Birds of a Feather
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Laurence Marks Maurice Gran
Directed by	Nick Wood
Starring	Pauline Quirke Linda Robson Lesley Joseph
Theme music composer	Irving Berlin
Opening theme	"What'll I Do" performed by Linda Robson & Pauline Quirke
Ending theme	"What'll I Do?"
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	12
No. of episodes	129 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jon Rolph Steve Sheen
Producer	Jo Willett
Camera setup	Video (1989–1998) Multiple-camera setup (2014–2020)
Running time	30–75 minutes (1989–1998) 22–45 minutes (2014–2020)
Production companies	Alomo Productions (1989–1998) Hare and Tortoise / Quirkymedia Stuff (2014–2020)
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	16 October 1989 (1989-10-16) – 24 December 1998 (1998-12-24)
Network	ITV
Release	2 January 2014 (2014-01-02) – 24 December 2020 (2020-12-24)

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC One from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998, then revived on ITV from 2 January 2014 to 24 December 2020. The series stars Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, with Lesley Joseph. It was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote many of the episodes.

In the first episode, sisters Sharon and Tracey are brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lives in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's upmarket house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour and later friend Dorien, is a middle-aged married Jewish woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the last two BBC series, the location is changed to nearby Hainault, London, before returning to Chigwell in series 10 (the first aired on ITV).

The series' original run ended on 24 December 1998 after nine years, and returned just over 15 years later, on 2 January 2014 (this time on ITV) for a tenth series.^[1][2] The opening episode of the new series attracted almost eight million viewers, giving ITV its highest-rated comedy since Barbara in 2000.^[3] A further two series were broadcast, followed by two Christmas specials.^[4][5] There was a further Christmas special in 2020, where Pauline Quirke did not appear due to her decision to take a step back from acting, in order to focus on her performing arts academy.^[6]

Synopsis

Title

The title comes from the idiom "birds of a feather flock together", meaning that people having similar characters, backgrounds, interests, or beliefs will congregate.

Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodous

For Cockney sisters Sharon Theodopolopodous and Tracey Stubbs, life is never the same again when their husbands are convicted of armed robbery and sent to prison. Sharon, a common, fun-loving, large and loud-mouthed character from a council flat in Edmonton, moves into her sister's luxury home in Chigwell, so that she can support Tracey, after her husband's imprisonment.

Sharon always felt inadequate next to her slimmer, elder sister, and felt she had the tougher childhood. Her marriage to Chris, a waster of Greek Cypriot descent, was miserable and childless, supposedly due to Sharon's infertility. Chris's family condemn her for this, but Sharon discovers that Chris is actually the infertile one. Sharon happily cheats on Chris and gives him grief when visiting. Despite this, she becomes bitterly envious whenever he has another woman and only ever makes half-hearted attempts to divorce him until the first ITV series in 2014, in which Chris finally demands a divorce from Sharon so he can marry again. Tracey, however, loves her husband, Darryl. His legitimate business was building conservatories, but he made most of his money by robbing banks. Unlike Sharon, who is more realistic about their husbands, Tracey deludes herself into believing her husband is innocent, especially in the 1994 Christmas episode "The Chigwell Connection" and when Darryl is finally released in series seven, she trusts him when he asks for a cheque on the company account, which leads to Darryl defrauding her out of her business assets. He and Tracey have a son, Garth, who becomes a chef after going to boarding school and eventually marries Kimberley. This marriage does not last; in series 10, Garth has moved to Australia and started a relationship with a girl named Marcie. Tracey is the more honest and law-abiding of the two sisters, whereas Sharon is more willing to indulge in unscrupulous and often criminal activities, such as illegally subletting her council flat when she was living with Tracey, taking drugs, selling stolen merchandise, fiddling her VAT and claiming unemployment benefit while she was actually employed.

