It Takes a Worried Man

1981

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
7.8| NA| en| More Info
Released: 27 October 1981 Ended
Producted By: Thames Television
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

It Takes a Worried Man was a British TV sitcom. It was made by Thames Television and ran for three series, broadcast from October 1981 to November 1983. The first two series were broadcast on the ITV network, and the third and final series on Channel 4. Most episodes were written by the star, Peter Tilbury, who played office worker Philip Roath.

Genre

Comedy

Watch Online

It Takes a Worried Man (1981) is now streaming with subscription on Acorn TV

Director

Production Companies

Thames Television

It Takes a Worried Man Videos and Images

It Takes a Worried Man Audience Reviews

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
TeenzTen An action-packed slog
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Khun Kru Mark (This review is based on the first series.)'It Takes a Worried Man' seems to have attracted some good reviews from people who remember it from back in the early eighties. I'm almost certain that those reviews would change if those same contributors had seen this sitcom again more recently.Unfortunately, this series seems to come off as a flat 'stand-up' routine that's been re-written for a six-part TV show. It revolves around Philip Roath (Peter Tilbury) who is a selfish, lazy man in his thirties. The weak gags bounce off the one- dimensional characters in his life which include his boss, a colleague, a secretary, a girlfriend and a shrink... none of whom are allowed to develop enough to engage our attention and affection.Particularly annoying is the late (and otherwise talented) Andrew Tourell doing his impersonation of the brilliant Doc 'Feeling a bit chesty?' Morrissy from the Reggie Perrin sitcom.It isn't clear who the main character is trying to relate to as he's too young to be complaining about being bald and losing his teeth... especially as he has a full set of both! This makes the stodgy script come off as disingenuous.Finally, there's nothing happening in between the monologues and there's no story arc to cling to. The entire series' premise is just Roath's ramblings which soon get wearisome because there's nothing else to maintain the interest of the viewer.The writer (who also plays the main role in this) had better success with another sit-com, 'Shelley', but even that was due mostly to the enormous talent of the lead, Hywel Bennett.
steven-digby-1 I remember this series very fondly. I'm pretty sure it was written by Peter Tilbury as well as staring him although IMDb doesn't say who wrote the series, perhaps someone out there knows? As ITV have never repeated the (two?) series I can't tell! And by the way, what has happened to Peter Tilbury since 1993? The early Shelly episodes were written by him and Shelly must rate as one of the funniest British comedy series ever. It Takes a Worried Man doesn't sound like the subject of a comedy, being the story of a man recently divorced a worried about every thing from losing his hair to losing his job, but somehow it worked and it helped that the main character was actually likable and you wanted him to succeed. Come on ITV / Granada / whoever, how 'bout some repeats?
dan-744 I remember this series very fondly. Great performances all round, not just Peter Tibury but also Christopher Benjamin and Nicholas Le Prevost. I was probably much too young for this show when it first aired - I was a teenager and it was all about a mid-life crisis if I remember correctly, but somehow it struck a chord. Fans of this show probably also enjoyed Agony, Shelley and Reginald Perrin. (Well I did anyway.) I would love to see this show again - I wonder how well it has held up after all these years. I think the closest thing to this type of comedy more recently was Paul Whitehouse's Happiness which I also loved. His new series HELP has just started and that looks very promising.
nwitsend I certainly remember this series. Though I saw only a few episodes, the series sticks in my mind because in most of them, it was essential to the script that the elegant Sue Holderness strip off to her undies.Another series, Chance in a Million, with Simon Callow, was memorable for the same reason (as well as for being very funny), though in that one it was the Oscar-winning Brenda Blethyn who couldn't keep her clothes on.CheersNick