SEASON ONE

Lash Out

TX : 7th April 1968
Director : Robin Midgley
Script : Alan Plater

Cast : Colin Semel (Jim Attercliffe), Raymond Miller (The Barman), Gwen Nelson (Mrs Parkinson), John F Landry (Jim Parkinson), Bobbie Oswald (Joan Parkinson), Morris Parsons (Mr Parkinson), John Malcolm (Mr Harding), Robert Hartley (Mr Chalmers) and Zoe Starr (The Secretary).

Publicity : Sarah Danby … played by Thora Hird: She is a righter of wrongs, a sort of ombudswoman. Newly elected independent member of Furness Borough Council, Sarah, a Lancastrian, represents Albion Ward, a seat previously held by her late husband, a much respected Yorkshireman, Alderman Thomas Danby. Faced almost daily with problems of overcrowding, she finds the large Danby house, Victorian with slight Gothic overtones, is a place for reflection. Of Sarah's two children only Tom, her son, now lives at home. Her daughter, married with a young baby, lives with her husband in nearby Sheffield. This week's episode sees Councillor Danby trying to break down a housing injustice … and in the process she is taught a stinging lesson. Will Tarrant … played by Robert Keegan: Tarrant is Deputy Leader of the Labour group on the Council. A small electrical contractor, his wife left him some years ago and his two daughters, aged nineteen and twenty-two, are both working in London. The crisis in his personal life has spurred him into the public arena; an apparent hardness hides a basic humanity and integrity; an apparent hardness hides a basic humanity and integrity. George Kingston … played by James Grout: Alderman and Leader of the Conservative opposition. One of the best-known builders in the district, the sign "George Kingston (Furness) Limited" is to be seen on many major building projects. His modern, well-designed house is pleasantly situated on one of the hills surrounding Furness where he lives comfortably with his wife Margaret. Tom Danby … played by Henry Knowles: A junior history master at Furness Grammar School - which is scheduled to become comprehensive. The election of Furness' new councillor causes mixed feelings when the demands of council work are sharply brought home to him. He finds many of his creature comforts suffer - though he would be first to refute that he is a "mother's boy". (Radio Times, April 4, 1968).

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted Sunday nights 8:15pm to 9:05pm on BBC 1.

The Glass Hammer

TX : 14th April 1968
Director : Robin Midgley
Script : Robert Storey

Cast : George A Cooper (Sam Redmires), Eve Pearce, Peggy Ann Wood, Rex Boyd, John Henderson, Billy Russell, James Scott and Ray Gattenby.

Publicity : Sam Redmires has been a Labour Councillor for thirty years. He has devoted every evening, weekend, practically all his spare time to the cause. At the end of this time he still lives in the same house, works at the same job and has the same bank-balance - nil! His only reward is the respect and goodwill of his party and the town. But how deep does this go? When the word gets around that he has been secretly accused of accepting a bribe, will his party back him - or throw him on the dung heap? Sarah is determined to find out. (Radio Times, April 11, 1968).

Ministry Approved

TX : 21st April 1968
Director : Brian Parker
Script : Alan Plater

Cast : Sheila Shand Gibbs, Brian Badcoe, Ken Jones, Michelle Scott, Margaret John, Colin Semel, Jeremy Wilkin, Sharon Campbell, Arthur Wilde, Paul Guess and Tom Minnikin.

Publicity : Furness, setting of The First Lady, is a mixture of older housing areas - cramped, badly built, but with well-knit coherence; and the new estates, Ministry-approved, are often bleak and boring. But it is for one of these new housing estates that Furness Council Architects' Department wins a prize for design. The department is particularly proud of this ward and all rejoice. However, a sour note is struck when the leader of the estate Tenants' Association comes to see Sarah Danby and tells her that it would be sheer hypocrisy for the Council to accept the award. He cites the isolation of the estate, lack of community facilities, the intersection by a major road, and the misery of many of the residents. A perfect case for Councillor Sarah Danby to do some investigating of her own. (Radio Times, April 18, 1968).

