The Likely Lads

The adventures of two "likely lads" in the North East of England. Terry and Bob have been friends since childhood. Bob is the sensible one, trying hard to get on with his job and life. Terry is the wild one, always ready to lead Bob astray.

Genre: Comedy

Cast:James Bolam , Rodney Bewes , Bartlett Mullins , Don McKillop , Sheila Fearn , Olive Milbourne , Richard Moore , Irene Richmond , John Scott Martin , Geoffrey Hughes , Michael Sheard , George Layton , Patricia Shakesby , Alex McDonald , Joan Pickering , James Cossins , Helen Fraser , Norman Chappell

1Season 1

S1.E1 ∙ Entente Cordiale

Wed, Dec 16, 1964

Geordie mates Bob Ferris and Terry Collier return from a Spanish holiday where Bob was smitten by French girl Louise though he never got to speak to her. Terry however has given her his own address and when it turns out that she is visiting the area a double date is arranged. However Louise is not exactly the person the lads thought she was.

2Season 1

S1.E2 ∙ Double Date

Wed, Dec 23, 1964

When Bob is upset following another failed romance Terry decides to cheer him up by asking the two girls who have just walked into the cafe to go on a double date with them. Bob is initially pleased though it turns out to be an expensive occasion for him.

3Season 1

S1.E3 ∙ Older Women Are More Experienced

Wed, Dec 30, 1964

Freda Windsor, the new canteen manageress, is turning heads despite being older than the likely lads and Terry bets Bob he can pull her. When she asks him home he thinks he has scored but is in for a surprise. Bob, on the other hand, gets off with the younger Sandra.

4Season 1

S1.E4 ∙ Other Side of the Fence

Wed, Jan 6, 1965

Terry feels that Bob has betrayed his class by accepting promotion from the factory floor to the drawing office. However when Terry is refused admission to the works social because he is not employed in the office Bob shows his loyalty by resigning. Added to which the pair score with two attractive girls who have turned down office staff for them.

5Season 1

S1.E5 ∙ Chance of a Lifetime

Wed, Jan 13, 1965

Drowning their sorrows in the pub one rainy night after being stood up, Terry and Bob fall into conversation with Wally, an Australian from Adelaide who is visiting the area and is very critical of it, painting a picture of opportunity Down Under to the likely lads. They are tempted but it is inevitable that they will not go.

6Season 1

S1.E6 ∙ The Suitor

Wed, Jan 20, 1965

Terry's sister Audrey is dating an 'Italian' hair-dresser called Mario (real name Ernie) and Terry is disapproving. Knowing that Audrey dislikes drunken men he takes Mario to the pub to get him legless before his date whilst Bob is to divert Audrey. But Audrey is wise to the subterfuge and plays along by throwing herself at Bob.

1Season 2

S2.E1 ∙ Baby It's Cold Outside

Wed, Jun 16, 1965

Terry and Bob have a double date with two nurses but have nowhere to take them so they offer to baby-sit for workmate Jack whilst he takes his wife out. They try to persuade the girls that the baby belongs to them but are so hopeless at pacifying it when it wakes up and cries that the lie soon becomes apparent.

2Season 2

S2.E2 ∙ A Star Is Born

Wed, Jun 23, 1965

After being less than complimentary about Jack's singing abilities, the likely lads are more or less coerced into taking part in a talent contest night at the pub with a cash prize. Bob is in it for the glory but Terry has an ulterior motive, to try and impress Rhona the barmaid, who put him up to it.

3Season 2

S2.E3 ∙ Talk of the Town

Wed, Jun 30, 1965

After attending an engagement party Bob wakes up with a hang-over and no recollection of the events of the night before. Then people start to congratulate him because it seems that he proposed to a girl called Helen and everybody assumed that she was pregnant as a result. Now all he has to do is break off the engagement.

