Customer Reviews
The Proud Prestonian - By: Paul S Walmsley, 20 Dec 2007 
This is classic British comedy at it's best. Bewes & Bolam compliment each other perfectly. Well worth the money. A must buy !!
Must-see 70's BBC comedy - By: Robert James, 06 Apr 2006 Throughout the 70's, BBC was prolific in it's production of comedies. From 'Last of the summer wine' to 'Are you being served?' it was a laugh-a-minute. Amongst that was 'Whatever'.
Following on from the earlier 'The Likely Lads', Clement & La Frenais proceeded to write another 27 episodes & a feature film. Long before 'Men behaving badly' had been dreamt up, us Geordies had Bob & Terry, 2 school mates, alll the way back to Mrs Hindmarch's 4B class at Park Juniors. The years had been kind on Bob...he'd falllen in love with Thelma Chambers (Bridgit Forsyth)...whilst Terry had been in the army & had returned home a broken man with a leg injury & estranged from his German wife.
The capers resume when Bob & Terry meet by chance on a train. All rather lame stuff by today's standards, but still extremely comical. The tale then moves through the difficulties of Terry's integration into 1970's Newcastle after a few years away, & Bob's impending marriage to the toffee-nosed Thelma, whose father Bob is employed by (played by Bill Owen, or Compo from 'Last of the summer wine'). Lots of scrapes ensue, & Terry manages to cause chaos whilst always remaining a likeable character. Bob's impending marriage is the axis round which the episodes rotate, alll with perfect comic timing.
The episodes are ended by a pause of a couple of years & then a feature film (available on a separate DVD) was produced in 1976 which marked the end of the series. James Bolam has always refused to take part in a reunion, which is a crying shame as the comedy value of a few episodes 30 years on would be amazing with such strong writers.
This was pretty risque for it's time, so thanks to Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais for opening the floodgates for our current raft of fantastic comedies!
Our friends in the North - By: Richard White, 26 Nov 2002 During the 1970s the BBC were prolific in turning out classic comedy after classic comedy. Right up there with the best is 'Whatever happened to the likely lads?' Like many of the best comedies there is much more than purely humour envolved & this is very much the case here as the series charts the enduring, if strained friendship of working class lads Terry Collier (James Bolam)and Bob Ferris (Rodney Bewes).
This series begins with Bob & Terry being re-united after some years, Terry returning home having been de-mobbed from the army & meeting up with Bob who has stayed in his home town & become, to Terrys annoyance, a car owner, a house owner & engaged to Thelma (Bridget Forsythe).
Much of the humour develops from the opposing attitudes of the two men. Terry the cynical semi-frees spirit who refuses to move with the times & Bob the quietly ambitious upwardly mobile husband-to-be.
From the lyrics of the theme tune at the start (What happened to you, whatever happened to me) we are reminded of the passing of time & how people can change, so much so that when we look back, sometimes we dont even recognise ourselves. This is intelligent comedy which does much more than just make you laugh. It is extremely funny but has much more in its armoury besides laughs. It is a social commentary of its time & a touching portrait of two men growing apart whilst remaining bonded by their past.
If you havent seen it before it is an absolute must. Magic.
Timeless comedy - By: DIJL, 27 Oct 2002 "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads" was a follow on from the 60's series "The Likely Lads" which followed the comic misfortunes of Terry & Bob, played to perfection by James Bolam & Rodney Bewes. Much of the humour of this series centres around the different paths the two have taken: Terry enlisted in the army & has returned after 5 years unemployed & with no prospects while Bob has done well for himself, has his own business & is about to get married to Thelma. Thelma (a fine perforance from Brigit Forsyth) fears that Terry will lead Bob astray & put doubts into his head about the wedding. The dynamic between the 3 of them makes for great comedy which has lost none of its force despite the great culture gap between Britain today & Britain in the early 70's.
If you have never seen it before, this "Best of" is a good introduction although it only covers the first of the 2 series. It is amazing to me that the whole series has never been brought out in its entirety; it is one of the funniest & often one of the most poignant comedies I have ever seen & I watch it again & again.