Dorien Green

The sisters' neighbour is the wealthy, snobbish, man-eating Dorien Green, a middle-aged woman who strives to create the impression that she is a glamorous beauty, dressing in a sexually provocative style, preferring mini-skirts, high heels and leopard print. She is played by Lesley Joseph. Dorien is married to Marcus, but is frequently involved with other men, with hilarious consequences. Dorien and Marcus are Jewish. Her marriage is also childless, due to her vanity and the lack of affection between her and Marcus. She is a regular, if uninvited, guest at Tracey's house and mocks Sharon about her weight whilst Sharon teases Dorien about her lifestyle and age. However, Sharon and Tracey become the best friends Dorien has ever had and the mutual teasing is friendly and playful and it is often shown that Sharon and Tracey care for Dorien and vice versa. If any of them get into trouble or have a problem, the others are often the first to help, regardless of the consequences.

Although Dorien had several flings with younger men, Luke Horton was her most frequent lover and she appeared to genuinely love him, from the first series until he left Dorien for a younger woman in the second series. He later appeared in the eighth series when it is revealed that he has married and settled down. Dorien's nemesis is the acid-tongued Melanie Fishman, a vindictive gossip who Dorien constantly attempts to outdo. Marcus eventually tires of Dorien's selfishness and leaves her to begin a new life with his mistress and their children. Dorien later starts a loving relationship with Richard Summers, which is initially strained due to Richard's teenage children taking an instant dislike to Dorien, which she gladly reciprocates.

There is some uncertainty about Dorien's maiden name. She says that her father's name was Arthur Friedman but a wedding invitation to Sharon and Tracey, reveals her mother's name to be Estelle Kapper. Later, Dorien refers to her maiden name as Kapper and an old flame also remembers her as Dorien Kapper. She grew up in Burnt Oak in the London Borough of Barnet. Dorien has several times claimed to be a graduate but never specified which university she attended and when. Throughout the series, Dorien toys with novel writing but is unpublished, until 2014 in which she is an established author. Dorien's mother appears on screen once but is often mentioned as an icy, domineering woman and the two clearly have a stormy relationship. Dorien also has a brother named Jeffrey, who she believes to be their mother's favourite, as he lives a modest life in a semi-detached house and unlike Dorien, has given their mother grandchildren. In series 11, it is revealed that when she was seventeen in 1965, Dorien had a fling with a man named Lionel and they had a daughter, Naomi, who was raised by Lionel. They reunite fifty years later where Dorien learns that Naomi is a vicar, yet she has inherited Dorien's appearance and fondness for risqué behaviour.

In the final episode of series 12, which was broadcast on 25 February 2016, Dorien celebrated her seventieth birthday. This episode was filmed on 14 October 2015, Joseph's actual 70th birthday.

Released from prison

In the series 7 episode, "Cheers", Darryl and Chris are released from prison and are determined to start afresh. Chris feels remorse for his crimes and not treating Sharon better during their marriage. He impresses Sharon by getting an honest job as a pizza delivery man. Darryl, however, feels that the only way to give Tracey the lifestyle he feels she deserves is to return to crime. He attempts to launder counterfeit money into Sharon and Tracey's swimming pool business but is caught and imprisoned again (at HMP Slade, an in-joke reference to Porridge) – along with an innocent Chris, much to Sharon's dismay. Darryl and Tracey's marriage is severely strained by this and Tracey contemplates leaving Darryl, but decides not to but tells him that she will not be waiting for him, like she did when he was imprisoned before. In series 9, Tracey discovers she is pregnant and panics that Darryl may not be the father until she learns the other man had a vasectomy. When Tracey gives birth to her second child, Travis, Sharon vows to stand by her sister and raise the child together.

Sharon and Tracey's maternal aunt, "Auntie Sylvie" (Vivian Pickles), is frequently mentioned and appears twice. After Tracey's and Sharon's parents died, Sylvie raised them.^[7][8] The character is later killed off.