4Season 2

S2.E4 ∙ Last of the Big Spenders

Wed, Jul 7, 1965

The lads are attracted to Angela and Lynn, two girls who work in a department store and, in order to stand a chance of pulling them, they pretend to be well off, spending a great deal of money in the store. Unfortunately this means that, come the double date, the girls assume they are wealthy - which, thanks to their throwing their cash around, they are anything but.

5Season 2

S2.E5 ∙ Far Away Places

Wed, Jul 14, 1965

Terry and Bob are now feeling the disastrous aftermath of living beyond their means with the girls from the department store and are well and truly skint. With a foreign holiday on the horizon and no cash to finance it looks as if it will have to be called off - unless they can get down to the Labour Exchange and get themselves part time jobs.

6Season 2

S2.E6 ∙ Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Wed, Jul 21, 1965

The lads are guests at a wedding, where they seem to be the only unmarried men in attendance and uncles and aunts keep asking them when it will be their turn to tie the knot. Can it be that even the perpetual bachelor Terry believes that it might be time for him to settle down. After all, he and Bob seem to be the oldest male singletons there.

1Season 3

S3.E1 ∙ Outward Bound

Sat, Jun 4, 1966

The lads are planning on a holiday weekend at a location where apparently free love reigns among the hippies who stay there. However, when they eventually make it to their destination, Terry complaining as his feet are blistered, they discover that the site has been demolished. Fortunately the two girls camping in the adjacent field may be able to offer consolation.

2Season 3

S3.E2 ∙ Friends and Neighbours

Sat, Jun 11, 1966

Bob is dating the middle class Lorna and things are going well as her parents see him as a pleasant upwardly mobile young man with prospects. Unfortunately Terry's disgusting old grandfather is house sitting in the property next door and makes it clear to Bob that he is a traitor to his class by trying to marry beyond his station.

3Season 3

S3.E3 ∙ Rocker

Sat, Jun 18, 1966

Bob buys a moped in the hopes that it will give him a cool image and enable him to get pretty young girls as pillion passengers. Terry offers to help him with lessons to enable him to pass his driving test on it. Unfortunately an accident with the emergency stop ends up with Terry being admitted to hospital.

4Season 3

S3.E4 ∙ Brief Encounter

Sat, Jun 25, 1966

At the local dance the likely lads agree to split up in order to improve their chances of pulling and Bob ends up with the delightful Ursula. Next day they go on a date but any further meetings are somewhat ruined when she explains that she is already seeing somebody else - Terry, who also picked her up at the same dance.

5Season 3

S3.E5 ∙ The Razor's Edge

Sat, Jul 2, 1966

Bob has chickenpox, keeping him off work for three weeks and effectively putting him in quarantine. When he recovers and Terry sees him for the first time, he has grown a beard, but when he returns to work he is ordered to shave it off. Terry calls a strike in defence of his friend's civil liberties and right to sport facial hair.

6Season 3

S3.E6 ∙ Anchors Aweigh

Sat, Jul 9, 1966

Bob persuades Terry to go on a boating holiday with him on the Norfolk Broads, explaining to him that it would be a great way to meet women and impress them with his boating skills. However, when Terry meets and hits it off with Sally from the boatyard, Bob ruins his plans by casting the boat off early. Terry is determined to have his revenge.

7Season 3

S3.E7 ∙ Love and Marriage

Sat, Jul 16, 1966

The likely lads have been invited to a friend's stag night and arrive at the pub before everybody else. They meet Duggie, an old friend who is now married with a child, a fact which is restricting his social life. Bob and Terry decide to show him a good time, in short what he has missed and they, so far, have been lucky enough to maintain.

8Season 3

S3.E8 ∙ Goodbye to All That

Sat, Jul 23, 1966

Bob seems to have found his ideal woman in Thelma Chambers, but when she drops him he is despondent and decides to join the Army. Not wishing to be parted from his best friend, Terry decides to join up with him. However, in the event it is Bob who is turned down whilst Terry finds that he has signed on for the duration.