Upset

TX : 28th April 1968
Director : Gerry Mill
Script : Elwyn Jones

Cast : John Barrett (Burgess), Peter Barkworth (Bailey), Madhav Sharma (Nasim), Joe Rock (Cook), Philip Ray (Doctor Welby), Pamela Craig (Betty), Zoe Starr (Helen) and Denis Carey (Doctor Evans).

Publicity : Tonight's episode entitled Upset finds Sarah Danby, the Independent Member for Furness Town Council, down with an attack of food poisoning, the source of which is traced to a restaurant serving horsemeat as a substitute for beef. Sarah has to prod the incompetent and lazy health inspector, Bailey, into action. (Radio Times, April 25, 1968).

Cleverclogs

TX : 5th May 1968
Director : Brian Parker
Script : Robert Storey

Cast : Drewe Henley (Peter Barraclough), Rosalind Elliot (Helen), John Horsley (Albert Swallow), Derek Benfield (Mowbray), Eric Longworth (Earnshaw), James Scott (Town Clerk), Allan Surtees (Jones), Angela Lovell (Sue) and John Gill (Ben Foster).

Publicity : Young Peter Barraclough seems to have all the qualifications to make a go of his new business as a building contractor in Furness. He has the know-how, the financial backing, and the nerve to get started. But somehow that alone doesn't seem enough. He enlists the help of the independent-minded Councillor Sarah Danby, who argues his case vehemently with George Kingston, but in the process he makes a deadly enemy. An enemy who in fact uses every effort to bring the new firm down. (Radio Times, May 2, 1968).

The First Stone

TX : 12th May 1968
Director : David E Rose
Script : Alan Plater

Cast : Margaret Jones and Patrick Durkin.

Synopsis : Is Sarah Danby's persistence a genuine search for the truth or could it be termed muck-raking? Sarah Danby, George Kingston and Will Tarrant settle down for a quiet evening in their respective homes. But a chance remark by Tom Danby brings them together for a shattering series of revelations which hurts each in turn.

A Little Goodwill

TX : 19th May 1968
Director : Brian Parker
Script : N J Crisp

Cast : Stan Jay (John Lambert), John Collin, Peter Thornton, Nora Gordon, Antony Baird, Brian Coburn, Ralph Watson, Sheelagh McGrath, Clifford Cox, Madeleine Newbury, Keith James, Julian Battersby and Deidre Costello.

Publicity : Most men with small businesses know that when the time comes to retire they can sell up with a tidy profit. But what happens when you can't retire? This is the situation of John Lambert, at seventy-three Furness' oldest taxi proprietor. He can't pass on his taxi licence - these come under the Furness Watch Committee and there is a long waiting list for them. Is this unfair? Sarah investigates what seems a straight-forward grievance and uncovers a dubious racket in the process. (Radio Times, May 16, 1968).

Mrs. Whatever

TX : 26th May 1968
Director : Paul Ciappessoni
Script : Vincent Tilsey

Cast : Glenn Melvyn (Albert Tunnicliffe), Brenda Bruce (Mary Tunnicliffe), Mike Lucas (Reporter), Alan Lawrence (Councillor Porritt), Barbara Keogh (Vera) and Ralph Ball (Harry).

Publicity : A major headache is created for Furness Council from a very unlikely quarter. When Sarah suggests Albert Tunnicliife, a happily-married park keeper, as the man to be featured on a recruitment poster, it seems an ideal choice. But the fascinating thing about life is that nothing is ever quite what it seems to those willing to look a little further than the surface of things. Albert's wife, Mary, has been receiving poison pen letters, containing a particularly unpleasant accusation, the implications of which, if true, could create a crisis for the Councillors. This episode also creates an ethical problem for Sarah … where and when to draw the line. (Radio Times, May 23, 1968).

