Life Begins
Encyclopedia
Life Begins is a British
television
drama
first broadcast on ITV
between February 2004 and October 2006, starring Caroline Quentin
and Alexander Armstrong
, Anne Reid
and Frank Finlay
.
in Australia
and TV ONE in New Zealand
.
As the first Life Begins was so popular a second series was launched which began on 16 February 2005. Series two received strong ratings of 6.38 to 8.62 million. http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500
A third season started on 4 September 2006 on ITV. Again the viewing figures were still high managing to win half of its timeslots with figures of 5.79 to 6.32 million. http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500
It was always intended by the writers that the third series would be the last. A fourth series, though possible at the time, never materalized.
Ratings in Australia: The first episode of the first series aired over Australia's non ratings period, and the opening episode rated 1.1 million mainland capital city viewers, which was the 12th most watched show for the week. Ratings continued around the one million viewers mark throughout series one. The first episode of series two moved to 9:30pm and rated 998,000 viewers, ranking first in its time slot. The second episode rated 853,000 viewers.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
first broadcast on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
between February 2004 and October 2006, starring Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Jones known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress. Quentin became known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing Dorothy, and playing Maddy Magellan in Jonathan Creek for three years.-Early life:...
and Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
, Anne Reid
Anne Reid
Anne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
and Frank Finlay
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
.
History
The first season of Life Begins began on 16 February 2004. The first series was a success. The show managed viewing figures ranging from 9.51 to 10.45 million winning all of its timeslots.http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500. The series has been aired on Channel SevenSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and TV ONE in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
As the first Life Begins was so popular a second series was launched which began on 16 February 2005. Series two received strong ratings of 6.38 to 8.62 million. http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500
A third season started on 4 September 2006 on ITV. Again the viewing figures were still high managing to win half of its timeslots with figures of 5.79 to 6.32 million. http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500
It was always intended by the writers that the third series would be the last. A fourth series, though possible at the time, never materalized.
Basic plot
The story focuses intensely on Philip Raymond (Phil) Mee and Margaret Eileen Brenda (Maggie) Thornhill-Mee, and their two children James and Rebecca. It also features various friends and relatives of the couple. The series depicts typical family life and presents the struggles of friends and family members, such as Maggie's parents, Eric and Brenda.Cast
- Caroline QuentinCaroline QuentinCaroline Jones known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress. Quentin became known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing Dorothy, and playing Maddy Magellan in Jonathan Creek for three years.-Early life:...
- Maggie Mee - Alexander ArmstrongAlexander Armstrong (comedian)Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
- Phil Mee - Elliot Henderson-Boyle - James Mee
- Ace Ryan - Rebecca Mee
- Anne ReidAnne ReidAnne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
- Brenda Thornhill - Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
- Eric Thornhill - Claire SkinnerClaire SkinnerClaire L. Skinner is an English actress, who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television career.-Biography:Born and brought up in Hemel Hempstead, Skinner, the youngest daughter of a shopkeeper and an Irish-born secretary, was immensely shy as a child...
- Clare - Stuart McQuarrieStuart McQuarrieStuart McQuarrie is an actor who has starred in multiple acclaimed films, including Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. In 2008, McQuarrie starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance...
- Guy - Ellie HaddingtonEllie HaddingtonEllie Haddington is a British actress who had a starring role in 2005 and 2006 as Governing Governor Joy Masterton in the ITV1 prison drama Bad Girls....
- Kathleen - Sarah Ozeke - Karen
- Beans El-Balawi - Freddie
- Roy DotriceRoy DotriceRoy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
- Frank - Alan Williams - George
- Naomi Allis Stone - Anna
- Chloe HowmanChloe HowmanChloe Howman is an English actress.The daughter of actor Karl Howman , her sister is fellow actor Katy-Jo Howman....
- Helen - Paul Thornley - Jeff
- Danny WebbDanny Webb (actor)Danny Webb is a British television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as the prisoner Morse in Alien 3. He has appeared in many famous British television programmes including The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Emmerdale Farm, Our Friends in the North, A Touch of Frost, Agatha...
- Paul - Abby Ford - Samantha
- Michelle HolmesMichelle HolmesMichelle Holmes , born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe, is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials.Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, she performed in a pop band called The Dunky Dobbers....
- Genevieve - Finlay Robertson - Kevin
- David WestheadDavid WestheadDavid Westhead is a British actor. He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of Criminal Justice, Life Begins, The Lakes and The Time of Your Life...
- Brian - Suzanne BurdenSuzanne BurdenSuzanne Burden is a British actress.A graduate of RADA, she has appeared on television, and occasionally in films, since the early 1980s. Her best known television work is probably as Esther Summerson in Bleak House...
- Penny - Laura PatchLaura PatchLaura Patch is a British comedy actor, best known for playing several characters in the Channel 4 Show Star Stories alongside Kevin Bishop.Other Notable RolesTV...
- Tina - Alexandra GilbreathAlexandra GilbreathAlexandra Gilbreath is an award-winning English actress.Gilbreath is widely known for her work both on stage and onscreen . She gained popularity with the Royal Shakespeare Company on such works as The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Tamer Tamed, and The Winter's Tale and Merry Wives:...
- Mia - Matthew CottleMatthew CottleMatthew Cottle is a British film and television actor, best known for his part in the sitcom Game On, in which he played the ginger-haired, low self-esteemed, single banker Martin Henson...
- Nick - Jon Newman - Simon
- Lewis RoseLewis RoseLewis Rose is a Canadian businessman born in South Africa. He is the Partner at Farber Financial Group, responsible for the Turnaround and Crisis Management Practice...
- Tom
UK air dates
- Series One - 16 February 2004 to 22 March 2004
- Series Two - 16 February 2005 to 30 March 2005
- Series Three - 4 September 2006 to 9 October 2006
International air dates
| Country | TV network(s) | Series premiere | Weekly schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel Seven Seven Network The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach... |
5 December 2006 7 August 2007 |
Series One: Tuesday 8:30pm (Dec 06 - Jan 07) Series Two: Tuesday 9:30pm (Aug 07 - Sep 07) Series Three: Tuesday 10:30pm (Feb 08 - Mar 08) |
|
| TV ONE | |||
| Vision TV Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic.... |
29 November 2004 6 November 2006 |
||
| VARA VARA (broadcaster) The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs... |
Series One and Two: 6 May 2005 Series Three: 24 June 2008 |
Ratings in Australia: The first episode of the first series aired over Australia's non ratings period, and the opening episode rated 1.1 million mainland capital city viewers, which was the 12th most watched show for the week. Ratings continued around the one million viewers mark throughout series one. The first episode of series two moved to 9:30pm and rated 998,000 viewers, ranking first in its time slot. The second episode rated 853,000 viewers.