The Newcomers
Set in a fictional East Anglia overspill town called Angleton (which
was really Haverhill in Suffolk), this series centred around the
newly moved Cooper family; Vivienne (played by Australian leading
lady and former singer, Maggie Fitzgibbon), husband Ellis, and
their children Phillip, 16 year old Maria (played by Judy Geeson
before she became a star) and long-haired Lance.
There was also a glum gran who seemed riveted to the sofa, and
Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms/Pauline Fowler) as the Cooper's 20 year
old cockney neighbour, Joyce Harker.
Ellis Cooper was the shop superintendent at Eden Brothers, a
computer components firm. British Industrialists complained that
the chairman was a crook, the managing director an ass, and the
image of the British industry had been sullied.
Mary Whitehouse
however, gave the show a commendation for being "morally
sound".
Ellis died of a heart attack in December 1967 (because Alan
Browning had grown bored with the role), and the widowed Viv was
due to have a ratings-busting wedding to new character Charles
Turner.
When the storyline was changed to a whirlwind romance and an
off-screen wedding in New Zealand instead, Maggie Fitzgibbon quit.
A new family - the Robertsons - were introduced in January 1968.
The Newcomers aired twice weekly, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. The four producers during the life of the programme
were Verity Lambert, Morris Barry, Ronald Travers and Bill Sellars.
|