The Noble Tradition

TX : 2nd June 1968
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Alan Plater

Cast : Robin Hopwood (David Walker), Joby Blanshard, Pamela Shotto, June Abbot, Ronald Hines, Peter Madden and Norman Shelley.

Publicity : George Kingston feels that the Furness Labour Party are trying to bulldoze through a scheme for comprehensive education. He gets together a Save-The-Grammer School petition. Because Sarah's son Tom is a master at the Grammar School, he expects her to sign it, but she wants to make up her own mind on the issue. A parent comes to her, at the Citizen's Advice Bureau, and presents an unexpected angle on the present eleven-plus system: one of Tom's pupils, David Walker, is in trouble. He is suspected of being the vandal who has been wrecking the school recently. What is important is why? (Radio Times, May 30, 1968).

Counter Claim

TX : 9th June 1968
Director : Frank Cox
Script : Sheila Hodgson

Cast : Graham Rigby, Paul Maxwell, Libby Morris, Linda Liles, John Bloomfield, Carolyn Moody, Pamela Craig, Michael Rose and Margaret John.

Publicity : Like most northern towns, Furness urgently needs new factories to provide jobs and opportunities. When an American Trade Delegation comes to look over Furness as a possible sight for a new plant, the red carpet is laid out in no uncertain fashion. But what happens when the pretty teenage daughter of the industrialist is accused of a petty crime? Do you try to hush the matter up, hoping it didn't really happen, or do you make an international issue out of it? And what happens to the new project either way? (Radio Times, June 6, 1968).

King Of Furness

TX : 16th June 1968
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Robert Storey

Cast : Geoffrey Bayldon (Albert Craig), Garfield Morgan (Pringle), Eric Longworth (Earnshaw), Hamilton Dyce (Mayor), Des Barres (Barry Wainwright), Margaret Heald (Jan) and Anthony Baird (Inspector Mason).

Publicity : From Real-Life Railway Fireman To Popular Television Politician: From the fireman on the footplate of a railway engine, via the Library Theatre, Manchester, managing a troup of Spanish dancers on a tour of one-night stands in church halls through the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides, to Sergeant Blackitt of Z-Cars to Will Tarrant of The First Lady, is the pretty unusual progress of Robert Keegan. He became interested in acting after the war and was much involved in amateur dramatics for many years. "I had about one job a year for ten years. I had to keep changing them. They kept interfering with the acting". When he became a professional he met Henry Livings at the Oldham Repertory and Livings promised him a part in the play he was writing. When finally the BBC did Jack's Horrible Luck Robert was offered the part of a Liverpool Police Sergeant, a character he was to develop over five years in Z-Cars and Softly, Softly. He is enjoying The First Lady very much - "everyone is so professional" - but he has no yen for real-life local politics. Now, he lives in Surrey with his wife, his two children, Pepi and Jaime ("that's the Spanish dancers' influence coming out!), and the family menagerie, which consists of four dogs, one kitten, two ponies and two donkeys. "Donkeys are like people, they need human love so badly that if they don't get it they really can die of a broken heart". (Radio Times, June 13, 1968).

Synopsis : This year it is Will Tarrant's turn to be Mayor. Even George Kingston agrees with the choice and the voting is unanimous - or practically.

Yes, But Who Am I?

TX : 23rd June 1968
Director : David Andrews
Script : N J Crisp

Cast : David Mayberry (Ken Buckley), Ronnie Caryl Junior (Alan), Colin Rix (Mr Reeves), Sally Lahee (Mrs Reeves), John Stone (Frank Kirby), Jo Rowbottom (Lynn Buckley) and Mary Mitchell (Miss Reed).

