Review for Dear John - Series 1 [1986]

It seems I'm not the only one who fondly remembers this short-lived gem from yesteryear and who is delighted to see it has (finally) got released. Actually airing almost 25 years ago (surely not!) 'Dear John' was a strangely bitter-sweet comedy that, whilst being often laugh-aloud funny (it was penned by John Sullivan of 'Only Fools and Horses' notoriety after all) was often poignantly melancholic too. It reflected to a large degree the shifting social acceptance of divorce and the emerging prevalence of separated men and women who suddenly found themselves, not only single again, but dealing with the complexities of broken homes and vitriolic divorce too.
Ralph Bates, having taken a low-ish profile since his numerous Hammer and Amicus horror outings, plays John Lacey, a forty-something language teacher at an outer-London comprehensive school.

One day, returning from work he finds the apocryphal 'Dear John' letter, and soon finds himself moving from his comfortable semi into a dank bedsit to start a new life. But far from the wild freedoms expected of a free-wheeling bachelor, he finds that his friends have moved on and his social life is pretty much non-existent. Along with his love life. As a result he joins the 1-2-1 Club, a divorced and separated encounter group based in a local community centre.


Run by Louise (Rachel Bell) who plays a frustrated divorcee to almost pantomime excess the group also features and ensemble who perfectly compliment Ralph in creating a predictable core for the series. Most notably there's the so-called Kirk St. Moritz, a womanising, medallion-wearing, white suited smoothie who may not be all he seems (I shan't spoil things by mentioning 'Derek' - a surprise for Series 2 I think!). Then there's Kate (Belinda Lang, later of 2.4 Children) who reveals the problem behind her three marriage break-ups and gets referred to as 'Frigid Bridget' by Kirk. And Ralph, (Peter Denyer - Dennis from 'Please Sir') the nerd who's marriage only lasted four hours, just long enough for his Russian bride to reap the benefits of a British passport.


Hot on the successes of Citizen Smith, Only Fools and Horses and Just Good Friends, much was expected of the series though it failed to ignite despite a two series run and never made it to series three. Nonetheless, it did work out well enough for a Christmas special to be commissioned before the series was finally confined to the vaults - until now. It's difficult to know whether the series would have run on had Ralph Bates not contracted cancer, which sadly claimed his life in 1991, just 4 years after the series ended.


Though not as universally enjoyed as 'Only Fools', this gentle, and sometimes surprising acerbic political comedy, has enjoyed a persistent and prolonged appreciation by a gentle minority, giving it plenty of discussion airtime in archive TV forums (like 'The Mausoleum Club') and possibly this encouraged its eventual release by Acorn Media.

Though Series 1 is out (according to the press release I received) I noticed the complete series box appears to be out too (I spotted it in-store at HMV).

Most the laughs come from inflated claims and dashed opportunities, and classic John Sullivan style miss-understandings.

Unfortunately I received just a single DVD-R disc for this review so it's not possible for me to assess the eventual quality with any confidence (the final version may well be dual layer and better compression) suffice it to say that the picture quality looked pretty grim, even for a series of this vintage. Grainy, dark and lo-res, it's not doing the series any favours. Though as I say, I may be wrong - one of the reasons I generally refuse to review a disc that is not provided in final format, as it's not really a meaningful review at all!


All in all though, fans of the series will be pleased with the release and it's every bit as good as I remembered it. Recommended.