May to December
May to December is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. Set in Pinner, Greater London, it revolved around the romance between a widowed solicitor, Alec Callender (played by veteran television actor Anton Rodgers) and a much younger woman, Zoë Angell (played by Eve Matheson in series one and two, and by Lesley Dunlop in series three to six).
| May to December | |
|---|---|
Series 2 title card | |
| Created by | Paul Mendelson |
| Starring | Anton Rodgers Eve Matheson Lesley Dunlop Clive Francis Rebecca Lacey Frances White Paul Venables Carolyn Pickles Kate Williams Ronnie Stevens Chrissie Cotterill Ashley Jensen |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 6 (+1 radio series) |
| No. of episodes | 39 (+6 radio episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30-60 minutes |
| Production company | Cinema Verity |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 2 April 1989 – 27 May 1994 |
The series was nominated for the BAFTA award for "Best Television Comedy Series" in 1991, but lost out to The New Statesman. The title of the show comes from the Anderson-Weill song "September Song", which is sung during the credits. The titles of all the episodes are taken from songs. Most are from musicals, reflecting Alec and Zoë's mutual interest, but some later ones are hits from the 1950s and 1960s.
In keeping with a number of other BBC sitcoms, such as To the Manor Born, Yes Minister, As Time Goes By, One Foot in the Grave and others, a radio adaptation of episodes was produced. Episodes were adapted from the original television scripts for the first TV series. Lesley Dunlop played Zoë throughout and Rebecca Lacey returned in the role of Hilary after leaving the TV show after the fifth series. The radio series was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Thursdays at 9pm between 23 April and 28 May 1998.