Linda Green
| Linda Green | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Paul Abbott |
| Written by | Danny Brocklehurst, Paul Abbott |
| Starring |
Liza Tarbuck Sean Gallagher Claire Rushbrook Daniel Ryan Rachel Davies Dave Hill |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Red Production Company |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 30 October 2001 – 17 December 2002 |
Linda Green is a British television comedy-drama series that lasted for two series, screened in 2001 and 2002. The twenty half-hour episodes (ten in each season) were broadcast on BBC One and produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company.
The programme was focused on the life of the eponymous title character, a thirty-something woman who works as a car saleswoman by day and sings in a club at night. The programme follows her various trials and tribulations in love and her relationships with her friends, in particular Jimmy McKenzie (Sean Gallagher), with whom she enjoys sexual relations when she feels like it, and Michelle Fenton (Claire Rushbrook) and Darren Alexander (Daniel Ryan), a couple who drink regularly with her at the club despite having two (later three) children. Linda's mother, Iris, who works as a clerk in the magistrates' court, is played by Rachel Davies, and her father, Frank, a teacher, by Dave Hill. Linda also has a younger sister, Katie (Jessica Harris), and a younger brother, Philip, aka Fizz (Bruno Langley). One of Linda's former boyfriends, Ricky Pinder (John Donnelly), becomes a semi-regular in the show when he becomes Katie's boyfriend.
The series was created by renowned television scripwriter Paul Abbott, and other writers to pen episodes included Sorted writer Danny Brocklehurst, Catherine Johnson and Russell T Davies. The producer was Phil Collinson.
Linda was played by Liza Tarbuck, well known as a television presenter then rather than as an actress, although she had originally trained as such and acted in ITV sitcom Watching for seven years from 1987. Individual episodes attracted well-known guest stars, such as Christopher Eccleston, David Morrissey, Simon Pegg, Pam Ferris, Anne Reid, Jamie Theakston, Martin Freeman, Peter Kay, Nicholas Gleaves and Meera Syal. It also featured a guest appearance by her father Jimmy Tarbuck, who played her paternal uncle, Vic Green. Up and coming stand-ups Sarah Darlington and Jolanta Migdalska also feature. In addition, Andy Devine appeared in one episode as Linda's abrasive and lecherous boss Syd Jenkins, aka 'Syd With the Wife'.
Although quite popular in its first season, the series proved less so in its second, and it was not renewed again after the second run had come to an end. The second series has never been released on DVD.