Popular sitcom returns

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 13

Popular sitcom returns

Michael Elphick as Sam and Angela Thorne as Daphne return tonight for a second series of “Three Up, Two Down,” pursuing their love-hate relationship in the granny flat downstairs from their married offspring, Nick (Ray Burdis) and Angie (Lysette Anthony). Nothing the respectable, middle-class Daphne can say or do will budge the resilient, working-class Sam. Sam’s clumsy attempts at gallatry merely add insult to injury as far as Daphne is concerned. Daphne has also taken exception to the other passion in Sam’s life — taxidermy. In the new series of this successful 8.8. C. comedy, Sam gains an unwelcome rival for Daphne’s affections in the unctuous person of a new neighbour, Major Giles Bradshaw. The first series was so popular in Britain that Elphick was offered money to reveal what happens between the sparring couple in the second series. Would they find true romance together against all the odds? Everybody connected with the show had to be

sworn to secrecy; and the producer even considered recording two different versions to keep the cast guessing. Says Elphick: “There are so many possibilities — it could go anywhere. There’s a lot of mileage left in this situation.”

Thorne and Elphick may seem like chalk and cheese, but they have a lot in common, both socially and professionally. “We have great admiration for each other as actors and I think that comes across,” says Thorne, who has always

played aristocratic ladles. Elphick, who has been typecast as a villain, agrees. “On ‘Three Up, Two Down’ we enjoy ourselves so much that it shows. We have a ball.” “Three Up, Two Down” screens on Thursday at 8.30 p.m. on One.