The Mistress (TV series)


The Mistress is a British sitcom that aired on BBC2 from 1985 to 1987. Starring Felicity Kendal and Jane Asher, it was written by Carla Lane.
The Mistress features Kendal playing Maxine, a young florist who is having an affair with a married man, whose wife was played by Jane Asher. It was disliked by some viewers, who were unhappy at seeing Felicity Kendal, who was best known as the innocent Barbara Good, playing a woman sleeping with someone else's husband.

Production

Similar to Carla Lane's other sitcoms, including Butterflies and Solo, The Mistress has a serious theme – that of an affair. The series was produced and directed by Gareth Gwenlan. The Mistress was filmed in Bath, Somerset, the florist shop being in Abbey Green, Bath and Maxine's house location at 26 St Mark's Road, Bath.
After the lukewarm response to Series 1 over the subject matter, Series 2 was attempted to be rounded out slightly, still retaining the thread of having an affair, but serving as a more general comedy. These attempted improvements proved to be in vain however, and the series was axed after Series 2, never to be repeated.

Cast

Maxine is the manager of a florist shop and is having an affair with married man Luke Carpenter. His wife Helen, played by Jane Asher, is totally unaware of the affair. While Maxine occasionally feels guilty and insecure about the affair, she is a generally optimistic and happy person.

Episodes

The Mistress aired for two series, each of six 30 minute episodes, from 17 January 1985 to 26 February 1987. The episodes originally at 9.00pm on Thursdays on BBC2.

Series One (1985)

Series Two (1987)

DVD releases

The two series of The Mistress will be released in a boxset in Region 2 on 10 March 2014.