Birds of a Feather

1989

Seasons & Episodes

  • 12
  • 11
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0

6.2| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One from 1989 until 1998 and on ITV from 2013. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers. The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodos brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault. The series ended on Christmas Eve 1998 after a 9-year-run.

Director

Producted By

BBC

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Lesley Joseph

Reviews

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant
MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
suelesmiles This remains one of the best sit coms. It has it all - laugh out loud lines, pathos, an actual plot, excellent acting and very good scripts. It is easy to watch and so very enjoyable even after all these years.Tracey and Sharon, with their neighbour Dorian have changed in attitude and especially size, over the years and have actually aged like real people. Their problems have altered slightly but the sisters are always short of money while Dorian seems to have more and more - usually. Tracey's boys add to the story while remaining as side plots. This is a show you can sit down to for a truly enjoyable half hour that will ensure huge laughs, many smiles and some knowing nodding of head in agreement.
RaspberryLucozade Pauline Quirke and the gorgeous Linda Robson first started working together on a regular basis in the '70's on 'You Must Be Joking' and Quirke's own weekly series 'Pauline's Quirkes' and then again in the early '80's when the two appeared in Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran's long running comedy drama 'Shine On Harvey Moon' for Central Television. In 1989, Marks & Gran pitched the pair together again in their next show - 'Birds Of A Feather' - a sitcom which had them as warring sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodus. Tracey and Sharon are polar opposites to say the least. The glamorous, happily married Tracey lives in a swank house in Chigwell with her husband Darryl and their son Garth, who is studying at a private school to become a chef. The plain, downtrodden Sharon however lives in a grimy council flat in Edmonton with her sleazy, two-timing, criminal minded husband Chris ( who is of the Greek persuasion as is evident by his surname ).However's Tracey's idyllic lifestyle is soon turned upside down when Darryl along with Chris is arrested and sent to prison for armed robbery. Tracey is devastated at losing the man she loves however Sharon seems glad to see the back of her spineless husband. To help her sister get through her turmoil, Sharon moves out of her flat in Edmonton and in with Tracey. Living next door to Tracey is Dorien Green, a promiscuous middle aged Jewish woman whose amount of gold jewellery would put Mr. T from 'The A-Team' to shame. Despite her disdain for the sisters' lack of social standing, Dorien soon becomes Sharon and Tracey's closest friend. In the early episodes, Dorien is married to an accountant named Marcus but in later episodes he leaves her for a younger woman.The first series had a none too promising response from the public. The first episode, 'Nicked', caused the BBC switchboard to be jammed with complaints due to the inclusion of a scene where Sharon tries on a Basque ( over her clothes I must add in ) at an Ann Summers party taking place in Tracey's house. However, by the second series it became one of Britain's most popular sitcoms of the era, with stars such as Lionel Blair, Ray Winstone and even George Hamilton and George Wendt queueing up to appear on it. When it became established, other writers inherited the scripting duties such as Tony Millan, Mike Walling, Gary Lawson, John Phelps, Peter Tilbury, Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent. Linda Robson and Pauline Quirke had a good rapport together as the constantly fighting but devoted sisters. Robson, incidentally, was my first childhood crush and even now she still does it for me. Lesley Joseph was hilarious as Dorien, particularly in the episode in which she sang on stage Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Alun Lewis was excellent in those episodes he did as Darryl though I never took to Doug McFerran who replaced him. David Cardy played Chris initially though his placed was taken in series two by Peter Polycarpou up until 1997 when Cardy returned to the role. Cardy was not bad in the role though in my view Polycarpou was superior.'Birds Of A Feather', if not a classic, was an entertaining, gentle-paced sitcom which made sure it gave its viewers a good laugh each week. The BBC let it run for nine seasons, before it ended with a Christmas episode in which Tracey gave birth to her second son Travis. In 2014, 'Birds Of A Feather' made a welcome return to our screens, this time courtesy of ITV, attracting more than 8 million viewers. The success of the revival led to a further two series being commissioned, with the most recent one ending in February of this year. Whether another series makes the screen remains to be seen but let's hope that Marks & Gran & co don't bite off more than they can chew like Rob Grant & Doug Naylor did with 'Red Dwarf'.
Paul Evans I still cannot believe how lucky we are that ITV decided to bring our favourite Birds back, I was utterly devastated back in 1998 when it came to an end, an unpopular viewpoint I know but it felt like it had run its course. I was lucky enough to see the stage show, and the time was spot on for the return.The trio of leads are all equally as wonderful as one another, I utterly love all three equally.It's quite difficult to review the whole sitcom as a whole, as it does very much feel like to different shows, classic and new (That's how I'll class them.)I grew up with classic Birds, I can remember as a nine year old the first episode going out, and being in love with it ever since. For me it very much got going from Series 3 onwards, there were some outstanding episodes, and some utterly magical Christmas specials, including the brilliant It Happened in Hollywood. Favourite episode has to be Okey Cokey Karaoke, featuring the infamous Like a Virgin.As for new Birds I continue to be impressed, Series three has been brilliant, Dorien's funeral Carriage romp with (A sensationally handsome) Martin Kemp, and her fight with the Foxy Cohen drag act were very very funny.Brilliant series, just thanks for the laughs girls. 9/10
wozzasfc The concept of Birds of a Feather is excellent. Two working class London sisters making it big after their now imprisoned husbands robbed a bank and the laundered money moved them to an upper class area. On arrival they discover their neighbour is a snobby, man-eating middle class woman who looks down on her new neighbours.Every episode, especially in the early days, is packed full of comedy with Pauline Quirke as the larger than life and lovable Sharon - trapped in a marriage to her Greek waste-of-space husband, but ever looking for something else. Tracey, her sister is ever dedicated to her husband Daryl and son Garth, and struggles through life without her husband by her side. Then there is the formidable neighbour Dorien who will sleep with anything that moves - so long as it isn't her husband Marcus.The comedy is very fast and occasionally a little far-fetched, but this is good all-round family entertainment which is standing the test of time well. The acting was top-notch from start to finish, and the many social bust-ups and slanging wars between Sharon and Dorien are priceless comedy. I, like many others, feel the series started to wither as ideas ran dry towards the final few series', but the early episodes are definitely worth watching time and again. 8/10 early episodes. 4/10 for the final two series.