from the simplest ingredients.
Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid are consistently brilliant as waspish widows Vera and Irene, and not a single word or gesture goes to waste.
Tonight when Vera discovers that her daughter Karen is pregnant, her reaction is sublime: "It's a fine line between joyful effervescence and murderous rage," she trills happily to her pen-pal.
The subject matter - like Vera's son who is obviously gay to everyone but his mother - might be slightly predictable, but the two leads can wring more comedy out of a single furious glance than many sitcoms manage in an entire episode. First class.
Jane Simon, The Mirror, 24th February 2009