Revival

In the tenth series it is revealed that Tracey and Darryl have divorced and that Darryl moved to Wales on his release from prison. Tracey has remarried and is back living in her former marital home, "Dalentrace", in Chigwell, kicking Sharon out due to her dislike of Tracey's second husband, Ralph. At the start of the series, Sharon is back in her council flat and the two have not spoken for over six months when they "bump into each other" at a book signing. They are shocked to discover that the author of "Sixty Shades of Green" (a Fifty Shades of Grey clone) is their old friend Dorien. When Tracey offers Sharon a lift home, she confesses that she has thrown Ralph out after catching him stealing from her. Lonely, she persuades Sharon to move back in with her. Travis feigns annoyance that Sharon is back, but it is then revealed that he set up their "chance" meeting at the book signing.

As the three plan how their new set-up will work, Dorien arrives unexpectedly, after learning that she is being sued for plagiarising Fifty Shades of Grey. With all her assets frozen, she has no choice but to beg Tracey for a place to stay. Just as everyone is speculating how they will all fit into the house, Garth arrives with new girlfriend Marcie and her daughter, Poppy. By the end of the series Garth, Marcie and Poppy have moved out, with the couple opening a pop-up restaurant and the case against Dorien collapsed, due to a tabloid exposé about an MP she once dated – which proves the stories in her book were true. However, after initially planning to return to her former home in Hollywood, Dorien realises that Sharon and Tracey are her true friends and opts to stay with them.

In series 11, Garth comes home, having separated from Marcie. Dorien's past comes back to haunt her when, amongst her fan mail, she finds a letter from the daughter she gave up for adoption. Dorien eventually agrees to meet Naomi (Frances Ruffelle), who she is stunned to discover is a vicar with two grown-up children. Meanwhile, Tracey is faced with health concerns when she discovers a large mole on her shoulder is malignant.

In series 12, the police tell Tracey that Darryl died in an attempted robbery and that Garth is next of kin. The funeral is attended by Tracey, Sharon, Dorien, Garth, Travis and many of Darryl's gangster friends. Dorien is also revealed to have a granddaughter named Emma (Naomi's daughter), who briefly moved into the Stubbs house.

Production

In the original series, most of the interior scenes were shot at Teddington Studios. The exterior filming location for 'Dalentrace' was on Camp Road, Gerrards Cross area in Buckinghamshire. Streets in the North West London suburb of Pinner frequently doubled for Chigwell, the series' setting. In the original series, the prison exteriors were filmed at HM Prison Maidstone.^[9]

For the 2014 revived series, interior scenes were recorded in Studio 2 at The London Studios. Filming took place in front of an audience between 28 September and 24 November 2013. The show moved to Pinewood Studios for the second revived series of the show. Filming for this series took place in front of an audience between 8 October and 26 November 2014. The show returned in January 2016 and was recorded at Pinewood Studios from 2 September until 21 October 2015, again in front of a live audience in the studio.

Revival

On 3 March 2009, the Daily Mirror reported that the sitcom was set for a return and that Lesley Joseph, Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson had all been asked to make another series. Quirke was reported as saying that her acting school "Quirky Kidz" was really beginning to take off, so she would be hesitant about becoming involved in another creative project.^[10] After this speculation in 2009 nothing more was said. However, in July 2012 Joseph hinted that Birds of a Feather could return for another series following a successful stage tour.

In March 2013, Quirke appeared on ITV's This Morning and confirmed that a script for a new series was "on the desk at the BBC" and they were just waiting for a decision on whether or not the BBC would commission a new series. The BBC offered to broadcast a one-off special episode, but this was refused by the producers of the show in favour of ITV's offer of a series.^[11] Fifteen years after the original series ended, the original cast returned, this time on ITV.^[12]