Publicity : In Furness He's Known As a Good Gaffer …: James Grout, who plays George Kingston in The First Lady, was spotted when he was playing the title role in Rafferty's Chant at the Mermaid Theatre last year by Robin Midgley, director of the series' initial episode. James was playing a north-country car-salesman-cum-con-man engaged in selling the same derelict car to three different innocent buyers. Robin Midgley was impressed by the actor and his command of the northern accent and took producer David Rose along a night or so later with a view to casting James Grout as leader of Furness Borough Council's Conservative opposition. James got the part. After studying at RADA he began his acting career with two years at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford on Avon. Since then the plays he has appeared in have been widely assorted - from The Mousetrap to Pinter's The Homecoming. He has also directed two productions. One of James Grout's deep interests outside acting is music. He has a record collection, and his house, like that of many hi-fi fanatics, is built round his extensive equipment; there are speakers in every room. But his interest in music extends well beyond merely listening: viewers may remember him singing in the television version of Make Me An Offer. "I am not a trained singer," he says, "but I reckon I can put a song across" - a statement well borne out by the fact that he played with Tommy Steele in Half A Sixpence during its long London run; when the play moved to Broadway, he went with it. He was nominated for a Ton Award as Best Supporting Actor in a musical: quite a tribute. When asked if there is any further aspect of the stage or television that he would particularly like to try his hand at he replies, "Anything. Anything that I haven't done before". (Radio Times, June 20, 1968).

Synopsis : The position of foster-parents is not an enviable one. Sometimes the child may be left with them for years, and brought up as one of their own, before being removed from their care. In this situation is it any use authority telling them not to get too attached to the child? Can you bring up a child without regarding it as your own, and should you? When Ken Buckley's mother wants to reclaim him, his foster-parents counter with every means in their power. A row develops which even extends to the Welfare Committee, headed by Sarah Danby. But this boy is old enough to chose for himself. Which set of "parents" will he choose?

Notes : This episode was delayed due to the broadcast of the Apollo 10 Manoeuvres.

Past Indefinite

TX : 30th June 1968
Director : Terence Dudley
Script : Gerry Davies

Cast : Michael Gover (Ed Robson), Susan Mitchell, James Bree, Bryan Kendrick, Malcolm James, Jimmy Machin and Macdonald Hobley.

Synopsis : Ancient buildings, part of Britain's heritage, can stand for centuries only to disappear overnight at the touch of a bulldozer. There are always good sound financial reasons for the demolition, but once the building has gone, it has gone forever. Ed Robson, a Furness contractor, wants to pull down Furness Hall, a much loved building of distinction, and replace it with an office block. Only Sarah opposes the scheme and the matter seems settled. Then a strange ally turns up.

Vacancy

TX : 11th July 1968
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Leslie Sands

Cast : Michael Robbins (Harry Sugden), Kaplan Kaye, Michael Crockett, Richard Hurndall, Bernard Hepton, Neil Brennan, Mary Chester and John Comes.

Synopsis : School caretakers are not always the most popular people in a school. Often it is a thankless job, unappreciated by either boys or staff. Harry Sugden, caretaker of Tom's school, really deserves his unpopularity. When Sarah applies for a temporary job as a music teacher, she finds that he practically runs the school, bullying and overriding all opposition. But Sarah Danby is the last person in the world to stand a bully and the stage is set for a clash of temperaments that blows up to a major battle with no quarter given on either side.

Notes : From this episode transmission nights was on a Thursday.

Worked Out

TX : 18th
Director : Ian MacNaughton
Script : Don Shaw

Cast : John Tate (Joe Woodward), Paul Greenwood, Glynn Edwards (Jack Haynes), Noel Dyson, Janet Miller, Enid Irvin and Richard Carpenter.

Synopsis : The village of Bakley is threatened by subsidence and the villagers need to be rehoused. But the Bakley Colliery Band is more than a brass band, it is a way of life - a life that will die if the band is dispersed. And old Joe Woodward is not only the leader of the band - he's the leader of the community. And Sarah has reason to be sentimental about brass bands.

A Time Of Fear

TX : 25th July 1968
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Leslie Sands

Cast : Nan Marriott-Watson (Aunt Amy), Ray Fort, Nancie Jackson, Madge Brindley and Kay Dale.

