Bread

1986–1991 · Ended · 7 seasons · 74 episodes · Comedy · United Kingdom

Creator Carla Lane · Channel BBC One · Starring Jean Boht, Nick Conway, Jonathon Morris

Bread is a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991. The series focused on the devoutly-Catholic and extended Boswell family of Liverpool, in the district of Dingle, led by its matriarch Nellie through a number of ups and downs as they tried to make their way through life in Thatcher's Britain with no visible means of support. The street shown at the start of each programme is Elswick Street. A family called Boswell had also featured in Lane's earlier sitcom The Liver Birds and Lane admitted in interviews that the two families were probably related. Nellie's feckless and estranged husband, Freddie, left her for another woman known as 'Lilo Lill'. Her children Joey, Jack, Adrian, Aveline and Billy continued to live in the family home in Kelsall Street and contributed money to the central family fund, largely through benefit fraud and the sale of stolen goods.
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Episodes

14 episodes · September 1988 – December 1988
  1. Episode 1: Episode 1September 18, 1988 · 30 min
    Jack has left home to go to America for a while and Nellie is missing him greatly. Cousin Shifty is coming out of prison and heading for the Boswell home, and Aveline is engaged to a protestant vicar who none of the family have met.
  2. Episode 2: Episode 2September 25, 1988 · 30 min
    Aveline brings Oswald home and he finds a family in chaos when they all show him their true colours. Adrian is accepted as a male model after a less than impressive interview and Shifty is back to his old ways.
  3. Episode 3: Episode 3October 2, 1988 · 30 min
    Freddie's visit to the doctor has left him unsure of his future, but only Joey notices that his father is suffering from a serious heart complaint. Celia Higgins arrives in the street but finds getting access to her new home a challenge thanks to the Boswell's fleet of battered vehicles.
  4. Episode 4: Episode 4October 9, 1988 · 30 min
    Yizzel's mate involves Shifty in an insurance job on his car but forgets that he didn't have an MOT certificate. Meanwhile, Shifty's romance with Martina continues and Celia starts to bond with Nellie.
  5. Episode 5: Episode 5October 16, 1988 · 30 min
    Billy and Adrian both leave home and Nellie decides to teach them a lesson by delivering their belongings to them personally. They both realise that the grass is not so green on the other side and return home, while Shifty appears to be heading in the opposite direction.
  6. Episode 6: Episode 6October 23, 1988 · 30 min
    Nellie advises the family against fussing over their dad, but she knows that she's wasting her breath. Shifty attempts to move in with Martina but finds it impossible to leave Grandad on his own. Meanwhile, Adrian's joy at publication of his poems is short-lived when he is nearly arrested.
Show 8 more episodes
  1. Episode 7: Episode 7October 30, 1988 · 30 min
    Joey gives Freddie an ultimatum - Lilo Lill or his mum. Linda McCartney opens an Animal Rescue Centre and, while getting her autograph, Billy invites her round for tea if she's ever "passing". She does - and an unwitting Nellie tells her all her troubles.
  2. Episode 8: Episode 8November 6, 1988 · 30 min
  3. Episode 9: Episode 9November 13, 1988 · 30 min
  4. Episode 10: Episode 10November 20, 1988 · 30 min
  5. Episode 11: Episode 11November 27, 1988 · 30 min
  6. Episode 12: Episode 12December 4, 1988 · 30 min
  7. Episode 13: Episode 13December 11, 1988 · 30 min
  8. Episode 14: 14. Christmas with the BoswellsDecember 25, 1988 · 30 min
    In this Christmas Special the Boswells holiday in Rome and find their time is filled with happy memories, and new or renewed relationships.

Images

Credits

Film and series details

EPISODE LENGTH
30 minutes
FIRST AIRED
May 1, 1986
LAST AIRED
November 3, 1991

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