Agony
 1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 1 (UK)
20 x 30 minute episodes
Maureen
Lipman starred as Jane Lucas - a cosmopolitan Jewish wife and
mother who was also a radio broadcaster and author of the problem
page in the (fictitious) magazine Person.
The main premise was
that Jane spent so much time sorting out other people's problems
that she was unable to handle her own - and they were many . . .
She had a psychiatrist husband, Laurence, who was a
philandering ex-public schoolboy and a Christian to boot; a needy
and manipulative archetypal Jewish widowed mother, Bea; a magazine
boss, Diana, who was impossible to work for; a gung-ho office
secretary, Val; and, at ''Happening Radio 242'', a DJ colleague,
Andy, who was shallow and narcissistic.
The only people to
offer Jane any real comfort and support were Rob and Michael, her
gay neighbours. The portrayal of this homosexual couple as
non-camp, sensitive, intelligent, witty and generally happy was a
notable first in the British sitcom genre, and Agony efficiently
tackled many other taboos along the way.
 Real-life press
and radio ''agony aunt'' Anna Raeburn advised and (for the first
series) co-wrote this sometimes daring and always entertaining
sitcom about her own work.
The series' media setting and Jewish
background meant that the lead character could be legitimately
witty, delivering wisecracks and sharp one-liners in a style more
usually associated with American sitcoms.
Indeed, deviser and
co-writer Len Richmond was a Californian who had worked on US TV,
notably on Three's Company.
Agony ended after three series
but enjoyed two further leases of life: the first was a US
translation, The Lucie Arnaz Show (with scripts from Richmond),
not screened in Britain, which starred the daughter of Lucille
Ball and Desi Arnaz and ran for six episodes on CBS in 1985.
The
second was a 1995 British sequel (made by the BBC, not ITV this
time), Agony Again with Lipman still starring.
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