 In Loving memory
1 9 6 9 (UK)
1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 0 (UK)
1 9 8 2 - 1 9 8 4 (UK)
1 9 8 6 (UK)
37 x 30 minute episodes
 This
gentle comedy began life as a single episode pilot in November
1969 and proved popular over 17 years.
In Loving Memory concerned the comings and goings
(mostly the goings) of an undertaker's business in a Lancashire
mill town in the 1920s.
As a comedy series it must be unique. It killed off its star in
the first week . The mainstay of the burial business, Jeremiah
Unsworth (played by Freddie Jones) died in the opening episode.
The series then focussed on his late wife Ivy (the great Thora
Hird) and their gormless 28-year old nephew Billy (Christopher
Beeny) who carried on the 50-year old funeral business - which,
being accident-prone, was a monumental task.
After experiencing girlfriend trouble throughout the series,
Billy finally married at the start of the final series - although
in true sitcom style, Ivy insisted on going along on the
honeymoon.
The series was set in the fictitious Lancashire town of Oldshaw
(location shooting actually took place in Luddenden, Yorkshire).
Writer Dick Sharples got the idea for his creation in a pub,
upon hearing an undertaker's tale about a hearse that, after
hitting a pothole, shed its coffin on the street. Similar problems
beset Ivy and Billy in most episodes.
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