Up the Garden Path explained

Genre:	Sitcom
Director:	David Askey
Starring:	Imelda Staunton Mike Grady Tessa Peake-Jones Tom Mannion Nicholas Le Prevost Susan Kyd René Zagger David Robb Neil McCaul Adrienne O'Sullivan Siobhan Hayes
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Num Series:	3 (radio) 3 (television)
Num Episodes:	20 (radio) 18 (television)
Producer:	Humphrey Barclay
Runtime:	25 mins
Company:	Humphrey Barclay Productions Granada Television
Channel:	ITV

Up the Garden Path is a 1984 novel by Sue Limb, which was adapted into a radio series by BBC Radio 4, and later into a television sitcom by Granada TV for ITV. Both the radio and television series comprised three seasons, with the radio series originally broadcast in 1987, 1988, and 1993, and the television seasons broadcast in 1990, 1991, and 1993.

The television series has been repeated on the United Kingdom digital channel ITV3. The radio series is regularly repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Cast

• Isabelle 'Izzy' Comyn (Imelda Staunton)
• Dick Barnes (Mike Grady)
• Maria Shadwell (Tessa Peake-Jones, television; Marty Cruickshank, radio)
• Gwyn Jenkins (Tom Mannion, television; Sion Probert and Dafydd Hywel, radio)
• Michael Tristram (Nicholas Le Prevost)
• Louise Tristram (Susan Kyd, television; Phyllida Nash, radio)
• Roger 'Razors' Razebrook (René Zagger)
• Charles Armstrong (David Robb) appeared in Series 2
• Bill Bailey (Neil McCaul) appeared in Series 2, 3
• Linda (Adrienne O'Sullivan) appeared in Series 3
• 5C pupil (Siobhan Hayes) appeared in Series 2, 3
• Vincent (Kevin Treasure) appeared in Series 2, 3

Episodes

Radio

Series 1 (1987)The first series was broadcast Saturdays at 11.00 pm

• Episode 1: "New Year, Old Problems" (7 November 1987)^[1]
• Episode 2: "Tangled Webs" (14 November 1987)^[2]
• Episode 3: "Punch Ups and Put Downs" (21 November 1987)^[3]
• Episode 4: "Into the Lion's Den" (28 November 1987)^[4]
• Episode 5: "The Menage" (5 December 1987)^[5]
• Episode 6: "Over and Out" (12 December 1987)^[6]

Series 2 (1988)The second series was broadcast Saturdays at 11.00 pm

• Episode 1: "Arrivals and Departures" (15 October 1988)^[7]
• Episode 2: "Hot Water" (22 October 1988)^[8]
• Episode 3: "A Soft-Hearted Little Thing" (29 October 1988)^[9]
• Episode 4: "The View from the Bridge" (5 November 1988)^[10]
• Episode 5: "On the Side of the Angels" (12 November 1988)^[11]
• Episode 6: "You Shall Go to the Ball" (19 November 1988)^[12]
• Episode 7: "The More the Merrier" (26 November 1988)^[13]
• Episode 8: "Love's Labours" (3 December 1988)^[14]

Series 3 (1993)The third series was broadcast Wednesdays at 12.25 am

• Episode 1: "New Men" (17 November 1993)^[15]
• Episode 2: "Gooseberries and Fools" (24 November 1993)^[16]
• Episode 3: "Over-Drawn, Over-Sexed and Over-Optimistic" (1 December 1993)^[17]
• Episode 4: "Talking It on the Chin" (8 December 1993)^[18]
• Episode 5: "Up the Stick and Sick as a Parrot" (15 December 1993)^[19]
• Episode 6: "A Dick in Shining Armour" (22 December 1993)^[20]

Television

Series 1 (1990)

Series 2 (1991)

Series 3 (1993)

Reception

Critical reception was mixed. Writing in the Daily Mirror, television editor Tony Pratt called the first series 'one of the best [sitcoms] ITV has produced for ages. It's lively, adult and funny'.^[21]

However, The Guardian felt 'sorry for Imelda Staunton...who deserves a better script'^[22] with Hugh Hebert labelling the series 'dire' and referring to the character of Izzy as a 'caricature witless teacher who was God's promo for Baker MacGregor Re-Education Inc.'^[23]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 7th Nov 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 7 November 1987. 17 July 2023.
2. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 14th Nov 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 14 November 1987 . 17 July 2023.
3. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 21st Nov 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 21 November 1987 . 17 July 2023.
4. Web site: Up the Garden Path: 4: Into the Lion's Den Sat 28th Nov 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 28 November 1987 . 17 July 2023.
5. Web site: Up the Garden Path: 5: The Menage Sat 5th Dec 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 5 December 1987 . 17 July 2023.
6. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 12th Dec 1987, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 12 December 1987 . 17 July 2023.
7. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 15th Oct 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 15 October 1988 . 17 July 2023.
8. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 22nd Oct 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 22 October 1988 . 17 July 2023.
9. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 29th Oct 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 29 October 1988 . 17 July 2023.
10. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 5th Nov 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 5 November 1988 . 17 July 2023.
11. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 12th Nov 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 12 November 1988 . 17 July 2023.
12. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 19th Nov 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 19 November 1988 . 17 July 2023.
13. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 26th Nov 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 26 November 1988 . 17 July 2023.
14. Web site: Up the Garden Path Sat 3rd Dec 1988, 23:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 3 December 1988 . 17 July 2023.
15. Web site: Up the Garden Path: 1 Wed 17th Nov 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 17 November 1993 . 17 July 2023.
16. Web site: Up the Garden Path Wed 24th Nov 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 24 November 1993 . 17 July 2023.
17. Web site: Up the Garden Path Wed 1st Dec 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. December 1993 . 17 July 2023.
18. Web site: Up the Garden Path Wed 8th Dec 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 8 December 1993 . 17 July 2023.
19. Web site: Up the Garden Path Wed 15th Dec 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 15 December 1993 . 17 July 2023.
20. Web site: Up the Garden Path: 6: A Dick in Shining Armour Wed 22nd Dec 1993, 12:25 on BBC Radio 4 FM . BBC Genome Project. 22 December 1993 . 17 July 2023.
21. Web site: Mirror TV . ukpressonline.co.uk . 1990-05-16 . 2013-08-10.
22. 'A Case of Dad Housekeeping', The Guardian, 10 May 1990, p26
23. Hebert, Hugh, 'The Loyal and the Unloved', The Guardian, 2 August 1990, p28