Robson confirmed on her Twitter account that filming began on 16 September 2013, with eight new episodes broadcasting from 2 January 2014. It was also confirmed that all characters would return, including Tracey's new child, who was born in the last episode (of the previous series, 16 years earlier). Matt Willis replaced Matthew Savage in the part of Garth (Garfie), making him the third actor to play the character; Willis was later replaced by Samuel James in 2015. Two new characters were introduced in the tenth series including Garth's new girlfriend Marcie, who did not appear in the 2015 series. The first episode had mainly positive reviews, with fans saying the show had stayed true to itself. Quirke said that the cast returned with the intention of doing only one series, but she would not rule out doing further episodes if the scripts were right and the fans and viewers wanted more of the series. The opening episode attracted nearly eight million viewers, giving ITV its highest rated comedy since Barbara in 2000.^[3] On 16 January, Robson, Quirke and Joseph appeared on Loose Women to take over for one special episode to celebrate the series return and the ratings success. Robson had been a regular panellist on Loose Women since 2012.

In March 2014, ITV announced that a second series of eight episodes would be produced.^[13] In August 2014, Robson confirmed that filming would start on 7 September 2014 and continue until November and the series would be broadcast in January 2015. In November 2014, Robson confirmed that Willis would not return due to his commitments with McBusted. The role of Garth Stubbs was taken over by former EastEnders actor Samuel James.^[14][15][16] The series began airing on 26 December 2014, with a Christmas special and continued the following week (1 January 2015).

On 12 March 2015, ITV announced that a third series (the twelfth overall) was to be filmed later in the year. The series aired in January and February 2016.^[17] On 13 July 2016, ITV announced that Birds of a Feather would return to the channel for a 45-minute Christmas special, which was filmed in Malta.^{[18][19][20][21]} The episode aired on 24 December 2016.

Another Christmas special aired on 18 December 2017. In June 2018 Lesley Joseph revealed that ITV were discussing plans for another series in October 2019 to mark the show's 30th anniversary. However, Joseph said she did not yet wish to take part, owing to other work commitments. Confusion occurred in February 2019 when Nigel Lythgoe seemed to suggest the series had ended. An ITV representative later confirmed this story was false, the show had not been 'axed' and a Christmas special would air in December 2020.^[22]

A further Christmas special was broadcast on 24 December 2020 on ITV. The episode featured Linda Robson, Lesley Joseph and Les Dennis with a storyline inspired by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[23] This was the first episode in the show's history which did not feature Pauline Quirke.

On 16 May 2021, ITV announced that there were no plans for further episodes and it would not be commissioned for another series.^[24] However in June 2022 Linda Robson stated that a further reunion special had been discussed with Pauline Quirke and that it was up to ITV to make a decision.

Birds of a Feather - 30 Years of Laughter

In June 2023, Channel 5 aired a 67-minute special retrospective for their "Comedy Classics" series. Cast, crew and celebrities discuss and pay tribute to the show. The documentary features interviews with Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph. The show is narrated by Stephen Mangan.^[25]

Cast and characters

Key

  = Main   = Recurring   = Guest

Guest appearances

A large number of actors and personalities have made appearances, including David Emanuel,^[26] Jenny Seagrove,^[26] Michael Winner,^[27] Robert Kilroy Silk,^[28] Jill Halfpenny,^[29] Siobhan Hayes,^[30] Ross Kemp,^[31] Linda Henry,^[32] Alan Ford,^[33] Ray Winstone,^[34] George Hamilton,^[35] George Wendt,^[35] Brian Capron,^[36] Jamie Glover,^[37] Richard Branson,^[38] Lionel Blair,^[38] Robert Llewellyn,^[39] Liz Fraser,^[40] John Bardon,^[40][41] Clive Mantle,^[42] James Greene,^[43] Sophia La Porta,^[43] Amy Childs,^[44] Ted Robbins,^[45] Anna Skellern,^[46] Judy Cornwell,^[46] Lorraine Kelly,^[46] Katy Cavanagh,^[47] Martin Kemp,^[48] Lucy Dixon,^[49] Mark Kingston,^[50] Les Dennis^[51] and Curtis Walker.^[51]

Episodes

Birds of a Feather first aired in 1989 and ran for 129 episodes consisting of 12 series and numerous specials. More than one hundred of the episodes are thirty minutes in length.