Synopsis : Will Tarrant's Aunt Amy has been a sturdy fighter of a variety of causes ranging from the suffragette movement to the General Strike. The trouble is that she doesn't know when to stop. Now in her old age, she is still pitching in and her latest cause is the new home for the aged. Her battle is fought with all the ferocity of fifty years' experience at the barricades - no holds barred. As Sarah finds out, however, it is not Aunty Amy who really suffers … but how to stop her?

You Too Can Change The World

TX : 1st August 1968
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Robert Storey

Cast : John Law (Marcus Bierlow).

Synopsis : Sarah feels has needs an ally. When Marcus Bierlow offers his support she enthusiastically accepts it. He is a clever, distinguished-looking man with plenty of enthusiasm and energy. But Marcus has been turned down as a candidate by the two major political parties in Furness. Why? Could it be because he has a deadly enemy, plotting to undo every constructive effort he makes? Or could there be another reason? Trying to find the answers to these questions draws Sarah into one of the most difficult and explosive situations of her career.

Print And Be Damned

TX : 8th August 1968
Director : Ron Craddock
Script : Gerry Davies

Cast : Lala Lloyd, John Baskcomb, Diane Appleby, John Stratton, Alan Bennion, John Wentworth and Jane Walker.

Synopsis : As part of her official duties, Sarah has to watch a very sexy foreign film. Irrepressible as usual, she makes a number of comments about it - especially on the reactions of Will Tarrant and the other male councilors. The trouble is that next day the entire proceedings are published in The Gazette. Someone has leaked to the press, and suspicion inevitably falls upon Sarah. However, the same day Sarah is invited to become a director of the newspaper and discovers that this invitation could be a cover-up for a devious plot affecting everyone in Furness.

The Bigger They Come

TX : 15th August 1968
Director : Ron Craddock
Script : Vincent Tilsey

Cast : Doris Rogers (Mrs Beer), Frederick Treves (Lloyd), Nigel Clayton, Geoffrey Lumsden, Jacquie-Ann Carr, Barry Wilsher, Gillian Royale, Jane Hilary and Nicholas Selby.

Synopsis : Stopford Mansions is a slum, the tenants of which are too old and intimidated to demand repairs from the landlord. One spirited tenant, Mrs Beer, appeals to Sarah. But before Sarah can intervene she must find the landlord and to do this she must turn detective, for the rogue landlord has very efficiently covered his tracks.

Love Thy Neighbour

TX : 22nd August 1968
Director : Brian Parker
Script : Sheila Hodgson

Cast : Joan Heath (Miss Vyner), Michael Farnsworth, Janet Lees Price, Alan Lawrence, Robert Hartley, Dick Haydon, David Charkham and Diane Robson.

Synopsis : Is it possible for people from totally different backgrounds to live peaceably as neighbours? Miss Vyner's house has been converted into two flats by the Council. The lower one is now occupied by a noisy, working-class couple. But Miss Vyner still regards the entire house as her own property to do what she likes with. Sarah unwittingly takes on the role of peacemaker and finds herself in the middle of a major battle with no quarter given on either side.

Risk Involved

TX : 29th August 1968
Director : Gerry Mill
Script : Roy Russell

Cast : Jack Smethurst (Jim Loftus), Julia Booth, Donald Webster, Alan Hockey, Jacqueline Ellis, Harry Littlewood and Richard Davies.

Synopsis : Jim Loftus decides to take a hand in public affairs when the quiet lane outside his doorway becomes a major highway. Feeling that the Council are not doing enough, he sets up an action committee to get quick results. Jim becomes a Furness celebrity, and enjoys the publicity and the feeling of importance it gives him - but is he prepared to pay the price, which in this case could even mean the loss of his job and the break-up of his family?

A Very Dear Friend

TX : 5th September 1968
Director : Ian MacNaughton
Script : N J Crisp

Cast : Glyn Owen (Group Captain Barney Lewis), Donald Layne Smith, Valerie Douglas, Reginald Barratt and Marjorie Wilde.