Most episodes were written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. Gary Lawson, John Phelps, Geoff Rowley, Sue Teddem, Peter Tilbury, Geoff Deane, Tony Millan, Mike Walling, Damon Rochefort, Sam Lawrence, Keith Lindsay, Martin Tomms, Pat Coombs, Steve Coombes, Dave Robinson, George Costigan, Julia North, John Ross, Frankie Bailey, Miles Tredinnick, Jenny Lecoat, Alun Lewis, Richard Preddy, Gary Howe, Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent, Tony Jordan have also written episodes.

Opening titles

The theme tune was Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?". Initially the version recorded by actor William Atherton for the 1974 film The Great Gatsby was used; from the third series onwards it is sung by Quirke and Robson.

Series 1

During the opening theme for series 1, Quirke and Robson were seen both dressed in a white shirt and a black skirt and they walked towards to screen through several spotlights. Once they reached the screen it faded to Quirke and Robson sat back to back as they rotated. The ending theme was an extended version sung by Quirke and Robson together. And it showed Quirke and Robson walking to the screen and back, passing through the spot lights, while the credits rolled on the left of the screen.

Series 2

Series 2 featured the same music as series 1 but introduced the new opening which featured pictures of characters Sharon and Tracey as they grow up.

1. Sharon and Tracey as babies, could be toddlers.
2. As young children (this stage of their lives is featured in the closing theme)
3. As children, grown up
4. As teenagers, from this picture onwards, it is actually Quirke and Robson that featured in the pictures.
5. As young adults
6. As adults on Tracey's wedding day. From this picture onwards, the pictures are in colour.
7. As adults on Sharon's wedding day.
8. As adults, now as they appear in the series.

For the picture transition, the pictures faded. The last picture remained until the entire screen faded into the episode.

For the closing theme, A video was of the child actors that are supposed to be a young Sharon and Tracey, in the second picture of the opening theme, out in a park eating ice creams with their teddies, chasing each other, Tracey trying to get Sharon to play, Sharon jumping down some steps, Tracey looking through a railing to a pond and it ends with Sharon and Tracey waving bye and running away from the screen together.

Series 3–9

Series 3 introduced a revised version of the song which was performed by Quirke and Robson. In the opening theme, Robson sang the first verse and Quirke sang the last; this was the opposite way round in the closing theme. It used the same video as the series 2 opening and closing theme.

The episode closing theme was an extended version of the song. Quirke and Robson sang separate verses before singing the last line together: "That won't come true, what'll I do?".

Series 10–2017 Christmas Special

A new arrangement of the theme by Dave Arch accompanies a new title sequence using a number of the images used in the previous series titles as well as a current image of the sisters and Dorien – now styled to be pictures in frames, slides and images through a camera's view screen. The video sequence from the original closing credits now appears in the opening sequence alongside a clip from an old episode made to look like a home video recording. More of the old end credits video appears as the programme moves in and out of the commercial break. It was confirmed prior to broadcast in an online interview with Whatsontv that the opening titles have been slightly updated with new images and with Joseph now singing in the opening titles alongside Quirke and Robson.^{[citation needed]}

2020 Christmas Special

The previous arrangement of the theme tune is used, but since Quirke did not appear in this episode, only Robson's lines are sung, resulting in a truncated version of the theme tune. The titles do not feature the images of Sharon and Tracey, instead a dark blue background shows the programme title and the writers, with credits for Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph only. The old video of Sharon and Tracey does not appear when the programme moves in and out of the commercial break.

International broadcast and adaptations

Birds of a Feather was sold to more than 30 countries worldwide and the format was sold to countries including Australia (ABC TV), New Zealand, Spain and South Africa. The show is regularly re-run on Australian & New Zealand pay TV.