Synopsis : Group Captain Barney Lewis, an old friend of Sarah's husband, comes to stay with her. He tells her that now he has been "bowler-hatted" out of the RAF he has decided to make his home in Furness. He has plans for setting up a Civil Airport in the town, at least so he says, but Tom suspects that there is another reason behind his visit. For the first time since her husband's death. Sarah is faced with a romantic situation - very close to home!

SEASON TWO

I'm Talking About Us

TX : 20th March 1969
Director : DudleyT Wheeler
Script : Don Shaw

Cast : Terence Rigby (Keith Grafton), Eileen Helesby (Joan Danby), Hugh Cross, David Ellison, George Waring, Shirley Jaffe, Charles Workman and Maurice Durant.

Publicity : Reassurance Is Sarah's Business - Councillor Mrs Danby Is In The Middle Of A Crisis In Her Private And Public Life As The First Lady Returns This Week. Producer Terence Dudley Introduces It: "Help me! Please help me," is a universal please; a cry from the heart within the experience of every human being. And it's fortunate that few of us are unmoved by it, for we all need help in one for or amother. Reassurance is a need as common and as basic as food and shelter. If you could buy reassurance in cans it would be the largest selling product in the world. As individuals, as families, as groups, as nations, we struggle for independence. It's a dignity we demand as a right. But however independent and self-sufficient we become, we still can't do without reassurance. And so it is with Sarah Danby, who was a sombre widow until she was persuaded to stand for the Furness County Borough Council. She found reassurance when she became involved - so involved that a friend was provoked into saying, "That's your greatest trouble, Sarah, you get too involved with people!". Involved in the lives and problems of others, she was reassured that her usefulness didn't end when her husband died. She has since found a new fulfillment in public service, giving other people the reassurance they badly need. Sarah's a remarkable woman. She's not particularly clever, nor is she sophisticated. She's frequently muddle-headed and often pig-headed. She's sentimental and some of her arguments are ridiculously unobjective, but she's honest; fiercely, burningly honest. And she's brave, indefatigable and tenacious. It's her courage, tirelessness and tenacity that make her a treasured friend - and a formidable foe. Sarah also has a rare humility. It's a virtue that drives her hotly to right injustices - yet, without contradiction, causes her to decline to sit on the Bench. "I don't think I could sit in judgement on other people". But that, on the other hand, doesn't stop her calling the local coroner "a stupid, sanctimonious prig!". We're reintroduced to Sarah at a crisis point in her private and public life, and it's typical of her that she's less concerned for herself than she is about her continued capacity to help other people. But it's this very attitude that, later in the series, causes her son bitterly to accuse her of living a "substitute life" which excludes her family. Substitute life or not, Sarah Danby returns to the screen to reassure us that, in a far from perfect world, all is far from lost: that we have faith, hope and charity going for us as well as Councillor Mrs Danby. But she'll be the first to say she doesn't win all the time - and "What a bore I would be If I did!". And if that's not reassuring, I don't know what is. (Radio Times, March 13, 1969 - Artticle by Terence Dudley).

Synopsis : Like many people, Sarah Danby has in-law problems. In this case the problem is her son-in-law Keith Grafton, whose sports supply shop has just, quite literally, gone up in smoke! The thing is that Sarah guaranteed Keith, an ex-rugger player, the sum of two thousand pounds. Now, with the shop in ruins, she has to make good that guarantee. However, the company that loaned the money are being surprisingly harsh about it and to her horror she finds out that the shop is not fully insured. Sarah faces bankruptcy with the knowledge that a bankrupt is not allowed to serve as a town councillor!

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 8:00pm to 8:50pm on Thursday nights.

This Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You

TX : 27th March 1969
Director : Terence Dudley
Script : Terence Dudley

Cast : Martin Howells (John Park), Luke Hardy, John Bown, Norman Bacon, John Paul, John Malcolm, Aline